Stepping Outside Of My Comfort Zone To Expand My Repertoire With Coach Kate

Meet VTS coach Kate! She coaches me through 3 completely different songs I’ve never worked on before, helping me step outside of my normal comfort zone. We cover specific vocal habits like tongue placement, vowel shaping, and how to apply technique directly to music. Kate also shares her background and approach to coaching, making this a useful watch for singers and teachers alike.

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Episode Transcript

(00:07):
video good
good okay
now I feel your tongue's coming up a little too much
okay so go ahead and say human human
you feel how your tongue is hitting those top molars
yeah
right there human FA
that's where your tongue you want to put your tongue FA
I know right what

(00:28):
hahaha that was so weird
you're just pulling
you're pulling your tongue up a little too much
so I was just getting you to put it down
a little bit more I don't wanna fall
another moment yeah
yeah I know
it's not a great one you can feel that hahaha yeah

(00:54):
Hey Vox Star
and welcome to from singer to artist
I'm Lara Chapman award winning singer and songwriter
turned viral vocal coach and the host of this show
at VoxTape Studios
we help singers from all over the world
level up their voices
by teaching them the three fundamental skills
all singers need technique
awareness and artistry whether you're looking to go pro

(01:14):
or just develop your voice for fun
my team and I are here to help
check the link in the description
to book your first session
or grab some of our other resources
Alrighty are you ready
let's get started
we are back in New York City
with one of our wonderful vocal coaches
here at VoxTape Studios
thank you so much Kate for joining me hi
I'm so happy to be here yes

(01:35):
this is so fun yes
I'm so glad that you're here
thanks for making the trip from Philly
come on over yeah
no problem it's an easy ride
easy ride easy ride
you came with the by train
I came by plane and you know
we meet somewhere in the world
we just need a wheel you know
it's so we got it all yeah
it's it's super cool that
you know we work together and um
you know you
you teach at Vox Tape and uh

(01:56):
it's cool that we can do that
even though we're like not even close to each other
right like physically close
so you know
and and then every so often
we meet up in this world somewhere
and do some cool stuff together
I know I'm excited to go to Indiana soon yes
next weekend be fun yeah
yeah it's gonna be really fun
never been well

(02:19):
what should I be should I be excited or scared or both
no no no
you're gonna be fine we're in the city
so you know
I don't really go to the countryside
because it's a little scary for me sometimes okay fair
you know um
but also I'm a little Swiss
Miss so you know
like I'm a little princess a little Swiss Miss
it is what it is but no

(02:40):
it's it's great like it's just a small city you know
yeah I'm excited
I can't wait I am the main attraction
that's right
hahaha Box Tape Studios worldwide hahaha no
we'll have we'll have a lot of fun
and we'll shoot some more cool content for you guys
yeah that's gonna be cool
but today we're actually here to just kind of like
introduce you to to everybody
so that they can get to know you a little bit more

(03:01):
who you are how you ended up being a vocal coach yeah
how your passion for music started for singing
and then also
we're gonna do a little coaching session too
where you're gonna teach me some things
and so what I was thinking I'm gonna try to try
I'm gonna try no
you're gonna do great you're gonna do great
you know a lot more about voice than I do
so I'm very excited to learn from you and um

(03:23):
I what I was thinking for the coaching is I'm uh
I have like three random songs that we picked like what
two hours ago
or like maybe a little bit more than that
but was like yeah
what song should we do and so I was like okay
I wanna expand my repertoire
and I feel like I'm always singing the same songs again
and again and again

(03:44):
let's maybe do something a little bit different
so sure I have three songs that I'd like to um
show you I have never practiced them
this is OK just completely new and more fun
don't even know the lyrics great
so you know
we're gonna read on screen as you should
and there you go and so I just wanna kind of see like
what you feel like fits my voice well
what I could maybe put into my repertoire

(04:05):
if I practice it a little bit yeah
and what maybe is like yeah
that's a really great practice song for you
but maybe don't perform it okay
you know fair
cause there's a difference between practice songs
and performance songs oh yeah yeah
just because we can doesn't mean we should
sometimes like yes yeah
totally agree totally agree
so tell us a little bit more about yourself

(04:25):
cause I know your story starting at Berkeley
because that's where we met
we did we met at Berkeley yes
super fun um
I started singing when I was like 9 years old
and I have this very specific memory of sitting
with my CD player I'm aging myself
haha um
with my CD player I was listening to Hillary Duff
Metamorphosis in my headphones

(04:48):
and there was a song on the album called
a Girl Can Rock I
did you ever listen to metamorphosis
I don't know nope
I was a big Lizzie Mcguire girly
I loved Lizzie Mcguire um
and I remember singing along to the song
and my parents kind of looked at each other
and they were like
that was kind of good hahaha and I was like

(05:09):
was it hahaha um
and they were like no yeah
like okay she's hitting every single note
that's that's not normal necessarily when you're like 7
you know um
so then like a few years passed
and I kept singing a little bit around the house
and stuff like that and I was like
maybe I wanna take voice lessons
kind of talk to my parents about it

(05:31):
um and then one of my like best friend's mom
I was like oh
I love this song
when she was picking me up from school
and I started singing she goes
you know Kate you should take voice lessons
you're a really good singer and I was like
I still like have like
it's like one of those core memories that you just like
remember the first time like someone complimented you
yeah um

(05:51):
and I was like huh
so then I said mom
my friend's mom told me I'm a good singer
you should get me voice lessons and my mom was like
alright well
let me look around and see if there's somebody
so I started taking voice lessons when I was like nine
um which is really early
um cause a lot of people at the at that time
I don't know if it was just in Massachusetts

(06:13):
where I grew up but people were like
not taking singers
unless they had already gotten their period
oh interesting
um which like I
I don't agree with that but I understand
I guess maybe where they were coming from at the time
that's what it was for us
they didn't say like unless you've gotten your period
but they were like you have to be thirteen
yeah start lessons

(06:34):
yeah so I had to wait till I was 13
but as soon as I could I enrolled right away yeah
yeah I know
I think like I have mixed
mixed feelings about that
but um
I started going to voice lessons
you know and then it was like um
that's where I fell in love with wicked
my voice teacher introduced me to the musical wicked

(06:55):
and man I just really loved the Wizard and I
I would just sing the heck out of that song
can I swear on this yeah
oh I would sing the shit out of that like every time
and I remember when I first got the note with me
and I was like wow
I can sing the note that long
like that's so cool so I did that for a little while

(07:16):
and then I kind of hopped around
voice teachers a little bit'cause uh
you know like my parents were like
I think she needs a little bit more
she needs something else you know
let's try some things
um and then in 7th grade
I started taking lessons with a teacher who like
really started learning like more about the voice

(07:37):
like anatomy about the voice
he was doing um Genie Levetry's um
oh oh oh the somatic voice training and he was like
my whole life has changed yeah
like he was like
forget everything we ever talked about and just like
let's start from scratch with your voice so I was like
okay cool
I have no idea what you're saying um

(07:58):
but yeah so kept singing
and then I went to a Berklee summer program
did you ever go to a Berklee summer program
no I did not
no um
I went to like a vocal summit
it was like a three day cool thing at Berkley
and I was like oh
I like this place yeah'cause everybody's weird like me
hahaha um and then I uh went to a five week

(08:21):
yeah um and I loved 5 week
it was really cool
and I really loved the culture at Berkeley
I loved that there were people from all over the worlds
you could hear different music and different languages
like just walking down the hallway
like that was really exciting
and I feel like I don't know about you
but I feel like Berkeley really helped me see humans
in different ways you know

(08:42):
a lot of people can get stuck in like
seeing the same people throughout their whole life
cause they
live in the same area and they don't move away
they don't find new things and Berkeley
like
it was automatically like a very diverse environment
and I feel like that's like
helps me understand that people are diverse in general
yes um

(09:02):
so we did Berkeley
got into Berkeley didn't think I was gonna go
cause it's really expensive to go there
and now it's even more expensive to go there girl yeah
I remember college tuition is crazy yeah
I cried cause I couldn't go to Berkeley
I was gonna go get a music ed degree at another school
and I was like I can't do it
I have to go to Berkeley and my parents were like

(09:22):
you're might be poor forever
oh yeah and I was like I don't care I'm 18
I have no idea what the consequences of my actions yeah
yeah um
so I went to Berkeley and I don't regret it okay
yeah that's good regret it um
and I got a degree in music ed um
and then I taught in public school for five years

(09:44):
and boy was that interesting actually
I I did really like it um
but it was exhausting
I'm sure I was waking up really early
I had and I lived in Boston um
I had to drive like an hour each way to work
it was a lot um
I was losing my voice because I hadn't been giving any
like I haven't been given

