The normal vocalize consists of one pattern on a specific vowel repeated up and down the scale again and again.  They each concentrate on different areas such as freeing certain vowel sounds, extending range, creating agility in the voice, etc… And that is fabulous; please continue to do those…

Something that I have included over the years, (being a voice teacher who is comfortable at the piano keyboard), in my own warm ups and for my students is alternating the patterns of my vocalizes unpredictably throughout an exercise.  I find that I tend to do this in my warm up when I, or my students, are feeling stuck muscularly.

I have had a lot of success with this strategy of freeing the voice and sound, since the muscles are not sure what to prep, or create tension for.  The quick changing unpredicatable patterns help to sneak a way through some doors of resonance when a singer is feeling blocked.

Here is the link to a YouTube video I made showing you how to do this trick!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uyf2tSKfnUQ

Use it during your warm ups when you are struggling to break through to your freest singing voice.

Sing well!

Ariella Vaccarino

Written by Ariella Vaccarino creator of  Voice Lessons To Go (singing lessons on CD) and author of  Vocalize!

Want a professional opinion of how you sound?  Sign up for my Vocal Assessment. Then send me a link or mp3 of you singing (audio/or audio visual) with your questions and I will get back to you with my feedback right away.

Check out my instructional videos on my YouTube Channel:

http://www.youtube.com/voicelessonstogo

Listen to my weekly podcasts on iTunes:

My itunes Podcast

Friend me on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/voicelessonstogo

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It just takes one note.  One glimpse into what can be…

As a voice teacher it is my job to “unlock what you bestow within your larynx”… a pretty intense responsibility.

Sometimes being a voice teacher is like mining for gold.  Some students come to me and their voices are out and obvious, they just need polishing, refining etc…  And sometimes I have students who walk in with their voices literally all covered up by muscle tension and I have to peel back the layers of tension to get to their “real voice”.

I like to call these students my onions, (the whole peeling the layers back to get to the source thing ).

And just sometimes, I find a gem in that onion (larynx) that is incredible .

I am inspired to write this by a new student that I have been working with.  We started off with her vocalizng with me and it did not go well, her sound was not coming out, it was so held, forced,and pushed.

Then she picked up her guitar and sang me a song…

I have my students  do this for me, especially my new ones, because vocalizing can be so foreign and may not reflect their “true singing voice” at first since they don’t know how to connect to it.

So, she began to sing me a song, and boom this gorgeous, and I mean incredible sounding note came out of her.  Most of the rest of the song was held  and tight, but every once and a while she would release an incredible sound.  I would say- 10% of the song showed off her talent.

But that is enough for me, one great note.  If I can hear it once, it doesn’t matter what it took to get there, I know that I will have enought to build a whole voice off. By finding what worked on that note and recreating it over and over through proper vocal exercises and building it out like a wall one brick, (or note), at a time soon a full voice can be strewn together.

For me as a voice teacher it is a very exciting to find that one note in a student.  It is like “Aha” the challange is upon you.

The single note is like a door to the voice.  If you can find your way in though it, then you can find your way in again, and for a longer path each time.

Her second lesson all ready was a huge improvement because I knew just where to take her right from the beginning, and we began building and stretching upon that healthy resonate tone.

She was so thrilled to be able to have more control over recreating a great sound.  Sometimes, it just takes one break through to change the whole voice.

It was a satisfying teaching experience that hour, needless to say.  Mid-lesson I had to break a moment to take notes for this future blog- a bit “crazy mad- scientist ” of me I know, but you never know when the inspiration will come.  Thank you Brandy for the inspiration, here’s to releasing all of your sound.

So, the good news is if you can find an incredible sound somewhere in your voice, that means you HAVE a voice in there worth spending the time and effort to develop.

Happy peeling!

Ariella Vaccarino

Thank you for subscribing to my blogs!  I am working hard to bring you great content and free singing advice.  Please take a moment to spread the words via the social book marking links below to help me build my readership.  Thank you!

written by Ariella Vaccarino creator of  Voice Lessons To Go(singing lessons on CD) and author of  Vocalize!

