What should your voice sound like when you are trying to make an impression on people, for example as a sales person? Are there any vocal characteristics you need to get after, and others you should avoid? Will your voice at the end of the day attract customers or scare them away? Even though I'm not a professional salesperson or a sales trainer (some would testify that I cannot sell bread at a bakery), I do know this: You are not drawn to a hoarse voice, or a tense/forced voice. Or a voice that's so breathy you can barely hear it. In other words: if you want people to buy from you, they ..read more

I recommend to practice singing with easy songs. But why? Why choose a song that you can already sing? Shouldn’t you take a difficult song and improve yourself? But no. Easy songs are the best when you are learning a new vocal skill. For example, if you are working on closing your vocal cords properly (which is later essential for belting), you want to take something super easy, where you don't have to focus on big jumps in the melody or super complicated riffs or high notes. Then you can focus on the skill you need, not on how hard the song is. Quick navigation   C ..read more

It happened to me and my students more times than I can count. You get ready to sing a song you thought you knew well, then discovered you’re not sure when to enter, or about the rhythm somewhere, or how the pre-chorus goes? Turns out, you didn't really know the song... Where to start learning the song? I'll show you the formula to learn sing the song and really know it. Also memorize it, if needed. For the sake of this article I have upgraded my approach to include some tips from other voice experts and made an improved learning system for you all. Enjoy! A geeky voice teacher ..read more

Als zang- en koordocent viel het me op dat veel van mijn studenten het niet makkelijk vonden om een koor te vinden. Ze zijn natuurlijk welkom bij mijn eigen musicalkoor The Merry Poppins Maar ik was ook benieuwd: welke koren zijn er allemaal in Amsterdam? Ik dacht, ik maak een overzicht van alle zangkoren in Amsterdam. Nou, dat heb ik geweten. Wow! – Linor Oren, zangdocent en dirigent The Merry Poppins. Verzorgt ook muzikale teamuitjes voor vriendengroepen en bedrijven. MUSICALKOREN The Merry Poppins Natuurlijk vermeld ik mijn eigen vrouwenkoor The Merry Poppins hier: we zingen eigen ..read more

As a singing teacher, I noticed that many of my students were lost looking for a choir that suited them. So I decided to make an overview of choirs, vocal ensembles and singing groups in Amsterdam, both amateur and professional, by genre and/or language. Go ahead, book the one you like or go for a tryout. MUSICAL THEATER CHOIRS The Merry Poppins Of course I mention my own choir The Merry Poppins here: we sing new arrangements of the best musical songs – think Sister Act, Fiddler on the Roof, Hair. But also modern classics like Let’s generalize about men from Crazy ex-girlfriend. We are ..read more

When it too late to sing? Are you too old to take voice lessons? Can one improve their voice later in life? Singing with an aging voice is something we all will deal with at some point, or are dealing with right now. Let's dive in and see what we can do about it. Brandy is a singer, has been signing since she was 24. She is 44 now. Last time I heard Brandy was on MTV when I was a teenager (I don’t need to tell you that was a looong time ago), so I was very curious to hear if she “has still got it”? Is she still the badass, agile soulful voice I knew? Quick Navigation Is the o ..read more

I interviewed people in the park. Were they told they can't sing in a recent or not so recent past? And how did that affect the joy they get out of singing? In other words, has 'why am I so bad at singing' affected their singing behaviour? What emerges from my vox pop in the park is: Many people were told negative things about their singing. Many people confess - without me asking - that they can't sing. To be fair: from this video I left out the people who weren't told bad things about their singing. The numbers are as follows:  From the 33 people I asked, 17 remembered getting ne ..read more

Can we get rid of our stage fright while we sing? We have heard quite a few celebrity performers testifying to struggling with stage fright. For example: Adele, Barbara Streisand, Alan Rickman. This stuff is hard. For me, it started bad. I couldn't make a single singing sound if I knew anyone was listening. Now I am a perofessional singer and I love performing - so yes. You can overcome performance anxiety as a singer.  In this article I will give you the methods I have found to help with stage fright while you sing, and all about my story as well.  To deal with stage fright we hav ..read more

Had you asked me twenty years ago what it would take to become a professional singer, I would have guessed: talent, hard work and luck. But today I realise that it takes a different skill set. Sure, it takes some talent. And definitely it takes hard work, but you need to know what to focus on. And luck? No. And... some things weren't on my radar that I know now... entrepreneurial skills and business skills! Quick Navigation Skill 1. Singing talent - can I buy some at the store? Skill 2. Musical and stage skills My stage course to improve skills 1&2 Skill 3. Business skills Skill 4 ..read more

Can anyone learn to sing? I don’t like it when voice teachers answer this question with: absolutely 100 percent yes. It sounds like they’re trying to sell you something, which they are.  I can tell you that each and every student I had could improve their singing, including singing in tune. And I've met some difficult cases - which I love, by the way. I’ve had quite a few students who came to me with the following ‘symptoms’ that might be confused with tone deafness or some other insurmountable vocal issue: A very limited range  No awareness of if they were hitting the r ..read more