By This month I am doing the education placement as part of my PgDip at Trinity Laban. I was not happy about it, having spent enough bloody time teaching IMHO. And then I arranged my placement, and I am in with PEEEEETE CHURCHILLLLLLLL. SO happy. So thrilled. Proper hero worship. I’ve attended several events with him before, but observing in this capacity is beyond. All. That.
Why is Pete Churchill so brilliant?
Ok.
- Everything always primarily by ear. Justifiably by ear, because it’s better, not because ‘they can’t read music’. Because listen. What does the music sound like?
- He knows who he is. He is a vocal educator, and he’s all about the voice. What a place for a vocal geek like me to be!
- Repertoire. You know what you’re getting. And then you get more than that. It’s mostly 70’s AOR songs reworked jazzwise, and they’re perfect for the job. Some of these songs he has been using for workshops for over 20 years. And they’re still great.
- Omg what a piano player.
What did I learn?
-Muscle memory. Learning lyrics way more effective if you memorise the mouth feel rather than the words, as you brain will remember the sense of the line, not the actual words.
-More repetitions. And then more.
-Hexatonic harmony. You heard me.
Hexatonic harmony being something I’ve been doing my whole life, and never was able to explain even in my professional capacity. There’s written harmony, theroetical harmony, and parts singing, all of which I could tell you how they work, and how to do it, but my approach to to my own live harmonising was
‘well you just follow the line, but on another note. sometimes it’s a bit chewy and it goes round corners tho, try and fit with the song. ‘
What I have been doing is hexatonic harmony. Ladies and Gents, and if you want it explained to you, pay for a workshop by Pete, because he’s the bomb.
I also got to sing with the Trinity Laban Jazz choir, who he was leading for a week, and do a whole concert, twice. Here is my favourite ever vocal arrangement, which I have loved since the first time I heard it, but sung by these wonderful wonderful singers and by meeee!
https://soundcloud.com/gemma-storr-composer/trinity-jazz-choir-at-st-alphege-greenwich