a learning space for voice teachers and vocal coaches
I’ve been a lead singer in a variety of Pop/Rock/Soul covers bands for the past 27 years, and a teacher of Popular Music styles for 16 years. After such a long time inhabiting that world, very little shocks me these days. But I recently experienced an unusual and very pleasant surprise when I joined the… Continue reading You gotta fight… for your right… to sing in the right key? // Jo Sear
One of the most frequent questions I get from voice teachers asking me advice about teaching in popular music spaces is: “What repertoire should I use?” The first time someone asked me this question, I was dumbfounded. I couldn’t actually understand what they were asking – or even WHY they were asking it. But, after… Continue reading The Thing About Repertoire // Kat Reinhert
Belmont University Commercial Voice Professor Kate Paradise gives us an overview of some important developments in music over the last decade.
All of my singers want to sing commercial music, or popular songs. I encourage them to sing what they want to sing. When I first began taking voice lessons myself over 20 years ago, I was assigned an Italian art song. Learning Italian as a beginning voice student was very common, and at the Academic… Continue reading Song Choice in the Contemporary Studio // Julie Dean
As Kelly mentioned in last week’s post, it’s important to sound like YOU when singing in your own style. But what if you don’t know what your style is yet? How do you start to develop it? Your style can be influenced consciously as well as subconsciously. Subconscious style influences can include the music your… Continue reading Developing Vocal Style // Jess Baldwin
Jess shares some tips for finding songs about particular topics, emotions, and themes.
Pop-Rock Musical Style Guru Sheri Sanders talks about how we can develop our own personal vocal style by building a palette of colors from other great voices.
I have a few playlists on Spotify that I maintain to collect tunes that would be fun and appropriate for people to sing and play regardless of age. I send students and parents the links so they can listen and choose some options. Generally, I find that the parents are relieved to have a kid-friendly playlist… Continue reading Kid-Friendly Popular and Commercial Playlists // Jess Baldwin