(10:05):
any resources to take care of my voice as a teacher
hmm um
and I was tired all the time and I'm chronically ill
and I was just constantly struggling with anxiety
with sleep deprivation um
being in the car for a couple hours a day
after you've just had a really long day at work

(10:27):
is not ideal so
I went and got my masters in voice
pedagogy at Shenandoah
um and now I'm here and I teach at Temple University
I teach in the musical theater department there
which is really fun I love that job
um and I teach for Vox Tape
yes yeah
so that's kind of how we got started
what made you want to get a master's degree

(10:49):
um I really wanted to teach in academia
uh so I did
and I also really wanted to learn more about singing
I'm I'm a
I'm a lifelong learner um
one of
someone said that a little while ago and I was like
oh yeah me too
I'm a Virgo and for
I don't know what it is about Virgos
but they really gotta learn

(11:11):
like we wanna learn everything
you know like we wanna soak it all in
and I really wanted to know why the voice
was doing the things it was doing
yeah I mean
I was a voice major at Berkley
and I didn't learn anything about like
anatomy or how the voice works or we just had like what
a 30 minute lesson once a week or something like that

(11:32):
mm hmm yeah
that was it yeah
we never really Learned that kind of stuff
and even in my voice lessons it
it it didn't come up
not because my teacher wasn't knowledgeable
but because we just didn't have the time
yeah you know yeah
um and in music Ed
you're working with kids who are trumpet players
and saxophonist and uh

(11:55):
then you know
they teach you how to sing in a choir
but there's no
there's no education on pedagogy of the voice
specifically mm hmm
yeah yeah
I honestly that's something I still haven't
I Learned to this day
like the whole pedagogy aspect of like yeah
like how to teach someone to sing
like it's not something I

(12:15):
I cause I was not a music ed major
I was a pro music major yeah
you make like your own yes
your own uh
your own degree whatever
I considered pro music as well
because I wanted to do other things
yeah yeah
I know
there was like a pedagogy class at Berkeley taught by
I think it's Sharon Brown
in the musical theater department

(12:36):
cool um
I don't know if she's still there now but
but it wouldn't fit in my schedule
because I was too busy taking clarinet classes
yeah cause you had to because of the music right
yeah which is so helpful now
thank you haha
yeah um
but yeah well
talking about musical theater department
that's actually how we met

(12:57):
it is we were doing a musical
you were the director right
I was I directed
uh bear
a pop opera yes
and Laura came in you were a transfer right
so technically no
um I was
I did a two year program
at a school here in New York City
okay yes
and it was a musical theater program
and I finished that and then I like

(13:19):
it was not like a transfer or anything like that
I finished my program here
it was just a two year program
and then I went to Berkeley after that
cause I was like I don't wanna do musical theater
and then I went to Berkeley and did a musical hahaha
but you know I feel like
when you're in your first semester at Berkeley
everybody's just trying everything
you know what I mean like
and I missed the acapella group auditions

(13:40):
I was so mad about that I was like
I really wanted to be a part of the acapella group
but I didn't know that that was like
happening the first week
and I was like all over the place
and then I was only on campus for one year
yeah so I never actually got to do it
but I did the musical with you
yeah yeah
so uh
we did the musical and I just
I remember that being a a

(14:02):
I don't even remember half of it
cause I was really stressed out yeah
cause I was directing
it was the first time I directed anything
but I remember you came in and you were really good
and me and my friend who is music director Craig
hey Craig um
Kray uh
we were like who is this little blond hahaha
who is this little blond girl like coming in

(14:23):
um yeah
and then you got the part and then I don't think you
I don't think there was some drama with that show yeah
towards the end
but I don't ever you were just always like
yeah I'm
I'm ready to go you
you you know
you were you were just vibing yeah
I just like
I'm not getting involved in any of this drama stuff
you just tell me where you want me to be
and what you want me to do
and I'll just show up and do my thing

(14:44):
and you did and you did
and that's all we ask that's all we ask
is for people to show up and do their jobs yes
so we try we try well
and you I think you
you I remember you telling me that
you thought I was a Boston Conservatory student
yeah and I'm not a Berkley student because of my resume
yes yes
that that is true
cause
I actually knew how to make a musical theater resume

(15:07):
haha yeah
I can't believe you remember that
I don't remember that
did I say that in the audition or in the call back
maybe in the call back yeah
yeah I think you said like
are you at Boca I'm like
no actually I'm at Berkeley
and they're like and you said like
your resume looks so professional
I'm like well I
I just left a musical theater program in New York City

(15:27):
where they taught us how to do that
otherwise I would not have known what to do right
yeah and like musical theater kids at Berkeley
sorry Berkeley musical theater kids
but Berkeley musical theater kids are like
I can sing like
let me come audition for the musical
like sometimes that does happen
which isn't a bad thing but you know
someone will be like
here's my resume and it's like a sticky note with like
yeah yeah

(15:48):
I was an American Idiot in the 10th grade
yeah and they're
and you're like okay
thank you and then usually they're very talented
but the resume is usually where people kind of
mess things up well
and
you don't really go to Berkeley to do musical theater
usually it's true
it's true right
yeah I ended up in musical theater at Berkeley because
um I loved musical theater and I had been doing shows

(16:12):
um and auditioning in New York like uh
before the summer before I went to college really
I did you were auditioning down here
I did oh my God yeah
I went to an open call for Mamma Mia cool
um it was like the national tour
you know it was paying like it was paying like nothing
$3 audition yeah
but I had just finished next to normal

(16:35):
at this regional playhouse
as Natalie and a guy was there and he was like hey
you should like really like
we should work together
and you should start going out to New York
and so for a while there I was like
maybe I'll just go to New York and not go to school
yeah um
but my parents were like no
you have to go to school and I was like OK
my parents were the same they were like
oh we don't care what you do
we just want you to have a degree

(16:55):
because then you at least like
if whatever you
you're doing doesn't end up working out
you at least have something yeah
yeah you can say look
I I
I did the homework and I did college without chat GPT
yeah that wasn't a thing back then right
we're old yeah
literally let me get my walker on the way out

(17:15):
but I ended up in musical theater at Berkeley
just because I liked musical theater
and I thought maybe that even though I was at Berkeley
that could be my future and I guess it kind of is yeah
I guess it kind of is cause now I teach it at temple
so it's kind of cool
do you feel like um
cause like when I went to musical theater school
I very much felt like a misfit

(17:36):
vocally and personality wise too
but also vocally I was like
I was really struggling to sound more musical theater
everything I sang was like yeah
this is pop girl singing musical theater songs
and even the professors at Berkeley were like
why are you not at Berkeley
at the New York Film Academy here
and they were like why are you here
like this is not right for you

(17:59):
and I'm like I totally agree
so with
because you're teaching
you're teaching musical theater at temple right
so do you feel like
there is a big difference between the two
see like you saying
people asking why are you here is crazy to me
because now anything that you go to New York for
they don't wanna hear musical theater singers
yeah now they wanna do like regular pop

(18:20):
you know they want pop singers
they want rock singers they don't want
they don't wanna hear you know
they don't wanna hear Mr Snow
you know
that was one of my songs that was in my book when I
Mister Snow and listen
I love I love Mister Snow
um
but that's something that I really work on with my kids

(18:42):
now I'm like
I want you to be able to sing these
you know classical leaning songs
but I also need you to be able to manipulate your voice
in ways that people are looking to hear
when you get out of college
you know um
did you ever know Kiana Holmes
yes uh
like I never actually talked to her

(19:03):
but I know I know who that is
yes yeah
she came and visited Kiana Holmes is another Berkeley
uh student
um she came and visited uh
she was in the national tour of Hadestown
and she came to
and did a master class with my students
I was like will you please come
and she was like yeah
and she was like
I haven't sung a musical theater song in an audition

(19:26):
in so long she was like
when I go to an audition now
I sing from the show or I sing a pop rock really
yeah wow
so maybe there's hope for me after all
there is hope for you
I can end up on Broadway one of these days
I think maybe you had the secret sauce Laura
oh there you go
I was just ahead of the times
yeah you were like

(19:46):
because now like trendsetter
look at it yeah seriously
so that makes me kind of sad that people were like
why are you here because like
I don't know like it
it isn't it
it isn't always about how pretty you're saying
it's like what you're bringing in
like in as an artist ah
oh my goodness from what you're bringing as an artist
it's yeah

