Using Singing for Self-Care

THIS BLOG HAS BEEN UPDATED AND MOVED TO OUR NEW WEBSITE. GO READ IT HERE.

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What if the goal of singing was actually to FEEL GOOD, instead of SOUND GOOD???

Explore the possibility of this in a conversation and mini-training in this episode of VoiceTalk, where Allie Tyler of The Whole Voice and I explore SINGING as self-care.

“I love singing. Period. And I want to do this because it feels good not because I need to be a singer.”

— Allie Tyler

Allie is one of those people who is like a ray of sunshine when you are in her presence. She will give you all the good feels, I'm not kidding.

I know for myself, there have been times when I would be so down about my voice, that I would not even want to use it because I was so frustrated.

What if we really could turn those negative emotions into something that would actually make us feel better??

Allie is a vocalist, songwriter, and the voice empowerment coach behind The Whole Voice, which focuses on the mind, body, soul aspects of both singing and self-care. She has her master's degree in vocal arts and has been teaching for the last 11 years. Allie is on a melody making mission to elevate human expression.

You can follow her on Instagram HERE.

Give the melody mantra exercise a try and let me know how it FEELS!

Top Tips for Successful Online "Skype" Lessons

THIS BLOG HAS BEEN UPDATED AND MOVED TO OUR NEW WEBSITE. GO READ IT HERE.

DO ONLINE VOICE LESSONS REALLY WORK? THE SHORT ANSWER: ABSOLUTELY.

We are so lucky in this day and age to be able to learn a huge variety of skills via the internet, and singing is one of them.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, singers often had the choice of whether they wanted to go to an in-person lesson or take it online. Now, many teachers don’t yet even have in-person lessons as an option, and some have said they aren’t going back to in-person lessons.

Before the pandemic, I insisted on driving an hour each way to go have an in-person lesson, and I did it despite the issues I would often have.

I’ll admit, at first, I was skeptical of online voice lessons.

Finally, there was a day when I just didn’t have the time to make the drive, and I was blown away at how good my online lesson was.

In many ways, it felt even more effective than being in person. I was more focused, not frazzled from traffic, I had all of my materials organized and ready, and it was all in the comfort of my own home. It felt easy.

Currently, I teach ALL of my students online. Most of them I’ve never even met in person.

Online voice lessons give people access to the kind of teachers they seek no matter where they live. They have the opportunity to study with the best and most highly skilled teachers in the world.

online lesson downsides (and solutions)

The only real downside I have find with online lessons (aside from the occasional unstable internet connection), is that there is a bit of lag time with the sound of the piano and the student singing, so as a teacher, I’m unable to accompany you because of that.

So, the workaround is that I will play the exercise pattern for you, and then you’ll sing it back a’cappella (that’s Italian for “without instrumental accompaniment”).

For song application, you’ll have a device on your end to play your accompaniment track so that you have something to sing along to during that portion of the lesson.

I also have recordings of the scale patterns so you can practice and learn them before your lesson. This makes singing the scales a’cappella much easier during your lessons.

tips to help you get the most out of your online lessons!

1. Make sure you have a GOOD internet connection. I like to plug directly into my modem via an ethernet connection so that there won’t be any wifi interference, but with a good fast connection, even if you don’t plug straight in, you should be okay. A public connection is not going to be as fast as your connection at home, so keep that in mind.

2. Find a quiet, safe space to have your lesson. You don’t want people walking through to get a snack from the kitchen while you’re in your lesson. Finding a bedroom or office where you can close the door is most ideal and it will also help with external noise.

3. Turn off your phone or place it on “do not disturb” mode.  Ringing, dings and buzzing are quite distracting during a lesson. Close any other apps and silence notifications incoming calls so you don’t get disturbed. They’ll still be there after your lesson :)  

4. Prepare your sheet music, lyrics, and tracks.  I recommend having them printed out on paper and organized in a binder so that you can make notes of vowel adjustments, breaths, or dynamics. Have them out and ready so you aren’t taking valuable lesson time to get them set up. 

5. Use a separate device for lyrics and music.  Please DON’T try to read your lyrics or music off the same device you are using for our lesson. If you do, especially if you’re using a phone or tablet, then I usually can’t see you anymore.

