How Do I Do Voice Lessons Online?

You may be asking yourself how voice lessons work online. It’s true that voice teachers rely upon fine-tuned listening of the instrument to make adjustments in their pupils. Luckily, nowadays singers can get the same quality instruction over the internet.

Here are some suggestions for how you can help the lessons be just as productive as if we were in the same room.

1. The tech setup does NOT need to be complicated, but we do need to have a few things arranged prior to the lesson start time. Check out my hand drawn diagram to see what an ideal set up might look like for you.

2. If you don’t have the capabilities to set up as above, DON’T WORRY! We can have great online lessons with just your phone handy. We will make it work no matter your set up.

3. I suggest you use earbuds with a microphone such as the ones shown below. Blue tooth earbuds often diminish the sound quality and don’t function as well when accompaniment tracks need to be played on your end. If you don’t have headphones using your computer’s internal speaker is the second best option.

4. If you are able to use a laptop or desktop computer this will help diminish the time lag. Phones and tablets work great, especially if that’s the best setup for you, but computers tend to have a quicker connection.

5. Have a place to take notes handy.

6. Have the prerecorded vocal exercises open in your browser or downloaded onto your device prior to the lesson. When you sign up for your lesson you’ll be given links to the vocal exercises through your choice of Dropbox, Google Drive or my website. You can stream directly from any of the sources. If you access them from Dropbox or Drive you’ll also be able to download the tracks. They are here on my website.

7. Have water handy.

8. Come to your lesson with questions and ideas. Lessons are a collaborative process!

Online Lessons are Awesome!

Here we are two months into our post-Covid-19-shutdown world. My last day of in-person teaching was March 20th and that feels like about a year ago. I miss seeing my students and hugging them after a great lesson, but I’m relieved that we’re all staying safe and healthy and that outweighs the missing.

Like so many of us, my initial transition to online working was a learning curve. With a lot of persistence and the patience of my students I’ve designed an online teaching style that’s as good as the in-person experience. In fact there are some huge advantages to taking voice lessons online.

Currently I’m teaching online lessons to students ranging from 6 years old to fully formed and grown adults. We’re having a lot of fun! Read on to see what unique benefits online lessons offer:

1. I get to meet your kids and pets! It has been such a joy to be invited into your homes and get to know you better. Plus, a snoring dog, a cat that just has to find the windowsill and kids heard in the background never fail to bring a smile on everyone’s face.

2. Online learning is ideal for ear training! Learning music aurally is a critical skill for all musicians and the time lag online makes for a perfect excuse to dig into this skill. I’ve been drilling my students on identifying major and minor chords, learning new scales, reviewing intervals and more! All ear training is designed to meet students right at their level while pushing them just enough to make it fun and challenging.

3. You’ll get warm-up tracks to practice with at home! Since I can’t play along with you during the lesson I’ve made prerecorded exercises for you to sing with. As a bonus, you get to keep those recordings to use whenever you want!

4. I can pay extra close attention to your instrument! I hadn’t realized how much attention playing the piano for my students was taking until I couldn’t do it anymore. With the new set up I’ve been able to watch my students singing with extra detail. I notice precisely how your breathing cycle is operating throughout exercises and songs. I am watching much more closely how your body is carrying tension so we can address is immediately. Recently, with an especially tall student I noticed a tongue placement I had never been able to see before!

5. Students get to take control over how they do songs! It has been so awesome to watch my students find accompaniment tracks, use apps like Appcompanist, MusicNotes and iRealPro, and whip out their guitars and mandolins! I enjoy playing piano for my students and there is a lot of value in that direct collaboration, however in the real world singers have to problem solve their accompaniment needs. With online learning my students have been resourceful and creative. Some of my students have begun to learn how to record themselves on GarageBand and Noteflight. These are skills and tools that will benefit singers for their entire singing journey.

6. Lessons can focus on establishing solid technique and revisiting goal setting! Without pending auditions, performances, or other deadlines on the calendar, we can revisit topics such as breathing, vowels, etc. We can also talk about building a song book or an audition book if that applies to you. Basically, lessons get to return to the basics and sometimes that’s a great place to go.

7. Online lessons make a great back up plan for the longterm! Sometimes singers have a scratchy throat and don’t want to spread their germs but still want to have a lesson. Sometimes a kid is sick at home or the commute from work took extra long. Sometimes there’s a blizzard in May (it’s Colorado after all!). Sometimes you are out of town and want to SING! Once we’ve gotten the hang of online lessons they’ll always be an option for you should any of these situations arise. It’s a brave new world and meeting online is going to stay with us.

These are just a few of the benefits of teaching online. There are many more advantages that aren’t on this list. Sign up for a lesson and find out what you can gain. We may be sheltering-in-place for the foreseeable future, but our musical journey won’t slow down for nothing!!!

Should I send my song to a competition?

Should I send my creations out for just anybody to scrutinize, or should I be strategic about what I share and with whom? That’s the question artists need to ask before submitting their work for a competition.

“Your job, as an artist, is to gracefully accept those for whom you are not their cup of tea and focus on connecting with the folks who are yearning for your special brand of sauce. Not every competition is going to be for you.”

Recently a local magazine held an open competition for musicians to submit a cover song. The winner could get $500. When so many of us have lost our gig economy income this feels like a nice chunk of change. What could it hurt to enter? - I thought.

The magazine suggested entrants choose a pop song released within the last 20 years. I like a lot of obscure music from the past 20 years and for a few days I couldn’t think of anything between 2000 and 2020 that I liked enough to cover. Then I remembered that I have a genuine love for Katy Perry’s “Firework”. The simple uplifting message gets me every time. I, too, believe that everybody has something beautiful to share! But, when I sat down to work on it I had an anxiety attack. I realized that I wasn’t sure about who or what I was covering the song for.

I needed to weigh the effort required for the entry to actually win against my odds of actually winning. It’s an economy of energy equation that all artists must become practiced in. I watched videos of the previous years’ winners. Their production levels were very high. They obviously had professional level video equipment. Their sound quality was great. Were they running things through a DAW? Their songs choices seemed pretty hip, somewhat recent, not too big, not too small. What kind of investment would I need to make to have a comparable product? What if the judges hate Katy Perry? What if I spend an inordinate amount of time making it sound good on GarageBand and iMovie (the only programs I currently have) and they still don’t pick it? Would I care?

I had to reconnected with my personal goals. I want folks to connect with who I am as an artist. I don’t produce slick things. I really like it when I hear singers just a little off key in their recordings (the newest Fiona Apple is a good example of this btw). I like roughness and oddity. I also like authenticity, which is pretty much the reason I like “Firework” in the first place. I’m not sure who the judges of this competition are, but I have some familiarity with their readership - the folks who pay to consume the magazine. I can reasonably assume the judges are looking for the competition to be mutually beneficial for their business interests. I’m a weirdo - even if they liked my version of Katy Perry would they be fans of my more out there stuff? Will it ultimately help to bring new audiences to my music?

I don’t think this competition is the best use of my time.

Once I’d decided not to enter the competition my anxiety disappeared so I knew I’d made the right decision for me. I still wanted to cover the song just for the hell of it, but I felt free to interpret it as I had imagined and not for anybody else’s approval. I also felt a strong link between the lyrics and the emotions I have for my son, who has been so deeply misunderstood by his teachers this year. He has struggled a lot to find a comfortable place for his precious soul in a world of nice, little, round pegs. I am dedicating my cover of “Firework” to him. I was pretty delighted when he tried to be my director, accidentally paused the video in the middle and lovingly interrupts me to tell me. It actually makes the video all the better, and it’s the kind of edit that I think would have made it an impossible “win” for the official competition.

If your art is good (and it probably is, or is on it’s way to being good) then you should expect that only some small percentage of folks will like it. Your job is not to win everybody over. Your job is to gracefully accept those for whom you are not their cup of tea and focus on connecting with the folks who are yearning for your special brand of sauce. Not every competition is going to be for you. Don’t enter competitions that fail to aid your primary objectives - connecting with people who will love you as soon as they find you.