(20:06):
it's your artistry yeah
you know it's you
it's not the character well
see I
also had zero acting backgrounds
like I was really I was just a pop singer
like I just wanted to sing like
Lady Gaga and Christina Aguilera and
you know like that's really just all I wanted to do
but I didn't quite realize how like
musical theater music was like
so different from pop music
I was like yeah

(20:27):
why not learn how to sing
act and dance at the same time
that sounds great I just yeah
I just didn't do my research essentially
I was like I can do that
I'll audition
and I got in and it was a great experience
of course it really was
like I Learned so much and you lived in New York
and I lived in New York and I miss it dearly yeah
which is like so cool
I feel like that's half of the experience right there

(20:49):
is living in a place like New York City
I almost didn't go to Berkeley
because Berkeley's in Boston
yeah people had to convince me to go
when they heard that I got in
like even the
the professors here at the New York Film Academy
they were like you have to go to Berkeley
if you get into Berkeley that just makes the most sense

(21:10):
cause I was set on going to the Musicians Institute
Institute am I in LA
I was set to go there Coach Juliana from our team
she went there yeah
and um
I was like no
I wanna be in LA or New York
like I don't wanna go to Boston yeah
what's in Boston respectfully hahaha
so yeah I didn't love that

(21:30):
but I did it anyways cause everybody was like
you have to go to Berkeley yeah OK
yeah I feel like the Berkeley name
it really is like it's one step that you don't have to
yeah
you know
you don't have to prove that you can do pop music
or prove that you can do contemporary music
cause it says Berklee
College of music on your resume already

(21:50):
you know what I mean for sure
it gives you kind of like a little bit of a step up
so that's why I really don't regret it
and it gets to the network
yeah too people always ask about it
yeah I should take more advantage of the network
it was like no
me too me too
but it's cool it's
it's definitely cool I had a great time at Berkeley too
and it's where we met yes

(22:11):
it's where we met Yay
it's where we met yes
I had the opposite experience with my voice though
I was a musical theater singer through and through
uh huh um
but I focused
like I tried to focus on jazz and contemporary music
but I just had a musical theater voice
and I still do people even like
I'll sing in a wedding and people will be like
did you sing musical theater

(22:32):
like yeah
I really did occasionally
it will happen I really try not to um
especially on the ballads
you know it's the ballads that
the vibrato just pops out a little bit sometimes
you know yeah
it just happens well but also
one thing that I have always been a little envious of
if I'm being truthful here haha

(22:53):
uh mix voice you know
the whole like mix land
musical theater singers are just fantastic mixers
usually yeah
and I is not it's not my strength at all
no mix voice is something I really really had to learn
I'm such a bottom heavy singer
like my default is just pushing through yeah

(23:14):
and just yeah in like a chest exactly just yeah
chest voice all the way and it basically is like
now yelling and not singing anymore
that's my default
and I have to work really hard to not do that
so mix voice is not natural for me at all
it's something I actively have to think about
and work on a lot to get it
somehow like

(23:35):
ish there so
you know I'm think
if I'm thinking back to Barbara proper musical
Laura comes in and is like
scrabbling these notes to the heavens you
you weren't mixing those at all
oh no I didn't know how oh my god
I I didn't know anything about voice at the time
neither did I would have assumed I would have I

(23:55):
I would have assumed that you had been mixing some of
that stuff no
I didn't know how whoa no
I was just testing my I mean
maybe but like
you know like
cause like how do you know if that was truly just chest
cause it was like what high e and f and like
it was just like up there all the time
and I was like okay
well here we go

(24:16):
but you know
if you've been screaming on pitch for many years
you kind of learn how to do it
but it's not sustainable yeah
no no
and I I think something
interesting to think about with Mix Voice
is that when we're singing like uh
contemporary commercial music
there's only like 20% of the time when we're in like
a pure chest voice or a pure head voice

(24:37):
mm hmm most of it is mixed voice
like we really only use our like full head
full chest registers when we're exercising
our registers okay yep
um and everything else is kind of in this more like
chest dominant leaning or head dominant leaning yes
I don't know if coach
Emily has already said these words
I no

(24:58):
actually not at all yeah
um so you probably were mixing
but you're probably just mixing like
that's way heavy in your chest
yeah that's what I yeah
that's what I was like kind of getting at with like
I don't know if that like
was like
just pure chest or if it was like just a very chest
heavy chest dominant kind of mix
yeah but and it was not a sustainable way of singing

(25:18):
no not at all
and you know paid the price later
but you don't know now I'm like OK
we're no longer screaming
you know it's actually interesting now
like those E's and F's are easier
oh I'm sure than well
then back back then for sure
but also easier than like b's and C's
mm hmm b's and C's
I'm still defaulting to like a like

(25:41):
you know a
it's just yeah
too much vocal closure like I get a lot of compression
like just here in my throat
well it's interesting that you say like
you mean like a C five yes yeah
yeah that's a like there's a
some new scientific research out about a C five
in like um
in a test an estrogen dominant larynx that are

(26:04):
are chest voice muscle actually like disengages okay
quite a bit
and our head voice muscle starts to engage and like
take control at around a C five
so
the fact that you're struggling at that B to a C five
normal yeah

(26:24):
normal because we're we're changing gears
it's like if you're driving stick shift
we're like into a new gear or a new pasagio
if you want to use the fancy word
well and sometimes it even starts at a already
like really it depends on the song
it depends on the exercise
but that's because
we're stretching that chest voice muscle
so much you know

(26:45):
that it's starting to feel like the OK
I'm almost at my point where I can't stretch no more
yes yes
and I've been pushing that stretch for so long now
I'm like actively trying not to do that
and so that head
voice muscle needs to come in a little earlier
and it's like I don't really know what to do down here
yeah you know
I got you like ah

(27:06):
up there right
but like down in the
do you ever hang out in like your low chest voice
or I'm sorry low head voice
do you ever hang out down there at all
um I haven't done that recently a lot
but I used to for sure yeah
yeah that might help
you need to do that again
yeah that might help a little bit
you know it's all about that
like bicep and tricep yep

(27:27):
working what is it
antagonistic pair is that the word
yes yeah
we love you Maddie Tarbox
oh hahaha
is that where that term came from
um yes
I mean if we want to get real serious
that definitely came from Dr David Meyer um
but with the bicep and tricep thing
but uh
yes that um
that's like a common one we use

(27:48):
I like to just say like your right arm or your left arm
you know what I mean are like pulling at each other
mm hmm you know
uh tug of war
yep I
was just gonna say that yeah yeah
very cool well
you're already kind of coaching me
I love that thank you
hahaha we're just chatting
you know I love
this is like my favorite nerdy thing to talk about
you know yeah

(28:08):
so isn't it so great like
I truly believe that we have the best job in the world
like yeah teaching other people how to sing
it's so fun it is so fun and everyone's always like
man I wish this was my job
and I'm like I yeah
I it's great
I like I have no complaints
I have no complaints well
I I
I would love money I would love money
we would both love money

(28:30):
we're definitely in this for the money guys
100% just like everybody in music or in arts in general
we're all in it for the money um
but uh
I yeah it
there's nothing better
and I feel it's cool when people are like
I wish I could do what you could do
you know um
because we get to do really cool stuff every single day

(28:50):
you know
we're kind of living living a lot of people's dream
a lot of people's fantasy
you know
getting to sing with people and singing ourselves
so it's cool it's cool stuff
and it's funny cause like
I never thought that I would end up
coaching or teaching
like that was never my career path
that's never where I wanted to end up
I wanted to end up on stage
yeah and then I did the on stage stuff and I was like

(29:11):
I don't
I don't love it like I didn't really
I didn't hate it by any means
but I was like
I started coaching lessons on the side cause money
money needed to pay the bills
yep and I was like
I can sing I can teach other people how to sing
I took voice lessons for a really long time
right it's like
it's not the best but whatever
that's a whole lot of

(29:32):
that's how a lot of people start though
that's how you get yeah
yeah that's how I started
that's how I get started there you go
so yeah thank you
we also yeah
I had a music ed degree but I wanted extra money
so I started teaching voice lessons and I was like
wait a second I think I like this
yeah you know
that's exactly what happened with me
like I was like oh
this is actually a lot of fun
like I'm enjoying working one on one with other people

(29:53):
like almost more or actually not almost
but like a lot more than you know
packing up all of my gear
driving somewhere to a bar
a restaurant gig
and play for three hours straight for like 50 bucks
yep lose your voice in the process
exactly cause you don't have any ears or anything
you know yeah
and so I was like no no
I'm I'm good

(30:14):
yeah uh
I just really loved the vocal coaching side of it
and just making that one on one connection
with somebody
and being a part of their journey and helping them like
reach their goals and dreams
that's just I love that
you know as much as I say like I'm a
like I'm a person that keeps to myself
like I don't have a lot of friends

