This is the soooper doooper awesome Vocal Instrument 101 Blog

The fundamental difference between all forms of (for lack of a better term) "Classical Singing" and almost all forms of (again with the lack-of-a-better-termness) "CCM" (and Jazz, and every other genre that doesn't want to fall under the 'contemporary commercial...

compulsory teacher

I've recently started attending Yin Yoga classes on the regular. (Because: I like paying to nap while I stretch. Ahem.) And the instructor of the class I like to attend is at least fifteen centimeters (six inches) shorter than I am and has a totally different...

Happy New Year and all that jazz! As we head into the 2019 teaching year and the making-resolutions-by-the-bucketful season, here's a quick reminder: You're listening, really listening (attuned, even) to the singers you work with, right? Thought so. See? You're good...

it's an american thing ... ... this frenetic lead-up to Christmas that starts with Veterans' Day and goes through Thanksgiving, while barreling through Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and now Giving Tuesday, barely pausing to catch a breath before sliding head-long into...

Us voice teachers, we know IN OUR BRAINS that we are likely not the right voice teacher for every student out there. We know it in our brains. But when we have a paying singer in our studio - especially one who may or may not bring some extra visibility to the studio...

It's possible for us to get along. All of us voice teachers in the world. AND EVEN IN OUR SMALL TOWNS. (This post was prompted, by the way, by the super-love one of my colleagues displayed at our local festival when several of us were in the room and she just brought...

The Untouchable Every singer brings a little untouchable sumthin-sumthin with them to the studio; that *one thing* that is deeply precious and integral to their sense of self and that singing teachers learn to negotiate around in initial sessions ... In some singers,...

build that thing They're building in the field that's on the far side of the green space in the back of our house. They've been at it for the better part of three years. And so far? They've built a road and some sort of power generation station (or something. I...

repeat after me I am good at what I do. But what I do is NOT WHO I AM. I offer my students wonderful performance opportunities. And I help them prepare for those opportunities to the best of my ability. My students’ performances do not increase or decrease my value as...

say what now? I just had a great talk with Dr. Dan, a contemporary voice specialist based in Australia, about how our training influences what we perceive. A singer who is classically-trained, for example, may perceive effort and strain (not to mention the possibility...

that's interesting So often, the folks I work with attach a value judgement to the sounds they produce: that wasn't good sound, that crack was so bad, I am singing badly ... But vocal sounds in the studio or the practice room don't have a value in that sense; they are...