I hope you enjoy my rendition of Katy Perry and that you’ll watch to the very end to catch the last little clip of Oscar’s adorable voice chiming in.

All lessons will be online starting March 20th.

Hello Singer,

We are in strange, uncharted territory here. In light of all the recommendations coming from the CDC I have decided to move all lessons for the foreseeable future to online platforms.

Online lessons are new to me and I thank everyone for being patient as I build up my virtual studio. As of this time I can do lessons through Skype, Google Hangouts and Zoom. Head to my homepage: mollyzackarymusic.com to sign up for online lessons.

This unique time presents opportunities along with the evident challenges. The closures of many businesses hurts real people in real time and the result of that will ripple outwards long after the media has forgotten we had a pandemic at all. I am stressed out too. Nonetheless, I cannot live within that stress. I have to look towards the opening for growth and creativity as well. I am an artist, after all. You must be too if you’re reading this. Whether or not you and I meet for lessons during the quarantine, I am there with you in spirit in all of your creative endeavors. I hope that we find new ideas, new music, and a renewed soul at the end of this road.

Please share your stories with me, and I promise I will share mine with you.

XOXO,

Molly

The “Happy 2020 Mixtape” is here!

Here it is!

- my annual mixtape to finish the old year and get you all excited for a new year full of new albums and artists to discover. It’s NOT a best of list, don’t be confused. It IS a highlight of artists and tracks you may have slept on. It IS some jams I just so happened to jam a lot in 2019. It IS thoughtfully tracked in an order I think pleasing to listen to, so don’t shuffle! It IS compiled with a nod towards social consciousness and the power of musicians to elevate our awareness and enrich our communities. And, it DOES take into consideration some specific criteria such as: must have been released in 2019, or was an artist I saw live in 2019, and preference is given to local artists (Denver/Denver metro/Colorado) and DIY artists.

Ok, so I made a couple of exceptions in this year’s list. Turns out 2019 was an especially challenging year in terms of family needs. I had many intentions of seeing live music, I even bought tickets to several shows, and at the last minute there was just no way to make it work to actually attend. This year, I’ve included artists that I intended to see but, alas, did not. (Looking at you, HIDE, Consider the Source, Nots, and more!)

If I were to summarize some features of this year’s mixtape it would be that it is largely at a mellow tempo [a coincidence I think, but maybe an indication of broader trends] and that it is multi-cultural. I don’t mean that in a trite way. The artists here, yes, span the globe, but their perspectives often reside in multiple cultures simultaneously. Sirintip‘s heritage is both Thai and Swedish while she currently lives and works in the US. Daymé Arocena carries her Cuban folkloric traditions with her to London where she folds them into jazz traditions that originated in the US. Dua Saleh, from Sudan, lived in a refugee camp as a child before being resettled in Minneapolis. Even musically, the soundscape can be impossible to pin down geographically. The Matt Skellenger Group, from Denver, mixes Arabic melodies with the Indian tabla for rhythm and a distinctly funky bass that sits comfortably on top of the mix. Martin Gilmore (Denver) collaborated with Eslam El Abaty (Cairo) to create some truly unique and fascinating instrumental tracks.

While many artists live in many sonic spaces at once, we also have greater access to musicians who share their cultural sounds from their respective spots on the world map. Mdou Moctar is from a small Tuareg village in Niger and his guitar playing went against the strict religious authorities of the region. You may hear his rebellion in every single electric lick.

May this mixtape take you on a journey worthy of a National Geographic documentary, all from the comfort of your car stereo, or your earbuds at the gym, or laying on your couch and letting all worries simply fly right out the window.

There are directions for how to use this mixtape responsibility. 1) Please go to Spotify and stream these tunes. Your stream will translate into $.001 for the artist and that’s better than nothing. Your stream will be tracked and will allow the artist to promote their monthly listens. 2) Please follow the Bandcamp links I have provided for any of the artists you like and support them by directly buying their work. Bandcamp pays artists a whopping 85% of what you pay! You have an opportunity to pay more for the product if you’d like to lend additional support. From Bandcamp you may purchase a digital copy of the music, or a physical copy which could include vinyl, CD, or cassette tape. Many artists also have merch for sale through the website. 3) Take further action to be a supporter of musicians. Go see live shows. Tell your friends to buy albums. Pay money to local artists, even if you’re feeling lukewarm about their music because they WILL get better with support. Ensure that small venues stay open and are not run by corporate magnates like AEG by supporting their shows and fighting local ordinances that seek to shut them down. Take political actions such as voting, contacting legislators, and discussing with neighbors the dangers of laws that limit our cultural connections. In the case of artists such as Omar Souleyman, the ban on visas to individuals from majority Muslim nations has prevented him from touring the US - a loss to us all.

Now that you know how to dine in with this mixtape, I do hope you’ll enjoy your meal! If you’re looking for additional courses here is the Happy 2019 Mixtape, my 40th Bday Mixtape, made this past summer, a rotating mix of songs my students are currently working on, and my Happy 2017 Mixtape (which I made on YouTube). (Sorry, my ‘18 Mixtape was done on Dropbox and is no longer shareable. I might get around to re-doing it on Spotify someday.)

Check out my Bandcamp library here and follow me to stay updated on stuff I’m supporting.

Keep singing//keep making your own music//be a responsible fan//be a responsible citizen.

XOXO,

Molly

Follow the link to listen to the tuneage while reading my liner notes below: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4SstX4LfDVHFQH9fNuCAvz?si=Qg2iy1CvSCytBOZ9eS1qSQ

Happy 2020 Mixtape Liner Notes

1. “Kamane Tarhanin” Mdou Moctar from the album Ilana: the Creator (2019),

Mdou Moctar, from the Tuareg desert peoples, residing in Niger, taught himself to play guitar at a time when it was illegal to play secular music. His rebellion and resilience seeps through the distinctly Tuareg brand of psychedelic playing, yet he stamps his own voice upon each guitar lick. It rocks and it certainly rolls over and over again. I got to see him play with his band at Lost Lake this past fall. Once I found a good spot to stand, I stayed firmly planted until the last tremolo of distortion faded.

2. “Oyá” Daymé Arocena from the album Sonocardiagram (2019)

Arocena, Cuban emigrant to England, formed a band and put her sonocardiagram into reality. Her jazz-folkloric fusions allow room for celebration. It invokes images of music wafting down a street, from an unknown source, in through my window, light a ray of light upon my daily workings.

3. “Zora” Jamila Woods from the album LEGACY! LEGACY! (2019)

You may recognize Jamila Woods from her collaboration with Chance the Rapper on his hit “Sunday Candy”. Last year she released her second full length to critical acclaim. Each track is an homage to a cultural hero/icon; most of them are African American - arguably the most under sun heroes of our society. Here, each hero gets a moment to speak once more to us and if the songs aren’t enough of an education Woods has compiled resources for us to get down even deeper with the knowledge most necessary for this age. Check out these articles to get to know Zora Neale Hurston, and many more, much better: https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/gy4yej/jamila-woods-legacy-album-reading-list https://pitchfork.com/features/song-by-song/jamila-woods-legacy-legacy-interview/

4. ”Morning Comes” Sasami from the album SASAMI (2019)

Sasami Ashworth brings a very, very LA sound, but it’s refreshing isn’t it? This album is a put-it-on-and-go-on kind of experience. Stream at your leisure.

5. “Gamm” Cave from the album Psychic Psummer (2019)

Eight years ago, in November, I went to go see Cave play at an underground venue that was running an illegal bar in the back. That venue, like many such venues in Denver, are just casualties of the rapid economic displace-velopment of the past decade. I went to the show with a friend I’d been hanging out with for months, nearly everyday, mostly eating tacos and talking about music. For reasons that can’t quite be pinned down, we kissed that night for the first time while the band was playing. That person became my husband and the father of our son, now 6 years old. You can’t really force material things to stick around, like seedy basement venues, clandestine kisses in the beneath the dark noise of a DIY show, or the longevity of a band, but you can rely upon love and art to endure. So, I was pleased to see that Cave, from Chicago, are still at it as my relationship still plugs along.