(30:35):
like I don't wanna you know
go out all the time like yes
I'm an introvert
but also like I love one on one connections
like I don't love big groups
but I love one on one connections
yeah yeah
I think it sounds like to me you're like uh
you know how it's like
introvert is actually just how you recharge
hmm or extrovert is how you recharge
like I feel like I definitely recharge both ways

(30:58):
actually an introverted extrovert or whatever
but yeah it sounds like you recharge talking to people
yeah or yeah
maybe I don't know
no for sure
and cause just yesterday
I was literally in sessions from noon to seven PM
all the way like straight yeah
and uh
but I love that I get so much energy from that
yeah and then at the end of it at like seven PM

(31:18):
I was like oh my God
I'm starving somebody make me dinner please
yup
but no like yeah
it's just in the session I'm like yeah
let's go let's go
let's go and
and then after I'm like
I need to not see people for a lot no yeah
especially on zoom it really kind of does like
cause you you

(31:39):
you're focused on like how do I look
but you're also focused on how do they look
you know what I mean like
cause you're seeing yeah
you're seeing a mirrored image of yourself all the time
which is and when you're editing videos
and editing things like this
we're constantly seeing ourselves
but yeah it can be like over stimulating for sure
well cause like
especially in voice
the person you're working with

(32:00):
they look at you because they're trying to find cues
yeah am I doing well
am I doing something wrong
like what is this other person thinking right
and so for us we have
we actively at least that's what I do
I actively think about what am I doing with my face
smile smile smile

(32:21):
don't like cause if you're
if you're not engaging your facial muscles
you have a resting bitch face
yep yep
and and then they're like
oh my God I must sound terrible
what did I do wrong and it's like no
has actually nothing to do with you
no I'm just on 6 hours on zoom right now actually
like and I'm just intently listening
I'm just listening I'm trying to pay attention to

(32:42):
to you and not like I hope that I'm not looking weird
right yeah
yeah but
you know you get used to it
yeah it's fun
it's an interesting aspect of like
online lessons is the um
trying to read people's facial expressions
and almost in like
a theatrical way you like
respond because you want to get across
how you're feeling about it
you know so like

(33:02):
when someone does something really good
I'll be like
yes you know
like I'll be muted and I'll be like wow yeah
yeah you know
but yeah you know
it's fun it's really fun
gives a little confidence boost
when you see the other person
celebrating what you're doing
yeah yeah
as the student right
yes definitely
definitely I love that
well if it's cool with you
I would I would love to borrow your expertise

(33:25):
sure let's do it and
you know see what you do
some fun think about my singing
yeah cause yeah
I mean we know you're a good singer
I already cast you in a show
oh well
yes you did
you were the one making that decision
I guess I was I'm sorry about that
thank you for giving me the chance to do it'cause
it's funny I went to musical theater school

(33:46):
and that was the first musical I've ever done
at Berkeley host
musical theater school that's first
crazy and last first and last
never did you again I
I am your only director yes
and it was a great experience
so I thank you like I said
I have no recollection of those hahaha
you know we
we try and you know
suppress the stressful times
the trauma the trauma

(34:07):
it wasn't oh my God
I actually had a really good time on that show
but I remember looking at the lead boys uh
and saying cause there was
if you don't know bear pop opera
it's one like 11 o'clock number
it's pretty much like 80 ballads and then one
like 11 o'clock number which Laura sang
and then a bunch of like crazy other uh
fun songs but most of them are like ballads

(34:29):
yeah
and I remember looking at the actors and being like
can you guys just make me like this song
oh no
why did you pick Bear um
my friend who music directed really wanted to do it
uh huh he really wanted to do it
and I um
and I love him so and I wanted to do it with him okay
um and also just cause the message is so beautiful
I mean it's about queer love

(34:51):
um you know
so it was it was um
in a church you know
so it was it was a great
remember making the church window
we like made that ourselves
that was we did
we made the church window ourselves
so it was it was a good experience
it was fun and wasn't I pregnant
like teen pregnancy oh my God
I thought you were saying you're pregnant right now

(35:12):
I was like no
no no
no no no
I'm not pregnant oh my God
no but wasn't it like my jump scare
did we get you to stop scrolling
yeah there you go
I'm pregnant I'm not uh
but yeah my character was like teen pregnancy thing too
did you have do you have a miscarriage
you know I don't remember
I don't remember I do not remember

(35:33):
I don't even remember your name Ivy Ivy
yes it was Ivy
but I like
I couldn't even tell you what the 11 o'clock number was
I'm all grown up look at me
I'm all grown up or something like that
I have no idea
I don't remember either it sounds about right
but I yeah
I don't know I'm sure if we pull it up right now

(35:54):
oh my god so here's the thing
I got up at 4:30 this morning
oh to catch a flight
yep OK
I am not warmed up um
so you know
this is have you had any water like um
one bottle okay
okay so definitely not enough
yeah but you know
this is this is just what the real life is

(36:15):
you know no
it is it is real life
it's so interesting cause like I just told you
yesterday I was doing a bunch of sessions with like
different people and every single one of them was like
I'm not feeling 100%
because I didn't get enough sleep yesterday
or I'm just kind of tired
or whatever and I'm like
hey you know
here's the thing
and these are all news new singers that I met right
I don't do recurring lessons
I just do the initial intake

(36:37):
um to get to know the student and place them with you
or with somebody else right
and so uh
I didn't know their voice and they
you know when they are not feeling 100%
they're like hey
I just wanna let you know
you know this is not how I usually sound
and I'm like very rarely are we at 100%
I can't think of a time that my voice was at 100% in
like the last year it's just not yeah

(37:01):
it just happens it's just the way things are
you know but you learn how to deal with it
and you learn how to use your voice still
in a way that serves you
and you still get a great result right
and you can still deliver a great performance
yeah if you're performing uh
even if you're not at 100% right
it's just a part of life
a part of being an adult at least
yeah back when

(37:21):
you know we were like 19
20 scrabbling to the gods
yeah I was very
we were very spry and we could bounce back easily
but now that we're 30 yeah
are you 30 almost 29
29 mm hmm yeah
just yep
yeah now that we're
now that we're old yeah
we're not old but hahaha
you know we're creeping up there
it's not as easy of a bounce back

(37:41):
you know no
it definitely isn't it definitely isn't
so the songs that we were kind of like
texting back and forth about were gravity
Sarah Bareilles
uh die with a smile
I think is what it's called
Lady Gaga
which is what I would usually default to more
but it sits in that ABC range

(38:02):
yeah and where it's like
oh my god this is harder for me to sing on Higher Stuff
it's a little grabby exactly yes
very grabby very grabby
and the last one was oh
chapel rhyme oh yeah
good luck babe
yeah OK
which one do we wanna start with
which one's the easiest ha ha ha ha

(38:23):
I feel like they're all hard in different ways
um gravity's probably the softest yeah
do you sing soft like not a lot
but I should do it more okay
so there's that there's that would it be
more challenging for you to sing soft
or more challenging for us
to address some of the grabby's

(38:43):
do you think what feels more productive
the grabby I think is gonna be more challenging
so if we start with gravity
I think that's kind of like
almost like a little bit of like a warm up
you wanna do yeah
you wanna do that yeah
I mean I'm saying that now and I'm like
oh my God this is way harder to sing
than I thought cause um
it looks like you know
if you pull up on YouTube
you can see which videos you've already watched
so it looks like I already sang this once yeah

(39:05):
so at least that we oh
there you go
but right now just hearing it when I sing
when I think gravity I'm thinking John Mayer gravity
I love that song is working
so I'm like how does this gravity go
something always brings me back
yes to you
there you go the reason I recommended this song is
cause
I literally saw a TikTok of Sarah Bella singing it

(39:26):
and I was like God
I love her oh my God
I love that okay
well let's try this

(39:57):
something like that yeah you're right
be without touch

(40:33):
gravity here

(40:53):
alright something like that
I don't know how it keeps going
but I know that was solid
that was solid how did it feel
I always ask that first same same
I was like how did it feel
when I watch recordings of lessons
I'm like literally Laura
stop saying how did that feel
it's like all the time well
I feel like we're always checking to make sure like yes
cause you don't wanna project on the person right

(41:15):
exactly yeah
it's like how they're feeling like
so maybe they thought
that was the greatest thing they've ever done
or the worst thing they've ever done
you know what I mean exactly
so how did it feel how did it feel
honestly pretty good
I'm like not mad about that
yeah yeah
there were some notes in the quest
I don't wanna fall fall in love another moment
I'm trying to figure out man
I wish I could ding
ding ding

