Here is my first video to a cover of Jill Scott's song 'getting in the way'. The genre is soul & r'n'b. I used a backing track for this. This is one of my favorite songs to sing as I can express myself to this and it also brings out my alter ego. It shows a lot of 'attitude' which you can do a lot of hand gestures to.
Jill Scott herself and Vidal Davis are the writers of this song.
It was written at the end of 1999 and released in the beginning
of the year 2000. It was wrote for the 'who is Jill Scott? Words
and sounds' album which is an album about a strong woman who is fearless. This
definitely can be portrayed in this particular song as she talks about standing
her own ground.
The next song is an original written by me called 'That’s how I
(no worries)' it’s about a girl who’s looking for love but doesn't want to be treated
like a princess which is ironic because most girls love and want to be treated
like this ideal 'princess' fairy tale type. I accompanied myself on the piano
for this. I wrote this in October 2011 for my E.P 'Sinister' and it fit
perfectly as I have relations to the famous crime couple 'Bonnie and Clyde' in
this song. I chose to perform this piece as it shows a different side to
me and it also helps me feel an emotion on stage. There is not much gestures
and movement for this song, I chose to be in a neutral position for this to
symbolise a 'lost lover'.
I also chose the song 'Un-break my heart' (written by Diane
Warren) sang by Toni Braxton which completely contrasts my original song 'that’s
how I (no worries) as it appears to be more heartfelt and more in relation to
'wanting good love'. The song was released in 1996 for her second album
'secrets'. I chose this song to sing because it brings out more of my
feminine side and also it shows my low rage and my soft falsettos. I sang
this to a karaoke backing track on YouTube which didn't really do me justice as
it played the melody on the track. I used good mic technique by when arriving
to the high notes I would step further away from the mic.
The next song I chose was 'Blue Jeans' written and sang by Lana
Del Rey. It was wrote in the year 2011 and released in May 2012. The reason why
I chose to sing this indie pop & alternative hip hop style song as I feel I
can connect more with the style as it fuses elements of funk, rock and even
folk which makes me more versatile. This song is about two young adults falling
in love. Lana talks about how she grew up listening to hip-hop and hanging out
with gangsters, whereas the guy is more of a punk. The second she sees him, she
likes him and they begin dating. He leaves to go sell drugs and make some cash
but eventually gets caught. Another reason why I chose to sing this song as it’s
appears to be your 'average' love song but also has a hint of tragic which
makes it diverse. I performed this using a backing track as there were certain
instruments and rhythms/melodies in it that would have been quite difficult to
do with a live band. Again this was not much of a movement song but Morley an
expressive type which involved 'telling a story with your eyes' to the
audience.
Another song I chose was an original written by me called 'Beloved
Killer'. This song is about a girl who has high hopes and dreams for her
relationship to go well but lately finds out her partner is a killer. ‘Killer’
metaphorically for a heart breaker who means he broke her heart unexpectedly. I
wrote this last year 2011 for my E.P ‘Sinister’ as well. Again I chose to sing
this to bring out more of a ‘sinister’ side. I used a live band with this song
which consists of a pianist, bassist, guitarist and the obvious a vocalist. It
took only a week to prepare this as it is a clear arrangement and I gave
printed sheets of music.
Another song I chose was the famous ‘Summer time’ written by
George Gershwin and covered by many artists such as Ray Charles, Ella
Fitzgerald and David Elliot etc. I chose to do this as an accapella as it is a
song that can have a lot of space and time to breathe. The audience can digest
what the song is really about by doing this. I chose this song to not only have
time to breathe but to bring the audience more on my side. When performing this
I had my eyes closed for the beginning and when going higher into the second
verse ‘One morning you’re going to rise up singing’ I looked directly at
someone in the audience and used hand gestures.
The next song I chose was ‘Haunted’ sung by Rihanna written by
Evan Rogers. I made up my own chords for this and accompanied myself of the
keyboard to bring it more to my in particular style. I chose this song because I
adore the dark poetic lyrics. I personally feel like this song is about a
couple where the man’s old lover has died. It makes me feel like the ‘other
woman’ that Rihanna is referring to is dead, which may be why the man has such
trouble letting go of her which she mentions ‘I can’t compete with a memory’.
Furthermore, another song I chose was an original by me called ‘My
way’. This song is quite similar lyrically wise to the first song I did, Jill
Scott ‘Getting in the way’ because the lyrics are very demanding. I wrote this
song in April 2012. The song is about ‘being in control’ and having things done
‘your way’ in whatever situation it could be. I performed this song with a full
band which worked very well especially with the half time effect which I went
into a soft falsetto with. The song was roughly about 120bpm on the verses
which I showed aggression and movement within these sections then when it came
into the chorus (half time effect) I then became softer with my vocals and
movement. The reason I chose to sing this song is because it has a nice tempo
to keep the audience up and entertained.
Another song I chose to do was ‘All the things she said’ by TaTu.
It was released on 18 September 2002 by Interscope Records. It is about the
relationship between the two girls and describes the effects of not being able
to stop thinking about each other. The song is a mid-tempo pop rock song that
draws influences of electronic, europop, R&B and hard rock music. The song
did cause controversy in many countries. However, I did this song in my own
version which is called ‘All the things he said’ and I used my own chords but
still kept a remainder of some lyrics. The reason I chose to sing this song as I
love the feeling and emotion I put behind when putting it across. I feel the
audience can relate to the fact of ‘not being able to stop thinking about
someone’. I accompanied myself on the keyboard with this so the audience doesn’t
get too distracted by the synthesizers and electronic things in the backing
track and can focus on more of the lyrics and message behind the song.
The next song I chose was ‘Cry’ by Rihanna which has a similar
emotion to ‘All the things she said’. I accompanied myself on the keyboard and
had just a bassist. I chose to have a bassist as I loved the bass line on the
actual track and I felt it would have lost its element if I hadn’t included it
in.
My next song is an original by me called ‘Save me’. I got
inspiration from ‘A change is coming’ by Al Green with the melody and also in
this song I do some scatting in the bridge which is very similar. I chose this
song to sing to show versatility in my writing.
Finally, the last song I did was ‘Loving you’ by Minnie Riperton.
The song was written in 1975. Minnie Riperton was best known for her vocal
range of five-and-a-half octaves. I chose this song as I’m able to hit the high
note which is an F#7. To hit that note I needed to be able to learn how to sing
really low which I did which is show in ‘un-break my heart’ where I reached a
note of D3. When performing ‘Loving you’ I stood with my feet apart in line
with my shoulders and back straight so I could reach the notes. I performed
this as an accapella with gave me enough time to breathe deeply and it gave the
song more space. It was good to hear the transitions in my voice between my
head and chest voice which blended in nicely.
In conclusion, I feel the songs really defined what type of
musician I am which is a soulful, alternative hip hop and R&B musician with
very dark poetic lyrics. I will then chose 4 of these songs, two contrasting
covers and two contrasting originals for my 20 minute solo performance in
class.