6. “Siete” Nicola Cruz from the album Siku (2019)

I first gave this album a listen because the art work was so beautiful, a tableau of colorful objects against a black background. I’m not much for electronic music, but this album kept getting rotation throughout 2019. I found it ideal for getting shit done. Perhaps it’s the tasteful layering of monotonous, flat, electronic loops along with a wide range of acoustic instruments from both Cruz’ native Ecuador, and further regions of the globe that maintains interest. Do I hear a sitar? With an Andean pan flute? Gimme more of that tableau!

7. “Unfulfilled and Alienated” Consider the Source from the album You Are Literally a Metaphor (2019)

Dustin and I were supposed to go see Consider the Source for a date night, but we weren’t able to make it. Still, I can almost imagine the experience of being there. For those who are sad to have lost Neil Pearl of Rush, CTS might make a fair substitute for a killer live show. They tour often so catch them if you can.

8. “13 Past 11” Matt Skellenger Group from the album Vitality (2019)

Denver based musician, and one my co-workers at Swallow Hill, Matt Skellenger released his 5th full length solo album last year. He is one of hardest working musicians in town, dedicated to his craft and unflagging in his musical voice. This album is a cohesive synthesis of disparate musical elements. Influences from broad sources flow well together. I happen to know he likes Tool, so I hear that in there. Jazz, that’s heavy too. His bandmate, Andy, lends the tabla on many of the tracks, including this one and it always feels like it belongs exactly in the moment it appears. Wanna support local music? Start here.

9. “Lahan al-Mansour” Yazz Ahmed from the album Polyhymnia (2019)

Another album of homages to women; perhaps I should have situated this tune next to the Jamila Woods track. Regardless, what you should know is that Ahmed has been steadily releasing interesting, vibrant jazz the past few years. She is one reason I wish I could go to London just to check out the scene. It’s exploding with unique voices with many stories to tell. This particular story began it’s formation in 2015, but Ahmed only released the album in 2019. The entire thing is well worth a listen.

10. “Daddy” Lafawndah from the album Ancestor Boy (2019)

I’m not sure how I discovered Lafawndah, I think she was a featured artist on Bandcamp early in 2019. I listened to a few tracks of her album and promptly bought a copy for myself. It’s so strange it’s refreshing. She calls her music maximalism which conjures up images of production software with inputs streaming down the left hand column. I think this quote is even more accurate to her sound: “pop music that is neither imperial nor local, but a freedom of movement.”

11. “Haunted Water” SPELLING from the album Mazy Fly (2019)

Opening with a synth sound reminiscent of either the 80’s, or Stranger Things, depending on your take. But, the synths quickly layer in that maximalist feel discussed above. It layers darkly reminiscent of either 80’s goth, or 2010’s goth, depending on your take. I especially appreciate the way Chrystia Cabal’s voice bounces between breathy head voice and a warbled, throaty chest voice with nothing in between. She’s playing with extremes here. She released this album on Sacred Bones, one of my favorite record labels. You wouldn’t be wrong to go ahead and buy everything they put out.

12. “Shut It Up” Sirintip from the album Tribus (2018)

Sirintip was raised in both Thailand and Sweden around jazz music. She was a semi-finalist in the 2015 Thelonious Monk Competition. That’s why it makes some sense why she played Dazzle earlier this year. (A show I meant to go to, but plans fell through ). She is a highly skilled singer who has expanded her arsenal to include, well, a folding table full of buttons and cords. Her Instagram page features some fun videos where she explains her digital set up and some live demonstrations. If you’ve wondered why the hell musicians are so obsessed with doobly-doos (machines with light up buttons that make sounds!) then she will convince you to consider folding tables to have an equal place at the symphony. She opened up for Snarky Puppy on a world tour last year, so keep an eye on her for more breakthrough work.

13. “Sugar Mama” Dua Saleh from the album Nūr (2019)

I had a very hard time choosing just one track off Dua Saleh’s EP. Each one is fascinating. They are a non-binary artist from the Twin Cities and this track was made on their phone. I love their unabashed, prominent use of the GarageBand metronome sound. As though they were like, “Yeah, that’s sick, I’ll just keep it in.” A wonderfully bold move. To really get a feel for their style check out this live performance: https://youtu.be/deFlKihv7WM

14. “Lux Lumina” Lorelle Meets the Obsolete from the album De Facto (2019)

I first encountered Lorelle Meets the Obsolete in 2012 when I was running my record store. Their album at that time was much darker, but I found myself revisiting it over and over again. They couple that makes up the band know how to set a mood. They are one of the more notable examples of Northern Mexico’s psychedelic scene.

15. “Safe Passage” The Bad Plus from the album Never Stop II (2019)

The Bad Plus formed two decades ago amongst young friends. Today they are an established jazz-not-jazz ensemble giving music fans nuanced ways of perceiving collaborative composition. Dustin and I have seen them a few times, including this past spring at Dazzle. It’s nice to have a chair to sit in, a beverage near your dominant hand, and absolutely zero distractions while you watch them play. I have enjoyed getting to know their new-ish pianist Orrin Evans. The band still sounds like The Bad Plus, but with a, you know, new collaborative voice in the mix. This track is off of a release from early 2019 but they released another full length late in the year that is worth checking out too. https://thebadplus.bandcamp.com/

16. “Down With the Clique” Solange from the album When I Get Home (2019)

I do love that tinny digital drum production. This sound is used in the vein of minimalism. If I were you, I’d go back to Lafawndah and compare it with maximalism. We’re all looking at ourselves with a microscope and a helicopter view and a macro-dialectic and critical backwards planning. Lean in, step back, repeat. Musically, Solange seeks to explore the meta-data. This album is a wonderful experience. Have you seen her choreography and filmography? (https://hammer.ucla.edu/solange) It’s part of the whole picture of her as an artist. Worth noting - she’s the sister of Beyoncé but she’s her own prolific artist.

17. “To The Citadel” Kingsley Ibeneche from the album Realms (2019)

Solange has access to a large platform but she is not the only artist shaping a movement of black minimalism and multi-disciplinary sonicscapes. Kingsley Ibeneche, Nigerian-American, is a professional dancer who is here exploring both spiritual and secular spaces within himself. He refers to the “realms” of his inner space - a “psychogeography” through song. This album comes with a chapbook of images and poetry that correspond to the songs.

15. “Going to the Beach with Haley” Black Belt Eagle Scout from the album At the Party With My Brown Friends (2019)

I discovered Black Belt Eagle Scout because they played a show with Sasami and I saw it in Instagram. Birds of a feather are worth investigating. I chose this song, in part, because it features a tinny sounding drum track beneath the real drum track. I like that kind of production and I feel as though it speaks to the current trends in music.

19. “been thinkin” Hikes from the album Mahal Kita (2019)

I discovered Hikes because they went on tour with BBES and I saw it on Instagram. (A theme on this mixtape). The singer’s melismas are to melt for. The song builds well and peaks with gorgeous, proggy guitar lines.

20. “Conceptual” Wet Fruit from the album Wet Fruit (2019)

Indie rock tracks naturally lead to punk tracks. This is some strange punk but I would put Wet Fruit in that section of my imaginary record store. I hear the long history of NW punk in this band - riot grrl, K Records, wet moss on the sidewalks.

21. “Roses That Cry” Empath from the album Active Listening: Night on Earth (2019)

These vocals are heavily distorted; I was initially tricked into thinking the car speakers were going. Nope, it’s intentional. Here we have some more strange sounding punk (outta Philly) combining the digital with the real instrumentation. Maybe we’re all just imagining what we’re hearing anyways. Or, you can just enjoy all the grit Empath has to bear upon your sub-woofers.