(41:36):
the keyboard that note right there yeah
I mean
this is a little tip for everybody
if you don't have um
a piano
you can just download the tiny piano app for your phone
and then you have a little beep beep
so that note um
hold on what is this
it's a

(41:59):
moment
OK OK
so this is right where usually right
the grabiness starts happening
I do wanna build intensity there
yeah but I don't wanna go like fuck right
yeah I don't wanna fuck
that's too much yes
I don't wanna fuck like somewhere in the mix
yeah but it's like

(42:19):
how do I get to that mix um
so when I when I teach
I like to use like numbers or percentages a lot yeah
um cause I can think that it's a 6
or I could think that it's a 2 right
but it doesn't really matter what I think
it matters what you're experiencing yeah
so when you did it like more harshly

(42:42):
how did that what did that feel like number wise
and effort so like how much yeah
energy you're putting behind it
like one is no effort
you're like sitting on the couch relaxing
and 10 is like you're squirting to find gravity
yeah at a bar at 2 in the morning
hahaha I love it
um probably like a six and a half okay

(43:04):
okay okay
a six and a half okay
so it didn't feel super duper harsh
but it didn't feel super duper easy
yes OK
I think for me it's mostly like the
the tone too like
um it starts sounding a little wide
like a little spready yeah
I don't wanna fuck like yeah

(43:25):
wide and spready okay
can we try it let's
can we do the chorus on a pufferfish
oh I love pufferfish
I love a pufferfish
because a pufferfish pulls our larynxes down right
yes
and if you're saying it's feeling like it's widening
we might need to I didn't hear so much why
like
let's see if we can pull your layers down
before we go for the mouth

(43:46):
cause it might just need a lower layer
yeah cause fall right
it's like right
yeah you're already opening your mouth
yeah right so just try to

(44:06):
okay good good good
how did that feel I was like
really like trying to find an out and I don't
and there that yeah
that feels good OK
now let's do uh
oh I haven't sang at all today either
I just realized I was about to sing I don't wanna fall

(44:27):
uh I don't wanna fall
yeah do it again
I don't wanna fall
OK that's sounding a little bit more warm now yes
I don't wanna fall
another moment yep
yep yep
I don't wanna fall another moment
there you go there you go
now I want you to think about keeping the air going

(44:49):
I don't wanna fall I don't wanna fall
moment keep your air on that a FA I don't
moment yes
that feels a little bit better
that feels less grabby yeah
yeah yeah
sometimes we get grabby when we just like go
uh oh it's coming
I gotta stop the airflow
but really what we need is we gotta keep the air going

(45:10):
we need air yes
to sing right
yes um
so here let's go from um
and then let's hear how fall well
you're keeping the air flowing through okay
so

(45:31):
in the year we might need a
a fresh pitch gravity oh are we too loud
um
and so
uh here I

(45:53):
that I'm supposed to be oh no
hold on it's
it's upside down okay
here there you go sorry hahaha no you're good
an idiot good okay
now I feel your tongue's coming up a little too much
okay so go ahead and say human human

(46:15):
you feel how your tongue is hitting those top molars
yeah
right there human FA
that's where your tongue you wanna put your tongue FA
I know right
what hahaha that was so weird
you were just pulling
you were pulling your tongue up a little too much

(46:35):
so I was just getting
you to put it down a little bit more
I don't wanna fall another moment yeah
yeah I know it's not a great one
you can feel that hahaha yeah
I'm that's a great one
totally stealing that even though human and fall
like it's a completely different
it just kind of gives you a spot to like tell people
like okay
not too far
cause a lot of times when you say arch your tongue

(46:57):
people are like ah yeah right
you know what I mean
so that's a good way to kind of just like
tell them where to put it yeah
if they're going too much huh I don't wanna
I don't wanna fall fall
and yeah it's
it's just it's like right in that break for me
yeah right yeah
it's like I can muscle through it

(47:17):
uh huh but I don't want to yes
yes yes yes yeah
um can we go back to the beginning
yeah and can we play with that breathy something always
yeah what would you like me to do
the eyelash kind of man hahaha
the original the original
um
when you think about breathiness
what do you like think um

(47:40):
I'm trying to open
figure out what question you're thinking OK
you think open
don't mind the piano yeah
um OK interesting
like open the vocal folds
let more breath come through to sound breath OK OK
OK open the vocal folds
yes um
can you try singing it

(48:02):
I might need to hear you do it once actually
I'm sorry can you
can you start at the beginning
do you want me to do it breathy or not breathy
sing it breathy sing it breathy yeah
yeah the whole thing yeah
just like the first two lines
OK
you okay yeah

(48:22):
I know it okay
can you show your teeth yeah some
you
yup yup
yup yup okay
now can you take the vibrato out
oh some
ooh completely

(48:47):
hmm you know how intimate that is
oh that is weird yeah
I mean I love it
it's weird in a good way yeah
yeah yeah
yeah well
cause if you ever like
if you ever watch
like people really sing quiet and breathy
they're like face is really close to the mic
I'm not gonna do it
cause I don't wanna Max anything out
but they're like right here up on the mic
yeah and they're like this
they're like Billy Eilish like eats her mic

(49:09):
yeah yeah yeah
yeah right
cause we're picking up all those bright bright bright
bright bright frequencies yeah
so if we want a really bright
bright bright frequency
we gotta show teeth yeah right
you'll see the alphabets doing it on Broadway
ah right
like yeah
so that was the other thing I wanted to touch on cool
I like that yeah

(49:29):
and then why remove the vibrato
um I guess that was a moment for me where I was kind of
like letting my bias come in
and I like kind of prefer just because I've heard
I've heard this song a million times since I was like
the age of 10 years old I feel like this um
I don't hear a lot of vibrato in Sarah's voice

(49:50):
so it was more like kind of
one of those things where
you can kind of make the choice
as the singer do you want to keep the vibrato in
or you want to take it out right
you know what I mean
so it doesn't become such a automatic
it's more of like a
a thing that you're choosing to do rather than
I totally just was not aware of it at all
no yeah
yeah yeah
I was just like yeah
let me just sing this and you know

(50:11):
sometimes I'll be like
can you try it with Noah Brother real quick
and people will do it and then I'll be like okay
what did you think did you like that
because you're the artist
you're the artist you get to pick
yeah you get to pick
yeah but the fact that you can do it is
is good cause that means that you are like technically
like strong and I think that's kind of like
our job as voice teachers

(50:32):
is make sure that the singers have options
yes and then it is their artistic choice
and we can guide them yes toolbox
yes the toolbox
yeah we can guide them
you know like
oh what if you did vibrato here
what if you didn't know vibrato here
what if you like we can guide them on that
but at the end of the day
it's their choice what they want yes yeah
definitely
yeah I liked it because uh

(50:54):
it did make it feel more intimate
like that's a word that you used before
and I like that
because I wasn't holding out all the notes
all the time yes yeah
because I was like I need to make sure that I'm
there's no vibrato coming in
so I'm just gonna cut it short yeah
and that's okay
I feel like that's a a a stylistic thing
I I almost had you sing it staccato
so you could like really feel

(51:15):
you know like okay
I like when it's short there and long there
I do that with people a lot I'll tell them like
okay can you just sing it
no vibrato staccato and they always look at me like
I'm gonna kill you
but it really does help you like hear yeah
oh that might be cool if I cut it short or oh
that might be cool if I held it longer right
so when you say just so that we can have like
an example for what that sounds like

(51:35):
do you mean like every single something always
takes too long yeah yeah okay
I'll do that with a lot of jazz
I'll do that with jazz
so that way they can feel like the back phrasing of it

(51:56):
um you know
and like different different styles and stuff like that
okay very cool
I have never sung a lot of jazz
I actually wanted to audition for
the New School here in New York
which has a jazz program yeah
cause I just needed to figure out a way to
stay in New York City mm hmm
that's fair but then I went to Brooklyn instead yeah
a lot no NYU
no NYU huh

(52:16):
no no
I don't even know why not
but cause Berkeley is Berkeley yes
Berkeley is Berkeley yeah
it's true yeah
it's true cool
so honestly like I felt pretty good about the how do
how do you feel about this song for
for someone like me
which I'd never do anything like this
I think it is I think it sounds really nice

(52:36):
I think it's fun to kind of play with
like
we're swinging the pendulum in the opposite direction
of where we usually go yes
you know what I mean um
do you want to do it one more time
or you want to go to die with a smile
um my question is like
I don't really know how the ending of this song oh what
what the ending looks like
does it get belted what what yeah
we get like a nice one thing that

