Pop: Practice

What Practical Preparation Did I Do

When we officially started our rehearsals, we sourced lyric sheets for each of the songs, and also used some of our early rehearsals to listen to each track, ensuring that we were familiar with each song we were performing.

What Musical Preparation Did I Do

A lot of our rehearsals involved recording our parts, ensuring that we could listen back to our progress and identify any improvements that may be needed. We also played along with the track, ensuring that we kept close to the original track, especially as our end goal was to perform as a pit band, with the performers needing our instrumental parts to be as close to the original track as possible.

How Did My Band Develop The Song

We didn't develop the track much, as again, our goal was to perform as a pit band, and our instrumental needed to be suitable for the performance, as well as match to the original versions of each track, as this is what the performers would've rehearsed with. 

What Role Did I Take In The Band

I took more of a backseat on this section, as I am usually a vocalist, yet the vocals for these tracks where being performed by the drama students. I played tambourine for the more upbeat songs, but I had to be ok with sitting back sometimes, as some of the tracks were very stripped back and minimalist, with no extra percussive parts. 

What Kind Of Performance Was This?

We performed as part of a pit band for a live performing arts showcase. The vocal parts were performed by drama students, with my band performing the instrumental parts behind the stage/set. 

What Were The Stylistic Traits For My Other Band Members?

2 of our songs were very upbeat, with fast, energetic drums and lots of extra percussion parts. These songs also feature brass and string instruments, who played small motifs and ornaments throughout the tracks. There as a lot of upbeat guitar too in each of these songs. One of the other songs was the complete opposite, being very minimal and withdraw. The drums in this song were very minimal, focusing on cymbals and resonance, with no extra percussion instruments being used. On top of this, the rest of the instrumentation focused on slow strings, with the violins as well as the guitar taking over, accompanied by a leading piano part. 

How Did We Decide Our Aims And Objectives

When we got the brief, we sat down and listened to the songs, ensuring that we were all familiar with each track, and also deciphering what instruments were featured in each track. After this we started rehearsing with the track, having the track as our guide to ensure we were rehearsing accurately, especially because our goal was to be part of a pit band. We built up our parts in rehearsals, ultimately rehearsing without the track as we went on. 

Two Examples Of How I Listened To The Opinions Of Others

Originally, me and my fellow vocalists were going to sing backing vocals on the tracks, however it was ultimately decided that we would play percussion instead, as the drama student had their own separate harmonies, so I ended up playing tambourine. On top of this, I took some direction from our drummer over what rhythms I should include, as he wanted the percussion to fit in more with the existing composition of the track. 

How Was The Order Of The Arrangement Decided?

We played each track as close to the original as possible, as we wanted the drama students to have as close to the track they rehearsed with as possible. As for the order of the tracks, that was decided as part of the program. We ended up playing the opening song, a song from Legally Blonde, then playing our other 3 songs to end the show, all from Little Shop of Horrors.

Videos of Rehearsal