Vocals in pop ballads

Hello and welcome to today's lesson titled, "Vocals in Pop Ballads". My name's Mr. Norris, and today we're gonna really be honing in on how melody is used in pop ballads and in particular how vocalists and singers throughout the duration of the genre have sung in different ways and used different techniques to really enhance the message of their songs. So let's get into it. The outcome for today's lesson is I can compose and develop an idiomatic vocal melody for a pop ballad. Some keywords. Rubato, and this is when a performer slightly changes the tempo to add expression. Vibrato. Vibrato is a technique in which the pitch fluctuates up and down slightly to add intensity and expression. Melismatic or melisma. Melismatic singing is when a singer sings more than one note, often many notes, during a syllable of a word. It's also called melisma. And finally, phrase structure. The phrase structure is the pattern of phrases in a melody. It should have a balance of repetition and contrast. The first part of today's lesson is focused on vocal melodies in pop ballads. In pop ballads, the vocals and the melody are very expressive and singers use various techniques to enhance the emotion of the lyrics. As we know, often the lyrics' from romantic or sentimental themes and the singers want to enhance that mood. We're gonna listen to two examples here. I'd like to think about how you would describe the tone of the singers in these examples, so the vocal tone, the sound they're producing. And secondly, I'd like to try and just pick out what happens on the word man in excerpt one and there in excerpt two. So you can pause my video and see if you can answer those two questions. Well done then if you correctly identified that the singers use vibrato, the notes shake or vibrate, and they stretch the syllables over more than one note. So those two words, man and there, that was an example of melisma where the singers are using more than one note for one syllable. A mixture of both syllabic, that's when every syllable has its own note, and melismatic singing and the use of vibrato are common vocal techniques. Long sustained notes also allows singers to add expression to the melody as well. So that's a really common feature of pop ballad vocals. Melismatic singing is where the singer sings more than one note to a syllable. Syllabic singing is where each syllable has a separate note. I'd like to pause my video and listen to this clip. Which words are melismatic in this example? So which words have more than one note per syllable? You can pause my video and have a listen. So well done if you identified that the words need, I and you are melismatic words in that example where the singer sings more than one note for each of those syllables. The second you're gonna pause my video and have a listen to these four clips. I'd like you to identify the two that feature melisma. So you can pause my video and give this your best shot. So really well done if you identified that it was C and D that featured melisma, the other two did not, they were purely syllabic, but those two were melismatic. Vibrato is a technique in which the pitch fluctuates up and down slightly to add intensity and expression. It's used on many wind and string instruments, as well as vocals. And it sounds like the note is gently shaking or vibrating. The word vibrato is quite close to vibrate, so that's a way to remember that. And I'll play you two little clips here. The first sound has no vibrato on it at all. The second sound you'll hear slightly vibrating moving up and down in pitch. Here's the first one with no vibrato. (flute blowing) Now, the second one with vibrato. (flute blowing) So you can hear there that constant fluctuation in pitch and the intensity of the sound. And that's done in that example on a flute by varying the amount of air that has been blown. The singer can intensify the vibrato at the emotional climax of the song, and this adds intensity and expression to the sustained note. So this is a good way of adding intensity into the vocal melody. You can pause my video and just have a quick listen to that example. And although vibrato is a common and easily identifiable technique, not all singers use it. It's very much a personal technique thing. Listen to this example here and you'll notice that there's no vibrato at all in the vocals. Just pause my video and have a quick listen. Let's check your understanding. Which of these vocalists uses vibrato? Pause my video, listen to the three clips and try and pick out the correct answer. And the correct answer here then is example A. That one used vibrato, the other two did not. Well done if you identified that. Final thing we're gonna look at is rubato, and this is when a performer slightly changes the tempo to add expression. There's again, a really common technique. They might sing the melody slightly faster or slightly slower within the pulse of the music. So the underlying tempo won't really change, but they will slightly change the melody to add emphasis or expression. I'm gonna play you two versions of the same melody here. I'd