Body Singing by Breck Alan

Nashville and Online Vocal Coach

Does Everyone Need Voice Lessons?

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Does Everyone Need Voice Lessons?

Stephanie F- Elkhart, Indiana – I went to a vocal instructor in my hometown.  She asked me to sing for her so I did.  She said that I don’t need voice lessons, that I have a beautiful voice and that I could probably teach her a thing or two.  Is it true that a person who sings so perfectly doesn’t need lessons? Anyone can use lessons right?

Breck- That’s a cool question.  In the March 2003 edition of Singer Magazine I answered a question titled “Does study ruin style?”  This is often a concern from singers that have a unique style and are afraid to lose it by going to a voice teacher.  I haven’t heard you sing and I don’t know the qualifications of the voice teacher you went to.  She might be very skilled and completely accurate.  She might not have enough experience to recognize things you could improve.  So at the moment you’re exactly the same singer you were before you went to see her.  But let’s say you went to a not-so-great teacher that said you needed a lot of work.  She might have proceeded to have you do all kinds of strange vocal teacher things and sing a bunch of songs you hated, really changing your perspective.  She might have even done all this in an unhealthy manner leaving you at a loss what to do next.  It happens.  So if you’re still interested in finding out more about where you stand, you might research the vocal teachers in your area and find someone who specializes in technique, and will let you sing whatever style of music you want.   Find a teacher that has a healthy vocal warm-up to teach you.  This way, even if you are already a perfect singer, you can keep your voice healthy for the rest of your life.  And maybe that is all you need. If you sound great and can tap into your music on an emotional level, then what else is there?  I can’t resist in answering that question with “variety.”  A great teacher will teach you to explore many avenues of singing and leave you with a lot of variety.  That said, some our favorite singers only do it one way, their way, and we love it.

The Right Reason to Pursue Music

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Jason Fynch NYC – I’ve been a bit depressed about the music business lately. When I finally realized I wasn’t going to be a famous rock star I had a hard time being motivated to play. Now I realize I was playing music all those years and sacrificing a more stable future for all of the wrong reasons. Still, I feel empty with out it. Your thoughts on all of this would be appreciated.

Breck – What shame is there in wanting to be famous? Any one doing music several times a week and putting themselves through the insanity of that, loves it and is doing it because they love it, even if they seem to have a another motive to begin with.
The difference between someone really pursuing music as a career and the person with another profession pursuing music as a hobby is rarely the love of music but a difference in agendas. Some people are just more willing than others to endure the discomfort of poverty and insecurity for a cause than are other people. I’ve known many people with other careers that pursue music on nights and weekends that desperately wish they could do it as a career. They love music. Many of them are not in love with their jobs but are of the opinion that there is no chance of success in the music business so they choose a more responsible path. They choose a direction that affords them a nice lifestyle with some security and a chance to do their passion as a hobby. They are probably the wise ones. Statistically speaking their chance of success is almost exactly the same as someone that pursues music as a full time career. It’s an itty, bitty, teeny, tiny chance of success. And that’s assuming the hobbyist is somewhat serious and actually throws a little music out into the world with their homemade CD, the song-writer contest every now and then and the bar gig every few months. You gotta at least play the lotto a little if you ever even dream about winning it.
The point is they love it to. Your argument would suggest that they do it for the right reason, which is just because they love it.

One could argue that it is the passionate ones that create great art. And it has been a rather universal opinion that sacrifice is needed to really feel passion. Therefore regardless of the outcome so far you can feel good in the fact that you have lived a passionate life despite your feelings of disappointment.

