Evaluation:

You've been invited to audition for a music degree programme at a university. You've been given 20 minutes to prepare a solo recital with at least three songs, which you'll perform in front of a small audience and the interview panel. The institution would want to witness a demonstration of your abilities in a variety of musical styles. You should also try to showcase a variety of your strongest abilities, but keep in mind the amount of time you have to prepare. They've also requested you to put together a printed programme explaining your song selections and a connecting theme. They will ask you to review your performance, as well as your planning and rehearsal process, in the accompanying interview.

How did you select your pieces. What factors did you need to consider when choosing?

I chose these songs solely to fit the theme I wanted to do, which is conflict in love, because it is a topic to which everyone can relate, regardless of age or gender, and it is something that will challenge me as a singer and an artist because the songs that will be included will involve vocal techniques that will test my ability as a singer. However, coming up with the concept wasn't simple since I had to consider the audience members who would be watching my solo recital performance and be able to provide a performance that would engage everyone. I was able to accomplish this by soliciting suggestions and inspiration from my classmates for topics or themes that everyone can relate to, regardless of their current stage of life, which led to the final selection of clashing love. Which leads to the difficulties I faced as everyone understands that inclusiveness is a difficult topic. There isn't a single thing that can stop it or slow it down. There are a number of them, and they're most likely all happening at the same moment. One major impediment is people's misunderstanding of diversity to mean anything other than the inclusion of people of all ages, genders, races, social classes, financial levels, and cultural backgrounds. The majority of diversity and inclusion programmes fail due to a lack of proper representation and inclusion of diverse groups. This is something I want to avoid and deliver the ideal performance of having it related towards the audience members. I overcame this by choosing a topic that is inclusive and meet the criteria for the audience.

What difficulties did you face and how did you overcome them?

The difficulties I faced were simply trying to balance out time on rehearsing each song because I have other commitments, so finding the time and space was difficult. However, I overcame this by simply focusing on creating a structure of how I could use my lesson more beneficially, which meant timing how much I rehearse each song and writing notes on how I could improve or what techniques I needed to focus on to help my performer.

Another issue I had was figuring out how to more effectively exercise my vocal chords. To overcome this, I spent time going through a number of vocal coaches and viewing videos, which I will attach below. Because as a performer, I realised my diaphragm support wasn't up to par and wouldn't allow me to sing the songs fully or completely, as well as having to manage my breath control, which is crucial to learn because it prevented me from reaching the pitch using my head voice because I would easily become out of breath.

links for vocal warm ups:

https://youtu.be/Q5hS7eukUbQ

https://youtu.be/YTMSwPq4KIo

https://youtu.be/nBQH1c20xbs

Venue:

The solo recital was held in one of our classrooms, which was large enough to accommodate my performance. The set up was well-organized and clear, and all I needed in terms of technical equipment was a microphone to support my vocals and a speaker to play the backing track that I provided for my solo recital, which was handled by our music technician Alessia.

Personal Critique of your performance:

My own critical assessment of my overall solo performance is that there are numerous areas in which I might have improved, particularly the vocal skills used, since this would have allowed me to gain greater marks, resulting in a higher grade and further development as a performer. It's critical to learn how to sing high notes as you broaden your vocal range. Adding a little push might assist lessen any strain you may feel at the top of your range, rather of resorting to falsetto or worse, forcing your voice on high notes. This is the secret to shouting out your songs without injuring yourself. So this was a vocal technique I wanted to improve because belting is something I'm familiar with because I've used it to make it appear as though I can sing higher because my vocal range isn't where I'd like it to be and my head voice isn't strong enough to carry the higher pitch notes alone, so I belt them.

Working on my breathing and allowing the air to flow was one of the ways I improved my belting because one of the major issues that most singers have during belting is pressure from the throat. Belting necessitates a reduction in air pressure and a reduction in vocal strain. Breathe deeply and completely fill your lungs with air for the best outcomes in belting. Use that air to boost your notes. The larynx is an extremely delicate area of your body, so make sure you're doing everything correctly if you're increasing the air pressure in your lungs.

A variation in pitch, tempo, and style delivery was another thing I realised I could have improved. The first approach necessitates that your voice be heard. Because your cover song will sound like the many others that employ this strategy, your voice will be the main source of individuality and originality (does your voice stand out?). It's unlikely that you'll sound exactly like the artist, but what important is that your voice sounds excellent. The style and manner in which you sing the song, as well as your voice, must stand out in the second technique. Singers that employ this technique compose their own melodies, runs, and riffs, as well as layering, harmonies, backup vocals, and high notes. The trick is to personalise the music and give it your own spin. To make your decision easier, consider whether your voice (e.g. amazing vocals, tonality, or timbre) or your musicality (e.g. creative melodies, harmonies, runs, and riffs) stands out. Because if I had modified the song choices to match my current abilities, I would have felt more secure as a performer, allowing me to connect with the audience and fulfil my goal of telling the storey I was attempting to portray.

What have you learnt/gained from this experience? How did this differ to previous performance? Was it difficult being a soloist and performing for an extended period of time? How have your skills as a performer developed? What will take forward into future performance?

I learned that I am not confident as a soloist after completing this solo performance. I discovered that I work more effectively in a group because the workload is distributed evenly, which relieves the pressure on my shoulders. As a soloist, your performance presentation is entirely dependent on you to figure out and organise yourself, which is more stressful. And, unlike a soloist, the energy is different when performing with a band. It's more fun and nicer having people to share the same experience with, and the support is better because promoting is easier and developing ideas is faster, allowing for more rehearsal time.

Being organised will assist you to meet deadlines, reduce stress, and carry out your obligations more efficiently, which are abilities I will need to develop further for future performances. To understand how increasing your organisational abilities might help you perform better at work, you must first understand what this skill set involves. Being organised requires good time management. Allowing oneself adequate time to complete chores, avoiding spending too much time on any one job, and balancing your time at home and at work are all examples of time management. Time management is critical since it allows you to conserve energy and remain calm in a fast-paced environment. A crucial aspect of office organising is deciding when and how to use your time.