Want a professional opinion of how you sound?  Sign up for my Vocal Assessment. Then send me a link or mp3 of you singing (audio/or audio visual) with your questions and I will get back to you with my feedback right away.

Check out my instructional videos on my YOUTUBE Channel:

http://www.youtube.com/voicelessonstogo

Listen to my Weekly Podcasts on Itunes:

My Itunes Podcast

Friend me on Facebook:

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Follow me on twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/voicelessons2go (I love a good retweet!)

How can I have such a title?  Well, I actually believe it to be true.  I recently wrote a blog about competition and how it you need to ignore them, and I still believe that.  Please read the old post if your interest : What to do about your singing competition?

What I am referring to is sharing the limelight with another singer who is similar to you in a  small group such as a school, church, or community etc…  it is not ideal.

Here’s an example, being that I myself am an opera singer and voice teacher when I meet people I usually get one of two reactions:

1. Wow, I never met someone who sings opera that is so cool how did you get into that…., or I’ve been looking for (know someone who is) a voice teacher. or reaction number

2.  Oh yeah, we have an opera singer at our church, temple, school – she’s awesome, maybe you know her… or

Cool there is a great voice teacher that all the students go to you should see their recitals, amazing…

The ideal reaction obviously is always #2.  The number one reaction (while manageable) means that your  novelty has all ready been spoken for and you are stepping on someone else’s turf.  Which means your opportunities there are all ready being named for someone else.  So for you to go after them, is a bit of a war.

A further example is that I recently moved to a new location.  The schools around here all seem to be connected to previously established teachers.  The congregations have their soloists, and my new friends have their own piano and voice teachers.  I am not letting that shoot me down nor am I pushing to get in professionally with this new crowd.

There is always some where else. I went and found an exclusive gated community and represented myself there to their recreational class schedule.  They immediately accepted me and gave me the freedom to create my own class schedule due to my experience and product line.

I was lucky.  This community had an acting teacher, and a commercial teacher, but just happened to NOT YET have their own voice teacher.  So suddenly I will be the novelty in that community.  I skipped over the area I moved to not wanting to impose or deal with the competition and found my own TURF but a couple miles away.

Becoming the community voice teacher will place me as the GO TO for private vocal students there.  Which is exactly what I was looking for WITHOUT stepping on other teachers or having to push myself in.

Overtime naturally I am sure that I will develop a reputation and be sought out in my own community, but rather then deal with the uphill battle of “convincing people that I Too am worth checking out“, I found my OWN place to be “special”.

This is kind of an odd post, but I am always trying to bring you the honest word for this singing business. If you keep auditioning for a particular theater that all ready has a star in your fach (voice type), then go audition one town over.  This goes for any type of singer.  You need to be as original to the people around you as possible.

If you try and join an improv group that has a funny curly haired chubby Jewish girl, and you to fit that description, your chances are probably shot- the role has been filled, as good as you may be.  Go audition for the theater 10 minutes away that doesn’t have a girl like you instead.

Now certain towns have more opportunities than others.  You need to be where the opportunities are of course, I am not telling everyone to move out to remote areas just to be the only one of your kind.   I am talking about something more specific- your personal community.  It is something for you to think about.  It could be the difference in getting called for roles rather than having to audition for them.

Ariella Vaccarino

Thank you for subscribing to my blogs!  I am working hard to bring you great content and free singing advice.  Please take a moment to spread the words via the social book marking links below to help me build my readership.  Thank you!

written by Ariella Vaccarino creator of  Voice Lessons To Go(singing lessons on CD) and author of  Vocalize!

Want a professional opinion of how you sound?  Sign up for my Vocal Assessment. Then send me a link or mp3 of you singing (audio/or audio visual) with your questions and I will get back to you with my feedback right away.

Check out my instructional videos on my YOUTUBE Channel:

http://www.youtube.com/voicelessonstogo

Listen to my Weekly Podcasts on Itunes:

My Itunes Podcast

Friend me on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/voicelessonstogo

Follow me on twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/voicelessons2go (I love a good retweet!)

