Vocal approach challenge finale

Alas, the last week is here
This is the final week of Christina Aguilera's Singing Masterclass Vocal Approach Challenge. For this week's challenge, we had to record the final version of the song that we were working on for the last three weeks.You can take a listen to the song that I decided to work with for the last week of the challenge here.

(Although we were required to choose one song to work with, I inadvertently worked with a different song). Here a recap of my song selections and renditions:

Week 1 - Funk version of Roberta Flak's Killing Me Softly
Week 2 - The Platters' The Great Pretender
Week 3 - Rock version of The Beatles' Eleanor Rigby

My excitement spilleth over
I'm filled with an unending sense of excitement as I've never participated in a vocal challenge quite like this. I'm grateful for the opportunity as I learned a lot more about the thought process and time involved in creating, modifying and re-conceptualizing a song.

The value of practice, rediscovery and time
As a result of participating in this challenge, I relearned about the significance of the popular saying that constantly reminds us about the importance of continuous practice. I was also reminded about the significance of furthering the development of our skills, passions and interests - especially if we desire to take ourselves to the next level.

I also relearned about the importance of setting aside enough time to try different versions, or a different option of whichever task or challenge we undertake.

I wish you all good luck with whichever task or goal you aspire to achieve. Thank you for taking the time to read about my vocal experience, as well as for listening to my singing voice.

"What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals" ~ Zig Ziglar

Gimme a beat

This is the third week of Christina Aguilera's Singing Masterclass vocal challenge. This vocal challenge is becoming quite the challenge. Don't worry - I can handle it! 😉

For this week's challenge, we had to change the beat of a song. We could've chosen to decrease or increase the beat. I hoped that I would have been able to breeze through this week's challenge but as always, the path towards developing your skills is never paved with shimmering crystals.

Time for beat listening
I'm sure I spent 15-20 minutes listening to the blues, pop, ballad, rock and reggae loops provided by my songwriting Coursera professor. While I listened to the beats, I tried to create a new rhythm for the songs I had on my singing list for this week's challenge.

A salute to musical beats
As I listened to the loops, my admiration for musicians, composers, audio engineers and music producers increased. I also began to have a more in depth understanding of the intricacies that are involved in creating melodious beats and rhythms. It is pure magic and an absolute delight that a harmonious rhythm can be created by mixing and combining several musical instruments to create those perfect beats for the songs we love.

Transformation of the beat
After cycling through several songs, I finally found a new beat and a new rendition for the song I chose the vocal challenge - The Beatles "Eleanor Rigby" You can take a listen to my rendition here.

And so, the beat goes on! 😊