22. “Grief” HIDE from the album Hell is Here (2019)

I was supposed to see HIDE play at the Hi-Dive this year. I even had a ticket! The day before they were to play a blizzard hit the entire state and the band couldn’t make it over the mountains so the show was canceled. By the time they had rescheduled I had to work late. I hear they put on an insane live show - the kind that will change you as a person. I guess I’ll have to wait till they come back. I will say this, though, it is a bold, courageous move to title a song “grief”. You compete with all the other songs in the world that attempt to tackle the feeling of grief. By not qualifying the concept with a specific occurrence of grief you imply that you are ready to take on all that is grief in this lived human experience. Well, 2019 brought a great deal of grief for me personally. There was much loss and the anguish associated with it. So, I do invite this heavy, difficult to comprehend band into my living room and yes, they have my permission to bemoan Grief on my behalf.

23. “Surveillance Veil” Nots from the album 3 (2019)

I bet this was a great punk show. Alas, I was not there to see it. The Nots made my 2016 mixtape and here they are keeping on, keeping on. I hope they have more in 2020.

24. “Hard Place” H.E.R. from the album I Used to Know Her (2019)

This is the biggest artist on my mixtape this year (aside from Solange who has more fame but also more fringe art) She is a fantastically talented multi-instrumentalist who brings a great deal of heart to her work. Check out this live performance where she try’s on several different instruments within the course of one song: https://youtu.be/TPuOpd82kdM

25. “Abou Zilif” Omar Souleyman from the album Shlon (2019)

Omar Souleyman is a Syrian wedding singer. From what I’ve heard Syrian weddings are traditionally very festive and the hiring of a band is common. Or, it used to be before the civil war. Souleyman was forced to flee when the war began. Since the early 2010’s, while living in Europe he has music has been share his experiences, his talent, and his culture with others. And he has needed to because his original source of income has been stripped from him though the ongoing proxy war perpetuated ,in part, by Russia. Which is why it is deeply ironic that he cannot tour the US at this time because of Trump’s travel ban. (https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2017/02/06/513255643/even-with-travel-ban-blocked-artists-are-still-left-hanging ). The bare minimum you can do is to vote Trump out of office in 2020. #sorrynotsorry that I have to get political here because #musicispolitical. DIg it?

26. “Bahariya” Martin Gilmore & Eslam El Abaty from the album East West (2018)

I am lucky to be a co-worker of Martin Gilmore, a wonderfully talented musician. I didn’t know he had released this album last year so I’m obligated to share it this year in spite of my “strict” criteria for inclusion on the mixtape. Perhaps, in light of the racist immigration policies of Trump, it felt extra important to put this track on the list. What kind of society does exclusion build? It prevents the collaboration between cultural art forms. This album exemplifies what we gain from artistic conversation. Martin’s guitar feels so familiar to me culturally. It sounds like the halls of Swallow Hill, where we work together. Eslam’ s our playing is new to me. But, folk music is folk music and acoustic instruments have a role to play in every gathering place around the world. This album is a treasure. It inserts tracks of the street sounds of Cairo in between original compositions that could have only occurred through musical communion.

27. “Better Me” Kaitlyn Williams from the album Better Me single (2019)

This single is only available on Spotify, but there is a live performance you can grab on Bandcamp here: https://headroomsessions.bandcamp.com/album/kaitlyn-williams-head-room-sessions-27 If you live in Denver you’ll definitely have an opportunity to see Kaitlyn perform. Her IG game is on point! Follow her @kkaitlynwilliamss. I chose this song because it’s kind of the perfect way to end a mixtape and a year. I hope that we all find renewal through the process of moving into a new year and a new decade - a chance to grow.

Sunday Listens: Fresh Local Music, Vol. I

This post is part of the Sunday Listens series where I post about music that's exciting/interesting to me.  Sometimes from the perspective of a voice teacher and usually on Sundays.  Get your week started right with awesome tuneage.

This week, as usual, I drowned my sorrows by actively seeking out beautiful works of art.  There was much to process in the news, especially in local Denver news, and especially as it pertains to Denver's art scene.

I didn't know Colin Ward, musician, filmmaker, visual artist, but a lot of my friends did.  His face is familiar and perhaps we did meet at a show.  That's the haunting part for me - to think of the many folks I've met at shows in the 20+ years I've been attending DIY events in this town, and how each one of those individuals certainly played a role in shaping a community that is so special to me.  

Here's my point: that if you live in a town (you probably do), then there is vibrant arts scene there.  Whether you play a large role in it, or just drop in every now and then, you benefit from it's existence.  Art is a defining feature of our lived human experience, right?  Therefore, it's the responsibility of every one of us to care for not just art itself, but the creators of that art.

I can't speak to Colin's life, because I am only now learning about how deep his artistic output was, but this article in the Westword is a beautiful testimony, as is his YouTube page.

In an attempt to honor Colin Ward, and the community that cherishes him, I am going to write a series of blogposts that promote Denver musicians.  I am also going to encourage you to buy their music on digital platforms, buy tickets to their shows, and in general make it a point to be a fan to local musicians.  

When musicians are able to pay their bills, they can continue to create art.

First up, PRODUCT LUST.  Brutal, raging, and necessary.  Their bandcamp page has the best recordings.  This video is also great:

Next up, LEOMAR MENDEZ.  Energetic rapping en español out of Boulder.  Fun scenes from the Boulder skate park in this video.  Be sure to check out his Soundcloud page as well.

Finally, for this week, THE JOSHUA TRINIDAD QUARTET.  Y'all know I love jazz that pushes boundaries, but did you know there are plenty of Colorado musicians putting cutting edge sounds out into the atmosphere?  Be sure to buy tickets to his upcoming date at Dazzle.  And watch the video for a taste of what futuristic trumpeting you might be in store for.

What is the music scene in your hometown like? What shows are you going to this week?  What local artists are you excited about? Share your thoughts in the comments!

[Hey, music fans! Did you know that purchasing albums, from digital platforms or your local record store, help support musicians who sacrifice pretty much everything for the sake of creating life-changing sounds?  Don't stream; Collect!]

Breathing for Singers Workshop in Denver this Saturday

Announcing a Breathing for Singers Workshop this Saturday, 2/10/18, from 11am-12pm, at Swallow Hill Music Association (71 E. Yale Ave, Denver, CO). This workshop is both an excellent introduction as well as a insightful refresher to the notion of breathing as it applies to singers. We'll delve deeply into how it all works. We'll also work on numerous exercises that will get you feeling and controlling your breath support! Follow the link to register.

Sunday Listens: Reliving My Youth With Late 90's Crust Punk

This post is part of the Sunday Listens series where I post about music that's exciting/interesting to me.  Sometimes from the perspective of a voice teacher and usually on Sundays.  Get your week started right with awesome tuneage.

Texas band Bread and Water circa '99

Last week I attended the Denver premiere of the movie Bomb City.  It's based on the true story of Brian Deneke, a punk kid living/skating in Amarillo, Texas who was murdered in 1997.  He was murdered for being a punk, and so the movie featured late 90's punk prominently.

For more on what it meant to be a punk in a small town that elevated the status of jocks, and why being a punk was something that might get you killed, read the wikipedia article, and then follow that up with this brief but timely analysis from Vice News.  Definitely go see the movie (you can pre-order it on iTunes).  Failing those efforts, ask an old punk friend (everyone has one, right?) about the late 90's.  It was a thing.

I was a punk in the late 90's and watching the movie felt like a time warp in many ways.  During one of the scenes from the court trial, a punk who is testifying is wearing a Bread and Water patch.  "Wow, that's an obscure band reference," I thought.  Later my friend (and fellow old punk), Sascha reminded me that they were a Texas band and Amarillo punks would have surely been into them.

Late 90's/early 00's crust punk: liberally applying a distinct d-beat, with a notable scream, periodic slow parts with some guitar picking, multiple vocalists employing a call and response motif, mostly unintelligible lyrics, with perfectly understandable choruses that serve as a call to action against such things as the state, the system, racism, patriarchy and capitalism, meant to be danced to with ample headbanging and thrashing of limbs, fosters a strong sense of community amongst fellow show-goers and bandmembers, linked to the ongoing anti-globilization movement at the time.

That's my best attempt at a definition, but please judge for yourself.

Here's the Bread and Water album that got me hooked:

This list isn't complete without a band that was highly influential on my musical tastes and my political beliefs: Anti-Product.  This live video says it all, especially singer Taína Asili saying it all at the beginning.

