Singing Posture and Balance As vocalists, we spend a lot of time in the practice room, finely tuning the various skills and techniques of singing. Studies show musicians tend to measure their worth through the success of performances, the arena where all the hard works pays off! As a coach, one specific technique that I […]
Dislike the sound of your singing voice? Jackie gives you some great tips to help you build a positive relationship with your voice. So you don’t really like the sound of your own voice? Guess what, you’re not alone. Students come to me all the time saying they hate the sound of their own voice. […]
Looking After Your Voice Jackie gives you some tips on how to keep your voice in shape. So you’re a fully trained singer, you know how to warm up your voice before rehearsal or a show and how to belt out those high notes. Although what about when it comes to the not-so-loud moments? After […]
Performance Tips: Eye Contact – with Josh Check out Josh’s top performance tips to really connect with your audience using eye contact.
9 Tension Busters For Better Singing Jackie, vocal coach at Sono Music, gives you these top tips for busting tension! 🙌 NECK TENSION If you see lines on your neck or you are feeling strain whilst singing. You have neck tension this can be from improper placement of the voice or even lack of […]
Jazz Improvisation For Singers Jazz improvisation is a defining aspect of the jazz genre. It gives us the opportunity to showcase our abilities and really impress our listeners. For singers, the improvisation that we do is called scatting. A good scat consists of a range of different nonsense syllables (e.g. Doo, Ba, Dee, Bup, Zoo, […]
A Guide to Belting So before we talk about how to belt, we are going to do the how to not ever, ever, ever belt. Seriously, I have seen it so many times, people pushing out notes that their vocal chords aren’t used to; straining, cracking, breaking. It’s horrible – beyond horrible – and I […]
Singing Mythbusters! Fact or Fiction Only Opera Singers Need to Breathe from Their Diaphragm Fiction. Humans are lazy, we can’t even be bothered taking a proper deep breath. Using the diaphragm in our singing is essential! It ensures that we project clearly, it helps to support our voice, to sustain notes and it allows […]
How to Be Pitch Perfect So you’ve been avoiding your friend’s karaoke nights ever since you were old enough to go to out. SingStar is your enemy and you dread campfire singalongs because you’re absolutely tone-deaf. Not anymore… It’s very common to have pitch problems, particularly if you haven’t grown up learning a musical instrument […]
Warming up Your Voice Taking time to engage, prepare and ‘switch on’ your voice is vital. Warming up your voice properly helps your voice during lessons, practices and performances. It can even increase your vocal stamina and energy, and it reminds you to sing with solid technique. But what exactly does properly warming up your voice […]
Singing in a Choir So your solo singing skills are great! You have solid confidence, you get lessons from a skilled coach to improve your technique and you practise efficiently. This is super impressive, so well done! BUT… Have you ever tried singing in a choir? Think about some of your favourite solo artists, and […]
Learning to Sing a Song It’s honestly crazy how many songs exist. And there are more being created every day. The choices that singers have when choosing their repertoire is virtually limitless. There will always be something to suit your voice in the massive canon of international music. It just takes a little time and […]
Jackie’s Top Tips: Kill Those Nerves So your hands are trembling, your palms are sweaty, your voice breaks. That’s it, it’s all over. NO!!! Pick yourself up and dust yourself off. If you just watched this year’s latest Super Bowl Halftime Show you probably saw Beyonce slightly stack it in her dance, but did she scratch […]
Preparing for a Performance Do you have a big performance coming up? Sometimes, the right preparation can be half the battle. Effectively preparing for a performance can be split up into three main areas. Your mind, your body, and your instrument. Let’s take a look at some strategies that can be employed in each of […]
Why You Need a Voice Coach A lot of young (and older) people who have a genuine interest in singing will take many different steps to fulfill their desires and reach their goals. The two most common and practical methods which people choose to better their vocal talents are taking lessons and practising. Combining these […]
Breathing Technique As a singer, I hear plenty of discussions about technique, and quite often these can be confusing. There are so many things to think about. It can sometimes feel like there is never enough time execute all the technical procedures you are meant to. However, if you strip away the extraneous details, singing […]
A Singer’s Guide to Surviving in a Band Coming into a band as a singer can be quite daunting as our musical training can be quite different to that of an instrumentalist. Many singers don’t often have the experience of working alongside other musicians. When I started singing in a band, I was overwhelmed and […]
In this week’s VLOG, Jess discusses the all important topic of RESONANCE, and in particular, “forward nasal resonance.” Jess shares with you some tips on how to engage resonance and achieve clear and beautiful tone.
In Part 2 of our Correct Diaphragm Use vlog series, Jess shows you how to strengthen your diaphragm so that it can function at it’s best!
In Part 1 of our Correct Diaphragm Use vlog series, Jess shows you how to engage your diaphragm in order to maintain breath control while singing.