Amazing Grace

Pentatonic in practice. Melismas on “zing”, “a”, “was”, “but”.

🎤 Melodies
Level: Intermediate
Melodic pattern
♩ 80
about 1 min

One repetition of the pattern. In the app it is transposed to your vocal range and scored note by note.

Amazing Grace is a pentatonic melody: every note belongs to the major pentatonic scale, from the fifth below the root up to the fifth above, a span of twelve semitones. It starts with a pickup a perfect fourth below the root, and its trademark is the two-note melismas on 'zing', 'a', 'was' and 'but', where the voice drops a major third within one syllable. Thirty-two notes at a slow 80 beats per minute, with several three-beat notes. It trains legato and easy leaps.

How to do it

Sing with the piano at the slow tempo; the lyrics are on screen.
Take the opening pickup, a fourth below the root, in one breath with the first long root.
On the melismas, sing the two eighth notes as one gesture: third down to root, no break in the vowel.
Hold the three-beat notes at the ends of phrases steady; watch them stay green to the end.
The second phrase ends high on 'me', the fifth held three beats; keep it open, not pressed.

Coach's tip: Two-note syllables (4:.5 0:.5) – sing smoothly, as one gesture.

What to watch out for

The melismas smear: the third-to-root drop becomes a slide and both notes turn yellow. Practice them as two clear pitches, then smooth the connection. The low pickup, a fourth below the root, tends to be growled and off pitch; sing it softly and in tune, not as a scoop. Long notes at 80 beats per minute run long; breathe fully before 'me' and 'found'. If the low notes are uncomfortable, raise your range a little. Don't add heavy vibrato until the pitch is steady.

Who it's for

For intermediate singers working on legato and on pentatonic movement, the vocabulary of gospel and folk. Sing it in the main block after Major pentatonic and Pentatonic run down 8-6-5-3-2-1, which use the same notes. Before it, warm up with a hum. It isn't in a preset program; choose it from the Melodies category.

Practice this exercise

Opens the app in your browser. Free, no account. Put on headphones first.