The Subhumans groundbreaking album, "The Day the Country Died", was released in 1983, which predates my timeframe by a lot.  But, there wouldn't be 90's crust punk without the Subhumans.  (Who, by the way, still actively tour and release albums.)  Go ahead, dig back into the vaults and listen to the entire album, "The Day the Country Died".  It's only 35 minutes long!

So, what do think?  Has crust-core played an important role in your life?  Should it be mandatory listening for the youth of today?  Does it sound like a chainsaw in a dumpster?  Let me know in the comments below!

[Hey, music fans! Did you know that purchasing albums, from digital platforms or your local record store, help support musicians who sacrifice pretty much everything for the sake of creating life-changing sounds?  Don't stream; Collect!]

Sunday Listens: Rhythm, Beat, Tempo, Feel and Groove

I teach the difference between rhythm, beat, tempo, feel and groove to my high school band students.  I should clarify that I teach a rock band class to which this lexicon is relevant.  In fact, understanding the subtle meanings of these terms is critical to being able to play contemporary music with other musicians.

Today I'm not gonna define these words for you.  Either you have passing knowledge of them or you already use them frequently.  Instead, I want to share with you some music I've been listening to on repeat that utilize these elements deftly.

First on the list is the new Jessie Ware album that dropped in August.  The opening track, "Midnight", is a addictive neo-soul jam.  There are two distinct sections throughout: a free flowing part featuring breathy, intimate vocals and an arpeggiated synth line; and a rousing four-on-the-floor section that functions as a chorus of sorts.  Don't try to resist bobbing your head, just go for it.

Next on the list is the Tiny Desk Concert of The Roots.  It's clear that Questlove is the band leader, configuring the band as he sees fit given the situation.  What keeps it together at the core is Questlove's own drumming.  For the small space at the Tiny Desk concert he chose to feature no stringed instruments and only a brass section - a big one at that!  Brass instruments are a special choice because they can play percussively and they can play melodically.  Listen to how they arrange the music to suit this diversity of expression.  I particularly like the second song, "It Ain't Fair."  It's a burner!

Follow this link to watch The Roots on Tiny Desk Concerts.

What did you hear?  How did the rhythm, beat, tempo, feel and groove come into play for you on these tracks?  Let me know in the comments below!

[Purchasing albums, from digital platforms or your local record store, help support musicians who sacrifice pretty much everything for the sake of creating life-changing sounds.]

This post is part of the Sunday Listens series where I post about music that's exciting/interesting to me.  Sometimes from the perspective of a voice teacher and usually on Sundays.  Get your week started right with awesome tuneage.

New News and Other New Things!

There is so much exciting news to tell - a new studio space, new album, a couple of new videos, and the summer session at Swallow Hill is almost here!  Where shall I begin?  Hmmmm......................

ANNOUNCING a NEW StUdIo SpAcE at 910 Arts!!!

I've just opened up time at a brand new studio space in the 910 Arts co-op building at 910 Santa Fe Drive.  Over the coming months the space will develop.  And likewise a community of students will start to flourish.  There are plans for super-charged recitals, clinics with various professionals, drop-in classes and lots and lots of singing.

I'll be at this new space Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.  Definitely get it touch if you're ready to get back into music making.

Stay tuned to this website for upcoming events at the space.

In the meantime, here are a few pics to get you excited for the shape of things to come:

I'M IN A BAND and We ReCoRdEd An AlBuM!!!

Some of my longtime friends and students know that I've been singing with a jazz quartet for some time.  We've gone through a few personnel changes over the years and about as many band names.  But, things have really hit a groove [and I mean that literally] with our current line up and name.

ROPE TRICK EFFECT is now the thing and it consists of myself on vocals, Dustin Adams on keys, Squirrely McSquirrelington on bass, and Mike Spencer on drums.

We went into Derryberry Studios - one of our favorite recording engineers! - in early May and threw down seven - 7! - killer tunes.  We've been honing in our sound and have six original tunes (two by me) and one innovative take on a traditional.

We also commissioned our friend, Kim Fronapfel, to draw some art for us.  Her skills are vast as you can see here:

Our self titled EP was released in late May by Growler Distro and you can stream it here.  If you have the funds, and would like to support the cause, you'll get an extra special, secret, bonus track upon purchase.

We've also got hard copies available here.

CHECK OUT my pRoLiFic YoU-tUbInG!!!

You-tubing from one's phone is so easy the temptation to post new music rests in the back of my mind constantly.

I recently uploaded a tune I've been working on while I had a break between lessons at Swallow Hill.  Here's a little jam for y'all:

And the other night at band practice, Dustin, Mike and Squirrel laid down a funky groove.  There was an adorable kid + a highly apathetic dog in the room, which made for great cinematic drama (IMHO).  Put the video on and go about your chores because it's a pretty chill groove (IMHO).  I throw down some jammy ideas after the 9 minute mark:

SUMMER at SWALLOW HILL is ArOuNd ThE cOrNeR!!!

I'll be offering some great classes and workshops this summer.  Singing 1-A and 3-A for the grown-ups; Little Swallows for kiddos ages 1-4; and Teen Singing for, you know, teens!  

I'll also be offering Harmony Singing for the first time.  I'm excited to start choosing harmonic tunes and tunes with harmonic potential so sign up and find out what I pick out of the hat!

I'm also continuing my series of Vocal Workout classes that occur every other Saturday (7/1, 7/15, 7/29, and 8/12).  Though the time has moved to 11am.  This is your yoga for singing class!  Each session presents new stretches and exercises for your voice.  We're working together to help your voice get stronger and healthier.  Definitely swing by one of the Saturdays if you aren't able to commit to a full session of classes or lessons this summer.

Check out the full list of my class and workshop offerings here.

HOPE to SEE EvErYoNe SoOn!!!!

Sunday Listens: Solange Just Dropped Some Magic

Solange, a songstress for our times, has released a new album, "A Seat at the Table."  It was four years in the making, which speaks to the deliberate and thoughtful message she wants the music to convey.  It is our responsibility as music lovers, to dig in.  I'll do that a little today, but primarily from a musical standpoint as that's my thing, you know. 

The album faces complex emotional tones head on, yet remains captivating rather than alienating.  Much of this comes from the topical content.  For an in-depth and spot-on socio-political take, read the album review by Doreen St. Felix here.   Go get a cup of coffee now because it's well worth your time to read the entire article.  Go ahead.  I'll wait.

Now that you've read that, I want to discuss a few of the musical attributes that make this album so stunning and fresh to the public.

The backing tracks have a certain minimalism that allows the vocal line to carry the bulk of the weight.  And Solange carries it well.  Her voice is smooth and mellow.  Her tone is breathy and you get the sense she's right up on the mic.  It gives her the opportunity to throw in plenty of croaks and the groans at the onset of words.  The whole thing feels like a poem being sung just to us, in our bedroom.  Yet she gives us choice moments of a full voice, as though she left us briefly to sing into some rafters at the church down the street.  And like this we feel that she is both ours, and ours to share with the world.

She reaches the full extent of her range.  Phrases often resolve on low notes that ride out an intimate thought.  Yet, she does not shy away from using her upper range.  In fact, she lives in her head voice for much of the album.  This is one way in which she transforms what we've come to believe R&B is supposed to sound like.  She doesn't come in and blow all the doors down with an open throated, mixed voice belt.  Rather, she slides through her upper register, often in long, sustained pitches, over the sparse beats.  It lends an airy quality to everything, as though to slowly permeate the space, rather than flood it all at once.

For an example of these floating melodies watch the video for "Cranes in the Sky."  Note that the final note is a high Db - an atmospheric soprano ringing indeed.

Don't get me wrong, I love heavy bass tracks, and I love music that is bigger than life, but this album does not do that sonically.   The space it takes up is a slow burn of sorts.  A sway instead of a swagger.  A pulse rather than a pump. 

A notable example from the album is "Mad", featuring Lil Wayne.

