MY WONDERFUL STUDENTS!

Well, on Saturday we had our Spring Recital at Music Instruction Studio and my students were a hit! I am so proud of all of them.


 I also have another new student who's name is Claire, and she started singing lessons recently. I told her that I had recorded another one of my 7 year olds (Emma Sofia) and she is on my YouTube. So, Claire told me that now she was my newest and youngest 7 year old, so she had to be put on YouTube, also. I told her as soon as she learned "Tomorrow" from the musical "Annie", I would put her on YouTube. So, on Saturday, I recorded her. The video is so cute, I want to share it with you. Even her little sister tried to get into the act at the end of the recording.

ANOTHER BREATHING EXERCISE

I hope you have been practicing the breathing exercise I posted this week. I also have another one for you. First, breathe in and count to 4 as you are breathing in. Make sure you have taken in all the breath you can when you are on 4. Then breathe out as you count to 4. Make sure you have emptied out your lungs on the 4 count. Now, that was easy. Do that 4 times in a row. 


 Next, do the very same thing, only count to 8. Then, exhale and count to 8 at the same time. You will now have to start measuring your breath as you inhale and exhale. Inhale and exhale your breath evenly and fill and empty your lungs as much as you can. Practice this 4 times. 


Next, do the same exercise only this time, count to 12. This will be much harder. Practice this 4 times also. You will learn to control your breathing as you practice this exercise. Don't forget to breathe deeply using your diaphragm. This is an exercise that our choir practices and it is very effective.

THE VERY FIRST THING

Well, I see you are definitely interested in learning more about the singing voice from your views yesterday. Thank you so much for visiting my new blog and I hope I can give you some pointers to help you improve your singing voice. When I first start teaching a new student, the very first thing I do is find their vocal range. For instance, what is the lowest note you can sing? The lowest note does not have to be with the best voice quality, but it needs to be sung solidly. And then I find out the highest note that you can sing. Again, the quality does not have to be perfect, but the note has to be hit on pitch. It is good to have a piano or keyboard handy so you can find out what the lowest and highest note is. If you don't have either, did you know that you can download free apps on your phone, iPad and computer that will play the piano notes? I usually take the student up and down the scale to find these low and high notes, one note at a time. I play the notes chromatically, so I play every note and have them sing as i play. Then, I can also find out where they sing the strongest. Some people have low singing voices, some medium range, and some have high voices. Usually, a beginner can sing at least an octave (which is 8 notes)and sometimes some will sing more than two octaves (which is 16 notes). When someone takes piano lessons, they always have a lesson book to follow. That is because the piano is always the same and never changes. But have you ever noticed that there aren't too many voice lesson books out there? That is because our voices are all unique and each voice has different strengths and weaknesses. So, teaching vocal singing is is definitely a one-on-one learning situation. I don't want to write too much in each blog because I don't want to confuse anyone. However, if you have any questions about this post, please don't hesitate to ask me in a comment. I will be happy to respond.

MY VERY FIRST SINGING TIP

Lately, much emphasis has been placed on vocal singing.  There are many contests out there on television as well as the internet and we also have Youtube where people can post videos of their singing.  I am here to help improve those voices.  I have made a video of the easiest way to improve your singing voice.  It is as simple as opening your mouth.  Do not forget the little words like "a", "the", "and", etc.  These words are just as important as the main words.  In my video, I sing a couple lines from a popular song the wrong way (not opening my mouth very wide) and then I sing it the right way (opening my mouth).  You can immediately see a big difference.  I am not doing anything different with my voice--I use the same technique both times.  I just don't open my mouth very wide the first time.  If you have any questions about my post, please comment and I will answer your question.