On the other hand I’ve never met a person that was truly pursuing music or any other art form that didn’t have a pretty deep love for. It didn’t mean they were necessarily good at it but they loved it. It’s very often the people that are just as in love with the idea of stardom as they are the actual music they do that live out their star character and bring that character forward in their performance. When it works it works because truly there are just as many people or more perhaps that follow musical trends for what they represent fashion-wise as to what they represent musically. The problem is that when it doesn’t work then you end up with a burnt out unsuccessful rock star. Now that’s the worst kind of rock star. And you know what? The world is full of them.
Basically you’re feeling disappointed because your expectations weren’t met. Well I hate to say this but in the music biz most expectations are not met. There’s a brutal saying in the pursuit of art that goes “if you can quite, do.” It’s a matter of self preservation and you have a right to not feel disappointed all of the time.
What I will say is that most of the people I‘ve ever known who have worked as hard as it takes to pursue music have come out the other side as very driven, motivated people and have turned that into a functional way of being in many different walks of life. Many of those people have stayed in music as educators, producers, agents, managers, record label owners or employees, equipment dealers etc.
It’s sad to see that things can disappoint us and burn us out to the extent that we don’t want to do them any more. But if that is the case it’s not necessary to feel guilty about it. I think people that pursue big lives end up leading several lifetimes. And if music was another lifetime for you then be happy and proud that you had that lifetime. I’m sure it will enrich you in whatever you do.

Rachel Platten Wildfire Tour: Part 1

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Rachel Platten Tweet 1

The last several months have been very exciting.  ….

As some may know, I’ve worked with Rachel Platten since 2003 starting in NYC when she was an up and coming singer and performer.  We’d had a couple years where we hadn’t seen much of each other, as I moved to Nashville, and she was touring a lot.  Then early last summer she contacted me to tackle a vocal health issue she was having from the relentless schedule she was on.  Even though Rachel and I had worked for years to get her vocal habits up to the task of handling her very spirited singing, her whirlwind career had made it hard for her to warm up consistently enough show after show, and the wear and tear had led to the bad news that every singer is very afraid to hear, that she’d gotten vocal nodules.  She’d been told she’d need surgery and months of vocal rest to cure them.  I disagreed with that diagnosis and knew that with some work and patience we could not only heal them them naturally, but make sure they wouldn’t return.  And that’s exactly what we did.  And we did it without loosing any valuable promotion time, which is exactly what Rachel was doing for months after her first hit single “Fight Song” was released.  She was touring the world doing just about every promo radio spot and daytime TV show you can imagine, including The Today Show, Good Morning America, Ellen, The View, …etc.

We would work together via FaceTime and some in person sessions several times a week.  I would use several different vocal rehabilitation techniques, and warm her voice up before most shows, (which was often at a ridiculously early hour for yours truly).  We would run through all of the trouble spots in her set and use all of the great communication we’d created from working for so long together, to focus on techniques that would work better in the various live performance situations she was in almost daily.

That hard work and diligence paid off.  Her damaged voice kept getting healthier and healthier.

Rachel was such a trouper through all of this and an absolute inspiration to work with.  Working more often than not, seven days a week and doing high pressure, one to three song performances on far less sleep or rest than most people require, she stood strong and really won over myriads of fans.

But we had to keep the big picture in mind, and continue to get her voice healthy and strong enough to handle the full sets that would be coming up on her tour. The big difference was, that for months she’d been traveling around for promotional shows only doing one to a few songs at a time.  Now we were back to making sure she could do the long sets without hurting herself.  If you’ve listened to any Rachel Platten songs, you know she sings very dynamically and almost all of her songs cover her full singing range.  There aren’t a lot of resting spots in Rachel’s set.

Rachel is a very disciplined person, but it’s easy once you start feeling really centered in your voice, to think that it can handle a little less maintenance.  Let’s just say, I’ve gotten her back to a full “warm up” regimen.  So during several months of her Fight Song and Stand by You promotional tour, Rachel and I chipped away at healing her voice and getting her ready for her upcoming Tour to promote her very successful major label debut “Wildfire” released by Sony Music Entertainment.

I feel like the the whole thing really started coming together a few weeks prior to Tour rehearsals, when Rachel got the great news from her ENT that the vocal nodules she’d been diagnosed with several months earlier were completely healed.

This was of course, outstanding news and we were excited to jump into rehearsals and get Rachel on the tour bus.

