成人快手

Using expression in music

Cartoon Polystyrene from the punk band X-Ray Specs pointing to the text across the page.

Many songs have meaning or tell stories. Sometimes they make us feel happy, energetic or sad.

A singer has to perform a song in a way that helps the listener understand the feeling and emotion of the song.

To do this they use .

Cartoon Polystyrene from the punk band X-Ray Specs pointing to the text across the page.
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How does this song make you feel?

As a singer, this is a good question to ask ourselves before we perform.

Can you think of song that makes you feel lively?

Or a song that makes you feel calm?

Changing not only the way we sing, but in music can change the feel and emotion of a song. Let's find out more!

Watch: Feel and emotion featuring Nina Simone

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How do we add expression?

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Have you ever noticed, if you're reading a story, you might often change your voice to match the character or feeling in the story?

Sometimes at the scary parts, we get quieter. Or in the exciting bits, make the words really choppy.

We can do this in singing, to add expression to a song. The two important ways to do this are with:

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What is diction?

Diction is how we pronounce the words or say the letters in the lyrics to a song.

This helps our audience hear what we are singing about, so they can follow the story or message in our performance.

It's especially important in a choir. If people sing at different times, with incorrect diction, it can sound messy.

Watch: Singing with diction

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The letters s and t can be tricky sounds to sing well.

Breathing deeply and steadily, can help with singing them.

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What are dynamics?

A picture of piano equals P and forte equals f

When we sing, being able to adjust the volume or dynamics of our voice, makes our performance even better.

In music, Italian terms are written to show the dynamics (volume) we need to sing with.

The two most common are:

  • Piano - which means quiet and is written as 'p'.

  • Forte - which means loud and is written as 'f'.

A picture of piano equals P and forte equals f
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Activities

Singing with dynamics challenge

A cartoon of Ella Fitzgerald singing into a microphone.

Pick a song you know well and start singing this as loudly as you can, without shouting.

Now as you sing, get quieter on each line until you are at a whisper.

Try singing again, only this time start quiet and get louder. But remember not to shout.

Is it easier to sing loudly or quietly?

The bathroom or shower is a great place to practice this!

A cartoon of Ella Fitzgerald singing into a microphone.
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Quiz

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Play fun and educational primary games in science, maths, English, history, geography, art, computing and modern languages.

Bitesize Primary games
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More on Singing

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