My son is 9 and he has been complaining more and more about his music lessons lately. Just last week he said to me that he wished his mother wasn’t a music teacher! The comment wasn’t really a surprise to me. It’s not uncommon for kids to complain about the focus, discipline, and energy that … Read more
Learning to sing is no different than learning to play the guitar or the piano. It requires a great deal of discipline and practise to get your vocal cords working to the best of their ability. Copying other singers can be a good thing, but it can also be a bad thing. If you are … Read more
Do you automatically sing louder as you sing higher? If you do, then you are likely a “chest-puller”. The vocal cords will keep stretching and stretching as you sing higher and higher, and you end up just blowing a lot of breath through a very wide space. This is not a good thing. Not only … Read more
Boy, times have changed! I don’t recall a lot of exciting times at my music lessons while I was growing up. How about you? Did you take music lessons? Did you continue? Did you enjoy them? A very high percentage of people are going to say they took music lessons for a few years and … Read more
My kids are almost 9 and 12 now. I wanted them to have many experiences as a baby and toddler that would stimulate their brains and help make them smarter. You know, that “window of opportunity”. Research has proven that exposure to music in the first years of life has a very positive effect on the … Read more
When we talk, we are using our chest voice. If you put your hand on your chest and talk, you can feel the sound vibrations. The higher in pitch you go (try talking like a whiny baby), you should feel the vibrations leave your chest and resonate in your nose, eye and top of your head … Read more
So you want to go into musical theatre. You’ve studied voice and music in university and now you are ready to work……….Ahhhh, too bad you didn’t taking some acting classes too. The director is looking for the whole package……….well, unless you just want to be in the chorus. The director not only wants you to … Read more
Well, I have my opinion and I’m sure it doesn’t jive with all the university vocal teachers out there. Let’s remember this is the year 2010! Universities have been teaching opera and classical voice for centuries. Technique has it’s place and without it, singers can be in big trouble. However, without a sense of style, well, you … Read more
Ahhh, we are so blessed to live in a country and culture where we can sing and express ourselves without being locked up or banished. Notice, I didn’t say judged. I wish it were easier for singers to just free themselves from the concern and worry of being judged. Expressing yourself through singing should come … Read more
Huge decision. In Southwestern Ontario hockey is no doubt the most popular sport for boys, and probably girls too. If a boy doesn’t grow up knowing how to play hockey, then he might as well move to …. well, you know what I mean. It’s not uncommon for a hockey schedule to take up two … Read more