Posts Tagged ‘Singing Tips’

When you are sick, *don’t* do what is natural.

Friday, October 22nd, 2010

It is so easy for us when we are feeling yucky, to speak poorly.  Our throats hurt, we are congested, our chords might be a bit swollen,  so it really feels so natural for us to speak “heavy and sick sounding”.  I say nay!

When you are sick you need to make the opposite effort with your speaking voice than what feels natural.  Don’t let your voice give in to the sick,  ”lazy speak” that you would like to do.  Force yourself rather to speak “over” the cold, gently, and without any pushing, pressing, or sitting on the vocal chords.  Keep everything light in your sound.

The reason to do this is for a speedier recovery once you start feeling better.  The more you push down into that sick sound, the further you will swell those vocal chords creating an even longer amount of time until your voice is working sweetly for you again.

I am not saying that you can prevent yourself from sounding sick when you are sick, just don’t play into it and add onto it.  Keep your voice in a “healthy-speak” mode even if you have tissues stuffed in your nose.

And if it is hard for you to speak correctly, then really try to minimize your speaking until your voice improves.

The more you speak on swollen chords, the longer they will take to heal.

This blog is being written by me 3 days in to a cold.  I caught myself day one speaking with a really sick sound.  It gets more sympathy of course, and I felt terrible so I was inclined to speak awfully.  I realized I was doing it and was easily able to make a shift to speak in a higher, lighter spot.  I sounded healthier instantly and helped minimize the damage.

This particular cold has not gone into my voice, and I am pretty sure that by tomorrow I will be back up and running vocally.  If I had not shifted my speaking on that first day of being sick, my voice certainly would be feeling the effects for at least a few more days.

You  can not prevent hoarseness every time you are sick, but sometimes… you can :) .

This is something that we have to remind ourselves to do.  You never know when you are going to get that singing opportunity, so you must always be thinking about how you can cut down on your singing downtime, even if it only saves you a day.  That could be the day when you get called for a great recording, or audition!

Here’s to your health!

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.

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10 tips to your best singing audition. My third Podcast.

Friday, September 3rd, 2010

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.

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What to do about your competition singers.

Friday, July 30th, 2010

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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Improve singing, can you?

Monday, July 19th, 2010

Can you improve your singing voice? Absolutely.

Everyone can learn to sing better.  Talent and improvement are two different things.  As far as talent goes, you only have what you have been given.  Some are given diamond and others- not so precious metals… but everyone can improve singing.  Anyone can grow to be a better singer.

There are so many areas in singing that can make a difference.  All those areas can be worked on and improved.  Here is a list of the many areas to work on when looking to improve your voice:

1. Develop your ear.- This can be done in a variety of ways: Listening to a lot of good singing and trying to learn form it is great for you,  doing ear training exercises – check out Voice Lessons To go v.2 Do Re Mi Ear and Pitch training for this, and learning about music-how to sing and hear solfedge (Do Re Mi), hearing intervals (the space between notes), learning how to sing and hear scales and different types of chords.  All these things can help to open your ears to music. Better hearing and understanding of sound will lead to better singing.

2. The tone, vocal timbre of your voice.- It is important to find the natural sound of your voice.  Many people try and imitate sounds they hear on the radio.  If you are trying to imitate Brittany Spears remember she is singing through a processor which is electronically effecting the sound of her voice.  You need to find your sound.  Strip down your voice to your natural sound and then build it where it needs help from there by adding qualities such as: warmth, brightness, hollow, depth, and ping.

3. Your musicality when approaching a song.  There is more to singing a song then just repeating notes with words.  Music needs to flow, have lines and variation.  Releasing your notes properly at the end of long phrases, and swelling your sound up and down while holding a long note are examples of the many areas of musicality that can be developed.  Play with tempo- (speed of a piece), dynamics (loud to soft), phrasing (legato- smooth, staccato- choppy) etc…

4. Emotive expression (your acting through a song).  Not only do you need to sing well, you need to move people through your performance.  This is where you acting ability comes in.  Practice your lyrics as monologues.  Find the beats to the words and phrasing.  Find the variation to repeating choruses.  For example one time you may be timid, the next resolved.  Use your whole body to express yourself.  Be totally engaged and committed to the performance of your song.  Your eyes should be bright and alive with expression.

5. Charisma- Some people are born with it.  But other can develop it.   You want to be the person on that stage that people just HAVE to look at.  Open yourself up fully when on stage.  You want to seem approachable.  Be an interesting person and reveal it. Use humour freely with an audience.  Don’t be afraid to really be you in front of people.  Take an improv acting class to help you be totally raw on stage.  This is very attractive to people who will “wish” that they could be free like you in front of people. Don’t be afraid to take risks and never hold back.  This will make you exciting to watch.

