I am inspired.  Jacob Lusk from American Idol sings soooo good.  What is so great about him?  You may be listening and know how his voice makes you feel, but technically, why is he so good?

Simply put, he sings in the perfect “pocket”.

As a voice teacher, I can tell you that what he is doing is anchoring his voice to the bottom of his range (which is fabulously low) and stretching up from there.  He never loses that anchor, and that is why his voice is so thrilling.   You do not lose the bottom of his sounds, even in a high note.  And as he goes higher, rather than reaching or lifting up in his larynx and body, he just stays grounded and opens up more doors of resonance and sound.

Jacob Lusk knows how to access his sound using his body and he does not get in the way of it.

It is like we are born with trap doors in front of all our resonating areas.  When we sing we are constantly doing vocalizes and visualizations to unlock and remove these doors to free our sound.  You cannot push through these doors or you will encounter muscular tension.

The resonators are in different places, your chest- the back of your head and neck, the front of you face near your eyes, and the top of your head to name a few.

Jacob Lusk has the ability to hold on to an open chest resonation as he opens more and more doors of resonance as the pitch rises.

As a human being who’s just listening to him sing,  I hear that he opens his mouth, gets out of the way and just lets the music flow through him.  Some may say, “divinely”.  He is in the raw, which is so exciting to listen to and travel the vocal journey with.  His voice rides a wave of free sound.

Here’s the link to hear his performance of “A House is Not a Home”

http://www.americanidol.com/videos/season_10/performances/jacob_lusk_a_house_is_not_a_home/

Just lovely.  You sing it Jacob Lusk!

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.

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As a voice teacher I am in a position to hear many types of singing voices.  I teach group singing lessons to children  along with my private teaching, and it has given me a really interesting insight to the voice and pitch.

When someone comes to me privately for lessons, they are usually at a point in their life where they know their voice, their talents, their issues etc…  Private voice lessons are expensive, so I usually get two different types of students.  Those who love to sing and have a talent for it, and those who know they have difficulties with singing and are looking to improve their own voice so that they fit in more with the singers around them.  In general these are the two types that “fork out” the time and money to take  lessons privately with me.  Those who are not pursuing a career but sing well often don’t tend to show up at my door, they are more apt to buy my Voice Lessons To Go CDs since the time and expense of private lessons is so much more of an investment.

With the group singing lessons for kids, I offer them at a much lower rate since they are shared with many children.  My goal for these classes was to make singing and music education available to any child interested, (since music education in our public schools is, sadly, so limited).

What I am privy to hear as a result of these classes that I give, is a lot of young children who don’t know yet whether they are singers, talented, average, or pitch challenged.  Their parents also often do not know.  These kids just sing.

So I find myself faced with more pitch, confidence, and volume issues than ever.

Regarding the pitch:  I am finding that there are a few different types of issues.  There are those kids, people, who really cannot sing on pitch.  They can’t hear the melody period.  Whether they love to sing or not.  These singers usually do NOT know that they are not singing in tune.  These singers, I find, tend to be in the smallest group.

The other type I am finding is the singer who does not sing on pitch but they CAN be trained to do so.  Often times, it requires slowing them down and forcing them (kindly of course), to pay attention to the pitch.  This is often the first time they do so.  When I rein these particular singers in giving them specific pitch matching exercises, they improve remarkably fast.  It is like they just never realized they needed to listen and match anything to their own voices.

I find it extremely exciting as a voice teacher to help these young singers find their way on to the melody before they get themselves into years of criticism from others.  Here are a few exercises to practice finding a pitch center:

1. Play one note on the piano; sing it back on “La”.  Keep changing the notes.  Sometimes it requires someone singing the note to you properly for you to find it.  It is interesting to see how some singers can hear and mimic my voice but not the piano.  This too is something that they can train themselves to overcome in time.

2.  Play two random notes on the piano and sing them back.  Then try three note patterns etc…  Keep changing the note sequences.  Do this slowly to make sure you are hitting every note involved.

