Why is it that we can talk loud and strong but our singing is thin and tentative – almost inaudible? Who taught us that singing was not natural? Why did we believe them? Where did we learn that singing is really hard? Who told us that singing is something other than normal and natural?

Unfortunately I do not have answers to any of these questions. They are questions that have haunted me. However, I have developed a solution that undoes this destructive thinking.  

I took two of my grandchildren to a high musical last, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” The kids were good speakers, most of them, but their singing was almost non-existent. What a shame! Their speaking voices were distinct and interesting. The singing was uniformly weak and boring.

Why? Fear. There is something terrifying about singing so that others can hear. Singing is the closest thing to full-front nudity with all your clothes on. The better the singer, the more is revealed about their heart and soul. So singing, truly great singing is quite vulnerable and intimate. Thus the fear.

We also have been taught somewhere along the way that singing is something other than natural. That to sing we must do something extra-ordinary to sing, when the truth is that singing is the most natural of all musical instruments.

Physiologically, the speaking voice and the singing voice are one instrument. You do not carry around a voice box labeled Use for Singing Only. Yet the prevailing subconscious thought is that you need to physically change something in the vocal apparatus to sing. The Morganix Methodä uses speech on musical pitch to combine the natural ease of the speaking voice with musical pitch of singing. With practice, speaking on pitch eliminates the urge to manipulate the vocal apparatus to sing, making the process simple and natural.

Let’s take a look at the possibility of utilizing the natural ease of speech as the foundation for singing. You can talk all day long without giving a thought to vocal production. It’s as natural as yawning. But sometimes you open your mouth to sing and the “Uh-oh, I can’t do this!” moment of panic sets in. By the time this unattractive flash of terror subsides, the song is over and you are still holding your breath.

You speak on pitch in normal conversation. You also speak in rhythm – sometimes smooth and legato, sometimes pointed and staccato. The musical elements of speech define your distinct voice. Pitch and rhythm specify the meaning of your words and give them life. Others recognize your speaking voice by its musical qualities.

ý Listen for the musical elements of your speech. Try matching musical pitches to a common phrase such as, “Have a nice day.” Say the phrase and try to find the notes on which you spoke by playing them on an instrument. Switch it around and play a pitch then speak on that pitch to begin your phrase. ý

As emerging research improves our understanding of the acoustics, mechanics and neurological function of the vocal apparatus, the rules of the speaking voice and singing voice blend into one. Speaking on pitch requires a crossover in the brain in order to speak (a left brain activity) on musical pitch (a right brain activity). Speaking with emotional inflection, as far as brain activity is concerned, practically is singing. Practice helps the two lobes of the brain work together habitually to produce speech on musical pitch.

Those kids in “Willy Wonka” could have blown the audience away by speaking on musical pitch instead of “singing” in traditional way they have been socialized and taught. There is no physical change that has to take place, but a thought process of “open the body (inhale) then think, speak through the space.” Now you are speaking on pitch.

Using the speaking voice as a foundation for singing solves many typical vocal challenges. Fully embodied speech grounds the vocalization process deep in the body where support and strength are provided. This grounding in turn creates a fatter sound wave around the fundamental pitch giving your voice a richer quality.

Give it a try! Email me with your questions and comments.  

The mere thought of singing sends most brains into panic mode. Many people perform great feats of physical effort and mental gymnastics to do what they call singing. A grip of the throat, raising the chin, locking the jaw, holding breath, praying to the voice gods – and all of that occurs within a split second inhale! For some unknown reason a universal concept prevails that singing has to be something other than natural; that one has to do something extraordinary to sing. This manipulation puts you into what I call the “sing-ie” spot – controlled and totally unnatural.

The truth is that you do not use one “voice” to speak and carry around a case containing another “voice” marked: Use Only for Singing. You use the same instrument whether you are singing or speaking. Same body, same mind, same everything – unless you create a difference. 

The perceived difference between the two voices originates in the thought process, which precedes sound production. Consider the split second of panic before you sing vs. the no-thought-no-judgment moment preceding speech. Each mental pattern triggers dissimilar muscular responses in the body. The respective muscular responses become habits that prepare your instrument to sing or speak.

The unadulterated thought process that produces speech, when practiced as the approach to singing, bypasses the urge to manipulate the instrument to produce “singing” and becomes a healthy habit of vocal production.  Speaking on pitch, i.e. using speech as the initial impulse for matching musical pitch is supported by current research on speech, singing and brain function.

Speaking on pitch also solves a dilemma for Contemporary Music singers. You are lyric driven; you communicate with the lyrics. Yes, you sing on the vowels, but you get paid for the consonants. Consonants define vocal communication. The staccato (short and clipped) or legato (smooth and connected) of words created by consonants communicates mood, humor and a host of other emotions. And Morganix Methodäis the only method that trains consonants as a tool for forward release of breath and sound. Not even ‘Speech Level Singing’ really teaches speaking on pitch – using speech as the initial impulse to create sound.

Practicing Random Pitch Exercises – exclusive to the Morganix Method, can be very helpful to engrain the habit of using speech to begin each sound.  Just as the name implies, the singer is responds by speaking on pitch to random pitches. You can play the pitches yourself, or use pre-recorded random pitches. Practicing speaking on random pitches does away with pitch fear and habituates a consistent response from the instrument. Open and speak, open and speak – regardless of the pitch. This way we eliminate the moment of panic and the manipulation of the larynx. Combine this with consonant release training by using a beginning consonant for the forward release of breath and sound.

Without interference, the vocal folds adjust to pitch by responding to a signal from the brain. Your brain hears the pitch, sends a signal to the vocal folds; the vocal folds adjust their size to the correct pitch. The tendency is to “help” the process by micromanaging the larynx. However, physically altering the vocal production system causes inaccuracy of pitch.