6. Your vocal range- Get practicing with great vocal warm ups regularly. Voice Lessons TO GO will help you to do the trick if you can not get to a good private teacher.  Never strain!  Take your time to properly develop that range by not pushing and practicing regularly.  The stronger you get get your body to support your voice, the easier it will be to reach down or up in your range.

7. Your vocal stamina- This happens by doing a few things regularly: Breathing exercises, Vocal exercises, singing through repertoire, and physical body exercises.  Doing all these things regularly will make a you as fit as you can be as a singer.  The more you practice the better you will be and the more you will be able to count on your voice for a good performance.

8.  Your appearance on stage- Sorry to say it, but it is very important.  Not saying you have to have the perfect body and perfect face.  But you do have to know what your look is.  Having a bit of your own developed style will help you to stand out and be remembered.  Try and be in good physical shape- it will only help you in your singing anyway.  Think about it.  You want to be attractive to look at on the stage.  Be confident in your posture and be well put together well.

9. Your song choice and repertoire- Don’t sing audition and performance pieces outside of your comfort zone.  Sing what you do well.  If you have a great 5 note range for now- then find a song that does not challenge that.  If you can’t belt- don’t sing something from Wicked, if your voice is high and sweet but not strong- pick a pretty folk tune, if you are funny don’t sing a ballad.  Find the right type of music to show you  off rather then show off your faults.

10. Your work ethic and dependability as an artist.- Always be someone that people can count on as a singer.  Show up memorized, well rehearsed, and well behaved.  this can go far in the business. :)

Get working singers, there is lots to do! :)

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/singingvltg (I love a good retweet!)

The preteen girl voice…patience please.

Tuesday, July 6th, 2010

I have spent many years teaching young girls singing lessons.  Taking them through the transitional journey of their own voice from girl to woman.  This is something I actually really enjoy because first hand I can protect and prepare their voice for healthy years of singing ahead.  There is a fine line  to preparing/protecting verses pushing the young voice.  It is important that are never pushing the voice especially the young voice to do anything.  Your singing should always be natural to your bodies ability and development.

The one real difficulty though is the patience required of the student (and their own parents) for the tween’s head voice to file in properly and develop fully.  As you can imagine.  A tween girls higher register is usually breathy.  So they often come to me telling me they are altos.  (That is another subject I shall write about at some point, but know that I have rarely met a “true” alto.)  Or they bring me a song with high notes for an audition and want the “problem solved” by the end of a lesson. – You can’t force a head voice to develop. Especially in one lesson.

Check Out an older blog of mine regarding what age is appropriate to start singing lessons if you are interested: http://voicelessonstogo.com/blog/category/young-singers

The young girl who has been belting her way through her single digit years, will eventually find herself needing to sing a higher then beltable high note.  This is where the head voice comes in.  The head voice usually develops along with puberty.  Girls hit that mark at different times.  There is nothing you can do to rush the process.  Rather, you must let your voice do its own natural thing.  Its hard to wait for things, I know.

It is especially frustrating when a young singers friend is hitting the high notes and getting the parts while the student is just getting a lot of breathiness.  Patience is key here.  The voice is going to do what it is going to do. There is a biological clock involved. Just like a boy can’t force a beard to grow, a girl can’t force her head voice to develop.

In voice lessons there are things that your teacher can do specifically in prepping the head voice.  Vocalizes that practice going from the lower register smoothly into the upper register.  Singing them smoothly and comfortably will help the transition between chest and head voice as your sound comes in.  It is great to have a head start on this so that you don’t find yourself with two completely different voices that can’t work together.  You can use my Voice Lessons To Go CDs to help you out with blending your registers: http://voicelessonstogo.com/products.html

So, if you are parent of a younger singer or a younger singer yourself.  Allow the process to happen naturally without any pressure.  Some girls are going to walk in at 11 sounding like young operatic sopranos and others may not have anything but breath till their 17th birthday on a high G.

It is really all OK.  We all grow up in time.  Enjoy your young voice.  Keep it healthy, and never force, push or strain it.

Sing well!

Ariella Vaccarino (a once young singer myself!)

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.

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Got Church?- your place of worship, a singers friend.

Friday, May 21st, 2010

Before you try and get the world to find out about your singing talents, get your own community on board rooting for you.  The tighter, more specific the group you are involved in the greater chance that they will back and promote you with true passion.

