When we work on songs, it's easy to get overwhelmed without realizing that we're getting overwhelmed. Even the simplest of tunes is far more complex than the scales that we sing in our vocalizations. In order to have our vocalizations help our songs the most, we do well to create vocal exercises out of the melodies of our songs, or find warm ups that are as similar as can be. If we break this down into separate concepts, it becomes more easy to manage. Range To effectively warm up for a song, we have to be certain to cover the range that is spanned in the song. This means knowing what the lowe ..read more

Evaluate, adjust, try again. Three thoughts for the new year, though not specifically related to new year activities! January is nearly done, but the year has just begun. According to self-reported statistics, most new year resolutions have by this point failed, but I reiterate, the year has only just begun. Evaluate, adjust, and try again. If your intentions aren’t sticking, ask yourself why that might be? What caused the intention to go amiss? Rather than change intention, adjust the way that you approach it. If you made an intention to practice everyday, and you didn’t set a time of day spe ..read more

I just got done saying how busy a time of year this is, so allow me to dispense with the formalities and cut to the chase: Here's some thoughts to keep your voice in shape during the holidays and any time that you're really busy: 1. Less is more. If you only have a few minutes, take them. A minute alone in an elevator (lift if you're in the UK) on your way to the company fête? That's a minute alone to vocalize. 2. Be flexible. No internet access? No instruments to provide a reference pitch? Use a tuner app on your mobile device. Have it play a pitch and sing your scales based off of it as a to ..read more

There's an old saying that I think about a lot in my teaching and music making. I didn't come up with it, and I'm not sure who did, but it goes: We teach best what we most need to learn. It's simple and straightforward, and consequently can be applied in many ways. As a teacher, I get to work with people all the time on music. Singing high notes, phrasing, musicality and expression. It goes without saying that all of this feeds into my own notions on how to make music. I am frequently amazed at the innovative ways that my clients look at singing and the ways that they express themselves. It's ..read more

Prevention is worth a pound of cure when it comes to our voices. Here are some friendly reminders and thoughts as the northern hemisphere heads into cold and flu season. Wash Your Hands Frequently I know, right. Didn't we just hear this, yet it's true for vocalists all the time. I might add to this to keep your hands away from your face when you're out and about. Dress Appropriately Depending on where you are this may mean bundling up, or dressing in layers, or both! Layering up for me is the perennial choice, as I can add or remove layers to suit the environment that I'm in. One piece that wi ..read more

Simply put, separate the subjective from the objective in your practice and performances. The unspoken third tip is to be very specific. What does this mean? Subjective elements are matters of opinion. Some folks will love Bob Dylan's voice. Some will not. Both are correct, as far as their own tastes are concerned. Objective elements are aspects of music that we can quantify, such as, that vocalist sang the third note in the second bar of the chorus flat. If it's a recording, we can listen to it, put it on a tuner and check it to be certain that we've heard correctly, and conclude that the pit ..read more

Beating stage fright is one of the most individual practices I regularly teach. The process varies from person to person because the roots of it are sunk into our individual life experiences. This is where two terms are important. Performance Anxiety That is the term that is more commonly used when talking about what musicians would call stage fright. Using that term, instead of stage fright, will tend to get you a greater amount of information that is more studies based than anecdotal. In other words, rather than someone telling you what worked for them (anecdotal) you will get information ab ..read more

Vowels phonate. This is by definition: 1 to provide (a sound source, and hence the pitch) for a given voiced continuant or vowel, through rapid, periodic glottal action. 2 to vocalize Vowels are literally what carry the tune when we sing. Yes, we need consonants in order to understand what the vowels are forming, but the vowels phonate. They are the song in music that is vocally driven. Learning to align our vowels is critical in order to: Be understood Sing in tune Have a consistent sound Sing high notes and much more. So how do you practice vowel alignment? Easy. All my warm up vid ..read more

But thankfully, we can manage them, or at least aspects of them. 1. Sleep/Fatigue I often refer to this as an insidious effect. I, for one, did not used to think about it very much, and mostly discounted feeling tired as just being an excuse. The more we learn about sleep the more we seem to find it affects all aspects of our lives. If for no other reason, lack of sleep or fatigue tends to affect fine motor skill coordination, and singing is definitely a practice in that! The thyroarytenoid and cricothyroid muscles are small to say the least, and getting them to work together in the best ..read more

When you quit, you really have lost at that point. Facing defeats, real or perceived, can be hard though. It can seem as if that audition, or that part was THE ONLY PART EVER!!!! Having not gotten it, one might think that they've come to the end of the road. From one perspective, you have. That specific instance of that specific part has gone, but it is likely that similar opportunities will come around. You may even find that more desirable ones surface in the not terribly distant future. This is where changing our mindset makes such a huge difference, and changes perceived defeat into learni ..read more