3.  Practice singing a Major scale up the piano.  I have a YouTube video showing you how to do this.  Take the notes up slowly.  Match to the center of each tone.  Remember the goal of this exercise is to sing correct pitch, so go slow and listen.

Here’s the link to my You Tube Video:

http://www.youtube.com/user/VoiceLessonsToGo?feature=mhum#p/u/0/aY804n86tNA

What I love about getting these singers at such a young age is that I have an opportunity to put them on the right road for a lifetime of singing filled with confidence.  Sometimes it just requires a teacher showing you the way for you take the path on your own.  The more correct encouragement you get to sing properly and in-tune at a young age, the more apt you will be to continue healthy singing your whole life.

If you are struggling with pitch, or know someone who is, take a few weeks to work on it.  If you are improving, then you can turn it around.

Sing well, and in tune!

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

Follow me on twitter:

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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!)

As I say for my business (Voice Lessons To GO) as well as for my singing, there is no use thinking about your competition. What is the point?  You really never know what it is that is going to make a judge, casting agent, or directer pick you out of an audition “line up” for the part. So don’t sweat it.

The gorgeous woman who just sang before you like a Siren may have reminded the judge of an ex-girlfriend he didn’t like.

– or-

You might be amazing but the moment they see you they know you won’t be a match for the short tenor they have to play your husband.

Because I am not only a singer/voice teacher but I am also a business woman, I may have a bit of a different perspective on all of this.  I can use my CDs as an example.  So many people have asked me – “Aren’t you worried about your competition?,  or  ”Aren’t there other voice lesson CDs out there?”  My answer has always been: “So what, there are millions of people out there, I’ll just keep doing my best at what I am doing.  There is room enough for everybody.  Everyone can have their niche.”

I don’t spend my time looking at or considering the competition.  I need to be strong enough to stand on my own as a business woman no matter how many others are around me.  I’m not sure which helped me more the entrepreneurial woman to my musician or the musician to my entrepreneurial self.  But the combo together has helped me to see the world a bit differently.  I also think I view opportunities a bit out of the box.

If I didn’t think like that, there probably would be no Voice Lessons To Go.  You might be thinking, I thought this blog was about the competition, why is she talking about herself? That is my whole point.  The competition doesn’t matter.  You are what matters. Put the energy into evolving yourself instead of thinking about the others.

Think on a grander scale as a singer beyond your single auditions.  You need to know who you are, be confident, work on being and bringing out your best, and then marketing yourself.

The competition will there no matter what- trust me.  People will like you over them and them over you no matter what. That is the business.  There are no guarantees.  But it sure will help you get that part a lot more often if you are fully realized as a singer.

Click here to view a past blog post that will give you 10 ideas to work on when becoming a complete singer: http://voicelessonstogo.com/blog/so-my-voice-isnt-fabulous-can-i-have-success-as-a-singer (don’t worry about the title, the information is what you need).

What you do need to concentrate on is how YOU can be the best singer you can be.  Work on all the areas that make you a great artist and performer. Develop the whole you and the whole package.  Then walk into your auditions with pride knowing that you are a complete performer.  If they sign you or cast you- awesome.  That is ideal but no matter the competition unless you are amazing yourself, none of it matters anyway.  Don’t sweat the competition, sweat what you can do do be your best instead.

Happy evolving!  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 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.***

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!

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Sometimes it is good to just slow down and concentrate on doing something of high quality in our vocal warm up rather than just singing through a lot of exercises, (a lot of exercises is also good for different reasons of course- try Voice Lessons To Go).  To help fine tune your voice and your ear, I created the attached video.  Keep in mind what is key in this exercise is to take your time through it and really be sure that you are matching the pitches you sing to the pitches on the instrument you are playing along to.

click here to watch the video:   singing voice lesson- ear training

Sing in the center of the pitch is something I say in this video.  It becomes especially evident when singing something like a Major scale filled with both half and whole steps that precise pitch is imperative.  Think of each pitch as a bullseye- you want to hit the center target point.  Don’t let your sound go under or over the central point.  That is what people refer to as singing flat or sharp.

