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Unit 3 · A tune on top

Drunken Sailor

Loop a whole eight-bar verse for Drunken Sailor, home on low la since it's minor, sing the tune on top, then a round with yourself over a looped bass. Free.

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Drunken Sailor

Drunken Sailor moves between two chords, one a bar, so its loop is eight bars: a whole verse.

Home is low la. A minor song, so home is la, not do

One note a bar. Low la or low so, on beats 1 and 3

Headphones on. Through a speaker, your loops rest while you sing

What you sing

  1. The bass's eight notes, one a bar: each waits until you're on it.
  2. The bass on "doom", eight bars once round: low la, low la, low so, low so, low la, low la, low so, low la. Easy volume, light, never pressed; stop if anything tightens or hurts.
  3. Now the tune over your loop. It starts with your bass, on its first beat.

Challenge: A round with yourself

A round with yourself: "ding, dang, dong", the tune over it, then the tune again two bars late, over your first. The guide comes in as a third voice.

Your first entry. The tune over your bass, from its first beat

Your second entry. Two bars late, over your bass and your first

Headphones on. Through a speaker, your loops rest while you sing

What you sing

  1. "Ding, dang, dong", twice round. Easy volume, light, never pressed; stop if anything tightens or hurts.
  2. Your first entry: the tune over your bass, from its first beat.
  3. Your second entry, two bars late, over your bass and your first entry. Then the guide comes in, two bars after you.

Singing safely

Headphones on. An easy volume, the middle of your voice; the bass sung lightly, never pressed. Stop if anything tightens or hurts.

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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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