Tune back in for Parts 2 & 3 of this blog for some some cool deets on what went into the whole Wildfire rehearsal and tour production………COMING SOON!!!!!!!

 

 

 

The Joys of Working with Rachel Platten

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Seems that everything in life goes in circles.  In 2003ish I started working with a young singer in NYC named Rachel Platten.  She was a very ambitious, hard working aspiring singer doing that NYC thing of holding down a couple part time jobs to support her budding music career, and playing shows every chance she got.  We worked together regularly for 5 years on bringing her voice up to a truly amazing level.  Then over the next few years we worked off and on (as she was often touring) on keeping her voice in shape, as well as doing a lot of co-writing and recording.  Then there a were a few years where we didn’t see each other much as she was touring and I was busy writing, recording and producing a lot, and then eventually moving to Nashville.

Then in late spring of this year as we were texting hellos to each other she told me of some vocal health issues she was having.  She was excited about having a new Hit Song (Fight Song) but her grueling tour schedule and over busy life had gotten her a bit off track with all of the healthy habits we’d gotten her accustomed to over the years, and she’d developed a vocal disorder.  Her management had of course sent her to several specialists in LA, but she wasn’t cured and was still struggling.  So needless to say I was very glad to get back on board and get her voice back up to snuff.  Fast forward about 4 months now, and she’s virtually trouble free, out of pain and singing better than ever.  We’ve been doing Skype lessons now for the last few months anywhere from once to three times a week.  I’ve been warming her up before a lot of concerts and several important daytime shows including The View, The Today Show, Good Morning America and the Teen Choice Awards.  We’ll be posting some fun videos of those sessions soon.  It’s kind of entertaining to see someone warming up their voice with a crew putting make-up on her.

It’s so fun to work with a singer that has explored and practiced enough actual technique, that making adjustments during warm ups and practice sessions is like making fine tuning adjustments to a beautiful instrument.

Rachel performed in October this year at the Country Music Hall of Fame IEBA showcase.  She was sharing the bill with some great artists including Jennifer Nettles, The Jacksons, G Love, Howard Jones, Blood Sweat and Tears and several more wonderful Acts.

When we were back stage warming her up before the show, the rest of her band were in the room watching us.  Their reaction when we were done was great.  There were a lot of OMG’s and “that was awesome” being thrown around.  “You guys are so fun to watch working together, your rapport is amazing.”  “You can hear the changes taking place as the warm up progresses like magic.”  “The way you communicate together is so seamless and almost telepathic.”  It was fun to have the musicians she plays with all the time witness that exchange.  And it is of course very rewarding for me to be able make such a positive effect on someone at Rachel’s level.  But the adjustments I was making during that warm up were very specific and technical adjustments.  It’s just that we’ve already done all of the tedious work and practice ahead of time, so that we can now reap the rewards of using all the cool whistles and bells that good vocal mechanics have to offer.   And we get to do it in such a way that makes the warm up fun and incredibly efficient and productive.  So that by the time we get to where the voice is moving easily to all of the nooks and cranny’s involved in singing, we can get away from the mechanical focus and start directing everything towards the performance head space.  That space where intention and emotions lead the way, not the brain.  Which is awesome, because Rachel has amazing performance instincts, and the last thing you want to get in the way of a great performance is a voice issue.

So, if there’s a moral to this story it’s “practice the nuts and bolts” of singing, so that that the mechanics involved in voice can help you rather than hinder you.

Sing well,

Breck Alan

Sturgill Simpson – It’s great to get inspired

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sturgill-simpson-headerI was recently exposed to one of the coolest singers I’ve heard in a long time, Sturgill Simpson.  I was listening to some bands at The Basement on South 8th in Nashville when in-between sets I heard some music that really caught my attention.  It was immediately familiar, and yet I new that it was new.

It had this very early 70’s  country music vibe, yet it was very fresh and current and the songwriting was actually pretty edgy.  I immediately loved it.

I’ve since spent a lot of time listening to various Sturgill Simpson recordings and I’ve definitely become a fan, and am excited to be inspired by a new discovery.