like you to identify which one uses rubato. In which one does the tempo feel like it slightly changes to add some expression? Here's version one. (gentle music) Now, version two. (gentle music) So hopefully you managed to hear there that in version two, there was an example of rubato, because the tempo slows down slightly at the end and that adds that nice expression to the ending of the melody. A common way of using it is at the end to help, again, create this sense of closure and this calm ending. I've already shown you one example, but now have a listen to this example from a pop ballad of the same technique being used. You can pause my video. As well as using it at the end of songs, vocalists can also use it throughout songs. Listen to this example from a pop ballad where the tempo varies to add expression to the lyrics during the song. Pause my video and have a listen. Let's check your understanding. What is rubato? You can pause my video while you think of your answer. And the correct answer then is, rubato is when a performer slightly changes the tempo to add expression. Well done if you got that. Why does singers and instrumentalist use rubato? Is it to make a song more lively, to make sure their in time as a band or to add expression and emotion? I'll give you a few seconds. And the correct answer here is to add expression and emotion. The purpose of rubato is all about that expression and emotion. For task A, you're gonna listen to each extract and complete the table by ticking or crossing each vocal feature. There are three extracts to listen to and for each one, I'd like to identify if you hear melismatic singing, syllabic singing, vibrato or rubato. So tick or cross in each box as you go. You can pause my video now, give this task your best shot. Okay, let's review that. So in extract one, there were examples of both melismatic and syllabic singing, but there was no vibrato and no rubato. In extract two, again, there was melismatic and syllabic singing and there was vibrato and rubato. And then finally, in extract three, there was melismatic and syllabic singing. There was vibrato, but no rubato. So well done if you correctly got those and identified those features in each clip. For the second part of the lesson, we're looking at writing a simple melody. When writing a melody for a song, we need to consider the meaning of the lyrics. Does the melody suit the emotion or the meaning of the words? The pattern of syllables. Do the rhythms of the words fit naturally with the melody? And the phrase structure. Is there a balance of repetition and contrast in the melody? Matching the emotion of the lyrics is important. Consider these sad or sorrowful lyrics. You were my forever, but forever's gone. Now I'm just holding, holding on. And the mood of those is quite sad, it's quite mournful. It feels like something has been lost. I'm gonna show you them now sung to quite a bright, upbeat, joyful melody. ♪ You were my forever, but forever's gone ♪ ♪ Now I'm just holding, holding on ♪ And now let's hear it with a melody that uses legato notes and a descending melodic shape. ♪ You were my forever ♪ ♪ But forever's gone ♪ ♪ Now I'm just holding on ♪ So you can hear there, and it's slightly exaggerated contrast obviously. It's unlikely that you would sing those lyrics with that first melody, but the point to be made here is that it's really important that the shape and the feel of the melody, the character of the melody, matches the lyrics. And this second one matches the feeling of sadness much more suitably, much more effectively. Now, an effective phrase structure balances repetition and contrast. A melody that's too repetitive will sound uninteresting, whereas one that has too much contrast won't sound coherent. So finding the balance between the two is really important. An effective phrase structure might look like AABA, AABB or ABAB. And all of those have some repetition and some contrast. So those are all good examples of balance of the two. I'd like you to listen to this really well-known pop melody. What is the structure of the phrases in this melody? And try and describe it using a similar format. So AABA, ABCA, something like that with four letters. You can pause my video while you have a listen. So the phrase structure in that was ABAC. It started with an A phrase, then went to a different B phrase, repeated the A phrase again and then went to a third and different C phrase. So we've got there a balance of some repetition of the A phrases, but also some contrast with the B and C phrases. Well done if you identified that. Here's how we write a simple melody. We're gonna start by creating some two bar phrases based on repetition. Let's have a look at how we do that. The first step when creating a vocal melody for a pop ballad is to think about the message of the lyrics and the overall mood and emotion that it creates. In the lyrics that I'm using here, there's an overwhelming sense of nostalgia, of sadness, of sort of yearning. So I want to try and create a melody and music that matches that emotion and that mood. If you're using different