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Unit 2 · The slow stream

The buzz

Hold a "vv", "zz", "mm" or a lip trill over a drone to hear whether your air flows evenly, with tips for a lip trill that keeps stopping. Free to practise.

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More in The slow stream

What it teaches

A buzz shows whether your air comes out evenly. Uneven air, uneven buzz.

Pick a buzz. "vv", "zz", "mm", or a lip or tongue trill

If a lip trill stops. Keep the air flowing and the lips loose; fingertips at your cheeks help

Even all the way. Like a steady breeze, not a gust

What you sing

  1. Easy and medium-soft; stop if you feel dizzy, wheezy or tight. Hold your buzz over the drone to your goal: "vv", "zz", "mm" or a trill, your pick. A trill may run shorter: stop while it's even.

Singing safely

Don't lock your stomach. Stop if you feel dizzy, wheezy or tight, and sit for long holds. With asthma, another lung or heart condition, or if pregnant, keep holds short and easy. Skip it when hoarse or ill.

Free tools by Stackapella

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Stackapella teaches you to sing harmony one part at a time, right in your browser.

Stackapella recording the alto part of Amazing Grace: each note is a bar with its name, and the one being sung says A little low, go up. Stackapella recording the alto part of Amazing Grace: each note is a bar with its name, and the one being sung says A little low, go up. Stackapella recording the alto part of Amazing Grace: each note is a bar with its name, and the one being sung says A little low, go up. Stackapella recording the alto part of Amazing Grace: each note is a bar with its name, and the one being sung says A little low, go up.
  • A guide sings your partHear your line over the others, slow it down, then take your turn.
  • Your notes light upEach note shows where you landed, and a hint when to go up or down.
  • Record every part yourselfStack your takes in time until you're the whole choir.
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