Nasal Resonance vs. Nasality In Singing When a car pulls up next to you at a traffic light, and the driver has their in-car sound system blaring (full-blast, with the bass turned way up), your own car window might buzz or rattle. What you are experiencing when this happens are sympathetic vibrations. Even though the sound is not […]

Here is my latest blog post for the Institute for Vocal Advancement: I have witnessed voice teachers in the past saying things like “I don’t hear any nodules, so you’re fine,” “I can give you some therapeutic exercises that will heal your vocal damage,” or “My diagnosis is you have a polyp and need some […]

Moving Into The Head Voice Many singers have the idea that in order to sing high notes with power, that they must stay in their chest voice and keep pushing harder and harder in order to avoid breaking into falsetto. Unfortunately this type of singing is a common reason for vocal strain, and ultimately vocal […]

A Few Thoughts on Vibrato Vibrato is a slight oscillation in both pitch and intensity that occurs spontaneously in a well-balanced singing voice. Ideally, vibrato is the result of  the interaction between the vibrations at the vocal folds and the slight vibrations at the diaphragm. The result of these two simultaneous vibrations the a vocal vibrato: a natural […]

Julianne Sexton Sings “Quiet” Here is my student Julianne Sexton, singing “Quiet”  by Jonathan Reid Gealt  

There’s a reason millions of Americans start their day with fast food—and Burger King is expertly fueling that trend. The Burger King breakfast menu is not just a collection of indulgent staples; it’s a strategic mix of nostalgia, customization, speed, and variety. With rising competition from both chains—like McDonald’s and Starbucks—and consumer demands for convenience, […]

Do Skype Lessons Really Work? I’ve been teaching via the Internet for about as long as Skype has been in existence. The great thing about studying via Skype is that you can always get in a lesson when you need one. If you are away at school, on tour, live far away from me, or […]

How To Sing Across Your Break Smoothly There are many different reasons people have difficulty moving from the lower register (chest voice) into the upper register (head voice) smoothly; but primarily it is a matter of the muscular systems of each register being antagonistic, or at odds with one another. Try this experiment: starting in a […]

As a professional singer, there was something fun and exciting about living from gig to gig when I was in my late teens and ’20s; but as I was nearing my ‘30s and entering my second decade of my performing, I noticed that my enthusiasm for the lifestyle of a professional singer was waning considerably. […]

The Text Is the Heart of the Song A singer is unique from every other musician in that they perform in words.  A well-written song has a melody line which supports the text, and not the other way around. A master composer or songwriter uses melody to produce the maximum impact of the text being sung. […]