People really want to help one of “their own” make it.  It gives them pride and something to get into.  Just think of your favorite sports team.  You are into them because they are from your city, so you feel connected to them.  Same thing here on a smaller level.

This doesn’t just go for churches but they are a great example because they are larger scale groups of community that we can involve ourselves in.  Do your singing part as a member of whatever organization you are involved in so people know who you are.  Volunteer to sing at every fundraiser, event, or service that they will have you.

As a result, your fellow congregants will view you as a professional singer (whether or not you are being paid).  It is one thing to tell everyone that you sing, it is another thing for people to see you sing regularly. This will up your professionalism in their eyes.

As a result your fellow congregants will help to “spread the word” about who you are to people they know.  “Well we just have a lovely girl who sings the hymnals for us every Sunday,  she’ should be the next Little Mermaid voice, you should use her for your nieces wedding etc…”

Then hopefully one day, one of those people will recommend you to a record guy, a club owner, or a recording studio, or maybe someone connected to them will.

Another benefit of being a known singer at whatever community you are involved in is that it creates a “built in” audience.  Have a show and they will come.  They will be there to support you and for the social aspect since they all know each other.  As a result of your volunteering, your leader will probably be happy to announce your concerts, gigs, or shows at services or meetings.  You also, may get access to the facilities for rehearsing or giving concerts.

Start with the people around you for your support team.  The larger of a pack you build as fans the easier it will be to add on to them to grow your following.  Plus it is nice to have a venue to practice singing in that is a supportive environment.  God knows, we don’t always find them. ;)

Sing well!

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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The benefits of a good massage on your voice- seriously

Wednesday, May 12th, 2010

“But I HAVE TO GET that massage for my concert…”

No seriously, if you can get a massage before you sing, you should.  As a result you will both feel and SOUND better.  Getting a back and neck massage is an incredible way to open up your sound and free your voice.  Even a quick five minute neck and shoulder massage will help you tremendously in your ability to sing freely with full resonance.

Remember as a singer you rely on your body to create sound.  Unlike an instrumentalist who has the stability of the same instrument to play, you and your body are never the same.  Every day you wake up you can feel different, tired, energized, stressed, tense, sick…

This effects your muscle tension.  Your proper muscle support and release are key in good free singing. Tense shoulders hold in sound that could otherwise be resonating freely.  Also, a massage relaxes you deep into your body so that your breathing and sound remain grounded rather than lifted.

I first realized this years ago when I took a voice lesson from a teacher at Julliard.  He actually had a pianist playing the vocalizes while he himself was “attacking” my muscles.  Was very odd for me at first, but he got incredible singing results out of me by pushing deep into muscles around my neck, shoulders and sternum while I sang.   He was able to release the “bottled up” sound with in me and my voice as a result grew in sheer volume without any pushing.  It was a real singing break through for me.

I then spent many years doing body work such as massage, Alexander Technique, acupuncture and Ki Work.  All of these were excellent and had similar effects in releasing a freer sound when I sang.

Unfortunately, they are all big financial expenses and are not available to us before every sing we have.  You can though learn from this and have someone you know give you a quick back/shoulder/neck rub to get the blood flowing and sound releasing before your auditions and or performance.  Offer a singer friend a swap or you can even do it to yourself before you warm up your voice or go on to sing.

If you hit the big time of course, get yourself your own personal masseuse on your books to be there before each performance.  Until then find other ways to get your massage on!

Sing well relaxed and free 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.

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Singing Pure Vowels…releasing each one into a full circle

Monday, May 3rd, 2010

Ah, Ey, Ee, Oh, Oo and variations there after.  These are the vowels that you have to sing through to get the words out of your mouth.  I don’t know if you have ever noticed during your vocal warm ups that some vowels come out more smoothly, brilliantly, or more beautiful than others.

It is very important that you give attention in your vocal warm ups to good vowel work.  That means that you need to practice singing different vowels on their own to help improve each one’s own release and sound.  It is very easy to ignore a more difficult vowel by only singing your through your favorite ones.  But, doing sowill only prolong your improvement of a lacking vowel.

I created Pure Vowels (the third volume of Voice Lessons To Go) for just that reason.  It is divided specifically into different vowel studies through vocalizes.  For example you will have 5 exercises on an “ahh”, then 5 on on an “oo” etc…   Voice Lessons To Go™ V.3 - Pure Vowels

I think this CD is a great tool for “beautifying” all the vowels that you sing.  It forces you to stop and work on each of them individually.  The better your vowels, the prettier the line of your voice, which will make you that much more incredible to listen to.  Also, the more ownership you have of every sound you release as a singer, the more control you will have at giving a solid performance every time.  This will help to make you a great singer that you can count on, as opposed to one who is a crap shoot.