During a performance is not the time to be doing a playback in your head of every step you are taking both good and bad.  While performing it is your job as a singer to be in the moment, not judging the moment.

You can always record yourself and sit down and do a good judge later, and I highly do recommend that. (Sit and watch or listen, use your teachers ears, or use my ears for feedback-AFTER the performance.)

You can actually see singers judge themselves on stage.  They are listening rather than emoting and being.  Don’t be caught doing that because it is obvious to the audience and will pull them out of your performance.

Singing is such a leap to experience anyway  for the audience, watching someone standing and singing words for 3 minutes is odd if you think about it.  And that is the key, you don’t want to let the audience have a moment to think about it.  They need to experience the moment just as you are experiencing it.

If you are real and in it, they will be.

So you can’t stop and judge because then we loose the 100% commitment.  We we need nothing less than full commitment of you the singet in the audience to remove ourselves from the strangeness of the singing phenomenon so we can enjoy it for what it is.

Use your time warming up and practicing at your piano or in your room to analyze your every note.  Let your teacher give you critique during lessons.  Use my Vocal Assessment service if you would like to get feedback on what you should be working on from me.

But after that.  When the performance time comes whether it be an audtition or for an audience let go of ALL judgement and just sing the thing. You will be SO MUCH BETTER AND PROFESSIONAL FOR IT!

Ariella Vaccarino

Thank you for subscribing to my blogs!  I am working hard to bring you great content and free singing advice.  Please take a moment to spread the words via the social book marking links below to help me build my readership.  Thank you!

written by Ariella Vaccarino creator of  Voice Lessons To Go(singing lessons on CD) and author of  Vocalize!

Want a professional opinion of how you sound?  Sign up for myVocal Assessment. Then send me a link or mp3 of you singing (audio/or audio visual) with your questions and I will get back to you with my feedback right away.

Check out my instructional videos on my YOUTUBE Channel:

http://www.youtube.com/voicelessonstogo

Listen to my Weekly Podcasts on Itunes:

My Itunes Podcast

Friend me on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/voicelessonstogo

Follow me on twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/voicelessons2go (I love a good retweet!)

Podcast number four is now up on itunes!  Can anyone improve their voice?  Of course I say yes! My podcast will give you  10 areas for you to work on to improve your voice.  This was inspired from an older blog of mine that you may have read.

clink here: to link to the podcast site.

or

click here: to go directly to the podcast through its  Itunes page.  Oh, and while you are there, please write a fabulous review on my itnes page.  it will help me be more “searchable”.

Sing well!

Ariella Vaccarino

Thank you for subscribing to my blogs!  I am working hard to bring you great content and free singing advice.  Please take a moment to spread the words via the social book marking links below to help me build my readership.  Thank you!

written by Ariella Vaccarino creator of  Voice Lessons To Go(singing lessons on CD) and author of  Vocalize!

Want a professional opinion of how you sound?  Sign up for myVocal Assessment. Then send me a link or mp3 of you singing (audio/or audio visual) with your questions and I will get back to you with my feedback right away.

Check out my instructional videos on my YOUTUBE Channel:

http://www.youtube.com/voicelessonstogo

Listen to my Weekly Podcasts on Itunes:

My Itunes Podcast

Friend me on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/voicelessonstogo

Follow me on twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/voicelessons2go (I love a good retweet!)

I probably talk about it a lot.  But it is a huge issue with our business.  The singing business.  You just want to get on the stage and sing your heart out, I know.  I was the same, I just wanted the job so I could work hard and sing my best for people- no politics.  Unfortunately, the steps to get there can be quite ugly.  It is very hard to avoid the yuck, as hard as you may try.

I am inspired to write this after a lesson I had last week a student of mine who is fabulous.  She is 11 years old and is truly an insanely good little singer.  Not only can she sing, she is professional and way beyond the normal maturity of an 11 year old girl- a thrill to teach.  (every voice teacher should be blessed with one of these in their studio).

She is a working singer.  Meaning she is regularly getting gigs and being paid to perform which I think is amazing at her age.  Unfortunately, she is all ready at this young age being put into a lot of yucky situations.  And I feel for her.  Because, I too experienced very similar yuck in my own singing career all to often.

