🎶 Week 2: Dive into the Rhythm
This week we’ll anchor rhythm, phrase pacing, and breath flow. The lilting quality of Se tu m’ami needs steady rhythm underneath its playful character.
📅 Daily Assignments
Day 8 – Speaking in Rhythm
Speak the text in rhythm, keeping the beat gentle but steady. Notice the sway of the phrases.
Prompt: Which word felt hardest to place in rhythm?
📌 Cohort Check: Post a rhythm-reading clip; comment on a peer’s pacing.
🎧 Resource: Use Appcompanist (adjust tempo/key) or a YouTube piano practice track of Se tu m’ami for pitch/pulse support.
Day 9 – Breath Mapping
Mark natural breath spots in your score. This aria should feel conversational, not over-breathed.
Prompt: Where did you take your first breath, and why?
📌 Cohort Check: Swap breath maps with a peer—did their strategy feel easier or harder?
Day 10 – Neutral Syllable Singing
Sing melody in rhythm on “la/na.” Keep it flowing and even.
Prompt: Did rhythm feel easier without text?
📌 Cohort Check: Post one phrase; ask peers if it kept the lilting quality.
Day 11 – Lip Trill Phrases
Lip trill each phrase, then repeat on a neutral syllable.
Prompt: Which phrase revealed the biggest challenge for air pacing?
📌 Cohort Check: Start a Trill Tag—post one trilled phrase and tag a peer to echo.
🧠 Technique Focus: Lip trills condition breath-to-sound balance and prepare you for the exact phrase lengths in the piece.
Day 12 – Neutral Syllable Flow
Sing the whole aria on a neutral syllable, following your breath plan.
Prompt: Which section flowed most easily?
📌 Cohort Check: Share your smoothest section; peers reply with one descriptive word (flowing / lilting / steady).
Day 13 – Add Text in Rhythm
Speak in rhythm once, then sing one or two phrases with text.
Alternate neutral syllable ↔ text for consistency.
Prompt: Which felt steadier—syllable or text?
📌 Cohort Check: Post your chosen phrase with text; peers note if consonants slowed you down or stayed light.
Day 14 – Rhythm Checkpoint
Speak the whole text in rhythm; sing the whole aria on neutral syllable; add text to first phrase.
Prompt: How has your rhythm changed since Day 8?
📌 Cohort Check: Reflect in your thread; reply to two peers with encouragement or tips.
🎭 Fun Along the Way (Cohort Edition)
Rhythm Relay: Each singer posts a rhythm clip, slightly faster than the last.
Breath Map Debate: Vote on whose map makes the lilting character most natural.
Metronome Buddies: Post a clip with track/metronome; peers “score” it: steady / flexible / needs work.
📚 Scholarly Lens (Week 2 – Se tu m’ami)
“Even in simple song forms, rhythm is not merely mechanical but expressive. The gentle pulse allows the words to dance, revealing layers of affection, irony, or playfulness.”
— Helding, Lynn. The Musician’s Mind: Teaching, Learning, and Performance in the Age of Brain Science. Rowman & Littlefield, 2020.
✨ By the end of Week 2 you will:
Speak text in rhythm with ease
Have a practical breath map
Sing melody on a neutral syllable in rhythm
Use lip trills to condition phrase pacing
Begin joining text + rhythm
11 replies
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Day 8: As preparation for speaking the song in rhythm, I spoke it in rhythm using whatever sounds wanted to be sounded and then I did it again conducting with "expressive" conducting (cueing how it should be sung - this at the suggestion of my teacher). The recording I am attaching is the first time through speaking the text in rhythm. There were quite a few pronunciation errors, and a couple of spots I need to double check how the text lines up with the notes. The score my teacher sent me has the text a little close together in some places! For me the trickiest rhythm spot was measure 39 and 40. It's fine speaking in rhythm, but adding the extra layer of lyrics threw me off. That place was also a little challenging with the word combination of degli-uomini.
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Day 9: Breath Mapping...The first breath is between "se tu m'ami" and "se tu sospiri" because of the comma which indicates a natural pause, and also my desire to sing from "se tu sospiri" all the way to "pastor" on one breath. If a breath is needed in that section, it would be betwen a sixteenth note and an eighth note which, though possible, is challenging. Generally speaking, breath will happen in four measure groupings with occasional two measure groups when it facilitates a more natural flow.
One step which my teacher has me go through which is not here is to play the vocal line on the piano until I know it really well. So, I'm doing that as well, and humming the tune as I go about my day.
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Day 10: Neutral Syllable, one phrase
Rhythm was easier without text! I still have a couple of spots that need rhythm work - if I focus just on rhythm, it's fine, but when I add anything else it's not fine! So those spots need focused work and then they'll be good. Here is one section on "la." (side note, if I sit at piano and ghost the notes I remember the pitches better - this will translate into better note memory when I'm away from the piano if I let myself learn this way.)
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Day 11: Phrase trilling - (Note: I do tongue trills but not lip trills with my teacher, so I did this day with tongue trills). The most challenging phrase for breath pacing was "se tu sospiri...pastor." There is a crescendo, a ritardando, along with a fermata at the end of the phrase.
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Day 12: The smoothest section is between "ho dolor...dei tuoAmor."
Since there's no one here in my cohort to check in with, I'll plan to record next on Sunday just for a checkpoint and to encourage myself to continue with the plan.
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Day 13: I've worked through about half of the song with text (sung), but am much more comfortable right now with a neutral syllable. I also noticed that the score my teacher sent me has a slightly different rhythm in one measure and the dynamic and other directions are different from the score provided here.
Tomorrow I'll plan to sing the first phrase or two with text, but the rest on a neutral syllable. I've also found an accompaniment in the key I'm learning this in, which has been quite helpful.