6. Use a different device for your song tracks. If you are using a laptop or computer for your lesson, then you could have a phone or ipad to play your tracks. This way it doesn’t interfere with the sound of your voice going into the device.

7. Check your device power before you start.  Make sure your device or computer is plugged into power or starting with a full battery. Nothing worse than your phone or computer dying in the middle of a lesson and missing part of it to run off and get a charger.

8. Have your water ready! Have water within reaching distance, so you don’t have to run off for that either! Bonus points if you also have a straw we can use during your lesson :)

9. Check your angles. Make sure I can see you clearly and from a good angle. Prop your phone up on a bookshelf if need be. If you’re using your computer and can’t get your head in frame without angling the screen way up, then just step back slightly so there is a bit more distance between you and the lens. Keep in mind what else in your room might be visible in the frame too.

10. Sitting is an option. You can choose to sit for your lesson, but imagine that you are standing from your “sit bones”. That lifted posture will help keep you breathing optimally for your singing.

11. Prepare your mindset to sing. Just like you would for an in person lesson, make sure you are fully present when your lesson starts. Because you are in the comfort of your own home instead of someone else’s studio it can be easy to come less prepared or in the mindset to work. Remember, you only get as much out of your lesson as you put into it. 

which platform to use as a teacher/Student:

There are many online video chat platforms out there, but the most common for voice lessons seem to be Zoom and Skype. I used Zoom for a very long time, but have recently switched to Skype for convenience. Ultimately it’s up to you. Here are the pros and cons for both platforms.

SKYPE

Skype Pros:

• You can use a free account.

• You don’t need any special audio settings, and it sounds good.

• You can record the lesson as a video and it can be downloaded from the chat window for 30 days.

Skype Cons:

• You can’t pause the recording. If you stop it, Skype will create a new separate video file.

• Skype does not create a separate video file. Scroll down to Pro Tips to learn how to extract the audio.

ZOOM

Zoom Pros:

• It’s free to sign up.

• It’s easy to record your lesson or enable recording for the student on their end.

• It gives both a video and a separate audio file. That way neither the teacher or the student has to horse around with extracting audio from video if the student wants to save the audio file on their phone.

Zoom Cons:

• I had the free version, so I used to save it into a Dropbox folder, which I would then share with the student, so that they would have access to all of their lessons. This created more steps for me as the teacher.

• You have to have the student set their audio settings so that Zoom isn’t trying to “suppress background noise”. Otherwise it will mute the singer on sustained notes or semi-occluded exercises.

• If the student is on an iPad, they CANNOT change the audio settings, so they will sometimes sound muted. I have tried to do it from the iPad settings and from Zoom, and I have yet to figure it out. Have the student get closer to the mic.

Pro Tips

Creating an audio file from your Skype video recording:

1. Download the video file from the chat window to your computer.

2. For Mac users:

   1. Open the file in Quicktime.

   2. Go to File > Export > Audio

3. For Windows users: Use a media player like VLC Media Player (free, open source).

   1. Open VLC.

   2. Go to Media > Convert/Save.

   3. When you click Convert/Save, it opens a dialog box where in you can select the video file which you need to convert to MP3.

Optimizing Audio for Zoom:

This is important! If you are running Zoom from a desktop or a laptop, follow these steps before your lesson.

1. Go to Zoom preferences and find “Audio”

2. Scroll down to

3. In Advance settings DISABLE (or set to the lowest setting) both of these options:

   • Suppress Persistent Background Noise

   • Suppress Intermittent Background Noise

4. You can check the box where it says “Show in-meeting options to “Enable Original Sound” from microphone”. You’ll leave that ON.

See video below for an example.

optional Purchase:

If you really want your teacher to hear all the tiny nuances in your voice, any microphone will be an improvement to sound going straight into your phone or computer.

• Here are a couple of reasonably priced USB mics:

  • CAD U37 ($59)

  • SHURE MV51 ($149)

For more equipment recommendations, visit my Recommendation Page!

Let me know if you have any questions about any of this! I want to help you have the most successful online voice lessons possible. Also, if you have your own tips that I haven’t included here, I’d love to hear about them. Share in the comments or send me an email!

