Connecting Body & Mind: Letting Go of Tension

TO MY WONDERFUL STUDENTS: I appreciate how much courage you have to go places that may not be totally comfortable.  It is both exhilarating and scary as a singer to be open and exposed with your voice. One of greatest challenges to overcome when singing is tension and the letting go of it.  Tension….ah that tension.  We all have it.  I usually think tension when singing comes down to mental...

Can you HEAR your EARS cry for help?

When it comes to my ears, I’m a total nerd and hyper aware of noise.  In a kickboxing class, everyone else is rocking out while I’m looking for my earplugs.  I always carry either earplugs or tissues to stuff in my ear because you never know when you will need them. Here’s the thing. Hearing is a sense that often doesn’t come back once it’s lost or damaged. Damage for most...

Sing to be HEARD

Sounds simple right?  Of course you should sing to be heard.  Here is the problem.  Many singers are not comfortable singing out.  They are not comfortable being loud or projecting their voice. It’s kind of a scary thing to send sound out there.  It’s a totally naked feeling sometimes and is very vulnerable. Here’s the thing about not projecting or not singing to be heard.  What...

YOUR Song = YOUR Key

hello, hello. So you have chosen a great song, you go to buy it and, you buy it in the original key.  That’s the one you’ll sing it in right?  NO.  Let me say that again.  NO. Haha.  Song keys fit like clothes.  It might be same pair of jeans we are all wearing, but the length and waist are crucial to having them look good.  When it comes to singing, the key is crucial to a song sounding...

Wanna be a Better Performer…? Perform often.

Sounds obvious but for beginning singers, it’s really frightening to perform. Recently I had a small salon for my students.  The reason I do casual salons and less formal concerts with my students is so they can have stepping stones to more formal performance settings.  In the salon, there are about 10-15 people there.  The student introduces the song and what they have been working on technically...