January invoices will be emailed later today - let me know ASAP which January lessons you need to cancel, and send in payment to reserve your January lesson times.
There are no regular lessons tomorrow through January 1. Have a wonderful Winter Break, Happy Solstice, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!
There are some extra lesson times now posted on December 30 - sign up on the online calendar if you would like.
We will be moving to the fabulous new studio space in the basement by January 13 (maybe earlier). Same house, just a different room!
Take Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye and Rosemary Clooney singing and dancing to the songs of Irving Berlin, throw some Christmas in there and you've got the perfect holiday tradition.
Name That Tune
Challenge your sight-reading skills with the melodies below!
You've Got Rhythm
Practice your rhythm with some fun exercises below!
Check out the info below to learn about this song, and print out the sheet music to play or sing it for yourself!
Composer Spotlight:
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin is considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history. His life is a fascinating rags-to-riches story, and during his 60-year career he wrote 1,500 songs, 20 Broadway shows and 15 Hollywood musicals. Read more below!
Musical of the Week
White Christmas is a musical with songs by the great Irving Berlin. The title song "White Christmas" first appeared in the 1942 movie Holiday Inn, starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, and it won the Oscar in 1943 for best original song.
Eleven years later, in 1954, Bing Crosby again crooned his signature tune in the movie White Christmas. The film also starred Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen.
The story is about two WWII army veterans who become a famous song-and-dance team, scheme to save their former commanding officer's Vermont inn, and fall in love along the way.
In 2004, a stage version of the musical was first produced, and it appeared on Broadway in 2008-2009.
Semi-occluded vocal tract (SOVT) exercises is just a technical way to say that we are singing while the mouth is partly closed.
The benefit of SOVT exercises is that when the mouth is closed, increased back pressure reflects back at the lips to the vocal folds, to help the folds vibrate with more ease and less effort.
The practice originates with voice therapists to help people who have vocal pathologies, but the exercises are also very useful for singers with healthy voices.
Some of the SOVT exercises we do are lip trills, humming on consonants like M, N, V and Z, and my favorite:
straw phonation.
Have fun sight-reading these folk tunes! Do you recognize them?
You've Got Rhythm!
Here are some exercises for rhythm practice - good luck!
Composer Spotlight: Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin (1888-1989) wrote the songs for White Christmas, and over 30 other musicals, and was nominated for an Academy Award eight times. His songs are a huge part of the Great American Songbook, a canon of influential popular songs and jazz standards from the early 20th century. Born in the Russian Empire, he emigrated to the United States with his family at the age of 5. He has had chart-topping songs 25 times, including White Christmas, Happy Holiday, Puttin' on the Ritz, There's No Business Like Show Business, and God Bless America.