During lessons, we’ll focus on finding and memorizing where your specific physical vibrations occur the most, when singing in your different parts of your vocal range, which creates natural resonance via sound vibrations in your head and body. Then we’ll pair your newfound knowledge of the anatomy & physiology of the vocal tract with your unique resonant vibrations in your face, head, and neck. It’s essential to understand the scientific basics behind how the vocal tract functions in order to learn how to troubleshoot and self-correct when you want to change how something sounds (the subject of “vocal pedagogy”).
I created all of my warm-up exercises, which are specific to each student’s range and current technical needs, which are always available in their online student portal to practice with. A good teacher can always explain why you’re assigned an exercise – otherwise how will you know when you’re singing it correctly or not?
I also incorporate music theory, aural skills, and sight-singing (sight-reading brand new music they’ve never heard before) into my lessons, in order to strengthen the vocalist’s musicianship skills and to help build their confidence. It’s significantly beneficial for any musician to know how to teach themselves new music independently (preferably from the sheet music, so you know exactly which notes are involved), instead of merely playing the original recording over and over until it’s memorized?
What if you need to shift the original key signature either higher or lower to best suit your differing vocal range, but you can’t find a decent-sounding, available recording online, in the exact transposed key that you sound best singing in? Or what if you’re figuring out the melodic notes, but the original recording is too fast and you need to slow down the tempo to be able to hear it clearly?
Rather than starting with learning the traditional method of note-naming on the staff, like most instrumentalists do, I’ve learned that it’s actually more helpful for singers to focus on developing their aural skills (ear-training) right away – within the major, minor, and eventually the pentatonic scales. Even if a vocalist doesn’t actually read music or isn’t sure which notes are which, they can make much more accurate ”guesstimates” as to what note when they understand the quality of the different scales and have memorized what their intervals sound/feel like to sing (the distance between 2 notes). This makes it much easier to understand the notes on the staff, when you can already hear the interval names in your head.
I’m pretty easy-going as far as song selection, as I won’t assign a song to a student that he/she/they doesn’t actually like. I’ve found that my students are much more likely to practice and reach their true potential when they feel a strong emotional connection to their chosen repertoire. I therefore highly encourage song suggestions from my students, and double-check it’s an appropriate range and technical level for their current ability. A song is too hard to work on if you can’t already easily sing at least 80% of it; otherwise it’s easy to become frustrated and lose confidence, slowing down your progress.
I have a variety of songbooks available to my students, as well as MuseScore. After getting my approval for your new song choice and deciding which key signature works best for you, I encourage my students to obtain the sheet music of the song(s) they’d like to work on, in order to ensure appropriateness for vocal ability (difficulty & range) and age (lyrical content).
I also offer audition prep for your upcoming auditions and performances, where we discuss in-depth your song’s character, settings, circumstances, plus the emotions you hope to portray to your audience. A successful performer, or “singing actor” in this case, can evoke emotion from their audience by making simple performance choices in advance as an artist: such as eye gaze direction and when to shift your gaze, “blocking” out any planned movements, and choosing your focal points throughout your performance. These tools can immensely help any nervous performer feel prepared to truly sing their best in the moment!
For practice at home (or in the car, or really anywhere), I recommend spending 10-30 minutes, 4-5 days/week. Practicing frequently is crucial for any developing singer, rather than focusing on the total time practiced (which works fine for all other instruments besides the voice). It’s important to be careful and not over-practice some days, which can be very tempting, but you should always stop singing for the day when you can feel when your voice is tired. And you’ll feel it. It doesn’t take long to cause minor vocal damage when singing unsafely, which typically needs at least 1-2 days of vocal rest to heal, before resuming practice. Because the voice is the most intimate and sensitive of all instruments, which inevitably changes day to day, depending on your body’s current state, I make sure to regularly check-in about your current vocal health.
With consistent practice, I expect my students to be able to understand basic music terminology, perform aural skills “a cappella” based on the major & minor scales, as well as have a clear understanding of healthy singing techniques within their preferred genre(s).
Did you know 30% of adults, and over 50% of teachers, experience a voice disorder in their lifetime? To help break the stigma, I’d like to share that I personally experienced vocal damage a few years ago, caused by an asthma drug I took for only 3 months (Breo), which quickly limited my ability to sing to only 15-20 minutes everyday. I noticed early on and sent myself to the ENT to get a laryngoscopy, which found “pre-nodular swelling” on both vocal folds – thankfully the earliest stage of vocal damage. I worked with an amazing voice therapist from the Mayo Clinic, so I’m tuned in on how to listen for signs of vocal damage or fatigue, and how to help your voice heal as quickly as possible thereafter.
However, if you currently have signs of vocal damage but haven’t been checked out or treated yet, you must get a laryngoscopy before we continue lessons, so we know the safest approach forward. I’ve personally experienced that having a strong technical foundation not only makes singing in any genre possible, but ensures healthy singing habits for life, even after vocal damage. I am 100% committed to helping my students learn to easily navigate their unique voice and share it with the world!