Four tips for karaoke success “I’ve learned that really, no one cares as much as you do.  So when YOU release yourself from caring so much, and allow yourself to JUST HAVE FUN, that’s exactly what will happen, and that’s all that really matters.” Spontaneity is NOT the name of the game.  Build a personal karaoke repertoire of at least five songs.   To begin with, if you only have one song prepared, and you find out the venue doesn’t have your song in their catalog, you’re toast!  Second of all, if you go to the same venue every Friday, with the same group of friends ..read more

Interview with Jayne Trimble, World Peach Records I’m a singer, singer/songwriter, or part of a band.  Do I need a manager? If you have goals in your music career and are ready to achieve them, then yes, you are ready for a manager. What does a manager do? We are a project manager for your music, essentially, and hopefully we know something about music/have a background in it. If your goal is to release an album, we would be strategizing the release together, working on timelines for publicity and radio promo, playlisting, the release party, etc.  Or say your goal is to si ..read more

I sometimes see comments on my reaction videos (to GOOD SINGERS) where people will criticize the singer by saying “they used pitch correction on their vocal” -  as if that’s a bad thing! Today I want to remove the stigma of pitch correction.   For starters, pitch correction, when used tastefully, is simply an enhancement.  It’s the difference between your bare lips, and putting on some lip gloss.   Second of all, the use of pitch correction is the industry standard in the world of recorded music today.  You can have outstanding pitch, and your vocal recording will ..read more

Your voice should never hurt when you sing.  If you voice hurts when you sing, don’t ignore it!  It’s time to make some adjustments to protect your voice and keep your vocal production healthy.  Untrained singers can identify a feeling of discomfort or pain, but it can be harder to identify what is causing that sensation.  Your best solution is definitely taking a singing lesson with a voice teacher or singing professional, but here are some possibilities to consider: You may be singing OUTSIDE YOUR RANGE - You may be trying to sing higher or lower than your natural cap ..read more

Are you a singer who loves an audience, whether it’s your fluffy cat, the people in the car next to you as you’re singing you way down the highway, or the people who live in the apartment below you - doesn’t everyone just love a good Broadway tune?! Or are you a singer who dreads singing in front of other people, at least when you’re warming up or practicing, knowing your voice might crack or sound a little wobbly while you learn a new song? More power to the the fearless singers who love any type of audience they can get their hands on! But most us fall into the second category. Most of us do ..read more

The Grammys are approaching, will you be attending?  Do you want to attend but don’t know how?  Do you want to vote for music’s best, and think you’re qualified to do so?  Joining the Recording Academy is the way in to music’s biggest award show of the year, and also having the privilege to vote for its winners.  Being accepted into the Recording Academy is more challenging than it used to be, but if you’re a music professional, a lot of the challenge is simply knowing what the Recording Academy is looking for, and making sure they can find it.  Let’s dig in: Harvey M ..read more

If you’re a singer recording your own vocals in your home studio, you may have been told that your recordings sound “sibilant.”  What is ssssssibilianccccccce, you assssssssssk?  Today we’re joined by Fett, a Nashville-based producer/engineer and co-founder of Azalea Music Group, who will give us some tips for taming the beast we call sibilance. What is sibilance and why is it a problem?   Producer/Engineer Fett of Azalea Music Group Sibilance is an overly-pronounced consonant sound in a particular frequency range.  Typically you’ll hear sibilance on “s” or “sh” sound ..read more

As singers, it’s our job to deliver a message!  Sometimes that message might not have a single word, or might just have simple, repeated words.  Sometimes those words might be poetic, or obscure, or sometimes the words might need to be sung (or rapped) lightning fast!  In a time before the internet, we couldn’t look up the words to a song we couldn’t understand.  My mom teases me to this day about some of the words I thought I heard as a young child, like “so swallow your pie” in the song, “Lean On Me, ” which made a lot more sense to a kid than, “so swallow your pride.”&nb ..read more

The first and most obvious way to prepare for a performance is to warm up your voice.  That one goes without saying, so let’s discuss some other ways to get that voice ready to wail on stage. Hydrate. Simple right? Well, there are some liquids that can be helpful, and some that are harmful. Do you know which is which? Let’s start with another obvious choice here: water. But again, there’s a twist! Did you know cold, icy water is not good to drink before or during a performance? That’s right, ice water can tense up your vocal cords, and we want them relaxed and limber. Here are a few goo ..read more

Ok singers, I admit this one is a bit silly, but hear out my reasons why I am calling attention to this. Are you doing "singer's face" (yes, I made that term up) when you sing? Here are three reasons you should give it a try ..read more