background to the song
We are delighted to introduce you to “Home” by Ineza Kerschkamp, a song specially commissioned by the Camden Music Service as a song for Camden. In the section below, Ineza explains how she worked from the brief to bring the song to life.
things to think about when learning the song
Use the vocal score with your singers, but don’t be put off by the tricky-looking rhythms; listen to what Ineza sings and you’ll be right.
The low harmony – alto line – is intentionally a bit challenging. Secondary schools and some primary choirs may want to learn this. There are also three points in the song where there is an upper harmony – b26, b62 and then at the very end. This fills out the sound – have a go at adding this in. To begin with, however, concentrate on getting confident with the melody line.
Listen out for where the rhythms are pushed / syncopated and where they are straight – the difference is important.
Ineza’s performance is a wonderful guide track. She sings tremendously precisely but with exactly the feel the piece needs – get your children to copy her.
about Ineza
Some of you will recognise Ineza because she teaches singing in Camden. Ineza is a Rwandan born Belgian Jazz singer, based in Kent. She graduated from the prestigious Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in Greenwich. Before moving to London, Ineza studied Jazz Vocals at Maastricht Conservatoire in The Netherlands. Ineza is a member of critically acclaimed London based choir The London Vocal Project, she’s a supported artist by international music producer Serious and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. In 2018 Ineza self-released her debut EP ‘Where are you from”. Her compositions received industry support from Bandcamp Daily, Fresh On The Net and Australian radio. Ineza is in the process of creating her second EP which will be released early 2022.
the song-writing process
First I had a look at what style I wanted to write in. I’m a member of The London Vocal Project, a London based Jazz choir under the direction of Pete Churchill. We do a lot of workshops with other choirs or individual vocalists. Looking at the songs we usually teach, I realised songs with a musical theatre or gospel element work very well in a group singing setting. I decided to find inspiration in songs from ‘The greatest showman’ or musicals like ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ or ‘Rent’. All three of them have songs with beautiful melodies that are easy to remember.
For the next step I tried to come up with a theme or story. The brief was to write a song for Camden, it’s a very broad brief which can be interpreted in a number of ways, it was important for me to narrow it down. I didn’t want the song to sound like an advert or a tour guide description you might find on a tourist pamphlet about Camden. Instead I decided to write from the perspective of someone who lived in Camden but decided to leave and look for a better place, only to realise there’s no place like home.
I first wrote the chorus, it’s the heart of the song where you can clearly hear the theme. From the chorus I worked backwards and wrote the first verse. Verse 1 is the first bit of lyrics of the song, It sets the scene about what is happening. In this song it’s about the search for home. The first pre chorus builds further on this with the realisation, there is no place better than home.
Verse 2 and pre chorus 2 both build on the same theme with a bit more extra information and mentioning of specific places in Camden. I didn’t feel the song needed a bridge as it already has 3 distinctive parts. For the harmony parts, I decided to keep the first 8 bars of each verse in unison. I wrote mainly in thirds and fourths with here and there a second. I wanted the alto line to sound interesting and a bit challenging with overlapping melodies. A key change at the end when repeating the chorus creates energy and movement in the song. It helps to emphasize the overarching theme, home.