It opens with a slow drum beat, just a bit of kick and light on the snare, and a handful of lovely chords played on piano - borrowing equally from a jazz ballad as from a slow trap instrumental.  And although she sings lyrics such as, "I got a lot to be mad about," while the backup singers intone, "Be mad, be mad, be mad," it feels like a meditation on the right be fucking pissed off.

When Lil Wayne enters twice to rap during the song, he comes across as more authentic than I've ever heard him.  He doesn't need to shout or grunt, but only to punctuate his lyrics ever so slightly to convey a deeply seeded frustration that we get the sense he's living with and working through.  So human and real.

It's as though this song is the answer to the well known James Baldwin quote, "To be a negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all of the time."  Solange, here, brings us an artistic vision of what this looks like and feels like to her.  Importantly, it's in the music that she conveys this so multi-dimensionally.

Listen for yourself.

It's one thing to write lyrics that speak to a human experience - and the lyrics themselves might be enough to resonate with an audience.  However, an artist can create an environment for the lyrics to live in.  With Solange it's as though the lyrics are but one creature that exists in a complete biosphere.  Take the time to get to know her ecosystem and you may find yourself a more enlightened citizen of the world.

[Purchasing albums, from digital platforms or your local record store, help support musicians who sacrifice pretty much everything for the sake of creating life-changing sounds.]

This post is part of the Sunday Listens series where I post about music that's exciting/interesting to me.  Sometimes from the perspective of a voice teacher and usually on Sundays.  Get your week started right with awesome tuneage.

Sunday Listens: Jazz is the Lexicon of Now

It's no secret that I'm a lover of jazz.  But, what jazz means exactly varies person to person.  The narrative of this musical genre extends back to the beginnings of the 20th Century.   No wonder, then, that it bends definition.  

Step away Merriam and Webster.

Nonetheless, contemporary listeners are happy to describe a band or musician as jazz.  So, what the fuck does it mean?

There isn't any doubt that jazz, as in the heyday of jazz, influenced everybody today.  Billie, Duke, Ella, Coltrane and even Oscar (my kid's namesake) are just some of the notable names that we associate with the jazz sound.  And, pity any musician who doesn't name at least one of these as an influence.

7th chords.  Mmmm, mmmm, juicy harmony.  Not to mention the melodic freedom that comes with those juicy harmonies.

Even if you have no idea what the 7th is, or how we get there, or what kind of building our notes are building, you know 7th chords when you hear them.  Something sounds, "bluesey"?  Well, you just heard some dominant 7th chords and it was really juicy to your ears.  Mmmm, mmmmm.   Yummy!

Lately I've been obsessed with musicians who've obviously studied their ii-V-I progressions (holla jazz!).  Yet, so much more is going on.  

Both Esperanza Spalding and Xenia Rubinos have ties to Berklee College of Music (known for it's jazz instruction) and Hiatus Kaiyote hails upon the jazz from all the way over in Australia.  But complex chord progressions and odd time signatures are only the beginning.  Synthesizers, compelling storylines and atmospheric vocal lines define these artists equally to their training.

I have a theory about songwriters these days: they've had exposure to the great American song form - jazz - and they've had ample opportunities to study it in music lessons - as compared to strictly Classical.  And they've made it uniquely their own.

Here are some of my favorite jams of late.

Esperanza Spalding released an album earlier this year, "Emily's D+Evolution".  It's a great album.  I highly recommend you buy the whole thing.  It's very prog and very conceptual, coming from a strong jazz background.  I like this track:

Xenia Rubinos released her sophomore album a few months ago.  Out of Brooklyn, she brings a fresh take on the region's legendary hip hop.  She studied jazz singing at Berklee and her breathy, but large, range is used to accentuate a broad harmonic chord progression.  Note, the 7th chords!  I can't stop jamming the entire album - it's so stellar! - and it demonstrates the wonder of jazz song form with a great deal of 21st Century style thrown in.  The following track opens with a haunting vocal line that only a jazz singer could deliver with authenticity:

And so I must talk about Hiatus Kaiyote (pronounced "hiatus coyote") from Australia.  Jazz, most definitely, with a punk edge and a romantic sensibility.  It's awkward time signatures and strange meandering through thick chords is inviting rather than alienating.  Seriously, this has been my go-to on the bus to work.  As you can imagine, I arrive at work in a blissed out state.  Take this tune (and buy the whole damn album, please):

Love your 7th chords.  Mwah, mwah.  Juicy!  It's the language of now.

[Purchasing albums, from digital platforms or your local record store, help support musicians who sacrifice pretty much everything for the sake of creating life-changing sounds.]

This post is part of the Sunday Listens series where I post about music that's exciting/interesting to me.  Sometimes from the perspective of a voice teacher and usually on Sundays.  Get your week started right with awesome tuneage.

Lots of Newness in My Musical Life

This summer has been productive!  Although my family had to temporarily sacrifice our vegetable garden due to moving, I would say that my musical garden has been robust!

I was honored to be asked by CBS Denver to give Wednesday's Child LeShea a voice lesson.  LeShea was so earnest, sweet and hard working that it was a pleasure to work with her.  I wish for her to find the family of her dreams.  Anybody would be lucky to have LeShea in their lives.  Watch the clip that aired on the morning show on channel 7.

I've also been busy working on a deeply personal musical endeavor, The Molly Growler Project.  What started out as an outlet during a difficult time has morphed into a three-piece band.  I'm the primary songwriter, something new for me, but the other band members have powerful musical voices to contribute.  We played our first show as a full band recently and it felt empowering, uplifting and communal.  All the good stuff about putting a band together and just getting out there with it.  Check out the bandcamp page for recordings.

I also put together a little jazz duo that consists of myself and guitarist Aaron Summerfield.  It's a mellow, stripped down sort of jazz that's been really fun to perform.  We played a few gigs at the ModMarket in Highlands Ranch and I made a short video of it.

The full jazz band (which is now between band names) I've been singing with for a few years finally finished mastering our demo.  Crazy how these things can take a while to complete!  Two of my favorite tracks are loaded on the sounds page of this here website.  Here is the direct link.  Listen to the tunes at the very top.

If you would like to catch any of my performances be sure to check the regularly updated calendar.  Be sure to say hi when you stop by.

I'm feeling especially grateful for all these opportunities that have come my way recently.  Many friends, students and family have come out to support my performances.  I feel all warm and gooey inside thanks to them.  It makes me want to keep on keepin' on.

Sunday Listens: Rakta and In School (punks of the week!)

I'm ever grateful for my monthly subscription to Maximum RocknRoll to keep me informed of new, underground, punk music. It brings much joy to me when that easily identifiable, tidy, manila envelope appears in my PO box.  If you like punk, or you consider yourself a subversive, I highly recommend that you get this delivered-by-mail treat every month as well.

Two standouts were brought to my attention in last month's issue and I've been rattling my speakers with them since.

Ratka (pictured above) hails from Brazil and plays what you might call psychadelic rock, but it's more than that.  It's a little droney, and forgive me if I hear the inevitable influence of Brazilian jazz, bossa nova.  They know how to create a mood and sustain it.  You can kind of lose yourself in the textures and harmonies.  If you're into punk sub-categories, you'll hear a good deal of post-punk.  

Those they're Brazilian they chose a sanskrit word for their name.  It means red, blood, passion, power and strong energy.  See if you can pick up on those adjectives in their latest release:

You can also check out their previous releases, while supporting them via downloading, here.

In School make great NYC hard core that easily stands with the long standing scene out there.  They thrash out four brutal tunes on their latest 7" in approximately 6 and a half minutes.  Meaning, you could listen to this record four times on your way to work and then be ready to quit in storm of f-bombs and middle fingers by the time you arrived.  Sounds like a good morning, eh? 

Fast-paced, screamy, distorted hardcore is an acquired taste and to an untrained ear it can sound all the same, but In School makes some choice turns in the gnarled guitar progressions and the drums have a way of not quite lining up that works really well.  Plus, the lyrics to Cement Fucker are amazing.

Start by downloading their 7", Cement Fucker, on bandcamp (name your own price!)  Then follow it up with this live video that is of poor quality and doesn't quite capture the magic:

This post is part of the Sunday Listens series where I post about music that's exciting/interesting to me.  Sometimes from the perspective of a voice teacher and usually on Sundays.  Get your week started right with awesome tuneage.

