Category Archives: Singing lessons
Dreams don’t work unless we do
I like to use the tag ‘Dream’ when I end emails and messages.
I have so many dreams about my business and singing and things I want to achieve in life.
My problem at times is that the dream will stay that unless I DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
Dreams don’t work unless we do.
The problem with that is we as humans are often fearful of the struggle we will have to face.
We want things to be easy.
We are fearful of failure and the thought is if I fail- then I must be a failure.
But to learn, grow and succeed we have to fail, that is how we learn, grow and succeed.
HOPE
Below is video of a presentation by Brene Brown. She is an expert on the study of vulnerability.
She speaks about hope.
Brene talks about hope as a function of struggle, through hard work to achievement.
Struggle is good.
Challenging and difficult experiences when combined with nuturing teaching and encouragement produce hope.
Learning music is a struggle. The struggle of learning, the struggle of practice. The struggle of consistent practice.
I am here to help students through the struggle.
Just remember, dreams don’t work unless we do.
Why have a singing teacher?
I have been visiting various singing websites lately and have found many of them to have great ideas and ways to help singers.
One thing I have noticed on a couple of the websites is their claim that you don’t need to have face to face lessons to sing well, just watch my videos and you can become the greatest singer. For me this is a one way street.
My comment to this is if you don’t know what you are doing wrong, you can never know what you are doing right.
Feedback is integral to good progress. Feedback is the rocket fuel that propels the acquisition of knowledge and without it, no amount of practice or watching videos is going to get you there.
A singing teacher is not merely there to offer encouragement and assessing levels of concentration, they are also on the lookout for small technical glitches that may have escaped the attention of their student.
You can get the basics from reading material or watching videos, but I would highly recommend you seek out a singing teacher or at least a mentor who can give you appropriate feedback and guide you on your musical journey.
Can anyone sing?
The answer is yes. If you are able to talk then it is possible to sing.
Singing is a skill that can be taught just like any other instrument or any skill actually.
I have worked with many students who wanted to sing but didn’t have the skills. Over time with study and practice these students became very good singers. These students wanted to be good singers and they put in the time and effort required to get good at it.
I am an ok dancer. I can move in time to the beat and when I take time to go over a dance routine I can learn it reasonably well. But I will never be a great dancer. That is because I like dancing, but not enough to want to do it all the time and take the classes to become really good at it. My daughter loves dancing, goes to classes, practices a lot at home and is becoming really good.
But I love to sing. I have had lots of lessons and performed quite a lot and I have developed skills I need to be a good singer.
I will never be great at violin because I don’t have an interest in playing it. I would like to learn cello though.
I love to teach but I would be pretty useless as a nurse as it is something I don’t want to do.
They say it takes around 10,000 hours to become an expert at something. I think that this is pretty close. If you were to ask anyone who is an expert at something, they would probably tell you these sorts of hours. They would be working on their craft every day over a long period of time.
Learning how to sing well is like any instrument. You can’t expect to become a concert pianist with a weeks worth of practice.
When you look at the lives of some of the famous singers who are really good at their craft – you would discover that most have been singing since they were young children. They sing all day every day, listening to music and singing along, they probably go to voice lessons and are involved in any performance opportunity they can.
If you would like to be able to sing reasonably well, in tune, yes you can learn. You probably don’t need to spend 10,000 hours. Maybe 100 hours would be a great start.
How good you get depends on how much you want it. How much is your desire? Are you willing to do what it takes to get really good?
Here is a video of Jessie J at 15. You can tell she has been working on her craft for many years already.
Another video of a young Jessie J
A more recent live acoustic performance.
Dream!
Happy New Year 2016
Happy New Year to everyone!
I hope you all had a wonderful time of celebration at Christmas and New Year. For me it was a wonderful time with family and a chance to wind down a little after a very busy year. As we begin 2016 there are thoughts about new year resolutions and goals set for the coming year. I am sure that many of us have finished up with voice classes for the year and have not sung a note since the last Christmas carol at Christmas Eve. That’s almost two weeks ago!
Just like an athlete, as soon as we stop using our voice we start to lose condition. Singing is an every day activity if we want to be at our best. If you haven’t sung since Christmas, I suggest you get back into practice asap. Otherwise all the technique, strength and condition will begin to be lost.
I am offering a one week Summer Singing Intensive next week, Monday 11th Jan through to Friday 15th Jan. This is an opportunity to focus on getting your voice back into shape. With daily hour sessions, your voice will get the workout it needs to get back into shape.
Sessions are available one on one either in person or on line.
Please note that sessions are booked at the same time each day for the five days.
Normally this sort of tuition would cost $350 but I am offering this once off opportunity for $250. That’s $100 discount.
If you would like to take advantage of this special offer CLICK HERE to book your time.