lyrics, really consider the mood and try and mirror that in the melody that you're creating. Once we've done that, we're gonna actually look at how we create the melody itself. Now, there's a few ways we can do this. The first, if you're a confident singer, is you can have a go at improvising melodic ideas based on the words. What I would do if you were doing that, is to put, for example, the first two bars on loop and just improvise lots of different melodic ideas based on that first line of text until you find something that matches and sounds quite good. We're gonna do it a slightly different way, which is by creating the melody on an instrument and then we're gonna adapt it to our lyrics afterwards. To begin with, we're gonna look at my first two bars. So my first two bars, I've got the chord C and G. C is C, E and G. (gentle music) And G is G, B, and D. (gentle music) Those are my two different chords, and I've created a new track here. It doesn't really matter what instrument you use, as long as it's something where you can hear the melodic notes quite well, 'cause we're gonna adapt it to a voice afterwards. Now, we've got four lines of text to fit across eight bars. So that means that each line of text is gonna correspond to two bars of our chord sequence. So I'm gonna make two bar phrases. The first thing I'm gonna do, is I'm gonna put my first two bars on loop, and I'm just gonna try and improvise some melodic ideas based around the notes of the chords. So I know that the first half of my two bar phrase is gonna be based around the notes of C, that's C, E and G. (gentle music) And then the second half is gonna be based around the notes of G, so that's G, B, and D. (gentle music) And I'm gonna try and mirror those notes as I'm moving through that phrase, but I might add some passing notes in as well to make it sound a bit more melodic. So I'm just gonna improvise, see what I can come up with. (charming music) Here we go. (charming music continues) So lots of different ideas there. There was some that were ascending, some descending, some doing a mix of both. Most of it was moving by step, but I also added some leaps in there as well. And I've come up with an idea that I think I quite like there, which is this one. So I'm gonna record it in. (computer ticking) (charming music) So that's my first melodic idea there, and we've got ascending and then a big descending phrase as well. So that's my first phrase. And as we're making our melody, we want to be bearing in mind that we need to balance repetition and contrast. A good phrase structure has a balance of repeated ideas, but also contrasting ideas. So the first thing I'm gonna do here is I'm gonna try and now have a bit of repetition in here and I'm gonna create a similar two bar phrase, but this time, bar three and four were based on an F chord. So I'm gonna need to try and create that shape and that rhythm, but based on the notes of an F chord so that it sounds like it's a repeated idea. So let's press play. (charming music) So my F chord is F, A and C. (charming music continues) So there's a few different ideas there that have all tried to create that same shape of going up and then down and a long held sustained note. I've got one that I think works, so I'm gonna record it in. (charming music) Here we go. (charming music continues) Now, if we listen to those first two phrases, we should hear that they sound like a repeated idea, even though they're based over different chords. Here we go. (charming music) The next step is to create some contrasting two bar phrases. Now let's have a look at how we do that. Now let's look at creating some phrases that contrast. So far my phrases are based on repetition, so I've got the same melodic idea in this one as I do in this one. I've adapted it slightly to fit the other chords, but it's fundamentally the same shape, which is ascending and then descending to a long sustained note at the end. Now, as we know, a good phrase structure balances repetition and contrast. So so far I've got repetition. We might say that's A, A and now I want a B phrase here. So I'm gonna create something that contrasts. I'm gonna try and do a different shape rather than just up and down and then a sustained note. I'm gonna try and create a different shape, so something that sounds contrasting and I need to base it around the notes of A minor. So that's A, C and E. And then G, G, B and D. 