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Unit 1 · Scoops and fall-offs

The fall-off

Hold a note, then let its end drop away, letting the pitch go while the breath stays steady, never collapsing into a creak. Short, then longer notes. Free.

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More in Scoops and fall-offs

The fall-off

A fall-off lets the end of a note drop away. Let the pitch go and keep the breath steady, never a collapse into a creak.

Hold, then let go. The note first, the fall at its end

Longer notes. Hold, then let each end drop away

Keep the breath. The pitch falls, the breath doesn't

What you sing

  1. Hold each note at your own pace; the fall-off comes when you let go.
  2. Listen, then sing them back, each falling off at the end.
  3. Longer notes: hold, then let each end drop away.
  4. The line's last note, "low", with a fall-off.

Challenge: Styled valley

The whole verse with two scoops and two fall-offs, on the long notes and the ends of lines.

Scoops. Into "val-" and "o-"

Fall-offs. On "low" and "blow"

Everything else plain. Moves mean more when they're rare

What you sing

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

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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