As Sara sat on the bus, an earbud playing the song Pink Spring in her ear, Sara couldn’t help but shake her head as memories of the night before resurfaced in her thoughts. She had made little progress despite her effort; it was disheartening, to say the least.

'I need to train more'

Out of all the components of the song, Sara could only perform the first verse, the pre-chorus and the first half of the second verse in confidence.

The first verse could be sung in her normal voice, making it rather easy for her all things considered.

The first pre-chorus required Sara to sing in a deep tone of voice, which was comparatively harder for her for sure, but was still something Sara had already trained in the week before, and to good results.

It was in the first chorus where Sara encountered her first problem: reaching the high notes of the original song. Sara had more difficulty reaching high notes compared to low notes, this was intrinsic to her voice.

The first half of the second verse was only sung at a key higher than the first verse, which was hardly straining for Sara.

The last half of the second verse, however. The rap verse… Sara doesn’t even want to recall such horrible thoughts in her depressed mood…

Then came the pre-chorus for the second chorus, which was actually sung by female singers this time around instead of the male singers in the first pre-chorus. This made a noticeable difference, as female singers wouldn’t be able to reach the same level of deepness in their voice as a male could naturally, making the pre-chorus this time not as deep, but deep in the female range still. Sara didn’t have much trouble with this, in fact, it was much easier than the first pre-chorus as it fitted rather perfectly with her natural singing voice once again.

The second chorus was an exact copy of the first, so contained the same troubles as the first as well.

After the second chorus then came the bridge, which is mostly instrumental with only a few sung parts. These singing parts were only extended la’s and oh’s sung with a rather soft tone, which wasn't the most difficult. Only reaching the right level of softness required Sara's attention.

Then, the song came to completion with a repeat of the chorus for the final time. Only, this time, the chorus is sung with a very soft tone, completing the song’s transition from a dark tone to a soft one. Singing in a soft voice was not Sara’s speciality either, her voice often sounding huskier rather than soft when she attempted to sing as such. At the very least, her voice wasn't strained like in other areas at this section of the song, however.

Thinking of all that she had to work on just made Sara sigh in frustration; who made a pop song so complicated...

It was no wonder Jennifer chose such a song, it really required a level of talent to sing on your own.

'*sigh*... If only I had a higher singing voice, then maybe the song would be a lot easier to sing…'

No, then she probably wouldn’t be able to hit the low notes that she could now.

It's pointless to wish for the impossible anyway...

Sara could only work with the body she has. Surely, Jennifer will have a method to reach those high notes!...

[Of course you cannot reach those high notes. You might never be able to reach them, not in the small span of a month anyway.]

Jennifer declared mercilessly, leaving Sara open-mouthed at her bluntness.

[Anyway, didn’t I tell you to rest over the weekend!]

Sara gulped at Jennifer’s glare as she growled those last words.

[I-I couldn’t stop myself... Sorry...]

Sara apologised, choosing not to make any excuses. For one, Jennifer didn’t seem like the kind of person to accept excuses; and secondly, Sara didn’t like making them in the first place.

[*sigh* Whatever, just don’t stress your voice too much. You can’t afford to have it croaky by the time of your performance.]

Jennifer shook her head helplessly, letting out a long, defeated sigh.

[Hmm.]

Sara nodded, feeling rather guilty.

[Alright, seeing that you’ve already begun learning Pink Spring, I guess we can skip that step.]

Jennifer smiled wryly.

[Instead, it’s probably best if I clarify what I said before about you not being able to hit the high notes from the original song…]

Seeing the interest in Sara’s eyes, Jennifer directly continued:

[Every singer has their limits, and pushing those limits too much will only damage their voice. Like every other singer, you have a set range that you can sing comfortably, and the singers in the chorus of Pink Spring generally have a higher singing range, whereas you have a lower one. There’s nothing you can do to sing at the same key as them, not in one month, most likely never.]

[I see... T-then what do I do?]

Sara mumbled, feeling disheartened despite herself.

[You can only sing the song in your own way.]

Jennifer smirked confidently, making the issue sound simple as she continued once more:

[All you can do is sing the highest you can while maintaining the quality of your tone. We’re not looking for a perfect remaster of the song, Sara. I don’t think there are many singers in the world, nonetheless this country who could replicate the varied range of singing in this song perfectly; that would require a singer to be able to sing perfectly in both male and female ranges, and that's just an unrealistic ask for the vast majority of people.]

[I see…]

Sara pondered on Jennifer’s words, feeling her mood pick up a little as her hands that were tensely grabbing at the bottom of her shirt finally loosened, realising the tension she hadn't even realised had been building in her previously.

[Now, that being said. There are definitely areas that you can improve, mainly in the control you have over your voice and breath. This is especially true for the final chorus; we’ll definitely have to work hard on that over the next three weeks. I think with practice, you’ll definitely be able to achieve a soft singing voice to match the final chorus' design.]

Jennifer declared in finality.

[But when I try to sing softly, my voice keeps turning husky.]

Sara expressed another worry.

[That’s okay actually. In fact, if you are able to control when your voice transitions from soft and husky, it might enhance the performance rather than hurt it. It would a new element to the song that's wholly your own.]

Jennifer pondered aloud, thumb and index finger resting on her chin as she nodded her head in contemplation.

[It could add something unique to your performance of the song. As long as we maintain the softness of your voice at the same time though. I feel that this aspect of the song is rather essential to the song's progression in the end.]

[Oh, I never thought about it like that.]

Sara remarked in realisation, though wondered if she could actually manage such an effect with her voice, in just a small month period at that. And one week had already passed...

[Well, we’ll go further into this on Wednesday. I’ll be here until 2pm, and until then, I would like to start to begin you on the proper choreography for Pink Spring.]

Jennifer explained.

[I won’t be in on Tuesday, so you’ll have to train on what you learnt today on your own tomorrow, so make sure to pay close attention!]

[Yes!]

Sara replied determinedly with clenched fists.