'Cause this is bar five and six. I'm gonna put them on loop, here we go. So I'm just gonna improvise some ideas that fit with the notes of those chords. I'm gonna try and make it contrasting, here we go. (charming music) So lots of different ideas there. I've got one I like, so we can record it in. (charming music) So there, if we just look visually, we can see that that's a very different melodic shape to these two, and it sounds quite different as well. I made sure that it fits around the notes of A minor and G. So now we've got A, A, B, so we've got some repetition here and then we've got some contrast. For my fourth phrase then, I could either do another A, so I could try and create that melodic shape again based on chords F and C. I could create another B. So I could try and create this melodic shape again based over the chords F and C. Or I could do something different to have AABC and that would still have a balance of repetition and contrast. I'm gonna have, I think I'm gonna try and create a contrasting idea. So I'm gonna put those on loop. And let's have a little go at improvising. (charming music) I actually quite like the first one, so I'll record it in. (charming music) So now we've got AABC. That's my phrase structure, that's an effective one to use. You might choose to use a different one, but have a go at creating those two bar phrases with a balance of repetition and contrast. Let's review those steps. Create some two bar phrases based around the chord notes with some passing notes. Use the notes of C Major. Consider the mood of pop ballad lyrics. So when you're writing your melody, really think about the mood that you're gonna be creating in this genre. Create some phrases that are similar, so some examples of repetition and some that contrast. And arrange them into an effective phrase structure, such as AABA, ABAB, AABB or AABC. So there's something that has some repetition and some contrast. That's the steps that we take. Let's check your understanding. What should an effective phrase structure balance? Is it repetition and contrast, tempo and dynamics, low and high pitches or thick and thin textures? I'll give you a few seconds. And the correct answer here then is repetition and contrast. Those are the two things that we want to balance in our phrase structure. For task B, compose an instrumental melody for your pop ballad. Here are the steps. We create two bar phrases around the notes of the chords and you can add some passing notes. Arrange them into an eight bar phrase structure with some repetition and some contrast. Consider how the notes and the rhythm will reflect the lyrics. Again, get that mood right. And finally, ensure that the melody sounds effective with the chord sequence. So without further ado, you can pause my video and give this task your best shot. For the second part of this task, you're gonna listen to this melody and identify how it matches those success criteria, those steps that we followed. Here we go, let's have a listen. (charming music) Just while you're finishing your answer, you can pause my video. And let's review this one. So this melody uses a lot repetition with the same rhythm for each two bar phrase. It does use the notes of the chords, but could use some more passing notes to create interest and a more melodic shape. It could also use more varied rhythms and varied melodic shapes, so more variety here. At the moment, there's very little contrast. So the overarching theme is here, it's quite repetitive and the melody doesn't have much variety in it. That's the key. Well done if you identified that. For the final part of our lesson we're looking at developing a vocal melody. When fitting a melody to lyrics, the rhythm needs to fit the natural rhythm of the words. We can use melisma to get some of the words to fit. So every word that we say has a natural flow and a natural rhythm to it, and as much as possible, when we're writing vocal melodies, we want to try and match that natural rhythm. Which of these two examples achieved this more effectively? I'm gonna play you the first one now. (charming music) ♪ Now I'm just holding on ♪ Compare that to the second one. (charming music) ♪ Now I'm just holding on ♪ Which one do you think more effectively fits the natural rhythm of the words? So I would definitely argue that the first one emphasises on and has to rush the words just holding, so it doesn't sound that natural. The second one spaces the words out in a more natural rhythm by using melisma on the word just. So thinking carefully about using melisma can help us match the natural rhythm of those words more effectively. Let's see now how we go about creating a vocal melody. Now, let's look at how we can take that melody and add the lyrics to it, so make it a vocal melody as opposed to an instrumental melody. I've got my lyrics at the bottom here and I know that each of those will last for a two bar phrase. So I'm gonna need to fit each line of text to one of these phrases as I go. Now, I should find that I will have to adapt the melody slightly to match the pattern and the rhythm of the syllables and the words to make it sound natural. Let's have a listen to the first phrase that I've created so far. (charming music) So that's my first two bar phrase and that should fit with the words, "In the silence of the night." Now, if I was just to sing it one syllable per note. ♪ In the silence of the ♪ I would notice that I don't have enough notes for the syllables, so I have to adapt it slightly. ♪ In the silence of the night ♪ That feels more natural if I sing it like that, where I've had to adapt that word silence so that both syllables are on the same note. ♪ In the silence of the night ♪ And it feels like quite a natural rhythm to say that sentence. If you take the notes out of it and just say