Other then centered pitch, pay attention to the sound quality of each tone of the scale.  Is it to far back, to swallowed, to bright, to breathy?  Work on your sound quality with each tone through the scale.

Something as simple and common as a Major scale is a great way to work on your tuning and improve your vocal quality.

By the way, expect regular new instructional short videos from me in the future!- Please pass them on.

Happy tuning!

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.

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

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

As I have watched American Idol for some added blog inspiration this season, I am really feeling for the singers during their judgement from the panelists.  It brings back a lot of memories for me as a singer when it comes to receiving conflicting advice from your mentors.  It can be extremely confusing to the “green” and even not so “green” singer.  What do you take to heart, what do you learn from, and what do you ignore?

When 4 people are giving you conflicting advice, or even 2 people what do you do?

It is a very hard position to be in as a singer because we want so much to please the people in charge.  We need the job, we want to keep the job, and we have to get the next job.  Think of all the pressure and opinions one singing gig may have:  your teacher, any opposing teachers on your technique, your conductor, your coach, your pianist, your band members, or director, or choreographer, your producer, your agent, your parent, your boyfriend, the music critic, the audience…

Everyone has an opinion on how you should sing and what you should do to make yourself better.  Whether they are talking about your technique, your song choice, your fach (vocal category), your personal style, or your genre of choice.

This is a really tough position to be in.  For example on American Idol last night Randy told Katie Stevens that she was singing perfectly in her R&B genre while Simon Cowell said she was a country singer.  This is a young girl who is very talented who needs to find her way receiving conflicting advice by two highly acclaimed professionals.  How is she supposed to deal with that?

That is a lot of pressure.  All you can do singers is pick a few people to trust who have a great record of experience that you respect and listen to them.  Then take it all in and listen to your gut.  The truth is, it is you standing up there, being judged.  You need to feel 100% true to how you are presenting what you’ve got inside from the truest voice to the most honest emotions conveyed.  You have to be happy with your outfit and your own hair style.  You need to feel connected to your song choice and cozy in your genre selection.

At the end of the day, when the lights come down, the answer is in your gut and instinct. Use a few wise people to help guide you to that true place.  You are the one to receive the acclaim or critique of your performance no matter who told you to do what.  So own your decisions and choices, but make sure you do so with a professional positive attitude.

-I can guarantee you that you will be judged for them.

Sing well people!

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.

Follow me on twitter:http://www.twitter.com/singingvltg

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Ahhhhh! It is hard to be a singer.  The ups and downs can be so extreme on your emotions and ego.  You put yourself out there for people with an “exposed voice” for people to love, and some just don’t. Then they judge, and they say their harsh words, or write their pointed critics without hesitation.

The thing is they see us as these objects, these “singing objects” that they can just compare, cut down, ignore.  But we as people make up that singer.  We are inside that singer.

You sing because you love to sing, feel that you have been given this gift to share.  You need to find a way to protect the innocence of that.  Think of some of our top singers, people grossing millions from some and laughs from others.  There is no black and white taste of what is good in the singing world once you reach a high level.  Take Celine Dion- she is an amazing vocalist, but some people don’t like her music or find her cheesy so they dismiss her as an artist all together even making fun of her when that woman is an awesome talent.  So what if you don’t like what she sings, there is a distinction between talent and taste.

I am inspired to write this after coming out of a rehearsal myself.  I sang so well, and am at such a high level, but one comment made to me that was negative went stab right into my EGO.  My immediate internal reaction to that was that I just wanted to shut down and walk away from the craft.  I even feel shame and embarrassment at times when I hear a negative comment about my singing.  - ridiculous Ariella!

