On any given morning, I may be in my yoga class at the Y, awkwardly arranging myself into some nice, juicy, seated asana in celebration of having arduously completed my standing poses. With a sense of relief, I close my eyes to settle in. Without fail, my wonderfully aware teacher immediately hollers out, “Eyes open! […]
Singing Emergency? The A Cappella Prescription Three weeks ago, I was sitting in a hotel room in Florida, languidly lounging with a cup of coffee and some well-earned Facebook time before needing to rouse myself to get ready for my friend’s wedding at 11 am. At 9:17, I received a text from the bride. “Soundman […]
Several of my students are IT or biotech workers, graduate students, or office workers with high-stress jobs. Some of them have experimented with taking lessons on their lunch hour, after work, later in the evening, and on weekends. Most find that the calmer they are when they walk into the lesson, the more they get […]
Singers who can hear the fine nuances of other singers’ voices can usually sing better themselves. If you don’t feel like you know what to look for, or you don’t feel like you have a good ear, don’t worry. You can learn to listen better. Then you can use other singers’ examples to make yourself […]
This week: Seven tips for practicing for a gig – especially for the first gig with a new band. 1. Dress in actual gig clothing. If you are planning on wearing anything other than street clothes (or clothes you haven’t worn at a gig before), run through your set wearing the clothes and shoes […]
Have you ever done any high-intensity sports? I ran track and cross country in high school. When we would warm up for the afternoon workout, we’d start with an easy jog. Not a 100-meter sprint; not even a half-mile run. We would start with an easy jog around the football field. Why? You know […]
Do you feel power in your chest voice, but tightness and a lack of agility as you sing higher? Do you feel freedom and flexibility in your head voice, but lack that power and resonance you get in chest voice? “Split” your voice and you can combine the freedom of head voice with the depth […]
Last week I wrote about singing harmonies on the fly. This week’s article is about singing harmonies when you actually have time to plan them out. If you haven’t read last week’s article, and you find terminology in this week’s article confusing, you might want to revisit last week’s article before reading this one. … […]
Last week, I took my first waterski set of the season. (Yeah, late start!) I started at a really easy speed because it’s been seven years since I competed, and I haven’t been training much. I completed two beautiful, easy passes through the course at that speed. So I increased to the next speed and […]
I’ve always believed that singing even just a little bit each day is better than singing only a couple times a week for a long time. This certainly felt true when I was learning to play drums and guitar: if I practiced even 15 or 20 minutes in a day, I could feel an improvement […]