the words to yourself, in the silence of the night, it has a natural rhythm to it. So be willing to adjust the rhythm slightly to match with the natural way that you might say those words. Okay, so I'm gonna record that phrasing. I can mute this track for now, making sure I'm recording my audio track. (computer ticking) (charming music) ♪ In the silence of the night ♪ So that's recorded in. I'm just gonna check the balance, check the volume. ♪ In the silence of the night ♪ That'll do, I'm not sure about the quality of the singing, but we'll be happy with that. Let's go for the second phrase then. So the second phrase is, I hear whispers of your name. Let's have a listen to it. (charming music) I'm just gonna say that sentence to myself to think about the rhythm of it first. I hear whispers of your name. I hear whispers of your name. So some of the words like whispers are quite, they have quite a fast rhythm to them and other words we might emphasise like name. So I'm gonna have a go now at trying to match it to that phrase. (Mr. Norris vocalising) ♪ I hear whispers of you name ♪ Something like that will do. I can record it in. (charming music) ♪ I hear whispers of your name ♪ I can then follow that same process to create my final two phrases. So I'm gonna do that now and I'll show you what the end product looks like. (charming music) ♪ In the silence of the night ♪ ♪ I hear whispers of your name ♪ ♪ Every shadow in the light ♪ ♪ Just reminds me of the flame ♪ So that's my vocal melody recorded in there. I've got my four phrases. I've got a balance of in my first two phrases and contrast in my last two phrases, and I've matched the melody to the words, adapting the melody slightly to fit the words and feel like a natural way of singing those words. And overall, I think it portrays the emotion and the mood of my lyrics quite effectively. Let's go through those steps. Start with choosing a set of lyrics, four lines of text to use. Create an audio track to record your voice. Record each two bar phrase in, adapting the rhythm of the melody to fit the natural rhythm of the words. So you will have to tweak probably the melodic shape and rhythm to fit those words. Mute your instrumental melody once your vocal melody is recorded. Let's check your understanding. Which technique is particularly helpful for fitting lyrics to a melody? Is it staccato, legato, vibrato or melisma? I'll give you a few seconds. And the correct answer then is melisma. That's that real useful technique where we can spread out a syllable over more than one note to help it fit the lyrics to the melody. For task C, create a vocal melody by adapting your melody to your words and re-recording it. Some success criteria. The words should fit the rhythms of the melody naturally, and this might require the use of melisma. The melody has four two bar phrases and finishes after eight bars. The balance of the tracks is adjusted so that the vocal melody can be easily heard. And here are some example lyrics that you can use if you want to, or you can use your own. So now you can pause my video and give this task your best shot. For the final part of this lesson, I'd like you to consider, how does this vocal melody match the success criteria? There's the words there. I'm gonna play it for you now. ♪ Fading like a dream ♪ ♪ Oh, fading like a dream ♪ ♪ And I'm lost in the space between ♪ ♪ Where you used to be ♪ Pause my video just while you finish your answer. So there are a few things we might say here. It does have four two bar phrases and there's some repetition. The words naturally fit to the rhythm of the melody as well. It doesn't sound too unnatural, however, it's perhaps too energetic and cheerful for the lyrics. If we look at what the lyrics are about, fading like a dream, being lost, where someone used to be, so there's talking about loss and missing someone. It's a very cheerful, bright and upbeat melody, which really match that mood. They could also emphasise the word fading by making their voice fade. That's quite a common technique. When there's a word like that that you can do with your voice, it really emphasises it and adds expression. So there's a few points there as to how that might not be the most suitable vocal melody for those words. Well done if you picked up on any. Let's summarise today's lesson then. Vocalists in pop ballads use many different techniques to add expression, and these include vibrato and rubato. Many singers use a mixture of syllabic and melismatic singing to develop melodies and add expression. When we're writing a vocal melody, we should consider the pattern of syllables and words, as well as the phrase structure. This ensures there's a balance of repetition and contrast. So that brings us to the end of today's lesson. Thank you very much for taking part. I hope you feel like you've got a broader and more effective understanding there of how vocals are used in pop ballads, but also some vocal writing techniques that would apply not just in pop ballads, but across all sorts of different genres as well. Thanks for taking part and I'll see you in the next lesson.