Friday Lessons: Olympic Prep

Getting ready to perform, be in sports or music, takes a great deal of preparation.  It's tempting to look for the perfect workout or the tried and true regimen.  

I've been thinking about this while watching the Olympics this past week.  Surely the greatest athletes in the world, who also have access to the greatest training, and training facilities, in the world have it down to a science.  But what I noticed on the sidelines was that the way to getting ready to perform was as varied as the individual athlete.

This was particularly evident in the swimming competitions.  While some competitors paced back and forth on the desk, hopping slightly, rotating their neck muscles, listening to music, pumping up teammates, and shaking their arms out, others, notably Michael Phelps, tuned all the chaos out.  In fact, his preparation game face was so severe it made me shiver in my flippers.

Sometimes singers are looking for the warm-up that will get them to a great performance of a song.  In reality there is no steadfast rule for how you should warm-up, what warm-ups you should do, or for how long.

Much like olympic athletes, your goal is to build an awareness of your own body and then create the regimen that your body likes.  

As singers our bodies are our instruments.  Your voice teacher can give you exercises to try out and suggestions for areas to target, but ultimately your body will tell you when and how much to do.

Here are some things to ask yourself as you build up your voice and your individualized routine:

• What time of day works for me to do my warm-up?
  • Think about the schedule you normally keep.  If you wake up very early in the morning, then early morning might not be a good time to dig into some heavy vocal lifting.  However, you might want to do some gentle warming-up for a few minutes first thing in the morning and then do some more targeted exercises later in the afternoon.  There is no rule about when you warm-up, or even that you do your entire warm-up in one go.  
  • After I had my baby I had to squeeze in practice whenever I could and expect to be interrupted.  I began to do 5 minutes here, 10 minutes there throughout my day and it worked for me.  Think about what makes sense for you, and listen to your body.  It will tell you if the schedule feels right, or is overly taxing.
• How much space between warming up and singing songs feels the best to me?
  • There is no rule that says singing songs should be immediately preceded by warming-up.  Sometimes, with time constraints this is the only option, but consider warming-up then doing other activities for a while and returning to your repertoire.  
  • I like to warm-up for about 20 minutes and then let my voice rest for about 30.  Play around with some different time periods and see what feels best.
• How long of a warm-up fits my voice?
  • Some singers prefer an extended warm-up of 20+ minutes.  Some singers feel great after 5.  Sometimes it depends on the day.  For example, if my breathing is feeling shallow I'll tack on about 5 minutes of breathing exercises that build into the vocalizing.  
  • If I'm getting ready for a lengthy performance I don't want to overdo it on the warm-up so I'll limit it to about 5 to 8 minutes.  But, if I'm really trying to target specific areas of my voice on a non-performing day I'll spend 20 to 30 minutes on exercises.
• What kind of exercises feel the best for my voice?
  • There are many, many variations on a vocal exercise.  As you progress through lessons with an instructor you'll pick up all sorts of ideas for exercises.  Your teacher may even have specific recommendations for your voice.  Every voice responds uniquely to each and every exercise.  Pay attention to exercises that feel like they loosen the instrument and get it ready to sing.  A few examples of the kinds of exercises you might incorporate into your practice are: slides, scales, arpeggios, staccato patterns, small intervals, large intervals, working from head voice to chest voice, and working from chest voice to head voice.  Likewise, remember that all exercises can be done on a lip trill, a hum, any vowel, and any consonant, or no consonants at all.  
  • For example, I like to start with a sliding exercise on a lip trill to loosen up my constriction (we all have some!), then I like to work with arpeggios across the entirety of my range.  I might tack on a cool down exercise like descending on a simple syllable with an easy vocal production.  This routine does a good job of getting my voice into a comfortable place for singing my favorite tunes.

The vocal work-out that you do on your own is as unique as yourself.  Your instrument will give you a lot of information when you listen to it.  Your body knows what feels good and what feels like strain.

You want to push yourself, but never to the point of fatigue or strain.  Try new things with your voice.  You are encouraged to experiment.  You may find new exercises that feel just right to you.  You may also find that some exercises you've learned in lessons work better for you than others - that's ok.

With the guidance of your instructor, you'll also better understand what areas of the voice you want to target.  Your instructor will help you to identify areas of strength and weakness and how to balance those out.  But much like the doctor-patient relationship, this process can only work when you bring all of your personal awareness to the table and are ready to workshop your instrument collaboratively.

The point of warming up is to get you prepared to do whatever Olympic-esque vocal performance you're working towards.  Be it singing at karaoke night or fronting a band, your voice will thank you for treating it like a professional athlete.

Whatever works for you works.

I just had to finish with a Phelps game face.

Friday Lessons are where I talk about practicing, performing and other aspects of being a life-long learner of music.  Appearing most Fridays.

Friday Lessons: Recording Kids' Songs

This week Jazzabaloo went into the studio to finish up a recording project.

We were hired to do an anti-bullying song for elementary school students.  I'd share the track with you but I don't own the copyright.

Boy was it a fun project! 

Initially I wasn't sure where the song was going to go.  It had a simple set of lyrics that repeated.  Like 10 times.  But the sound engineer (shout out to Mark Derryberry!) suggested we start to layer in additional voices to make it sound like children joining in.  

Where were these additional voices to be found?  Well, since it isn't acceptable to grab other people's children from the park, we had to become those children's voices ourselves.  The two other guys in the band, Dustin and Mike, as well as myself, were tasked with conjuring the sound of singing children.

We were together in the studio dancing, laughing and pumping each other up.  We sounded great, er, like slightly-out-of-tune-yet-enthusiastic children.  

It was effective.  The song reaches a fever pitch by the end.  I imagine school children across the country becoming extremely hyperactive shortly before being returned to their classroom teacher.  A small inconvenience for teaching them that being a friend to all is TOTALLY AWESOME!

Here's what I learned in the studio, that creating character voices was made easier by understanding my instrument.  In thinking about the lead vocals I went for a bubbly, pop styled voice.  It was a chest dominant mix with lots of scooping and a little vocal fry.  To get a little girl's voice, I placed my voice in head register, slightly nasal, and let go of tonal precision.  Ha!

Knowing how your voice functions helps you to make choices that suit the music you're performing.  And that can lead to some not-so-serious fun.

Friday Lessons are where I talk about practicing, performing and other aspects of being a life-long learner of music.  Appearing most Fridays.

The Sunday Listens: Punk is as old as me, and I as tired as it.

View fullsize

         I googled "punk" + the year I was born and this awesome photo of Bad Brains came up.

I learned how to be jaded and cynical and angry and scrappy and passionate and independent from punk.  I learned to have high expectations but to live with disappointment from punk.  I learned what community was - as dysfunctional as it sometimes is, but also as comforting and present - from the punks in Denver.  The better part of my youth was spent in sweaty, DIY venues.

As today's post shows, some of us intend to spend our golden years there too.

If you wanna know when I was born, then google Black Flag's debut album, "Nervous Breakdown".  Yup, it was that long ago that a bunch of rag tag teens in Redondo Beach, CA released four raging songs at breakneck speed that changed the course of hardcore music - and inspired generations of kids to start their own bands, no matter the musical ineptness.  This project was fronted by Keith Morris.

This week I was riding around in my brother's car listening to Keith Morris' current band, Off!  Keith is 60, ya'll.  But, he still somehow manages to churn out hardcore that inspires a middle finger in the air and possibly a good ol' circle pit.  This video I chose includes a song so brief that you'll miss it if you blow your nose.  Therefore, Vice News decided to tack on some real-life footage of the band members.  Keith still lives in a dilapidated apartment with punk stickers covering the fridge.  The drummer drunkenly skateboards.  And they hate hippies and cops with equal fervor.  Their band should just be called Punk!

Keeping with old punkers rocking out for as long as I've breathed air, Bob Mould put out a new album in March.  The former frontman and lead songwriter for Husker Du has been putting out consistent material since the early 80's and it's consistently sounded like, well, Bob Mould.  It's a good thing to stay the same, in this case.

