Often – not always – part of what is in the video is also in the text.
That’s because;
- you don’t always want to watch an entire video when you’re just looking for a specific bit of information (checklists in particular);
- and often there’s text explaining things from a video in greater detail;
- and repetition is the way to learn!
In short, you’ll need both!
A SONG YOU LIKE
What to do when you hear a new song that you like?
1 Composer
Find out, if necessary through Google for example, who the composer of this tune is. This allows you to find an original source, which will help you to learn the basic melody. It’s best to know the basic melody of a song. Otherwise, you might learn an arrangement or adaptation of the song.
2 Original score
Now that you know the composer – try to find an original score. When you know how to read music you can check the Real Books or songbooks by the composer. If you don’t, you can ask your vocal coach to help you in your search.
If you insist on doing everything yourself but you can’t read sheet music, find as many different renditions of the song possible; this will ‘filter out’ the changes made by the individual artists. The older renditions are usually closer to the original. Or learn to read sheet music – well enough to be able to find your notes on a keyboard or keyboard app for example. The basics of it are in the theory guide of the toolbox.
3 Original melody
Learn the original melody. If you can’t read, ask your vocal coach to help you, so you can learn it by ear. Or find ‘old’ renditions – for the American Songbook ‘old’ renditions are from the period before to 1970 – on YouTube for example. Frank Sinatra is an excellent source – he always ‘just’ sings the melody. Ella Fitzgerald sometimes makes some variations, but she’s still an excellent source. This is an essential starting point to later find your very own rendition of the song.
4 Listen to many renditions
Listen to many different renditions of the song to get an ear for what you like, so you can develop your own style through combining different things you like from different artists.
Assignment
Choose a song you don’t yet know and do your own research.