I don’t want to get into the details of her situation, but essentially she was banned from an audition which she definitely was made to be cast in  because of some disgruntled person who took something she did negatively a few years ago and spread their dislike and and contempt for her in a poisonous way to to her people in the industry.  As a result she was turned down for an audition by a director who NEVER EVEN MET HER.  That’s right, turned down to be heard for an audition (she is 11), not turned down for the part after being heard at the audition.

This to me is unbelievably disgusting.  To black list an 11 year old girl from hearsay is so sad.   Her resume is huge, she has since then been requested to fly out for a BROADWAY audition because she is so good and professional, but yet, this director who never met her, won’t see her because of hearsay.

But you know what?  It does not surprise me.  This singing professional is filled with stories like this.  There is an ugliness, (or for this blog) YUCK , that will not go away, no matter how hard you try to be nice, do your job, and show up with a smile.  There is always someone who you will cross who will not like you and will spread poisonous words about you.

It is a small business in the sense that so many people know each other.  As a result a simple ugly incident with one person can spread like a flame onto your reputation for many to hear and judge you about for years to follow, without you ever being able to explain your side of the story.

Ahhhh, you may be thinking, Ariella is so dismal today, where is the hope if this is so true?

The hope my readers/singers, is inside you.  Know who you are.  Know why you sing.  Sing for yourself. Find joy in what you are doing outside of what others think.  There are absolutely breaks to be had and wonderful experiences to enjoy in this singing business.  But the dark side is there Jedis (really geeky I know), you need to face it and know what it is so that you are not caught off guard when it hits.  Be prepared.

This student of mine is amazing, she is able to just push a ahead.  She is in New York right now to audition for a Broadway show.  Who knows if she will get it but what an opportunity for an 11 year old.  And on the bright side and something to hold on to, is that her Broadway audition was given to her for the same reason that the other audition wasn’t, it was hearsay from another director who loved her and recommended her. So just goes to show you.  How crazy this business can be.

I wish I could put a glass bubble around all you singers to protect you from the ugliness in this business and allow you to just sing. Unfortunately, I can’t, but you can.  Here’s an older blog I wrote on that subject for further insight:

http://voicelessonstogo.com/blog/singers-build-a-magic-bubble-seal-it-tight-make-sure-your-inside-singing-can-hurt-the-ego

Be strong singers.  Know who you are.  Try and stay neutral, you never know which one you meet may turn out NOT to be your friend.

Ariella Vaccarino

Thank you for subscribing to my blogs!  I am working hard to bring you great content and free singing advice.  Please take a moment to spread the words via the social book marking links below to help me build my readership.  Thank you!

written by Ariella Vaccarino creator of  Voice Lessons To Go (singing lessons on CD) and author of  Vocalize!

Want a professional opinion of how you sound?  Sign up for myVocal Assessment. Then send me a link or mp3 of you singing (audio/or audio visual) with your questions and I will get back to you with my feedback right away.

Check out my instructional videos on my YOUTUBE Channel:

http://www.youtube.com/voicelessonstogo

Listen to my Weekly Podcasts on Itunes:

My Itunes Podcast

Friend me on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/voicelessonstogo

Follow me on twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/voicelessons2go (I love a good retweet!)

Auditioning is the MOST UNNATURAL thing that we can go through.  Unfortunately, it is what is needed to unlock our world of performing for us as singers.  I’ve put together 10 tips to your best singing audition for my third podcast.  This was inspired by an older blog I wrote a few years ago.  Please check it out.

My Podcast site for those of you who do not have access to itunes:  Voice lessons To Go’s Podcast Page

For itunes:  Please subscribe and rate fabulously Voice Lessons To Go’s  Itunes Podcast page

Hope these tips are helpful!

Ariella Vaccarino

Thank you for subscribing to my blogs!  I am working hard to bring you great content and free singing advice.  Please take a moment to spread the words via the social book marking links below to help me build my readership.  Thank you!

written by Ariella Vaccarino creator of  Voice Lessons To Go(singing lessons on CD) and author of Vocalize!

