Creativity and Artist Coach Jessica Baldwin clarifies definitions of artistry and provides practical starting steps to improve it.
What Does “Artistry” Even Mean? // Jess Baldwin
It Doesn’t Matter How Smart You Are // Meredith Colby
How to Help All Your Students Learn More Easily and Faster It’s happened to you as a voice teacher. It may have happened to you as a voice student yourself. You’ve asked your student for a new or modified behavior or skill, or recommended treating a phrase a certain way, or introduced a technique. Your… Continue reading It Doesn’t Matter How Smart You Are // Meredith Colby
Vocal Production for Singers: Using Layering and Effects to Shape Your Sound (Part 2) // Kelly Hoppenjans
In the first part of this series, we discussed the different vocal layering and arranging techniques common in pop vocal production, in order to help singers produce their own vocal arrangements. Just as crucial to a successful vocal arrangement are the effects a producer uses. A judiciously applied reverb, delay, distortion, or autotune can affect… Continue reading Vocal Production for Singers: Using Layering and Effects to Shape Your Sound (Part 2) // Kelly Hoppenjans
The Delicate Balance of Technique and Artistry // Laura Donohue
I’m fascinated with the complicated relationship between Technique and Artistry, in part because I strive to help my students stay connected to (or discover) their own artistry. But the other reason is personal: as an artist and songwriter, myself, I feel as though I am often chasing wildness. I have an insatiable appetite for learning;… Continue reading The Delicate Balance of Technique and Artistry // Laura Donohue
Amping Up Your Ear Training To An Eleven // Wendy Jones
The importance of having a good ear and excellent rhythm is of utmost importance in any style of music but in my experience, the depth of harmonic and rhythmic understanding required to sing commercial music has proven more intense than in my classical studies. Therefore, I feel it is imperative that the teacher of commercial… Continue reading Amping Up Your Ear Training To An Eleven // Wendy Jones
Teaching Stripped Bare // Daniel K. Robinson
This year marks my twenty-sixth year of teaching. Granted, when I first started teaching voice in the mid-nineties, I only had a couple of students. And if memory serves, I really didn't know what I was doing. Still, my first two gracious and willing singing students gave me a start into a career of voice… Continue reading Teaching Stripped Bare // Daniel K. Robinson
The Importance of Rhythm in Singing Modern Black American Music Styles // Alison Crockett
As voice teachers, we commonly work on how the voice sounds, feels and how to produce the sound necessary to create a beautiful tone that can be reproduced consistently without difficulty and strain. We as a community are starting to embrace teaching techniques that allow for health, well being and good sound production within modern… Continue reading The Importance of Rhythm in Singing Modern Black American Music Styles // Alison Crockett
Before you create that popular musics voice teacher position… // Jess Baldwin
Please stop creating positions for popular musics voice teachers in your mostly classical voice department if you’re not going to provide the students with the full range of resources and training they really need to be successful in these genres. Will they be required to write and sing their own songs as part of their… Continue reading Before you create that popular musics voice teacher position… // Jess Baldwin
Vocal Production for Singers: Using Layering and Effects to Shape Your Sound (Part 1) // Kelly Hoppenjans
Vocal effects have come a long way since the days of reverb chambers, tape delays, and the autotune explorations of Cher and T-Payne. As the effects have become more advanced and nuanced, vocal production has become a recognizable aspect of a singer’s tone, in addition to their vocal qualities. It’s hard to imagine T-Payne’s voice… Continue reading Vocal Production for Singers: Using Layering and Effects to Shape Your Sound (Part 1) // Kelly Hoppenjans
The Thing About Repertoire // Kat Reinhert
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