Big thank you to Alida of Alida Vocal Studio in Vancouver, CANADA for helping me with my online demo video!

Tips for Practicing Between Your Singing Lessons

THIS BLOG HAS BEEN UPDATED AND MOVED TO OUR NEW WEBSITE. GO READ IT HERE.

First things first, congratulate yourself for giving yourself the gift of working on your voice! 👊🏻💥

Here are a few tips to set you up for success in the practice room.

Make it easy for yourself by staying organized with your recordings and sheet music.  

Save your lessons into an iTunes playlist for easy access and the ability to practice on the go.

Print out your sheet music and lyric sheets and keep them organized in your binder.  

Find a safe space you can sing. 

If you have roommates or family members that are home and you feel self-conscious, see if they might be open to throwing on some ear buds and listening to a podcast or some music for a little while, so you aren’t worried about being judged.  Go sit in the car if it’s the only way you will practice! 

If you are sitting though, make sure you watch your posture, so you aren’t slouching.

listen through one time to your lesson recording (without singing along). 🎧

I know you’re probably excited to jump in and start singing, but try just listening one time. Feel free to do this while walking, doing dishes, folding clothes, you get the drift! Just do it!

Don’t judge!  Be the observer.  It might be tempting to sing along, but try to just allow yourself to witness the lesson.

Pay attention to the sound of your voice before and after the adjustments.  See if you hear the subtle changes in your voice or understand things on a new level.  

If you have questions, grab a notebook and jot them down.  

You might also want to make a note where specific sections of the lesson are; for example, the time code of where the different exercises start, so you can find them easily.

Choose how much time you will practice.

Decide an amount of time you will practice.  Don’t just go into it willy-nilly. 

You’ll get much more out of your practice session if you choose exactly how much time you intend to practice.. As humans, we will always fill whatever amount of time we give ourselves, so be deliberate about it.

start Practicing along with your lesson recording.

If you can carve out the time to practice along with your lesson recording 5 times a week, I guarantee you’ll see improvement.

Make a commitment to yourself and do the best you can. Frequent shorter practice sessions are better than fewer long ones.

Here’s what to do if you’re short on time:

Do as many of the warm-ups and exercises as you have time for, saving a bit of time for song at the end.

Lessons usually contain a few different sections, like a warm up, some exercises and then song application. It’s important not to skip right to singing songs or working on range and power. 

Wait until you are really warmed up for that kind of work.  

You’ve got this! Even with a half-hour a day, you’ll see results.

I’m so honored to be on this journey with you, and I am here for you!  If you have any questions, please reach out! 

How I Booked a Part on Oscar Winning Argo and Made it Bigger

The Audition and the Dialect

I knew the audition was a big deal when I saw Ben Affleck was directing and George Clooney was producing, among others. ​There were three different Swiss Air roles, and I'd be reading for all of them... and they all required a European accent. ​One problem: in real life, I sound about as European as Mary Tyler Moore. But I had ​worked on a passable British accent, so ​I could build on that... especially if I hired a dialect coach. So I called Andrea Odinov Fuller and she took my passable British dialect up a notch by adding a dash of a Swiss-German and the sing-song melody of a European 1970’s airline attendant. I put myself on video and practiced my lines a hundred times (probably more, who am I kidding?!), watching them back and fine tuning my accent. Though it was a strategy that could potentially backfire, I decided to go into the audition in my dialect. So, when the casting director asked me where I was from, I ​was forced to say in my British accent, “Salt Lake City, Utah.” ​To my ear it sounded absurd, so I was relieved when she seemed not the least bit phased. I read each part only one time, ​and there were no adjustments. The roles would be cast off tape by the producers. She said 'good job' and that was it. 

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Booking the Role

Over the next few days, I thought about my 5 minutes in the room, hoping something I’d done would be enough to make the phone ring.  It didn’t. I let it go. ​I completely forgot about it until three weeks later ​when I got a call from my agent. I had booked the role, and was scheduled to shoot for three days. I was stunned (and excited, obviously) to say the least. ​For secrecy reasons, they didn’t give me the ​full script, only the material that was relevant to my scenes. I looked over ​the pages, and noticed that at one point my character was to “speak German into a walkie”. I thought, that’s strange… do they know I don’t speak German? Do I need to speak German?  I’d better come to set knowing some German. I had ​some ideas of what my character might say at that point in the script, ​so I went to my friend Tom Lommel, ​who's fluent in German, and asked for some help. I figured at the very least I’d have it in my back pocket if need be. 

