Would I recommend joining a choir to anyone, at any time, at any age? You bet! Singing in a group, whether it’s as small as a dynamic barbershop quartet or as large as the mighty Mormon Tabernacle Choir is one of the great joys in life, a unique and rewarding experience like none other! You…
Hello! If you’re just joining me with this current post, you may want to go back and read Part One of this series: https://singingvoicesuccess.com/2018/07/08/sing-your-cake-and-eat-it-too-part-one/. But if you’ve already read Part One, you have hopefully been “tasting” the first layer of our vocal technique cake: singing your song only on “Ah”, with two fingertips stacked one…
Woo-hoo! It’s finally that time— you’ve picked out the song, or songs, you want to sing for your upcoming performance or recording, and you’ve made the appointment to have a coaching with your favorite voice teacher, song coach or accompanist (I’ll use all three of those terms during this post, as all of these may…
I hear you already: “It’s only music?! Is she kidding? How can she say that? What does she mean? As a musician, I’m offended!” Okay, okay. Before you indignantly click away to some other web page, here is my very personal explanation… In deciding what to write about this week, I am highly-influenced by my…
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,…
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…
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…
There probably isn’t a singer alive who doesn’t know the feeling of auditioning for something— a solo, that choir you love, a part in a musical or opera, a fabulous band, or some other vocal opportunity—and then not getting it! Disappointing, discouraging, and frustrating, to say the least. If it’s a professional paid gig, it…
Did you know that when it comes to improving your voice, you can learn a lot from your dog? Seriously! Have you ever heard a puppy or even an adult dog whimper? That very sound can be the starting point for you to find a clear, free, and natural sound that is uniquely yours. Let…
There’s an old saying, “Speak as you sing, and sing as you speak”. The problem is, this only works if you are doing one, or both, correctly! I often find that singers completely forget their good habits when they talk, and this can create problems that affect both their singing and their speaking. I was…