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Full
time students: If you take "Celtic Song" as your major subject you will have all courses above
included in your program. (Choose Option 11 "Celtic & Gaelic Song"
on Registration Form. )
Part time students or elective course students:
you may choose from any of the individual song
courses (see descriptions below) either by themselves
or in addition to your major area of study.
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Celtic Songs & Ballads (Eileen McGann, Ruth Sutherland)
Singing is one of the
most celebrated aspects of Celtic culture through
the ages, and the song repertoire of the Celtic tradition
is vast, varied and wonderful. In these classes, we
will be adding to your repertoire of traditional Celtic
songs, including ballads, sea songs, songs of Celtic
history, great love stories and grand adventures.
We will look at the vocal techniques used in traditional
singing, and, once we've learned some songs, we will
explore the various ways of performing them.
Most
of all, this class will be fun for singers of all
ages and experience! |
-
Elementary vocal technique
- Repertoire:
finding it, choosing it, learning it, singing
it
- Singing
in groups & solo
- Performing
traditional music
- Arranging
- Accompanying
- Connecting
with an audience
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| Songwriting in a Celtic Mode (Eileen McGann, Doug Feaver) |
| Songwriting
is a natural human form of expression. Whether or
not you play an instrument, songwriting is an art
form you can learn. For all songwriters, from beginning
to experienced, this will be a fun and rewarding class
that will get you going or help you refine your craft.
Beginning with the forms of traditional Celtic songs,
we will explore: |
- ways
of getting started
- song
genres/song structure/song elements
- lyrics,
melody, rhythm, tempo, chords
- writing
in the tradition
- what
makes a good song
- how
to make a good song better
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| Gaelic
& Celtic Song (Ruth Sutherland) |
This
course explores Celtic music in its traditional and
revived forms. You will learn some of the historical
and cultural contexts of the songs, giving you a better
understanding of where the song originated, and thus
enhancing the performance of the songs. Included will
be some Gaelic songs (learned phonetically), ballads,
sea songs, mouth music, waulking songs, songs of history,
and present day pieces.
A little bit of music theory
will be involved, but the emphasis will be on the
traditional way of learning - by ear. This class is
intended for anyone who wants to learn the songs,
and learn about the Celts, whether the end result
is for performance for others, or just for singing
them to yourself! |
Vocal
Areas covered:
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- Breathing
techniques
- Warm
ups and scales
- How
to learn and create harmonies
- Proper
vocal tones
- Connecting
with the song
- Connecting
with the audience and performance techniques
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This
will be a fun class for singers of all ages and experience
- all you need to bring is your voice and enthusiasm! |
| Celtic Choir
& Accompaniment (Ruth Sutherland and Eileen McGann) |
This
will be really fun for anyone who likes to sing. Being
in a choir is like being on a team - because you experience
growth together, you end up becoming closer as a group
- and this always enhances the performances. The first
song learned is always a great experience - you hear
the magic of singing together. And it only gets better
from then on! This choir is for everyone who wants
to sing and have fun.
The emphasis will be on singing
Celtic songs learned in a traditional format - by
ear. We will learn a bit about the origin of the songs,
which will enhance the performance. The majority of
the songs will be acapella, but we might be able to
persuade some of the other classes (ex. hand drumming)
to accompany us occasionally. |
Basic
vocal areas included:
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- Basic
vocal technique (including breathing exercises)
- How
to learn and create harmonies
- How
to blend your voice with others
- Confidence
in singing with others
- Singing
together
- How
to find simple harmonies by ear
- How
to make your voices blend
- Making
Celtic songs come alive with harmonies!
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