At the concert’s conclusion, dinner was served. This venue was needed to hold its increasing membership, which rose from a few dozen to 80, according to the 1780 edition of The Gentleman’s Magazine and Historical Chronicle.Īnacreontic Society events, which occurred every other Wednesday, would begin with a concert featuring London musicians. Though Boyce was old and growing deaf, he nurtured Smith’s growing musical prowess, which saw him accepted into the Anacreontic Society (named after the ancient Greek poet Anacreon, who was known for lyrics about drinking and romance), an elite social club boasting such members as writers Samuel Johnson and James Boswell.įounded in the mid-1760s, the Anacreontic Society first met in various London taverns before relocating to the Crown and Anchor Tavern in the Strand. The son of a cathedral organist, Smith, as a young man, joined the Chapel Royal in London, where he received instruction from the composer William Boyce. Try for an even, shimmering vibrato when you hit the top note.The British composer’s identity was a subject of speculation until the 20th-century discovery of a manuscript that identified him as John Stafford Smith, a Gloucester native born in March 1750. Keep the same arpeggio, but sustain the top note. If this is challenging for you, try starting at the top of your range and working your way down. Make sure that you keep the sound light, and don’t pull too much weight up to the top notes. “EE” ArpeggioĪrpeggiate on a relaxed, open “EE” sound: C4-E4-G4-C5-G4-E4-C4, etc. Practice the double note bend over and over again, oscillating between C and Bb, if you’re singing in the key of F or D and C if you’re singing in the key of G. Let’s say you want to sing air with a double note bend. The best way to do this, aside from just long-term breath control work is to take apart the pop licks you want to learn and practice them over and over again. You’ll need to work on your vocal agility. Many contemporary singers opt to sing “The Star Spangled Banner” with pop licks, a la Whitney Houston. When NA NA becomes easy for you, switch to sustaining the top “NA.” Work on keeping the sound bright and energetic, but comfortable and relaxed. Make the NA NA’s as bratty-sounding as possible, and try to keep the sound consistent from low to high. You just have to use enough twang and breath support to make sure the sound doesn’t shift too dramatically from belt mix to head voice. If you can’t make it through the high notes on a belt, this doesn’t mean you can’t make it contemporary sounding. Try belting as high as possible on the exercise without straining. If you read this column regularly, it won’t be surprising to you that I’m going to use “NA NA NA” on an arpeggio as the exercise of choice for working on belting. Not-So-Instant Gratification Contemporary Exercises 1. Try doing sirens on an “EE” sound or sighing down from the top of your range to experience the openness and lightness. Emphasize the “EE” in red, glare, and air, so the words are closer to “rid,” “gleere,” and “eere.” This modification will kick the words into more of a heady, light sound while keeping the brightness.įor the word free, keep the sound open and light. The “a” vowel is a relatively easy one to do a healthy belt on. Emphasize the “a” sound in red, glare and air as much as possible. The lower the note, the less extreme the high notes will be!Īnother important modification that you should use no matter what style you’re singing the song in (unless you’re going for Irish punk) is to soften the “r” sound in glare, air, and there. The most important piece of advice I can give you when learning this song, particularly if you plan to sing it in a belted contemporary style, is to figure out the lowest note you can possibly hit effectively and make it the lowest note in the song. The biggest note in the song is sung on the word free, and a vowel as closed off as the “EE” sound doesn’t lend itself to belting very easily for many people. Glare, air, and there are particularly rough because of the harsh “r” sounds at the end of each word. When my students first start working on it, they ask me to make the beginning higher, but when I do, the high notes at the end become too high! To make matters worse, the high “money notes” in the song aren’t exactly easy words to sing. Simply put, its range is significant-over an octave and a half.