Our Classes
Sing! Faringdon run classes every Monday at The Pump House Project in Faringdon. We run classes for different age categories of school age children: Reception & Yr 1; Yr 2, 3 & 4; Yr 5 & 6; Secondary school age. No prior singing experience is necessary and all abilities are welcome- you do not need to audition to join.
We teach children how to use their voices safely, how to improve their sound, general musicianship and a variety of different vocal styles (pop, musical theatre, rock, jazz and even a bit of classical)- the idea being that we teach you the safe techniques and then you can find the voice and style for the music that you love.
What does a typical class look like?
Classes begin with a fun warm up that incorporates exercises for posture, breathing technique, vocal range and vocal tone development. There will be exercises to develop musicianship and vocal control, for example ear training, improvisation, rhythm games, pitching, melodic memory and harmonising. We'll learn a song together (and usually add some harmonies) and look at the appropriate tone and techniques for the style, sometimes we'll learn from lyric sheets, sometimes we'll learn by call and response, and sometimes we'll follow proper sheet music (with guidance of course!).
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At the end of each term we'll invite mums, dads, grandparents, carers in for a mini performance at the end of the class. Sometimes there will be opportunities for children to take a solo, but this will never be forced- we want to our singers to be happy and confident, not petrified!
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Did you know......?
Singing classes can help develop reading skills and speech & language.
Following lyrics can be a less pressured way of sneaking in some extra reading practise, and singing has helped many children with speech difficulties develop their motor skills for clarity, tone and confidence.
Classes
CLASS 1
This class is for Reception and Year 1 (4-6 yr olds). It's 30 minutes long and runs from 4:15- 4:45pm every Monday. This class focusses on improving pitching/tuning, making a healthy sound, breathing, diction and articulation, picking up melodies, keeping rhythm and finding dynamics (loud and soft singing). There will be fun songs, silly voices and lots of laughter!
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CLASS 2
This class is for school Years 2, 3 and 4 (6-9 yr olds). It's 45 minutes long and runs from 4:45- 5:30pm every Monday. This class covers the same techniques as Class 1 but will bring in more harmony and improvisation, plus slightly more challenging songs. We'll start thinking about performance skills and story telling, along with really trying to match our vocals sounds to the styles that we're singing in. We'll learn a little more music theory and start to get children used to seeing sheet music.
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CLASS 3
This class is for school Years 5 and 6 (9-11 yr olds). It's 45 minutes long and runs from 5:30- 6:15pm every Monday. This class covers and builds on the skills from the younger classes but really starts to try to encourage singers to be creative. We will do lots of harmonising, playing with melodies and thinking about the meaning of what we're singing about. We'll also really start to think about what different vocal choices work in different music (think big musical theatre sounds, or some super soft pop riffing, or a bit of twangy country- variety is the spice of life!). We'll learn some music theory, and think about feeling and creating different rhythms.
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CLASS 4
This class is for Secondary School age children (Age 11+ yr olds). It's 45 minutes long and runs from 6:15- 7pm every Monday. This class is a space to find your confidence, your musical passion and your own sound. We'll be looking at lots of different musical styles and trying some trickier techniques, always with emphasis on vocal health. It's a place to try out new sounds, push ourselves and learn to have a giggle at ourselves when we all inevitably hit a "bum note" from time to time. We'll work on some technically and harmonically challenging repertoire that develops the ear and general musicianship.
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