Want a professional opinion of how you sound?  Sign up for myVocal Assessment. Then send me a link or mp3 of you singing (audio/or audio visual) with your questions and I will get back to you with my feedback right away.

Friend me on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/voicelessonstogo

Follow me on twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/voicelessons2go (I love a good retweet!)

Just because you don’t have something set on the calender to sing does not mean you shouldn’t be training regularly.  You never know when you are going to get that call and how much time you are going to have till your first rehearsal or performance.  You want to have your voice “locked down and ready to go” at any moment.  Your last minute energy should be put into prepping material for a performance, not prepping your instrument.

I’m speaking from my own experiences on this one.  I can remember numerous times in my life when I was slacking in my vocal training and received calls for vocally demanding gigs.  It is very stressful.  I would be stuck learning and memorizing new music while desperately trying to get my voice into pristine vocal shape for it- sometimes with only days to do so.  The feeling of dread comes to mind when I think of those times and the stress I was felt.   The outcome was often frustrating, because I knew that I could have been better.  Remember, nobody is out there thinking how good you could be if only you had some more prep time.  They are judging you in the minute they hear you.  Your audience will think that you are performing to the best of your capacity whenever they hear you.  Make sure they hear you at your best.

It’s time to start building your vocal stamina.

Don’t get caught out of shape.  If you are, you will not give your best performance, and you will stress your voice, body, and emotions out trying to get through it.

Rather then waiting till you get hired for a good gig to get into vocal shape, get into great vocal shape so you are ready when you are hired for that great demanding gig!

Singing opportunities will not check your training schedule first. If your hope is to book the “marathon” role, tour, gig, or show- then you need to be prepared vocally for it when it comes.   Big singing requires big training.  Put yourself in training for that vocal marathon now so you are not off  ”your game” when the singing work does come.  The healthier and stronger your voice is, the more stamina you will have.  The stronger you are as a singer the more able you will be to bounce back from the blows, strains, and over taxing you will be  put through in a heavy performance schedule.

Don’t just get in vocal shape, rather, train to be in fantastic vocal shape.  Think about all the football, basketball team movies we see,  they take the underdog team bring in a new coach and work them to an insane degree, run them, make them do weights, eat healthy, pile on practices  that no other teams are required to do.  This makes them ready for anything.  You can do that for yourself as a singer slowly building stamina with longer vocal warm ups and healthier practices.  Start three times a week, then 5 times, then start adding second practices in the evenings etc… Singing through 5 songs then increasing…You will as a result be prepared for anything.  Your body will be strong.  You will be able to sing out longer.

Prepare yourself for the big.  Why do anything less.  You will stand out with your great singing and radiate confidence as a result.

Now go Vocalize!!!

Ariella Vaccarino

Thank you for subscribing to my blogs!  I am working hard to bring you great content and free singing advice.  Please take a moment to spread the words via the social book marking links below to help me build my readership.  Thank you!

written by Ariella Vaccarino creator of Voice Lessons To Go (singing lessons on CD) and author of Vocalize!

Want a professional opinion of how you sound?  Sign up for myVocal Assessment. Then send me a link or mp3 of you singing (audio/or audio visual) with your questions and I will get back to you with my feedback right away.

Friend me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/voicelessonstogo

Follow me on twitter:http://www.twitter.com/voicelessons2go (I love a good retweet!)

So yesterday morning I had a sound check and orchestra run through for a concert I did last night.  Call time was at 10:15 am.  As you can imagine that is not ideal for the singing voice!  It reminded me of a time in my life when I used to sing at schools through L.A. Opera.  It was an educational program that brought opera to schools all over.  We had 8 a.m. assemblies to perform in sometimes!  Being that I am a coloratura soprano (the one who hits the highest notes), that was a tough morning prep.

I came up with a routine from that that really helped me get through it which I would love to share with you.  Try and hit as many of the steps as you can.  This routine is ideal, but I do realize that we can not always reach our ideals.  So do your best with it.

So how do you prepare yourself for an early morning singing performance, audition, or rehearsal?