(53:01):
remember that yeah that's right
or something don't call me on that haha um
where is that where is that part um
I had to make you see it's like uh
the bridge oh
you're keeping me down okay I'm seeing it

(53:26):
you're neither friend nor foe but I can't seem to
okay uh yeah
I don't know this bridge like I said
I didn't prepare this song at all
but very good I can choose that

(53:47):
that like those two phrases
the one thing that still
that I still know is that you're keeping me down
yep just to see what happens
yeah sure
how does the one thing go um

(54:15):
but you can you can
I'm like in like a heady yeah
kind of weird well yeah
look I'm just trying to get the notes
cause I don't know the notes yeah
yeah you're good one thing

(54:45):
oh
okay okay
close enough yep down
yeah yeah
yeah yeah
okay yeah yeah
yeah yeah
I think it's it kind of like goes off into a riff
but we can just focus on down yeah yeah yeah

(55:06):
um okay
one thing um can you give me
can you do it one more time sorry yeah
one
one thing that I still know is that you keep alright
me down
oh down
it's just getting a little shouty there
yeah yeah

(55:26):
yeah okay
um you're going whoa
with like a W on 1 1 OK
um
it's like it's kind of like cutting off
it's making the sound a little bit more nasally
can you think what what
one thing
wow wow
wow one thing
oh wow

(55:48):
wow one thing
one thing one thing
one thing there you go
there you go that felt more open
like brighter yep
yep yep yep
but it wasn't like it wasn't like nasally no
no like yeah
yeah yeah yeah one thing that
and dad you're so wing wow

(56:08):
and I want wow
once in Dad Dad Dad
once in
once in dad I
that I yeah
like the that and I are like holding hands
one thing that I

(56:31):
that I yeah
there you go there it is
there it is wanting
1
one thing that I still know okay
good now
where are you on your effort level on that one
yeah that's that's ah
it's probably a 7 yeah
yeah yeah yeah OK
I'd like it to be a 6 usually yeah

(56:52):
usually what you wanna do is
you wanna keep things around at your peak
like at an 8 so a 7 I'm okay with
like if you need to give it a little bit more
especially since you're sitting down like
you know what I mean like a 7
a 7 is okay for me
but does it feel like too much for you
um I just know how far I can push my voice
which is a lot uh huh

(57:13):
I'd rather keep it at a 6 okay
okay okay
so we might need to add a little bit more head
voice into it yeah
wow
wow yeah
now make it a little whinyer wow
wow one thing
one thing one thing
one thing yeah you're like you're you look tense haha

(57:38):
OK I'm just thinking a lot no yeah
one thing OK that was great
that was better yep yep yep yep yep yep
there you go
one thing that I
I still know maybe a little bit of posture too OK
what
no no yeah yeah now toss no one day

(58:00):
oh no good
and then we've got keeping me da
on
da on da on mm hmm okay
is that you're keeping me that part
yep is that you're keeping me dah

(58:22):
uh dah dah d a h dah dah
that was better that was better oh man
I wish we had a straw hahaha
um I actually want to put it in between your molars
and do a chop have you ever done a chopstick thing

(58:43):
I can go hungry OK
there you go hahaha um try that
ah
ah
that's better
that's better trying to find that second note
yeah yeah yeah
that's better
your tongue's gonna come up a little tiny bit more
in the back on da ah
da

(59:05):
ah that's it
that's it
I was like trying to adjust the the tongue there yeah
yeah yeah yeah
no no no
that's it that's it
you were
I think you might have been opening your mouth
a little a little tiny bit too much
which is too much common yes
oh yeah yeah yeah
yeah and then there's all the TikToks that are like
open your mouth open your mouth
stop it it's gonna make you laugh
yeah yeah
yeah yeah
sometimes sometimes we do need to open our mouth

(59:27):
of course of course
like hahaha please open your mouth when you sing yeah
but sometimes people are just opening so much
that the lyrics is like
I gotta go down my mouth is so open
oh right
like sometimes it can be that
it's not always that but sometimes it can be that um
so I I think in this particular situation um

(59:48):
and also this I think this is a d
I think this is a D5 who is it
um hold on
da da
uh
see ah
it's right
on that special little note that everybody loves

(01:00:09):
wow Sarah
OK Sarah
do I have no I'm like
do I have accidentally have the transpose thing on
no no
I've done that before actually it happens quite often
and I'll be like oh sorry
it was actually up a half step
my bad um so da ah da

(01:00:31):
ah da ah da
try not to open my mouth
you're going think a little bit more neutral
yeah yeah
but I have to open my mouth for that if you okay
so you might need a little bit of opening
but I'm just don't over open yeah
you would yeah
that

(01:00:52):
oh
yeah yeah yeah
that's better OK
that's better yeah
that feels better yeah
yeah yeah
sometimes people just end up going oh
I'm like not on the way sometimes people are like that
ah yeah
and you're like whoa whoa yeah
um all that is
is giving you like TMJ yeah
you know yeah
yeah yeah
so that felt like a good amount of opening
but if I'm really like just going like

(01:01:14):
just with no finger between
I'm like oh
this is getting very bright
now a lot of times I use the finger or like
I'll have people use a pencil or a chopstick
to show them that they can create the pitch without
like huffing it right
yes um
but like
most of the time when we're using the chopstick
it's really just to like kind of help
you know that

(01:01:34):
you don't need to open it
as much to get what you're looking for
but you should still open your mouth like generally
yeah but it's good to see like
oh the work is being done down here
you don't need to like yeah
change your mouth mouth shape yeah
like get the yeah
in this situation I actually think also too
you might have been using too much twang

(01:01:55):
yeah yeah
that's um
a common thing for me mm hmm
uh like it gets like too bright and yeah
yeah yeah
it's like uh
open up open up
open up but that's the pop singer in you
you know what I mean that's the Gaga
that's the Christina Aguilera
you know what you know
coming through so yeah
that's okay okay
yeah we'll talk about Gaga
do we want to look at the Gaga song

(01:02:16):
yeah let's do it
was it die with a smile yeah
smile oh
with an E at the end but oh well okay
apparently I've never done that one before
so die with a smell die with a smell

(01:02:54):
but you you go I'll fall
how does this part go oh my God ever you go
tomorrow
oh okay

(01:03:15):
you were thinking of the Gaga harmony sing with me haha
will you

(01:03:48):
on earth see like it's like it's so grabby
cause it just sits in that range Earth Earth
like oh yeah yeah yeah
I feel like this might actually be
you might be doing too much twang
I think this might be the same thing oh okay
how do I reduce that okay
well let's do it on the pufferfish first

(01:04:08):
so a lot of times
if we're thinking about the pedagogy of singing
we're thinking about scaffolding things right
like think about it like your voice is a ladder okay
and we're gonna think about okay
so I hear something that I wanna adjust okay
what's the first step in how I adjust it
mm hmm right
and this is kind of just like an education thing
in general
you like you pick one thing and you zoom way in on it

(01:04:31):
right so first thing I want you to do
this is the first rung of the ladder
is we're gonna puffer fish it okay
just a kind of the world was ending
but I'm not a power fish okay
oh it's like
I'm not all the way up there right
I'm going under no

(01:04:51):
no you're right
no yeah
yeah sounds OK
and I can switch into a whoo yeah
yeah yeah yeah
that's OK OK
OK OK
let's just do that right there
OK now let's do it on like a
duh duh duh

(01:05:14):
ah and we're relaxed in the back yeah no twang
oh yup
yup yup
yup yup
is that no twang is that twangy
that didn't sound super twangy to me OK
no no
no yeah yeah yeah

(01:05:34):
I think like almost like numb
like do you ever get like Novocaine in your jaw
or like in your teeth or anything
have you ever had a cavity
I have yes
so they give you like a fill
you know when you like get a filling and like
it's been a minute they don't do that in Switzerland
they don't give you Novocaine
nope they're just like rough it haha
oh my God okay

(01:05:56):
remind me not to get a cavity too
they do that they give you okay
so if you like you like feel like you like it yeah
if the world ending let's do it on the words
but let's do it like super loud
numb lips yeah
yeah if so

(01:06:18):
oh
it's like hard on that ooh sound
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
so now okay
so now like
and I'm gonna think of percentages again here okay
give me like whatever your 60% numb mouth is
so you still get 40% of
moving your mouth to shape the words
so when you do the flip yeah
which sound which sounds so good
when you do the flip like let yourself move your mouth

(01:06:38):
so think like 60% I'm relaxed here okay
right a lot of times we have to establish like
the hundred percent of something right
like we just did
and now we can I call it overcorrecting yes
you go from one extreme to the other
so you can meet in the middle yeah
yeah yeah yeah
but now I'm gonna see what your 60% is
and then I'm gonna adjust from there okay I

