School Radio
The Tempest
3. Full fathom five
SONG:
[Ariel]
Full fathom five, thy father lies in the ocean.
Full fathom five, his body disappears from view.
Those are the pearls that were his eyes
an unexpected shade of blue.
And now all that remains
has been gradually claimed
by a sea of many hues.
And we’re all far from shore lost once more in the blue. (oo oo oo)
And we’re all far from shore lost once more in the blue. (oo oo oo)
In the blue.
In the blue.
CARRIE
What a gorgeous sound! Hello again - Carrie Grant here with the next
workshop on The Tempest. Now, we’re going to use the first phrase
of our song today – ‘Full fathom five’. That phrase has only two notes sung twice…
La, la, la, la
Full fathom five
You sing it with me now, after 3, 4. 3, 4…
ALL
Full fathom five
CARRIE
Very jazzy. Again? Open your mouths - get those lips moving. 1, 2, 3, 4…
ALL
Full fathom five
CARRIE
The second line of the song also begins with ‘Full fathom five’ like this…
Full fathom five
1, 2, 3, 4…
ALL
Full fathom five
1
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School Radio
The Tempest
CARRIE
Right, let’s sing both of these phrases one after the other, like this…
Full fathom five
Full fathom five
You try it twice in a row - after 4. 1, 2, 3, 4 –
ALL
Full fathom five
Full fathom five
Full fathom five
Full fathom five
CARRIE
Now to the rest of the song. I’ll sing the first three lines just to give you the
flavour…
Full fathom five, thy father lies in the ocean.
Full fathom five, his body disappears from view.
Those are the pearls that were his eyes
an unexpected shade of blue.
This is a solo song. In fact, the syncopated, or offbeat rhythms, make it
more difficult to sing in a group. But - hey! - I’m up for the challenge if you
are. I’ll sing the first line and then bring you in…
Full fathom five, thy father lies in the ocean.
1, 2, 3, 4…
ALL
Full fathom five, thy father lies in the ocean.
CARRIE
Now here’s the second line…
Full fathom five, his body disappears from view.
1, 2, 3, 4 –
ALL
Full fathom five, his body disappears from view.
CARRIE
Now let’s put the first two lines together. Ready and –
2
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The Tempest
ALL
Full fathom five, thy father lies in the ocean.
Full fathom five, his body disappears from view.
CARRIE
Right - we’re ready to try the third line now. We’ll break this line into two
phrases. I’ll sing down to ‘eyes’ first…and you echo after I say ‘and’…
Those are the pearls that were his eyes
Ready and –
ALL
Those are the pearls that were his eyes
CARRIE
an unexpected shade of blue.
Ready and –
ALL
an unexpected shade of blue.
CARRIE
Again, the rhythm is tricky so let’s try that whole line now - I’ll sing first…
Those are the pearls that were his eyes
an unexpected shade of blue.
Ready and –
ALL
Those are the pearls that were his eyes
an unexpected shade of blue.
CARRIE
Try all three lines together now - remember how we warmed up and take a
nice, deep breath as I count you in - here we go. 1, 2, 3, 4 –
ALL
Full fathom five, thy father lies in the ocean.
Full fathom five, his body disappears from view.
Those are the pearls that were his eyes
an unexpected shade of blue.
CARRIE
The first two lines of the next part are the same as we did earlier so we
don’t need to do them again. Let’s go straight on to the third line with
the words ‘And of his bones are corals made...’, to the same tune as
before. I’ll sing first…
And of his bones are corals made
like stardust in a masquerade.
3
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© BBC 2015
School Radio
The Tempest
CARRIE
Ready and –
ALL
And of his bones are corals made
like stardust in a masquerade.
CARRIE
Let’s try the whole line again to make sure of the rhythm, which is just
slightly different from before. Listen first –
And of his bones are corals made
like stardust in a masquerade.
Ready and –
ALL
And of his bones are corals made
like stardust in a masquerade.
CARRIE
Okay, let’s put that part together now, from ‘Full fathom five’ to ‘masquerade’. After ‘Ready and - ’. Ready and –
ALL
Full fathom five, thy father lies in the ocean.
Full fathom five, his body disappears from view.
And of his bones are corals made
like stardust in a masquerade.
CARRIE
Mmn lovely. Now I’ll sing down to the words ‘many hues’. Be ready to sing
after a count of 4…
And now all that remains
has been gradually claimed
by a sea change of many hues.
2, 3, 4…
ALL
And now all that remains
has been gradually claimed
by a sea change of many hues.
CARRIE
Now to the next line. The rhythm here is quite ‘straight’ compared to the
earlier syncopated style. It needs to be smooth and relaxed. After I sing,
I’ll count you in...
And we’re all far from shore lost once more in the blue.
1, 2, 3, 4 –
4
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School Radio
The Tempest
ALL
And we’re all far from shore lost once more in the blue.
CARRIE
This type of song provides singers with excellent opportunities to ‘make
it their own’. They do that by ‘ad libbing’ - or colouring the song with nonsense sounds or words. Now listen again to the ad libbing at the end of
‘Full fathom five’. Then you can have a go!
SONG
…lost once more in the blue. (oo oo oo)
And we’re all far from shore lost once more in the blue. (oo oo oo)
In the blue.
In the blue.
CARRIE
Right - your turn! We’ll take it from ‘Lost once more’. Remember, when
you’re ad libbing do your own thing! 2, 3…
ALL
…lost once more in the blue. (oo oo oo)
And we’re all far from shore lost once more in the blue. (oo oo oo)
In the blue.
In the blue.
CARRIE
Mmn. We’ll stand to sing the song now. It’s slow and relaxed so you’ll have
time to think about your breathing. And listen carefully to make sure you
sing in tune. Oh, and don’t forget to ad lib at the end of the song! Until the
next time - bye bye! Ready and –
ALL
Verse 1
Full fathom five, thy father lies in the ocean.
Full fathom five, his body disappears from view.
Those are the pearls that were his eyes
an unexpected shade of blue.
Full fathom five, thy father lies in the ocean.
Full fathom five, his body disappears from view.
And of his bones are corals made
like stardust in a masquerade.
Verse 2
And now all that remains
has been gradually claimed
by a sea change of many hues.
And we’re all far from shore lost once more in the blue. (oo oo oo)
And we’re all far from shore lost once more in the blue. (oo oo oo)
In the blue.
In the blue.
5
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