Here are 15 steps to try follow when preparing for an early sing:

1.  Wake up early.  Not only do you need time to get ready, practice, and prepare, your body needs time to wake up and get itself going so that it can be there for you to do these things well.  Give yourself an extra hour or so.  (I know it might be painfully early, but especially if you are going to be singing high notes, you need to get yourself out of bed.)  It is important to somehow convince your body that it is not to early to get everything moving required to sing.

2.  Take a hot shower.  It will help wake up your brain as well as your body.  The warmth of the water on your muscles will help to start getting the blood going.  You will need these muscles to support your voice so that you can sing well.  So you need to wake them up!

3. Do yawn sighs really gently in the shower, humm a bit sing very gentle warm ups. Nothing serious.  Just make easy singing sounds.  Continue doing this during your morning routine, keep them light.

4. Slow stretching.  Again, you want to wake up the muscles of the body.

5. Breathing exercises, I have great ones on my first v.1 of Voice Lessons To Go- Vocalize and Breath.   This will open up your ribs, get your abdominal muscles working and make space for your resonance.

6. Physical exercise.  If you can get on a bike, take a walk, do a yoga tape, or even dance to some favorite tunes, even 10-15 minutes will make a great difference.  This will invigorate your muscles and activate them to “alert” mode  so that you will be prepped when you are singing.

7. Eat.  Singing takes energy.  Feed your body.

8. Drink something warm.  I like to drink a tea called “Throat Coat” before I sing.  An herbal tea is a great warmer and soother for the chords.  I keep one going all morning.

9. Get dressed. Give your body a few minutes to digest before your practicing begins.

10. Warm up your voice.  Take it nice and slow.  At this point your voice should be a bit warm from your humms, and yawn sighs.  Start easy on your vocal warm up.  Voice Lessons To Go is perfect for this.  You may not have complete resonance when you are singing at first if your body is not totally awake so take it easy.  Don’t push, let your voice come in naturally as your warm ups progress.  Do a nice slow long warm up if you can so that your voice really wakes up in a healthy non intrusive way.

11. Walk away and finish getting ready.  (That’s right, I didn’t say practice your music yet).  Give your voice a little time to settle down from the warm up while you are arranging your stuff, putting make up on, getting directions…whatever.

12. When everything is done and prepared sit down and practice your stuff. Make sure that you really sing through everything well so you don’t feel that you have loose ends on your way over to where you have to sing.  I always like to make sure that on my high notes I am warmed up higher than required of me that day so that if my voice settles by the time I have to sing, I have extended my range stretch in the practice past the point necessary.  This helps me to feel more confident when I walk in to sing.

Do not over sing or strain.  This is not the time to practice new exercises, and repertoire, range broadening, or stamina building.  You need to save to good stuff for your actual performance.

13. After you practice.  Be quiet.  Go get yourself to where you are going.  Spend your time thinking about the words, staging, and rhythm on your drive or walk over.  Your body by now should be really warmed up.  Keep a warm drink with you for the event. I also like Glycine drops to help keep the voice moist.

14.  Once you arrive and before you actually begin singing, do a few breathing exercises, stretches, and something physical such as jogging in place for a minute or two to prep the body for your sing.

15. Don’t forget to bring in an excellent attitude even though it is early morning.  Say your good mornings with a smile, everyone is suffering with the call time, be the one to help people through it rather than the one complaining about it.  Everybody will appreciate your good energy.

Happy singing!

Ariella Vaccarino

Thank you for subscribing to my blogs!  I am working hard to bring you great content and free singing advice.  Please take a moment to spread the words via the social book marking links below to help me build my readership.  Thank you!

written by Ariella Vaccarino creator of Voice Lessons To Go(singing lessons on CD) and author of Vocalize!

Want a professional opinion of how you sound?  Sign up for myVocal Assessment. Then send me a link or mp3 of you singing (audio/or audio visual) with your questions and I will get back to you with my feedback right away.

Friend me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/voicelessonstogo

Follow me on twitter:http://www.twitter.com/voicelessons2go (I love a good retweet!)