I just finished my first opportunity to participate in a singing lesson with a vocal coach from LA. Right in my own bedroom. Via AIM and webcam.
The experience? Well, I liked it. I also got some great feedback from her, and she seemed really keen on continuing to work with me. Which I really appreciated, given that I’m not “in the business” as of yet, and she could be working with anyone else down there who’s much further along in their career than I am. The only thing I found irritating tho was that the audio kept breaking up when we both tried to do something, like me trying to sing along with her MIDI file of scales, and wondering if I had hit the notes or not, because the rest of the scale would cut out as I finished.
Outside of that, I found that things I had learned, but had forgotten to consider, or had just forgotten about, in my previous experiences with vocal coaches (such as keeping your feet rooted on the ground, keeping your throat relaxed, use of the diaphram). We worked on the vocals for “IF All the World Were Like New York City” (she seemed to really like the song). What struck for me, though is that, even after all those years of vocal coaching, I STILL have breath issues. On top of that, I spent so much time trying to maintain my classical and broadway vocal training, that I don’t think I ever really learned to relax enough to do anything else.
I wasn’t trained as a classical vocalist all of my life. I did choirs and such, but I only got into it in my early 30’s, because I wanted to get hired for musicals. I stopped for a while, and now I NEED to start again, especially if I want to get this CD done.
I’ll be 42 in a few months. I just can’t sing that way anymore. Now, more than ever, I really, really need to chill…
D-Tags: Musings
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