(01:07:07):
yeah
okay what do you think yes
I would love to have like 5% less volume on it
you want less volume okay
yeah just to feel like I have more control over it okay
like
it still feels like it's in that spot where it's like
it could be 5% better OK
it's way better than where it was before OK
so why don't you pull it down

(01:07:29):
pull it down to the volume that you feel good about
do you do you like that 60%
do you feel like you could use more facial
facial movements um
I don't think it's necessary okay
I feel like if you wanted to try like 65 to 70
whatever that means to you
I feel like so more movement
yep okay okay
if

(01:07:53):
next oh
next nah
think about it in the middle of your mouth
not nah next neck nah yeah
next I wanna be next
whoo okay
to you
that part is the easier part yeah yeah
but yeah okay

(01:08:14):
that was nice
like think of it in the middle of your mouth yeah
yeah instead of like at the
cause it that I it felt like in my brain
it felt like you were like
thinking it was like at the roof of your mouth
I don't know yeah
you know what I mean so it was like okay
think about it a little bit more like in the center
I'd wanna be nah
nah versus nah yeah

(01:08:34):
yeah yeah
yeah yeah
it's such a small difference
but it makes all the difference though
yeah yeah
uh volume wise and just in general
that felt more controlled okay
throughout good
good good thing
yeah yeah yeah
I thought the first one didn't sound too loud to me
to my ears but if you were feeling that
we honor how you were feeling
yeah honor
you know for me
it's like the volume is one thing

(01:08:55):
but for me it's like I usually say like
that's a bit loud because like
not because it's actually too loud
it's just like I feel like
I'm working harder to get these notes than I
probably have to yes
and I just translate that into volume
yeah yeah
yeah and
and that's good that you know that because that
that's why it's so good
that's why we ask how did that feel exactly

(01:09:16):
because especially if this is our technically
like the first time I think I've ever coached just you
yeah right
we also have to like
feel out so many things about the singer like okay
what was that on your scale of like
this is the best I've ever sang
and this is the worst I've ever sang right
you know what I mean it's kind of like
one of those things where you just have to get
really good at like
reading the room with people yeah

(01:09:37):
you know yeah
so yeah
well especially if you're working with somebody who has
a ton of experience right
and which like yeah
which you do yeah
and so they describe it in one way
and to you
that might mean something else than it does to me
yes and so like clarifying that
the better you can describe how you're feeling
and like yes
what you're thinking and what's happening
the easier it's gonna get for us coaches to help you

(01:09:59):
yes and the thing about being a vocal coach is
you're kind of like the filter
so someone can say like I don't know
that felt like walking over water
I've literally had someone say
it feels like I'm gliding over like water
and so in my brain I have to go okay
so anatomically what do they mean by this
you know what I mean
you kind of have to break it down like that

(01:10:20):
it's our job to identify it and like
filter it and then like move it forward yeah
you know what I mean gliding over water
that seems like flow to me yeah yeah
it's like one of those things where it's like okay
so it feels like your breath is like flowing
and your vibrations are like
everything is like in line yeah right
you know what I mean versus like going over like

(01:10:41):
I guess like a bump in the water yeah
you know so yeah
yeah it's just like okay
speed bump right right right right
which might mean your airflow is off
or your larynx is going into a different yeah zone
you know there's like so many things it could mean
but then you just keep asking questions
you know yeah
it's fun it's like a puzzle
being a voice teacher is like
it very much is a puzzle solving a puzzle

(01:11:01):
and sometimes we throw something at you
and it totally doesn't work at all
yes and then it's like
alright cool yeah
let's try something else
the first time you meet a student
you're usually throwing spaghetti at the wall
and seeing what sticks very much so
because everybody's different
and that's the cool thing about singing yeah
but that felt a lot easier this time around
so I feel like
if I can figure out a way to sing that song that way

(01:11:25):
like in that more middle of my mouth
yeah and more flowy and
you know yeah
and not like too crazy with the
not going too spready too crazy
like mouth shapes and things like that
then oh
that's gonna make this song a lot easier
cause I never worked on this song because the
like the one time I tried to sing along in the car

(01:11:46):
I was like and my throat is just closing off yeah
and it's like
and yeah and defo yeah
that's a German term for like
it basically translates into uh
done fire
like you're done with the fire and defo
like when you're done and done yeah
like it's like yup
okay nope
okay no more
that's fun no more

(01:12:07):
so yeah
can I can I say I
I I feel like I'm observing something
I feel like you're a little afraid to sing loud now
because you've been in this like
kind of place with your voice
where you've been trying really hard not to over sing
yes I feel like you're a little scared to be loud now
maybe maybe a little bit yeah
I mean it definitely could be

(01:12:27):
it's cause I've always been loud
and I've always been told I'm loud right yeah
and so well
that can you know
that can cause insecurity around actually being loud
no for sure
for sure I
I think um
what's happening in my brain is like
if I am loud
I'm not ever gonna get into a mix until it's too late

(01:12:47):
and then there's always an obvious transition
and so I think I'm telling myself that if I want to mix
I need to pull back my volume
cause otherwise I'm just chesting it through yeah
yeah you know yes
yeah I think that's why that makes sense
that makes sense I think that's just one of those those
um

(01:13:08):
mind games that we all play with our voices
you know it's just like yeah
oh well
someone like people have told me this
so I I need to make sure that I'm not doing that right
yeah you know
it's like yeah
and then you know
but I think allow your it if it feels fine
you know what I mean like
please
don't do anything that doesn't feel good in your voice
if it feels okay like don't be afraid to sing loud okay

(01:13:31):
yeah watch me scream the whole song now
hahaha
no but I do need to find that more controlled place
in this song yeah
otherwise it just gets like right
it just in the throat it gets trapped in the throat
and then I'm just pushing through
and once I start pushing it's like and you're done
I think the trappedness is you narrowing yeah

(01:13:51):
like into twang a little bit more than you need to
which is so why don't you just do the chorus again
but I want you to just think
I'm singing everything in the middle of my mouth yeah
let's just try that and see if that works
a lot of times
just focusing on one thing can like kind of click okay

(01:14:31):
you just for a while
to you see again
the die with a smile like that's the higher part
that's easier yeah
and honestly you had a little grit and I was like yeah

(01:14:52):
yeah yeah yeah yeah
yeah it's like something like the world's
and our time on Earth Earth
whoever thought that was a good idea
to put that word up there like
oh my god so for world I would a lot of times with O's
especially in like contemporary music
think what what the world

(01:15:15):
the world a little bit more uh
the world if the world
world was ending yeah
yeah cause O's are just so they're
they're just so weird cause if we close down on the O R
if the world yeah
world if the world or like you add it

(01:15:38):
make it more musical yeah
yeah when we add an R to things
if the world wow
if the world
if the world can you
you're like wow
you're like sliding a little yeah
you're like scooping can you
if the world yeah
is that where it is always do that

(01:16:00):
I always slide you slide yeah
that's OK that's just
that could also just be like a
like your a part of your voice
and I don't need to hate on it to learn to control it
yeah fair
fair fair fair
fair fair yeah OK
so um
think about like a dark if the world yeah
if the world
what you're like what you're like
what in it if the what

(01:16:22):
that was it that was it okay if the what
me next to you yeah and then earth
I'm thinking about like
Arth haha
Arth that's kind of what I'm doing yeah
and I'm just doing instead of e

(01:16:44):
I'm thinking a autumn on earth
oh yeah
that's a sticky note for me right now
autumn on earth that's really nice
yeah that was more of a mix than a bell
but I don't really think it needs more yeah
yeah
I'm on earth oh

(01:17:04):
that was a nice one
I just sometimes have to shake my head yes
yeah just get the note out
you know yeah
there you go earth yeah
yeah yeah yeah
okay nice
that's a fun one I love that song
so you
I think there is actually potential for this song
I think so too I think so too
I just sang along to it once in the car
and wrote it off oh
because I was like nope
nope nope

(01:17:24):
nope nope
I'm muscling muscling muscling yeah
no I
I get it yeah
I feel that I
I tried to sing this once too
cause I um
I was working with this pianist
and we were working on like some songs for um
for like wedding like reception like um
you know like cocktail hours
so it needed to be like a
we needed to be like chill
but also like fun
so we were working on this song and I was like

(01:17:46):
I think I need to bring this up
like a whole step or a half step
and then it didn't have like the same
I didn't feel the same
and then I was like in this like heady spot
and I was like hmm
nope we're going back to the original key
and I just need to find the spot
yeah you know
so it's interesting this is just
it's a weird song and boy Gaga I mean
Bruno is like so high and Gaga is like in this like

