Jeanie’s Blog

When tackling a tough vocal technique problem you cannot go in a straight line. It is very much like sailing into the wind — first you sail to the right, then you make a sharp turn and sail to the left, but always on the diagonal. It takes longer, but you get there. If you attempt ...

Most singing teachers are alone in their studios with their students. Most singers are alone when they practice. This isn’t a particularly good situation for either. If you are in a big city, you can do what I am doing now, which is renting a studio in a public studio rental location. I am in mid-town ...

Breathing is the most significant activity of the human body. No one has ever committed suicide by holding her breath. Your limbic brain is programmed to get the oxygen in and the carbon dioxide out no matter what obstacle it has to overcome to do so. It is the reason people drown, because sooner or ...

You can compare Mercedes Benz to Kia Motors, or the Ritz-Carlton to Motel 8, or Payless shoes to Jimmy Choo’s, or Tiffany jewelry to that from K-Mart’s. The list of similar comparisons in this world is endless. You have mass market products and you have those that are tailored to a different, more elite customer. Designer ...

What, exactly, is a master class? A class taught my a master, no? Seems to make sense. I have seen my share of master classes, unfortunately, by people who have not, themselves, mastered anything. One memorable one was taught at Juilliard by a very very famous accompanist who had worked with all sorts of important opera singers. ...

I believe that new opera, written by living composers is indeed alive and well. Sometimes new interpretations of old operas can work, too. While in Berlin I saw a performance of “Orfeo” (by Gluck for those who are not operafiles) in which the Orfeo was a rock guitarist and Euridice was his drug addled girlfriend. He ...

The decline overall in respect for all performing arts is ever more apparent in the arts themselves. If you do not educate children to understand and appreciate the performing and fine arts, including the classics, you end up with people who have not had a chance to develop discrimination and what has to be called “good ...

Do not bother to see the last few performances of “Annie Get Your Gun” with Deborah Voigt at Glimmerglass Opera House in Cooperstown, NY. Truly, save your money. Ms. Voigt is a genuine operatic star, and deservedly so, singing the big gun operatic roles, but she should stay there. She may have done music theater in ...

It’s all about perception. It’s about your point of view. What we argue about, what causes strife and even wars, are different points of view. When you are attached to your point of view as if it were LIFE ITSELF….uh oh. If you can’t see that what you believe and what you think and how you ...

I have frequently encountered research done on college students. It has been such that the work implies that what was done on these college students applies to everyone. I venture to say it does not. I attended the PAS 4 conference in San Antonio a few years ago. One of the presenters had dozens of research ...

Caring too much ……. a lyric from “Falling in Love with Love” from Rodgers and Hart’s The Boys From Syracuse — it is a lovely song. I always wondered, how can you care too much? I’m Italian. I yell because I care. I don’t understand passivity. I know, being tranquil is good. Staying calm is ...

Singing teachers listen for a living. Most of them have not been taught to listen. One of our participants in the most recent Somatic Voicework™ training said that she had been “waiting to respond” instead of actually listening. I think that’s typical. We are busy thinking up a response and not actually hearing, taking in, thinking ...

I wrote this in a post on this blog in 2006. I was asked to explain further but I did not. It’s a little late, but here it is. You cannot “resonate” the voice, the sound, the tone, or anything else. You cannot resonate a piano or a horn. You cannot “resonate” anything. Resonance is a ...

Sometimes people need to take singing lessons for reasons that have little to do with singing. We have, in our society, quite a bit of abuse. Some of it is discovered and addressed, but much of it is hidden in various ways. People who are victims of abuse are frequently not heard when they speak up to ...

I believe that it is very rare for people to sit in close proximity to a well trained voice and hear it acoustically. I think most people in our society hear amplified voices. There’s nothing wrong with this, especially if the equipment is good and the venue has good acoustics, but it is not the ...