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Unit 2 · Lock to the drone

No sag

Find out why running out of breath and repeated notes pull you flat, then breathe low, let the air out slowly, and keep each long note up to its very end.

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More in Lock to the drone

No sag

Breath running out and repeated notes pull you flat. Breathe low, let the air out slowly, think up, and never squeeze.

Breathe low first. Then let the air out slowly

Think up. As the note goes on, and on the way down

Never squeeze. Tightening pushes you sharp

What you sing

  1. Listen to each long note against the drone, then choose.
  2. Mi, mi, mi, re, do: keep the repeated mi from sinking.
  3. Two long notes over the drone: do, then mi. Keep each one up to its very end. Mi rings a hair low against the drone; that's fine. Headphones help: one ear off.
Try one round

Challenge: Home on the Range

An old North American folk song, over a drone on your note. Lock the long notes, keep the rest in tune.

Listen first. Two lines of the tune

Lock the long "day". The long do rings with the drone

Keep "cloudy" up. Its long ti, leaning up to do

What you sing

  1. Your Bullseye round first: the same five notes as your first lesson.
  2. Sing it with the guide first.
  3. Now on your own, over the drone.

Singing safely

Sing at an easy volume, in the middle of your range. Stop if anything tightens, scratches or hurts, and rest your voice.

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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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