Have you ever had an opportunity to sing African-American spirituals? Have you ever heard of Jester Hairston? If not, you’re in for a treat! I am one lucky girl, because I had the greatest high school choral music director ever, Ed Brahams. Now, it would be hard to pinpoint the greatest moment I had in…
How do you know if a song is right for you? One of the most common mistakes I see singers of all levels make is choosing songs that are WAY too hard for them to sing, given their present level of technical ability at the time. You might be hearing your favorite artist or aria…
I’ve been teaching voice for more than thirty years, and I am still continually amazed at the amount of bad information and misconceptions singers have about vocal technique and voice production. Vibrato in singing is right there near the top of that list! Let me shed some light on Vibrato– What It REALLY Is, Why…
It’s hard to believe that next Sunday is already Mother’s Day! Wasn’t it just Christmas?! Mothers are very much on my mind these days, as mine is going through a serious health crisis, and my husband’s mom is having her health challenges as well. Mother’s Day takes on an even more special meaning now. So…
If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s that singers need a good night’s sleep, even more than the average person. Your body is your instrument! From head to toe, everything that’s going on with your body will be reflected in your voice. If you don’t sleep well, especially on a regular basis,…
Have you ever heard of Mario Lanza? Unless you’re of a certain age, love old movie musicals, or know your operatic tenors, the answer is probably no. And yet, Mario Lanza was the first true entertainment superstar, a man whose voice was heard around the world in the 1940’s and 50’s. His best-selling recordings and…
Why am I writing a blog about singing, and why now? This is the twentieth post of my brand-new blog, and it seems as good a time as any to share with you a bit more about myself, and the deeper purposes behind this blogging project. Blogging is different then writing a book— there is…
In our crazy, fast-paced, over-stimulated world, how to find the time to practice is one of the most common challenges facing any singer. With so many things pulling on us in so many directions— family, work, social obligations, and that ever-present cell phone beeping and ringing away, how do you find the time to really…
Do you have trouble memorizing your music? Does it take a long time to memorize one song, or you just can’t seem to make the lyrics or melody “stick” in your brain, no matter what you do? Help is on the way! Here are 10 great tips for getting your music learned faster, and better!…
I get asked if you can really teach someone to sing, or if you have to be “born with it”, fairly frequently. This is the $64,000 dollar question, or with today’s inflation, make it more like the $1,000,000 question! The last time it happened, I was judging a vocal competition at a high school, where…