(01:18:08):
sweet spot
because she has never had a break in her life
hahaha like
yeah what that must be nice
haha tell me about it
tell me about it that was very helpful
thank you yeah sure
so I'm learning that I have too much twang
nobody's ever told me that one before really
I don't know if it's all the time
because twang is really good

(01:18:30):
yeah twang is good to have
but maybe just maybe
we're just leaning on it
a little bit more than you thought
no for sure
that's super helpful could be
thank you thank you
um and I pretty
I think the Chapel 1 is gonna
is will be kind of the similar thing
that's such a hard song that's such a hard song but

(01:18:51):
bars yeah yeah yeah
but you're not belting that right
no I don't think so
I don't think she's belting that
I think she's like in like a full head voice like a
you could kiss on your poison bars and then yeah
transition
but I think what I would do is I would do teeth
you could
what the the the the okay

(01:19:12):
hold on now I wanna know
uh good luck
I'm realizing I don't know the words
yeah neither do I
through the car sunroof

(01:19:45):
you're trying to you're trying to mix it though
I think you should go
I think you should like fully flip
you could kiss
I feel like that's yes and I know it's not like loud
but I think probably the more sustainable thing OK
is yeah
like yeah
I mean it feels pretty easy

(01:20:06):
but if it like I don't want it to sound annoying
yeah it doesn't it doesn't sound annoying
it just it that sounded a little strange to me
you could kiss 100 really a tiny
tiny bit interesting it doesn't feel strained at all
okay that's good
that's good it might just be that brightness
you know it could be the brightness
but I don't know you could

(01:20:29):
more like that I like that or more like that no
I like that do you like it
yeah that's fine
let me try that

(01:20:58):
and good luck oh my God
good luck oh
a little bit
a little bit gummy bears in between your molars
good luck babe
oh God good luck babe
good luck babe
that sounds better yeah okay
yeah
it it goes up there yeah
it's really high I know
that's why I was like no
maybe you could just go in your head voice
cause we still got a ways to go yeah

(01:21:19):
good luck it's like
oh my God good luck babe
good luck babe
okay that's kind of fun though
that's actually much easier hahaha
good luck babe
I know they're going into full head voice
I totally agree
because you don't want to make it sound like good luck
I know you know
it's like oh my God
good luck

(01:21:40):
yeah I like that
I like that um
the hardest part about this is that
babe
baby like baby like the that transition there yeah
I don't want to come

(01:22:03):
like that baby B that's the note for me yeah
that's hard baby baby you
I can't sing anything right now cause I have my period
oh you baby you you let's do baby you baby you bae um

(01:22:24):
can you give me like a little bit less on baby
baby yeah
there you go
there you go so less bees baby you could kiss I yeah
yeah yeah
just like lighting up that bay just like think about it
cause your vocal folds are like
relatively thick at that point

(01:22:45):
or not like as thick as they can go
but um did you ever you took ballet
I'm guessing during musical theater school
like if you're stomping around on the ground
it's gonna be really hard for you to get like
that Grace back yeah
so when we need to flip
we if our muscles are going like baby
like it's gonna be really really hard to flip yeah

(01:23:05):
right
so we need a little bit lightness here so we can flip
fair does that make sense yeah
and yeah yeah yeah
that was nice yeah
that was a nice one that was a nice one
so you wanna think about how do I lighten up
a little bit from you only wanna be the one
yeah uh

(01:23:31):
that's it that's it
and nobody cares
nobody cares if you get a little quieter
because there's a microphone right here right
like yes
yes absolutely yeah okay
oh my gosh all these songs
they're like so different
they're all so different oh my God
well I guess that was the goal to pick different things
yeah yeah yeah yeah

(01:23:51):
all songs that I would have to practice a lot
to really get the way I want them
yeah yeah
it'll take time to for sure
yeah but I mean
you're already on a already doing well
I'm glad we got to do um gravity
I haven't heard that song in a while
but I know that's kind of like
in the voice teacher anthology of like
really songs yeah

(01:24:12):
yeah yeah
did you ever sing that one
no no
I remember singing that one for like a voice teacher
I don't even remember who
but I remember doing it in college
cause it's like that oh my God
something always yeah hahaha
see for me
if it wasn't belty I didn't have any interest in it
mmm mmm hmm
mmm hmm
I get that I get that

(01:24:33):
but the ending is very built
so you know
that's true should have just get that to the end
hahaha
no obviously
like I what I like about gravity is the
the softer like for me
like learning that and
that's probably why you might have not wanted to do it
because the belt wasn't coming towards the end
so you and you probably like started singing it

(01:24:54):
and you were probably like
oh I don't like the way this sounds
cause it's like light and breathy
cause that's how I would be too
I would be like oh
I can't sing this
cause it's like really light and like down here
it's like well yeah
if you never practice that
you know what I mean it's like yeah
but at the time like at Berkeley especially
people love when you belt
oh my God yes
you know like everyone's like
yeah belt baby belt

(01:25:15):
come on you know
um but I feel like that's kind of shifting
which is cool it is
it totally is thank you
Billie Eilish yes
thank you Billie Eilish
and honestly like a little bit of Sabrina Carpenter now
yeah please
please please
for sure for sure
there's
more and more and more artists that are doing that now
I feel like mainstream wise
Billie Eilish was kind of like the first
like definitely big one yeah

(01:25:37):
yeah yeah yeah yeah
so I'm appreciating it a lot more now too
like the whole like you got a belt all the time
version of Laura has died with my vocal injury hahaha
that's fair like yeah
maybe not that's fair
not that if you belt all the time
you're gonna end up with a vocal
injury if you do it right
it's gonna be fine I just didn't do it right yeah
yeah

(01:25:58):
and that you know that I feel like the thing about uh
injuries is that they can happen to anybody
so if you have a vocal injury
or are experiencing a type of
sound that feels like it could be a vocal injury
you even though you know
there might be something you're technically doing
that might be doing that but it's okay

(01:26:18):
it happens to everybody like yeah
you know like it
it doesn't just happen to people who yell and scream
it can happen to anybody you know
so don't it you're not like a lesser singer
if you've struggled with a vocal injury
it's just like a part of
it's a part of like the process of being a singer
you know what I mean
and I think it's good that we talk about it
it's like a football player
like they always definitely have an injury

(01:26:41):
they can be as you know they can be as strong as
and as in shape and sometimes things just happen
you know yeah
um there are preventable things
and things you can do to help and fix and
and all that good stuff just like anything else
but yeah there's such a stigma
around people who have vocal injuries
and I'm always like it's gonna like you know
it's just it's one of those things where it

(01:27:02):
it's a part of being a singer
yeah and that's why I try to talk about it a lot
yeah yeah
to just kind of make it not be the stigma anymore
just being like okay
no this is a part of the process
um like I hope that it never happens to you
that you never experience it
but definitely but you know
like it's it's okay if it does
there's a way to come back from it
yeah definitely for sure
thank you so much Kate
this was very helpful

(01:27:23):
you pointed out a lot of things that were new to me
new like either like the entire like concept
like the twang thing right
yeah like let's reduce the twang
um and then also
you know just like little pointers
like the human thing I was like
oh my God I know
I love the thing in the middle of your mouth
like those are all like new things that I'm like
really excited to yeah

(01:27:45):
dig into more and maybe use with some of you guys
if you're doing a lesson with me
you're like I know
oh try the human thing
yeah I love that Coach Kate taught me
I know so thank you so much
it was super helpful I'm glad I could come and hang out
yes yes
thank you thank you
um I hope this was helpful for you guys too
to just kind of like
see what are the different things that we're doing

(01:28:06):
when uh when you're working on different songs
uh what are
you know some of the different techniques and also
as you can see
some of the same things come up in the different songs
because it's the same person singing it
and usually you know
there's certain tendencies that we fall back into
yeah definitely yeah
so anyways thank you so much
thank you for listening if you wanna work with us

(01:28:27):
we do one on one coaching with singers
so I'll put the link to book a session with me
I'm the one always doing the intro session
get to know you and your voice
and then see who from our team is the best fit for you
moving forward that might be Kate
might be somebody else that will
you know we'll see depending on what I'm hearing
and so yeah
if you wanna see what it's like working with us

(01:28:48):
you can just book a session with me through the link
and I can't wait to meet you in a session
and then send you to Kate
haha perfect
thank you so much Kate again
thank you and we'll see you in another episode
yeah for sure
coming at you live
we'll be coming at you live from Indiana
yes let's go baby
let's go thank you so much for tuning in
and we'll catch you in the next one bye bye