What If You Don't Feel Like Singing?

   It has been a rough year for many singers during the pandemic. I hope you have stayed healthy and have found ways to keep singing. I’ve been very impressed by my students this year. Some have really used their extra stay-at-home time to double-down on practicing. Some have been working on sets of songs in preparation for when we’re all free to go to concerts again. Some have been live-streaming to stay in touch with their fans. And one go-getter student gigged steadily from the summer until now, all at outside/distanced shows.

    But some of us have been too challenged by 2020 to do much besides scrape by and watch too much TV. I have singer friends who haven’t sung in months. If this sounds like you don’t let your lack of singing or practicing get you down. It’s enough right now to just get through the pandemic, you don’t have to do more than that. Singing will still be there when you feel like singing again.

     If you don’t feel like singing but you really want to get or keep your voice going, try the baby steps approach: 

1. Once a day sing a song, any song, a cappella.
2. If songs feel too emotional set a timer for 5-10 minutes and sing some of your warmups. Just a small bit of singing can help you retain your vocal strength and technique, and since endorphins are released when we sing it might also brighten your mood.
3. Forget songs and warmups: just make some sounds. They might be out-of-tune, silly, sing-songy, or weird. Just let yourself vocalize in some way. Do it in the shower if you’re worried about others hearing you.
        I have done all of the above at various times this year!

        If you are like my singer friend who completely stopped singing last spring but are now ready to bring your voice back, go slowly as you let your vocal cords and singing habits reawaken. Sing small-range songs. Perhaps only do the earlier, easier parts of your warmup. You may need to pay more attention to breathing and facial resonance for awhile. If you can do lip trills (also called lip rolls or motorboating) and/or tongue rolls do a lot of them: loose ones, or over scales or songs. I show you these starting at 2:54 of my video “Singing When You’re Sick”.
    If you’re really feeling rusty or having difficulties bringing your voice back, my method The Vocal Recovery Warmup can help. It includes several warmups of varying levels of difficulty, plus lots of instruction. One of my students, who sings professionally, still uses the last set of exercises as his daily warmup. Make sure to read the pdf guidebook that comes with the download, the audio lessons can be used alone but using them in tandem with the book is much more effective.

    I hope we all get to sing with each other and for each other, IN PERSON, in 2021!

What I Learned About Singing at Zumba Class

When I was living in Santa Cruz during college there was a fabulous afro-cuban dance class downtown, with live drummers. Over a hundred people would show up for an hour of hip-swaying, butt-shaking tribal dance. I’m not a trained dancer and I could never get the moves down, but since I love to dance it was still loads of fun. Going to a Zumba class at my local Nashville gym once or twice a week is as close as I can get now to recreating those Santa Cruz days. The music isn’t live, but the dance moves from different cultures and the array of music from around the world still can make for a great time. The teacher can make or break a class, however. A good Zumba teacher knows lots of routines and can convey them easily, can keep everyone moving, and will look like they’re having fun all the while.

When my beloved Zumba teacher of several years switched careers, two different teachers took over her Tuesday and Thursday classes. I went to Marie’s class on Thursday and it was awful: she was clearly new to teaching Zumba and her inexperience showed. She only knew 25 minutes worth of dance routines, so we had to do the same clunky dances twice during the hour. She kept stopping to look at her notes during the routines. The music she chose was too disco-y. I tried her class a couple of times, then gave up and avoided it. That only left one other class I could take, Annie’s class on Tuesdays. She was a trained dancer and knew her stuff. I joined her class and stayed with it for several months.

As the months rolled on the classes became less and less fun. I realized that we always did the same routines, and that the moves seemed more militaristic than hip-swaying/African/Latin/Cuban-ish. Annie moved well, but she never looked like she was having any fun. She often looked liked she’d rather be at the movies with her boyfriend.

Other people were voting with their feet, and Annie’s class size was steadily shrinking. I skipped it one week due to another commitment, and in desperation for exercise (this was in the dead of winter) I returned to Marie’s Thursday class. Holy moly, what a difference! She not only had collected a huge variety of music and learned a bunch of routines, she not only had learned how to signal us new fun moves as we all danced, but she exuded enthusiasm all the while. She clearly was having a blast teaching the class. She’d scamper up and dance with different students, and made sure she knew everyone’s name. New students of any level were welcomed with enthusiasm. She even played the quick “Jeopardy” theme twice during the hour, so we could all get water--no teacher had ever thought to add water break music to their mix. Everything about the class said “Whoever you are, come have some fun!” As I danced away I was filled with the sheer joy of dancing, something I hadn’t felt for many months.

