How to Sing on Beat - Ask Aussie Ep2

Опубликовано: 04 Ноябрь 2024
на канале: Aussie Vocal Coach

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Hi my name is Ian Castle and welcome to episode 2 of my video series Ask Aussie where I answer questions sent in by my subscribers.

This question comes from Fola Kotun.

"If you can help with timing that would be great. How does one decide the right time to come in. On beat 1,2,3 or 4. Or does it not matter?"

Great question Fola.

I've been playing piano my entire life so rhythm and music structure comes very easy to me however there are many singers who don't have that experience and it can seem quite confusing. I remember doing a musical when I was 19 that my Dad was also a part of. He had a solo in one of the songs but he never knew when to come in. I had to tap him on the shoulder and that was his cue to start.

So in answer to your question yes it does matter when you come in. If you come in on let's say beat one but it's supposed to be beat three you will be out of time with the structure, the chord changes of the music. The melody you are singing will be out of sync.

So how do you know which beat you are supposed to be singing on? An understanding of basic music theory Is such a valuable skill for every singer. It would take a series of videos to cover the essential elements of music theory for singers but I will try to give you a basic understanding of how beat patterns work.

Music is divided into sections called bars. These bars consist of a number of beats. The number of beats in each bar can be 2,3,4,6 for example. The way to count the beats is determined by how many beats are in each bar. If there are 3 you would count 1,2,3 1,2,3 continuously. 4 beats in the bar would be 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 and so on. The notes of the melody are governed by these beats.

Here is a song example. Let's take the song Falling Slowly. You can see the music is divided into bars and within these bars are 4 beats. The first word "I" comes in on beat one. This is how it should sound in time with the piano:

Watch the video demonstration

Now if I wasn't aware that I had to come in on beat one and came in on beat two the melody would be out of sync with the piano and there would be a clash of tone. It would sound like this:

Watch the video demonstration

So you can see that it is important to have an understanding of music structure. Of course you can rely on someone else to tell you when to come in, or in my Dads case a tap on his shoulder but I would encourage you to learn some music theory. If there is enough interest I can create a video series which will teach singers how to read music. Let me know in the comments below if that's something you want me to do.

I hope that helps you Fola. If anyone else would like me to record a video on a specific topic make sure you are subscribed to this channel as I will post a message asking for your ideas weekly. If you got some value out of this lesson please hit the like button and leave me a comment. Bye for now.