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Unit 3 · Colours

The country edge

Find a little twang from a light, bratty "nyeh", check it isn't just nasal with a nose pinch, then sing a line with twang and a light cry. Never squeezed.

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The country edge

A little twang gives country singing its edge. It comes from narrowing a small ring of muscle just above your vocal folds, so it rings without being louder. Find it from a light, bratty "nyeh", then add a cry.

Start from "nyeh". Light and bratty, like teasing

The nose-pinch check. If pinching your nose changes it a lot, it's nasal, not twang

Stop if it burns. Twang is bright, never squeezed

What you sing

  1. Find the twang first: a light, bratty "nyeh" on the line's notes, at your own pace.
  2. The first line with a little twang and a light cry on "lone".
  3. Once more, then hear yours beside the guide's. We don't score the tone yet.

Challenge: Your colour

Aura Lee's verse in the colour that felt most like you, with two slides from unit 2 and fall-offs at the line ends.

Pick your colour. Breathy, bright or a little twang

Slides. From "bird" and from "him"

Fall-offs. On "tree" and "Lea"

What you sing

  1. The verse at your own pace first.
  2. After a bar of chords, sing the verse in your colour, styled.

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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