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I thought, that’s strange… do they know I don’t speak German? Do I need to speak German?  I’d better come to set knowing some German.

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Filming

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The lines Ben Affleck scribbled down for me to say.

Cut to one week later, and there I was, dressed in a perfectly vintage airline uniform, ​about to shoot my very first scene, which for me​, was the most challenging of them all. ​With my new Swiss accent, I was to make the boarding announcement in the terminal over a loud speaker to hundreds of background actors as well as ​director and star Ben Affleck,​ and​ the other lead actors​, playing the Americans who had managed to slip away from the U.S. embassy in Tehran. Ben ​approached me as they were setting up the shot and introduced himself. His presence was commanding, and he seemed ​somehow lighthearted and serious all at the same time​, if that's possible. He quickly scribbled down a bunch of alternate lines he wanted me to say. I was to improvise​, except ​for my last line​, which needed to come at just the right moment​. He explained​ that my final boarding call would be the cue for the sea of background actors milling around the concourse to create the perfect opening for he and the other actors to reach my counter. ​Okay great. Moments later, they rolled cameras on the first take, and let's just say the timing didn't didn't exactly work out. In my own defense, it was difficult for me to see when they were crossing through this particular spot between two pillars at a distance. After that first​, and frankly somewhat disastrous take, Ben beelined ​to my counter and very dryly told me I f***ed up the shot. Then he laughed. So did I. Phew. Without further adieu they stuck a crew member with an earpiece on the floor so he could tap my leg when I needed to say that particular line of dialogue.

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After that first​, and frankly somewhat disastrous take, Ben beelined ​to my counter and very dryly told me I f***ed up the shot. Then he laughed. So did I. Phew.

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The Stunt

As we continued to shoot, the vibe ​on set felt electric and alive. Things were constantly changing. The second day we did a small stunt scene where I was to be shoved against some glass doors when a guard realizes I don’t have the key to open them. They padded me up under my airline uniform and carefully explained how this was to happen. It was a very heightened scene ​​(and in fact, the part where I hit the doors made it into the theatrical trailer​). ​Satisfied that I was properly protected, Ben told me that if I could just go for it and not hold back for fear of being hurt, we would be able to do it fewer times. ​With that in mind, I went for broke, and in the end, we were able to get it in just a couple of takes.

Where Preparation Meets Timing

They set up for the next scene, which was where the German dialogue had been mentioned in the script. ​I waited, and in my head rehearsed the German lines I'd created and painstakingly learned. But no one mentioned it or asked about it, and in fact it seemed to have been all but forgotten. They were just moving right along, ​and it seemed increasingly likely they were going to just skip it entirely. I ​decided I couldn’t live with myself if I let the moment pass, so I ​screwed up my courage and raised my hand. Unexpectedly, everyone stopped what they were doing to look at me as I said, (insert throat clearing), “Excuse me, Ben? I can speak ​some German here that would make sense.”  “Let’s hear it.” he said. I did ​my lines and I told him what they meant.  “Cover that.” he said, as he pointed at me. And ​just like that, I had added my character's very own mini-scene to an Oscar-winning film.

​So what does this all mean?  

Here are my takeaways:

1.  Prepare to succeed ​by doing your homework. Hire that dialect or audition coach if you need one.  Be ​ready to seize a moment of opportunity, expected or not.  

2.  Artistic leadership. Take the job and make it yours​, and think about the story that you're a small, or large, part of telling. ​Remember to always be respectful and ​definitely don’t be annoying, but ​also ​don't be afraid to bring your gifts.

3.   Be grateful and open to possibilities. Be open to the possibility of booking the job. Be open to the possibility of getting a bigger role than you started with when you booked the job. Extras get upgraded. Co-stars become recurring roles. It happens. Be grateful for what you have​, but be ready to contribute and step up if asked. Anything is possible.