Well folks, this is crap.  Singers have to be strong.  We need to build a crazy strong suit of armor around ourselves and disconnect our emotional reaction to peoples commentary.  This is a job you are doing, don’t take yourself to seriously.  If you can hear something constructive in their words than grow from the comment, if not throw it out, and I mean really throw it out and hold on to all the great comments you received instead.

Why is it we can here 20 great things and the 1 negative keeps us up at night?  I’m with you people, easier said than done, what can you do to protect yourselves?

Create a Magic Super sonic bubble around yourself and bounce the negativity off like a super hero!–seriously.

Also, find a safe place to sing where you are not judged, but rather appreciated. Don’t loose the love for your art.  Sing for that circle of friends, church, or family that makes you feel great. Go sing for a retirement home and fill your heart with appreciation for your gift.  Don’t let the poison in.

The negative comments will always be there.  You have to nourish your ego so that it is able to have a healthy reaction to it all.

Singers, stand tall and strong!

written by: Ariella Vaccarino – creator of Voice Lessons TO GO (singing lessons on CD), and author of Vocalize!

Want to test your voice out on an unbiased empathetic professional?  Sign up for my Your Vocal Assessment where you send me a link or mp3 of your voice with your questions, and I get back to you right away with my assessment.

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Singing runs in music, (a group of notes on a vowel), can be tricky.  You encounter them a lot in both classical music and R & B.  The goal with a run is to make it sound effortless, have it be perfectly in tune, and create a smooth legato tying the notes all together to sound like 1 phrase.  Regarding the word legato, you want the singing to be smooth, not short and choppy.  You don’t want to hear each note being created rather a succession on notes all eliding together.

10 technical vocal tips to help you achieve a good run:

1. Take the run apart and play it repeatedly.  Play the run out on the piano or guitar if you can one note at a time. Really listen to the relationships between all the notes involved.  Are they all half steps?  Two half steps two whole steps? etc…

2. Put numbers to the run- if there are 6 notes in it sing each note with a number, ex. 123456.  (each note having its own number).

3. Break the run up into sections- if there are 12 notes in it, break them up in groups that naturally make sence according to the rythem it is written in.  So you may have 3 groups of 4, you can count these out as well 1234,1234,1234 instead of counting straight through to twelve.

4. Learn the end of the run first- Just like memorizing the last page of a song first, if you conquer the end of your run first, you will have more confidence as you go through it.

5. Practice your run on a staccato (short and choppy) vowel- Of course, your end goal is to sing your run legato, but breaking up the run into a staccato will help your muscle memory learn each pitch precisely so that when you sing through smoothly your pitch will be spot on for every note involved.  You want to sing it smooth not sloppy, using a staccato to practice it will help with that.

6. Separate the runs into little syllables such as bi di bi di be, or mi ni mi ni mi.  Adding the consonants in practice will also help you to solidify the correct pitches of the runs.  Sing with the consonants and then take them out and sing on the vowel.

7. Practice the run on different vowels.  -You may have a vowel you prefer such as ee or ahh, use which ever vowels you like and are comfortable with to learn your runs.  Each vowel will give a slightly different flavor to your run depending on how they resonate.  You can pull a little bit of oh into an ee, or ah into an i to create the best sound.

8. Listen to recordings of the runs- Some of us learn really well through ours ears.  If you have a good recording of your runs listen and learn.  Then envision yourself singing them just the same or better and do it.

9. Clap or stomp the rhythm of them out physically. This will help you to get the beat and rhythem into your body.

10. Do body motions to help create a phrase- bend your knees through the run, do large eight motions with your hands, bend at the waist and pick imaginary flowers off the ground. (sounds crazy but lots of singers do these odd things to distract their mind from concentrating on every note so that they may attain a freer result in the run.

Once you have done all of the above, remember to relax into the run and sing it smoothly.  Each note of the run needs to blossom and be beautiful with its own spin on it.  You need to be prepared with a good breath and make the run sound effortless.

Sing well!

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

www.voicelessonstogo.com