Those of you who are striving to find your real voice must come to terms with the necessity of learning how to practice vocal exercises. They are the key component to developing your voice. This aspect of the voice lessons is the critical factor when going in to strengthen the voice, fix any pitch problems, bridge the breaks that keep you from singing seamlessly throughout a phrase, and for increasing your range. This means that you will have to practice the exercises a lot. It is not easy work because it requires tenacity and ..read more

Those high notes, how do you capture them? You keep trying, but on playback you can hear that you are falling flat on them. When you hear that, that’s enough to make you cringe. Not one singer I have been blessed to teach and work with reacts without a wince upon hearing those higher notes off pitch when they were so certain that they were spot on. One of the best tips for singing high notes is having a wide open mouth the higher up you go. As you ascend, the mouth should open up even more. This gives way to a much more open and resonant sound. You will learn a lot about exactly how to reach h ..read more

            It is nothing short of some kind of miracle when a 12 year old gets up to sing with a voice so grand that it rocks just as great as any adult pro. Those kids can sing so perfectly, so in tune, and with a voice powered by so much emotion and artistry that the stories they are singing about come to life and go straight to your heart. It doesn’t take a genius to know that if that same child’s strongest desire and biggest dream is to rise to the top that they will, especially if they never stop performing and winning competitions. That’s them living their ..read more

Have you ever noticed just how much a good singer’s mouth opens up when they sing, especially the higher they go in a song? I don’t know about you, but I think some of them look like their mouths are taking up half their face! Opening up the mouth more and more the higher you go in a song isn’t just a tip. It’s like a magical trick that so often produces an immediate result. After all, nothing is more satisfying and thrilling than that as a singer. Every tip I address in this blog is not just singing tips for beginners. Any pro or actively singing singer can implement these voice lesson tips t ..read more

Through extensive study and research over the last 25 years, I have discovered a little-known secret. Proper use of the diaphragm is an automatic result of having learned how to inhale the air correctly. In my latest book, Vocal Strength and Power published and released by Hal Leonard Corp., I have included a glossary of the most commonly used words by instructors to describe how to employ and gain support with this region of the body. Frankly, when looking up some of these words, I was quite surprised myself by the true meanings. This forced me to change my own vernacular when instructing af ..read more

I teach and write books to help singers because of all the twists and turns in my quest to finding my own real voice and learning how to sing with ease, freedom, and FUN. My first book is good for beginners. It contains a lot of science written in layman’s terms with drawings to help you understand the voice production mechanism and how it works — air, vocal cords, pharynx, and so on. Then we start exercises to separate and correct problems in each register. If you’ve got a problem in any one register, it will still be there when bridging breaks or correcting problems in other areas. Discomfor ..read more

As most of you already know, most vocal problems start with improper technique. Instinct alone will not help you correct them because instinct is an unlearned response — an automatic reflex that can can lead to injury. That is why it’s so important for anyone who sings professionally to LEARN how to do things correctly. Some singers are born with naturally gifted voices, but if they never learn what they are doing that makes that voice such a gift, then they may be unaware of when bad habits have snuck in until damage starts to occur. Knowledge, understanding gained AFTER one has learned from ..read more

Changing Styles from Opera to Pop: My Journey by Dena Murray I would like to share with the singing public my own struggle with changing styles and sound from opera to pop. I teach from my own experience. I may be an expert today, but I am never far from my client’s struggles and frustrations. It doesn’t matter who the singer is, everyone at some point in their career has struggled with their voice in some way. Early on, even someone as gifted as Celine Dion had her own fair share of struggle with a tongue that wouldn’t quit pulling back when singing, trapping her higher tones. (The culprit: h ..read more

As most of you already know, most vocal problems start with improper technique. Instinct alone will not help you correct them because instinct is an unlearned response — an automatic reflex that can can lead to injury. That is why it’s so important for anyone who sings professionally to LEARN how to do things correctly. Some singers are born with naturally gifted voices, but if they never learn what they are doing that makes that voice such a gift, then they may be unaware of when bad habits have snuck in until damage starts to occur. Knowledge, understanding gained AFTER one has learned from ..read more

Today I would like to give a tip to all vocalists about the breath and how to use it properly. There are 4 breath rules in singing: NEVER TAKE A BREATH AND HOLD IT. Holding the breath, even for a second, puts too much pressure underneath the cords. Too much pressure can cause the cords to separate too much once the note begins. If this happens you may lose too much air all at once. NEVER TAKE AS MUCH BREATH AS YOU CAN HOLD. If you lose too much air and don’t have enough to take you through a phrase, you might think the problem is that you didn’t take enough in to begin with. So next time, you ..read more