Now that the family seems to be over any and all sicknesses that we’ve incurred over the Thanksgiving week, and I’ve finally got my voice back, I can get back to singing again, which is a relief, because not being able to sing properly is a huge annoyance to me. I honestly can only remember one day where I haven’t at least hummed, and that was because I was too sick and dehydrated to bother remembering. (That was also the day I had my appendix out.)
Anyway, lately I’ve found myself participating in more and more duets (besides my usual ones with family memebers, i.e. Vanessa or Kevin), the most notable being with my classmates Sierra Sowders and Andrew Rodriguez. Sierra is in my beginning vocal class, and Andrew is in my TV/Film Acting class, but he’s taken the vocal class with Nate Pruitt a couple of times before.
Sierra and I met about two weeks into this fall’s semester. I recognized her because when Mr. Nate asked what kind of music people liked to sing, she replied with “classical/opera”, which of course got my attention right away. (I had just left Vintage Singers at De Anza, and was missing it like crazy). She also was able to perform the vocal exercise Mr. Nate had given multiple times, going higher and higher each time. The next week, I casually began the conversation with something along the lines of, “So you sing classical songs?” LOL. It was a terrible way to start a conversation, but I guess it worked, because that day we snuck into one of the practice rooms and, upon finding that we both knew “I’m Yours”, proceeded to sing our first duet. It was so much fun, we’ve been singing together daily ever since.
This is one of our more recent tapings. It’s “Colors of the Wind” from the Disney Movie Pocahontas. We usually alternate harmonies on songs, and this one she happened to know the alto part for, so she sings harmony on it.
Also new to my “duet” list is Andrew Rodriguez, from my TV and Film Acting class. We found out early on in the semester that each of us could sing, during “interview training’ in that class. When Julie, the instructor found that out, she had each of us sing in class. I sang my favorite song from Wicked, “The Wizard and I”. Andrew sang “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz. I couldn’t help harmonizing under my breath. (Funny how that song always seems to follow me around. Interesting, seeing as it’s not even one of my favorites from him. My personal fave from Mraz is “Wordplay”.)
Anyway, some weeks later, we ended up singing “Lucky” a capella before class. Then, when I began bringing my ukulele to school more regularly, he’d occasionally join in on the songs that he knew. A couple weeks ago, when Mr. Nate asked if he’d come sing in his class, Andrew asked if I’d like to duet. We ended up singing three songs: “I’m Yours”, “Lucky”, and “A Whole New World” from Disney’s Aladdin.
On a side note, I learned the chords for this song literally one week before, which is why I have a couple chord flubs during the performance. I thought it would be a good challenge, since the uke is not usually my first choice of instrument. This was filmed the day I learned the chords. You can see me glancing at my laptop for reminders on the progression. The next performance, “A Whole New World”, we had practiced together only once, the week before.
You can find Andrew on YouTube as GoldenstateARod.
Be4TheCurtainRises 