Remember when you are trying to achieve the “perfect” vowel release the vowel should feel like a full circle of resonance in the sound.  It should have a point in front, a height at the top, space in its back, and a deep low connect of support.  Just a frontal sound or height is not enough, you want the full circle of sound.  This may be an imagery which is hard at first for you to grab onto, but think about it next time you go to sing.

Also, the best advice I can give on achieving a great vowel is matching it to your speaking vowel.  Say the vowel and then sing it.  When you say it notice where it sits in your mouth and head, and then reenact that when you sing.  All should be the same when you sing; the tongue position, where the vowel hits the palette in your mouth, and your lip position.

Think of singing as a natural extension of your speech.  This will help you every time.

Sing well!

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.

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Choosing your vocal genre- some thoughts to help you decide which is right for you

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

So you can sing, you love to sing, perform, be on stage and you have talent.  Now what?  What type of music should you be singing?  What is your range?  If you are facing these questions for the first time, they can be tough ones that you may have to live with once you make them so really think them out.

As much as I would like to think that everyone can sing everything: pop, country, rock, opera, jazz etc….  I don’t.  I believe that we are all probably suited for specific styles more than others.  But, sometimes there is a clear choice that has to be made at a young age concerning what direction you are going to take your voice and that can be difficult.

I’ll give you my own story for example.  I was a girl with the biggest voice of the group from the youngest age you can imagine.  I have been told that when I was at a birthday party at age 5 and all the kids were singing Happy Birthday (myself included), all the parents just stared at me because of how much my voice was different and developed compared to the other kids.

I had an “adult” voice at a very young age.  And by adult I mean full vibrato and mature sounding.  But you couldn’t tell at age 5 that I was suited for Opera.  I could sing everything well throughout my childhood that was on the radio, (I remember a mean “Stop in the Name of Love” I used to do for anyone who would listen). I had a great belt voice as well (not that I understood what it was).

So I was always singing because I loved it.  Volunteering to stand up and sing at school, from my elementary days on.  I also would help lead religious services every time I could.  I craved it and couldn’t wait to do it.  I felt most at home when I was singing.  Not just singing by myself, but leading song, and singing for an audience and an event.

So how again, did I pick my genre?  Well, it was kind of faith for me.  My 7th grade choir teacher told my parents I was full of talent and should take voice lessons.  So I did from her.  She happened to have been an Opera Singer trained at Julliard.  (How I happened upon this in my suburban town is really amazing, talk about fate). I could take all her vocalizes up as high as her, and sounded like a young version of her.  And there it was.  I was an Opera singer.

Had my first voice teacher been a Broadway, pop, rock or Jazz artist I may have gone another direction.

Opera worked for me.  I loved it and was good at it.  But there were somethings about opera that were not so satisfying.  First of all no one really knew anything about Opera, or had much interest in it.  That was always hard for me.  There is also an audience connect that you get from being a rock singer on a stage that you can’t achieve in Opera.  Also, as a creative person I was not satisfied.  Since Opera is about singing things perfectly and not writing your own thoughts and emotions into a song.

Outside of that, I loved Opera and was highly respected for pursuing the art form of it since it takes so much education and discipline.- And that “admiration” of my craft, whether people understood it or not, was always fun.

So that was my story.

So what about you?  How do you decide?  Will you have regrets on the decision you make in the future? -Probably some it may never be the perfect decision, but you can try and make the “best” decision.

Some things to consider when choosing your vocal genre:

Try and really listen to your sound and think about what kind of music is exciting to you.   And what kind of music will be exciting to you long term.

The window to “make it” as a pop, rock, or rap singer is specifically for the young while an opera or Jazz artist has more time.

Classical music takes a lot of expensive education.  With no guarantee of success at the end.

Who are you as a singer?

Are you a song writer who has something to say when you pick up your guitar or play the piano.

Do you feel most connected to music when you are singing through something religious?

Do you love to strive for perfection on a classical art form?

Does there need to be acting involved such as Broadway style for you to be satisfied?

Do you like to scream (rock singer).

Get some good opinions from people you trust.  I’d be happy to give you mine through my service Your Vocal Assessment.  Also, you can record yourself singing a few different genres you are considering and listen back.  Does one stand out to you or your family as fitting perfectly.  Are you the next Disney ingenue?

Just some things to think about for you.

Sing well people!- and don’t forget to warm up!

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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Singers, who should you listen to?- conflicting advice from American Idol judges…

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

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.

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