Evaluating the preparation process

I believe that my preparation was somewhat successful in improving my vocal performance. It helped me to reach notes that I am not usually comfortable with and with my tone. This is what I did during my preparation process:

Technical exercises

• Ssss control - breath in for four beats, hold for four beats and let out the breath in a sss sound for 8 - 16 beats progressively going up - It really helped me as a singer because it showed me how i was progressing in my breath control.
• Jack's house - say these lines in one breath: This is the house that Jack built (Breath) This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built (Breath) This is the mouse that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built (Breath) This is the cat that killed the mouse that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built (Breath) this is the dog that worried the cat that killed the mouse that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built (Breath) this is the cow with the crooked horn that tossed the dog that worried the cat that killed the mouse that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built (Breath). - This warm up helped me gain confidence to hold my longer notes
• Tongue twisters - For example 'Betty brought some butter but the butter Betty brought was bitter so Betty brought some better butter than the butter Betty brought before.' - This warm up helped me know how to enunciate while i sing because some of my words were getting lost in my singing.
• Down the road - singing 'down the road I go' from the middle of your range to the bottom then sing 'up the road I go' from the middle of your range - this helped me practice my range and also see if i can increase my range.
• pitch change - practice a song (in your repertoire) with pitch changes e.g. Human by Rag n bone man - this exercise allowed me to see which songs worked in my range and which didn't, it also allowed me to practice my songs a little more. 
• bad mommy - 'Mummy made me mush my M&Ms' using a half octave scale (ascending and descending).- this really helped me to match the pitching of my voice to my back track
• warm it up - 'Every time I get the opportunity to warm up my voice I'm going to warm it up, warm it up, every time I get the opportunity to warm up my voice. You're going to hear me sing 'ye-ah' 'ye-ah' 'ye-ah' 'ye-ah' (ascending in your range). - this allowed me to practicevon the higher note in my chest range and also practice in my head voice.

Physical exercises

• Face message- first off message your cheeks with your finger tips then begin to add a lip roll  - this helped me to lessen the tension in my muscles when I perform in front of people, this is because when I perform to people my muscles tense up.
• chew and show - mmmm (chew)  < change on clap que> wah wah wah (tongue out) - this helped me to stretch the muscles in my face and throat which helped me have better diction and helped me
• FEAST!!! - mime eating as much as you can as wide as you can. - this helped me not only release tension in my face and arm muscles, it also helped me feel more comfortable performing 

What went wrong?

I think the thing that tripped me up was that I changed my set last minute, therefore I didn't have time to practice those songs as much as i would like to. This led me to mess up on words and also jumble lyrics in places because i wasn't confident with those songs (imela & A-team) this also caused me to tense up on-stage and sing with more of a nasal element. I also found it hard to know when to breath so that my notes won't go flat because I hadn't practiced as much as I would like to.

What will I do next time?

next time I will try and stick with my set by a certain date so that I know I have time to practice each song until I feel they are up to scratch and when I get there, i will rehearse some more in front of an audience so that i can learn to be more confident about my songs and song choices.