Singers - How to Work With a Practice Track By Annette Butters

So you are a singer and you want to learn a new song, or maybe improve a song that is already in your repertoire. The likely scenario is there isn't rehearsal pianist available, or you cannot afford to pay for one right now, or the friend who offered to play through the part with you says it's just too difficult - so you are not singing at the tempo you want, nor are you really getting a feel for the song. At this point you might consider using a practice track to work with. This will at least enable you to sing through the song and work on specific areas before finding a good pianist.

In order to get the most out of a practice track there are several things you need to consider before singing a note. Firstly, get yourself a quality track. It needs to be played naturally allowing for correct breathing and phrasing, it needs a good piano sound so it feels close to the real thing and it needs to be a good representation of the song you are studying. Avoid heavily quantized accompaniments or a poor piano sound without colour or tone. Ideally find an accompaniment which offers at least a separate melody line and maybe the melody and accompaniment together as well.

Armed with your track, listen to a variety of singers perform the song and take note of the different interpretations. Make a few observations. The tempos are bound to differ, which do you prefer and why? Is the intonation good, are there extra cuts or pauses? Are they effective? Is the song getting through to you, is the singer sincere? If so, why, or why not as the case may be.

Find the lyrics (and ideally the sheet music). Now read through the lyrics. Carefully. If you are preparing a song for musical theatre, put the lyrics into context now. Find out about the song. Where does it appear in the show? What is the synopsis? Who sings it and why.

By now you may well have an idea where you want to go with the song. However, you have a way to go still. Get your practice track. Play the accompaniment and follow through with the lyrics or sheet music. If you don't read music well, no problem, just follow the shapes. Think of the music as patterns. Generally what you hear is represented by the shapes on the page anyway. Now play the melody track if you have one. This is more of a problem as it is difficult to represent exactly what a singer may sing so many melody tracks are simplified to a large degree, however they give a fair representation of the melody and they will help you pitch the notes correctly.

Now listen to the accompaniment track with melody combined. This is where you can take note of awkward pick ups, essential piano cues and where and how the notes fit. Although you will sing the song in your own style, use the guide to tighten things up in your own mind.

Now, sing the song with the accompaniment. Chances are there are a few corners where you are uncertain of how it goes, that is the time to return to you accompaniment and melody guide. Eventually, you will have sorted the song out and after several repetitions, start to know it and experiment a little with your interpretation. The bonus of a live pianist is by now you can say you want to change a tempo perhaps, or make a pause longer, because the song is really taking shape. Not everyone is in that happy position so the next step could be to order yourself a custom version of the same track...