So what does this have to do with singing?

1) Don’t pigeonhole someone with an initial judgement. I gave a few lessons to someone years ago and pegged her early on as someone who needed lots of help-- and even then would probably never improve much. She disappeared for a year and then returned, telling me that during the year she’d been working with the recordings I’d made for her of our few lessons. She not only sounded fantastic, but she got a record deal six months later. I learned not to make hard and fast predictions about how quickly or how much a singer might improve. Wish I’d thought not to judge Marie so quickly as well!

2) Don’t pigeonhole yourself with a judgment about your singing. Just as with athletics, singing is partly mental. If you decide that you’ll never sing high (or powerfully, or in tune, or well enough to go pro, or whatever), you may be setting yourself up to fail.

3) The joy factor is vital. Most people study voice or pursue careers as singers because they love to sing. Singing is one of the great joys of life. It engages you physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. If singing has been no fun for you lately, figure out why and make some changes. Recently I realized I’d been singing the same practice songs for way too long. I recorded some new practice songs and voila`, suddenly I was having fun again.


Now you know where I’ll be on Thursdays at 5:30.

Sometimes Dreams Come True

Anyone who has every tried to get anywhere in the music business knows that getting a record deal or having your song cut is like winning the lottery--it’s next to impossible. So it’s wonderful to see someone who is talented and deserving actually get somewhere in this occasionally heartless biz.
    I met Kelleigh Bannen a few years ago in Barbara Cloyd’s Pitch to Publishers songwriting workshop. I liked her immediately--she was very pretty and friendly, and appeared to have a brain. During the workshop she played a song live and in my humble opinion I thought she had a great voice, but she needed to strengthen her guitar and performance chops. After the workshop we wrote a few songs together, including one I liked so much that I recorded it for my album Swimmer. While writing we hung out a bit and talked a lot about her career path. She was totally open to any feedback I had, and was very focused on doing anything she could to improve as an artist.
    Though she was clearly talented, she was one of hundreds, if not thousands of talented artists trying to get somewhere in Nashville. So during the couple of  years Kelleigh worked her butt off and did the following:
• Worked on her guitar playing.
• Gigged whenever possible.
• Took even more singing lessons, though she’d been studying since she was a teen.
• Recorded and released an album on her own.
• Followed every lead possible to meet with industry people.
• In an effort to stand out in the crowd, she organized and did a “90 Gigs in 90 Days” tour. If you booked her to play in your closet, she did it. As her website says, she did it “In honor of my little brother who passed away after a long battle with addiction.” (Just in case you think her life has been a bed of roses.)
• Because of the tour she got a meeting with producer Paul Worley, who proceeded to mentor her, sign her to his publishing company, and then set her up with a bunch of high profile songwriters.
• Spent almost every waking minute for many months writing with different songwriters, proving to Paul she had staying power.
• Recorded with Paul, who then got her a deal with Capitol Records.
• Knowing that getting a deal was not the end of the story but one more rung in the ladder, she then did everything she could to prove to the label that she was worthy. She gigged, kept practicing, and kept writing.

         Last fall I took a student of mine to see Kelleigh play, and saw how she had transformed herself through sheer hard work. She had retained her smarts, sense of humor and friendliness, but the non-stop writing, practicing and gigging had paid off. Her voice was better than ever, her guitar playing was confident, her songs were powerful, and her performing was completely professional and passionate. She exuded star quality and charisma, but in a very open, down-to earth way.
    Signing with a label doesn’t mean that you’ll ever release a thing. Some artists sign with labels like Capitol and then spin their wheels for years, recording and gigging, until finally the label lets them go. Two years after she signed her deal, Kelleigh’s first single came out. She debuted at the Grand Old Opry last week, and posted on Facebook a picture she took from onstage at another gig with the comment “This is what 25,000 people looks like!”.
    We chatted this week about how to keep one’s voice strong with the demands of multiple radio meet-and-greets and a demanding tour schedule. She’s on her way, and she deserves to do well. Rock on, Kelleigh!