pradeepan jeeva 3/18/12 pradeepan jeeva 3/18/12

SO MUCH TO DIGEST [Singing Blogrimage Day 7/30]

CHALLENGE UPDATE:

Practiced Michael W. Smith's, "Great is the LORD"
Watched Videos of my singing

THOUGHTS:

My coach teaches in layers so that I build muscle memory. We first talk out the rhythm of a song, without singing the melody. Then, we singing one note of the song. After that we add the melody to complete the learning of the song.

With this in mind, we plan where to stop for airs of breath between verses, try to keep posture, jaw dropped, soft palette while the diaphragm slowly supplies the voice with support.

There is a lot to remember! Right now, muscle memory has not kicked in. Everything seems slow and horrible.

VIDEO COMMENTARY:

This is my first take at singing this song with the track. It's kind of funny singing Michael W. Smith. My roommate, Ben Block, listens to his songs and we make fun of him for it. That makes this song even more funny.

I sound horrible on this take, but I'm glad I know it. I'm on pitch for the most part, but there are notes I'm not hitting. My tone is not exactly where I want it to be either.

Watching a video of yourself, I'm learning, greatly increases learning. We have so many blind spots! Whenever I preach a sermon, I try to listen or watch myself after and take notes on how to improve.

With this challenge, I will do the same, as well as starting sentences with the letter "w."

-Pradeepan

pradeepan jeeva 3/18/12 pradeepan jeeva 3/18/12

EATING RABBIT AND SINGING [Singing Blogrimage Day 6/30]

Challenge Updates:

Practicing raising the soft palette
Practicing breathing
Singing with the Mandolin

Allan Theobald cooked a delightful Italian meal at my house today. We hosted a party and the food consisted of a cooked rabbit, meatballs, pasta, salad, garlic pizza bread knots, grilled bread, amazing dessert, and a bunch of other delicious courses.

I hate grocery shopping. I took him to a farm to get a rabbit, and then we shopped at Kroger (our grocery store). While shopping, I practiced my songs and breathing. Some people in the store gave me a few looks, but I've found that practicing in these ordinary moments keeps me consistent and make the most of things I hate (grocery shopping).

Above is a video of scales I practice!

-Pradeepan

pradeepan jeeva 3/17/12 pradeepan jeeva 3/17/12

RAISING THE SOFT PALETTE [Singing Blogrimage Day 5/30]

Challenge Update:

2nd voice lesson (One and a half hours)
Learned how to raise the soft palette
Learned what consonants and vowels to pronounce
Learned how to plan to breathing
Learned how to drop jaw

I was very pleased with my second lesson. It went longer than the first one, and I really enjoyed it. My coach is very encouraging. She said I went through, in one lesson, what normally takes people 4 weeks.

Both my coach and Amreitha said they've noticed improvements in my singing.

She taught me how to adjust my soft palette by giving a surprised "ah"sound. This helps produce a fuller sound, almost like self created reverb.

Also, we sang a little Aerosmith and a lot of Michael W. Smith. With the Smith song, we tediously worked through the pronunciation of words.

Pronouncing words is important because it helps create a full sound and keep one on pitch.

I am excited to work on this piece and I will perform it during my recital on April 12th!

-Pradeepan

pradeepan jeeva 3/16/12 pradeepan jeeva 3/16/12

BREATHING LIKE A BABY [Singing Blogrimage Day 4/30]

Hello! Here are my updates:

Worked on posture
Worked on breathing
Practiced Scales with Amreitha
Sang a few old BrownFolk songs with Amreitha (my fiance)

Breathing is kind of an awkward thing to work on. The point is to produce sound supported by the diaphragm instead of the chest. Practicing this seems super simple, but I can see how it's the foundation for great projection. You get a lot of air by breathing like this. It's also the reason babies can cry so loud.

The above video is a clip from my first voice lesson. With the spacing and positioning between my coach and me, I look really small. This lady knows her stuff, and I have a lesson tomorrow. I'm really excited.

Besides that, today both my calves cramped up during 20 plus rounds of lighting/knock-out and 21 (basketball games).

Also, today a bunch of us watched a preaching webinar called "Preaching Rocket." It was very informative and helpful for me to become a better communicator.

Well, have a great night!

-Pradeepan

pradeepan jeeva 3/15/12 pradeepan jeeva 3/15/12

FIRST VOICE LESSON [Singing Blogrimage Day 3/30]

Had my first voice lesson with Jen McClure! She's a bright, bubbly and informed lady. Think of the stereotypical happy choir instructor. She is that times two. I'm really happy she's my coach during this 30 days.

Not only does she have an incredible upbeat attitude, she knows her stuff. I asked Amreitha to join our first session for quality control and to make sure she wasn't a creeper. She wasn't a creeper!

She did the following things for our first lesson:

Tested my range (I have a 3 octave range. She was impressed with this!)
Worked on my posture (She rolled my hips for me and told me not to thrust)
Tested my pitch (She said it was excellent!)

I liked the lesson and feel like I will improve.

Her words and assessment encouraged me (pitch and range), but I feel like she knows how I can grow.

On another note, I'm stoked that Allan Theobald came to visit! He's one of the white tshirts in the background of the video.

Also, I'm stoked that I preached my first sermon in Ignited tonight. 17 people gave their lives to Jesus! It was awesome.

I'm encouraged for all of these things!

-Pradeepan

pradeepan jeeva 3/13/12 pradeepan jeeva 3/13/12

FORMED A BAND [Singing Blogrimage Day 2/30]

Everything in this BLOGRIMAGE is leading up to April 12th!

On that day, I'm going to front a band and sing my heart and hopefully improved voice out.

To make this happen, I started a band with some friends from church. These guys are incredibly talented, so I think we will actually make some legit music.

The lady that was supposed to train me starting Monday couldn't make it, so I haven't had my first official voice lesson. I've just been singing and seeing how high I could go on my app.

On Friday, I'll have my first official lesson. I'm excited about that!

If you're in the Michigan area, or just want to fly out, come to my concert on THURSDAY, APRIL 12!

The location and time are still to be decided!

Happy Blogging!

-Pradeepan