Although bands like Off! may sound quintessentially punk, the genre was defined by it's Do It Yourself ethics more than any one sound.  Bob Mould was as punk as Keith, but his music bridged the brashness of hardcore with the emotional content of what was to become "alternative music".  In this video he doesn't hesitate to jump right into fast paced guitar playing, cymbal heavy rudiments and a distinctively grumbly voice.  Energy is high, dismay palpable.  Bob Mould doesn't seem to fatigue.

Curious what these punkers sounded like while I was learning to walk?

Bob Mould in his Husker Du days, 1986:

Keith Morris in another legendary band he was a part of, the Circle Jerks, 1980:

Punk is as old as me, and most days I feel as tired as it is.  But if Keith and Bob are any sort of role model (sarcasm?), then you can keep on rockin' till your fingers can't make chord shapes anymore.  Maybe they tell us that punk as a musical medium is still just as relevant.  I hope you enjoy your Sunday Listens as much as I did this past week.

What do you think?  Is punk still a thing?  What kind of music inspired you as a kid?  Did you google "punk" + the year of your birth?  What did you get?

Let me know in the comments below.

The Sunday Listens: Prince's Prodigies

View fullsize

                    Prince and Sheila E.  A fruitful musical relationship!

Social media has been stretching my phone's data limits this week with retrospectives on the prolific career of Prince.  Maybe you've noticed?  I can't help but click with endless fascination.  Yes, he was a great and uncompromising artist (the kind I like best), but I'm not gonna pretend that I was super fan just because he has passed.  

Nope, my appreciation of him came much later in my life, and by then I was more interested in getting to know other musicians' catalogs.  No offense, Prince, I swear.  We just weren't timed together well.

I was really young when he was big news.  In fact, the song I'm most familiar with is "Cream" - and only because it was hard to ignore that video on MTV - the buttless pants!  That factoid alone dates me.

However, I knew that Prince was super amazing, and I also knew that he inspired some equally amazing artists.  That became something I was more tied to.

When I first saw a video of Janelle Monae, I immediately saw a connection to Prince.  She's plays with androgyny and character onstage.  She also plays some funky guitar and is from the midwest.  She recently said it best herself though, "He stood for the weirdos."  

Sheila E was THE example of badass women drummers for a very long time.  Now there are many more out there, but as a teenager in the 90's I was desperate for examples of women who could rock it hard.  My mom was the one to tell me about her - that's how famous she became making music with Prince.  Here she is shredding.  You can hear the strong influence of her Latin roots, but also her ability to hold down a solid groove when need demands - and need usually does demand.

I've been following the career of Esperanza Spalding for a long time.  She comes out of the jazz tradition, but her most recent album struck me as weird in a very Prince way.  The entire album is presented as a character piece, "Emily D+Evolution".   She grooves on the electric bass while singing from her soul.  Messages of love, something Prince would approve of.

I did a google search, just to see if she was indeed acquainted with Prince and found that he had invited her to perform at BET's tribute to Prince (in 2010, I believe).  Sadly, I couldn't find any decent videos of her performing his "If I Was Your Girlfriend".  I did, however, find TLC's version and it's pretty amazing.  Oh Left Eye!  Oh Prince!  RIP!

Let's hear it for the weirdos!  What do you think?  Any Prince prodigies that should be added to the list?

Let me know in the comments below.

The Sunday Listens: Ladies of the Canyon, Joni, Joan and Judy

Joni Mitchell is one of those musicians who've been around so long you almost assume you know what they're about.  How many times have you heard "Big Yellow Taxi"?  I'm approaching several hundred if I count the times it's been playing in the grocery store while I shop.

Yet, she's also a prolific and varied artist.  Joni gets mentioned in passing by friends every so often and each time, a different album is cited as influential.  Counting only studio albums, she's written and released 19, ranging from the quintessential sound of the 1960's folk revival to visionary jazz interpretations.

It's the early Joni Mitchell that I assumed I had already heard and understood, but in reality, I used to get her confused with Joan and Judy.  Baez and Collins, that is.

All three women wrote meandering, soprano folk tunes with deep messages and lovely finger-picking techniques.  All three were a part of an artistic scene, and that's what I want to talk about today: the era that united these voices as well as the aspects that make these individual voices distinct.

Joni Mitchell bought a home in Laurel Canyon, outside of L.A., in the 60's and immediately began hosting get-togethers for her musician and artist friends.  Creativity flowed and in turn continued to inspire itself.  Sometimes referred to as the "Queen of Laurel Canyon" she hosted the likes of Crosby, Stills and Nash; The Byrds; The Mamas and the Papas; The Doors; and Judy Collins. 

Perhaps in tribute to this vibrant time, her third studio album, "Ladies of the Canyon", was released in 1970.  It includes her best known hit - the one about painting paradise and putting up a parking lot - but I like the title track especially well.  It tells the story of a young woman that fits nicely into our nostalgic ideas of the time.  It also demonstrates Joni's unique guitar style and something else she is known for - playing in strange tunings, so that her chords can't quite be pinned down.  Her young voice demonstrates light, airy high notes that seem to float above the song and exist in the periphery, yet equally command attention.  It is the sound that made her name a household one, and securely positions her in the early 1970's cannon.

On the opposite coast, Joan Baez was becoming known as a part of the Greenwich Village scene, along with another person you may have heard of, Bob Dylan.  Joan was a skilled guitar player and had a knack for sensitive covers of her contemporaries' tunes.  She also wrote songs that tended to tell stories begging for social justice.  

Joan was bilingual, having learned Spanish from her Mexican father as a child and in 1974 she released an album of exclusively Spanish tunes, "Gracias a la Vida".  It is a diverse offering including darker, deeper songs, with light-hearted traditional songs, such as "De Colores".  True to the title, she brings much color to her rendition.  This album is one of my go-tos when I need a pick-me-up. 

It was risky to expose oneself as mixed race at the time.  She was advised by industry people that such a move could cost her fans, but she believed that being honest about her identity was itself a way of fighting for social justice.  In her original tune, "Las Madres Cansadas", she addresses the mistreatment of migrant farm workers - a song that reverberates equally in 2016..  Her voice is distinctively resonant and strong and her vibrato is unrestrained, giving the effect of deep emotional connection.  Even if you don't speak Spanish yourself, the message is made clear.

Judy Collins was raised in Denver, which makes her a bit of a hometown favorite.  In fact, she donated her childhood piano to Swallow Hill, where it sits in a place of honor in the cafe.  It feels like a celebrity connection to say that I've played it many times.  It's a great piano, by the way.

She's an appropriate finale to this blog entry, because her migration through the folk revival scenes brings the other artists together.  She first made a name for herself in Denver and Boulder, but soon moved to east coast and settled in Greenwich Village.  Her friendship with Joni, which continues to this day, brought her out to Laurel Canyon frequently.  Judy still tours extensively.  I had the opportunity to see her perform at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in 2010.  She is a captivating performer. She has collaborated with musicians as varied as Randy Newman, Chrissy Hynde and David Grisman.  She is an extraordinarily talented pianist and guitarist, but I also think of her as a musician who has worked hard in the industry for over 50 years.  How many people can say that?

I thought it fitting to choose this song, "So Early, Early in the Spring".

Who do you like - Joni, Joan or Judy?  What are your favorite songs?  Let me know in the comments below!

 

The Sunday Listens: Inspirations for the gig

This week I'm preparing for an upcoming gig at La Cour Denver Art Bar.  (Click here for more info.)  While I do so I'm immersing myself in some new tunes.  Here are a couple that I've been deeply studying.

A folk tune from Cuba, "Lagrimas Negras".

And this entrancing ballad, "A Timeless Place (The Peacocks)".  Which is also a part of my Happy 2016 Mixtape.  You can watch the playlist, and read my comments, here.

Now, back to my practicing!  

Let me know what you thought of the tunes in the comments below.  

Or better yet, come watch me sing them on March 23 at La Cour Denver Art Bar!