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Unit 3 · Colours

The crooner

Croon like the singers of the early microphone age, quiet and close with a little air and fall-offs at line ends, on Aura Lee from 1861. Never a whisper.

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What it teaches

Crooning became popular when electric microphones arrived in the 1920s: quiet, close singing, a little air in it, and fall-offs at the ends of lines.

Aura Lee. Poulton and Fosdick, 1861: a little air, quiet and close, never a whisper

Your phone is your mic. Stay quiet; don't push to be heard

Water nearby. Breathy singing dries the voice

What you sing

  1. Aura Lee's first two lines at your own pace.
  2. Sing them breathy and close, with a fall-off on "Spring" and on "tree".
  3. Once more, then hear yours beside the guide's. We don't score the tone yet.

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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