It seems that Sturgill has been making the rounds lately, playing everything from The Dave Letterman Show to The Grande Ole Opry.  I actually got to see the Opry show, and the only downside was that he only got to play two songs.  His live energy was great, and I look forward to seeing more shows.

There are a lot of very good singers in the world but it’s rare to hear someone that is truly captivating.  Someone that can just pull you in from the energy and emotion radiating through their voice alone, with no need for glitter and gloss.  Sturgill Simpson has a voice that is organic, rootsy, honest and delivered with amazing vocal clarity and a powerful rich, deep tone.  It’s like listening to a strange mix of Waylon Jennings and Merle Haggard, with a dose of the songwriting spirit of Kris Kristofferson thrown in.  And yet it’s completely unique and belongs entirely to Sturgill.

If you’re working on some of the aspects that make Sturgill’s voice so cool, check out some of the free vocal technique video lessons listed below.

Check him out and feel free to share any singers that have inspired you lately and why you find them interesting.

Free Voice Lesson Videos:

Natural Diction
Projection
Power
Great tone

What building a studio has in common with building your voice

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I just want to plug in some mics and start recording.  I haven’t hit the record button in over a year since I took down my studio in NYC.  Without my own personal studio, I feel like I’m stranded on a deserted island.  Does that feeling seem familiar?  I just want to be able to sing well?  I just want to be performing now?  Believe me, I get it.

Over a year ago I packed up my studio in NYC, moved to Nashville, put the studio in storage and started on the journey of building a house with studio in it.  I was planning on remodeling a little house I bought and building something out back for the recording studio.  Well……the house was just too far gone, so I knocked it down and started over.  How hard could it be?  It’s a pretty intense project, I’m here to say.  A house that was supposed to take less than 5 months to build took almost a year.  So I got very far behind my goals.

I put in an incredible amount of time and energy, not to mention life’s savings, just getting the house finished.  So, what did that leave me when I could finally move in?  I had an empty studio space.  What to do then?  I have to tell ya, it was all I could do to stop myself from just grabbing my gear and sound treatment materials out of storage, throw everything up in a couple weeks and just get to work recording, writing and teaching.

And the rewards would have been immediate.  But the results?  Well lets just say, they would have been less than I know they could be, and far less the kind of quality I’m shooting for.  After having four different studios in NYC over 11 years, I know a lot of the pitfalls with a recording environment.  They say “God’s in the details,” and that is so often true.

So here I am, over three months since I moved into the house, and I’m still working on the studio construction and assembly.  My gear is still in storage, and I’m just trying to get the tracking and control rooms built correctly before I tackle the the huge job of getting my equipment and re-wiring for this space.  I’m hoping I can remember how to plug in all those whacky interfaces that are involved in a serious recording rig these days.

So yes, I’m now way behind schedule.  And I’m very, very tired.  Weeks go by and all I do is build things and install things and wonder if I’ll ever get this thing done.  But in the back of my mind I know something that rings true.  I’m bringing all of the experience I have from the previous four studios I had in NYC and infusing that into this space.  I’m spending the extra time on the front end, so that this wonderful space will be as great as it can be, and I’ll love the work I do in it.  I know enough to know that If I’d just listened to my tired voice, and thrown everything together when I first moved in, that I’d end up being very frustrated with a lot of the results.  Because I’m solving so many issues ahead of time, my focus can be spent in more creative ways with far better results than from a mediocre recording space.

What does this have to do with building a voice?  Or anything else?  It’s exactly the same thing.  The time you spend assembling things correctly on the front end will save you years of frustration in the future.  Remember “The Art of Body Singing” credo:  The voice is an instrument, assembly required.  For those extra 100 miles in the beginning, you’ll get years of service.

So remember, when something seems horribly tedious and requires a lot of inner strength, you might just be in the right place.  Please share some comments with us about some grueling task in singing (or otherwise), that you feel really paid off.

So…..I’m off to build stuff.

Until next time,

Breck