Welcome to the Listening Room

This is where you'll find sound files and downloadable lessons to supplement our class time.

Creating an arrangement
Listening excercise: download in pdf format
Listen to these 3 recordings of “Mood Indigo.” Make some brief notes on each arrangement to discuss in class.

Questions:

  

What is the overall mood of the piece?
How does the intro help to create this overall mood?
How long is the intro?
What is the groove of the tune? (Ballad, swing, bossa nova)
What is the instrumentation?
What is the song form?
How do they create variety in the piece? Rhythm breaks, kicks, modulations?
How do they end the song?
How does the vocalist create variety and make different sections sound different?
Boswell Sisters 3:13 (Shine on Harvest Moon)
Tony Bennett 4:34 (Sings Ellington Hot & Cool)
Nina Simone 4:01 (The Essential Nina Simone)

Here are some other interesting arrangements:

Susannah McCorkle 3:56 (the Songs of Johnny Mercer)
Holly Cole Trio 2:50 (Limited Edition)
Sting 3:14 ( Walking On the Moon)
Annie Ross 2:40 (Sings a Handful Of Songs)
Betty Buckley 3:39 (Heart to Heart)
Patricia Barber 4:15 (Modern Cool)
Carmen McRae 2:50 (It Takes A Whole Lot of Human Feeling)
Focus on Rhythm in singing
Here are 5 examples to listen to to demonstrate how singers use accurate rhythm. Remember to tap your toe while you're listening. Pay attention to rhythm patterns: how they're repeated, when the singer lags behind, how they catch up again. Try to hear figures: triplets, swing eights, etc. Put the groove in your body, hear the complex rhythmns, not just the quarter notes.
Nancy Wilson 2:20
Annie Ross 3:25
Louis Armstrong & Ella Fitzgerald 3:58
Dianne Reeves 5:34 (A Little Moonlight)
Gilberto Gil 3:45 (Acoustic)
Elise Regina 3:10

© 2011 Maye Cavallaro. All rights reserved.