Random Pitch Exercises strip away the propping up of the larynx or bracing of muscles that can occur prior to creating sound. They eliminate the preconceived notion that you must physically adjust the instrument for each pitch by using unpredictable, random pitches. The result is simplicity of thought process and consistency of vocal response to pitch. Simply open on inhale and speak through the space!

Try it! You can’t loose!

Benefits

Morganix Method will help you sing as simply and naturally as you speak and achieve:

1. An open, clear, communicative instrument flexible enough to sing any style and play any character without vocal strain
2. A seamless voice with no breaks or need to shift gears from one vocal range to another
3. Freedom of expression realized through consonant release
4. A consistent and trustworthy response from your instrument
5. Musical singing
6. An intimate connection with your audience

Here are my answers to recently asked questions on www.TheModernVocalist.com (a terrific website!) about posture and pitch.

How is it that the posture isn’t naturally good?
Why is it we don’t hear ourselves accurately?
Why don’t we automatically express our feeling lyrically and musically?

To address the first question about good posture being natural. It is! Let’s go back in time to the beginning of your life.

Infants and young children have perfect, erect posture that allows the voice to function naturally with no muscular tension. None of the bad postural habits and tensions have taken up residence in a young child’s body.

Perfect alignment leaves the child’s instrument relaxed and open and therefore, free to produce sound with ease. The baby’s vocalization is instinctive. The baby is hungry, his brain responds with “take a breath and yell.” The absence of vocal strain testifies to a naturally functioning instrument.

You go off to school then enter peer pressure and fear of judgment, which can begin to collapse the vocal instrument, a.k.a., your body alignment. A bit of slump in the posture appears. Then the teenage years bring the cool slouch and mumbling. The tension of everyday life continues to increase as you mature, causing the posture to implode even more.

As your instrument collapses, you have to work harder and harder to produce sound. Because the breath path is now crooked or crimped, it requires more physical effort to get the breath and sound to move through. This is why most people develop bad muscle memory.

Good posture is natural. Life’s challenges will collapse our naturally straight alignment unless we pay attention to keeping the heart high and open and the chin level to the floor.

To address the second question: Why don’t I hear myself accurately?

The answer is that you do hear yourself accurately; you just don’t hear yourself as others do. You hear yourself from the inside through bone and muscle. Others hear your sound through the eardrums and the vibratory resonance of your voice.

It is a skill you must develop to listen internally in a world where we are spoon-fed every sound bite and image. That is why I always begin lessons with a meditative breathing exercise http://vocalpowertools.com/educators-voice-teachers-lessons.htm to open and relax the body and switch your focus from exterior chaos to interior calm.

I would also suggest that it’s the music you are not listening to accurately. Usually this is because negative self-talk clogs our heads as soon as we begin to make a sound. If you are listening to “You can’t do this!” then you can’t hear that gorgeous A flat 7 chord. Surrender to the music and you will find your pitch to be true.

Why don’t we automatically express our feeling lyrically and musically?

We express the feeling that is most forward in our minds. If your thought is, “Oh, my God! My ex is here!” then that’s the feeling you will express. Do you know why you begin to sing? What ‘happens’ the moment before you begin that propels you into the song? You need to know so your mind is in the proper mode to express your feelings.

Another tactic is speaking on pitch. You talk all day long without thinking about how your feelings will be expressed. That is because your body is responding naturally to the command to communicate. Pitch inflects in response to your emotional expression.

You speak on pitch in normal conversation. You also speak in rhythm – sometimes smooth and legato, sometimes pointed and staccato. The musical elements of speech define your distinct voice. Pitch and rhythm specify the meaning of your words and give them life. Others recognize your speaking voice by its musical qualities.

Using the speaking voice as a foundation for singing solves many typical vocal challenges. Fully embodied speech grounds the vocalization process deep in the body where support and strength are provided. This grounding in turn creates a fatter sound wave around the fundamental pitch giving your voice a richer quality.

Speaking on pitch allows your vocal instrument to respond naturally to the music. Give it a try!

You will find more in depth answers to these and other questions in my book, Morganix Method™: Sing Like You Speak found on my website, www.VocalPowerTools.com

Are you determined to become the next American Idol? Good for you! Anything is possible when you believe in yourself.

This is the second in a series on the making of an American Idol. In this series of blogs I’m going to walk you through the process I am using to prepare a student of mine to audition on the east coast this summer for American Idol. We’ll first take a look at the basic ingredients needed to become a star.

In Part 1 of this series, we talked about singing ability and how it may or may not be a deciding factor in an audition. In Part 2 we’re going to take a look at stage fright.

You know about stage fright. Sweaty palms, nausea, uncontrollable shaking of limbs, butterflies in the tummy and on and on. You probably know exactly how you will feel when it hits you. Basically, stage fright is adrenaline running wild through your mind and body causing all the symptoms mentioned above. 

One of my favorite sayings that I quote in my book on vocal technique is this: “The brain starts to work the moment you are born and never stops until you stand up to speak [sing] in public.” –anonymous

Below are 10 tips to help you overcome your stage fright and to give a great performance. Take and make them a part of your mind and body – a part of your performance.

#1 Bodacious Body Alignment: Look confident, feel confident!

Begin by stretching your spine down from the tailbone and up from the top of the spine, which is at the same height as the top of your ears. Release and soften your back muscles and triceps (back of the arm). You will feel the core muscles taking over the job of holding your body open and erect. Think superhero: strong and confident. Lift the collarbone keeping the chin level to the ground.

Looking confident will make you feel confident. 

#2 Dispel the Myths

Do not picture your audience naked. They won’t appreciate it and you might not either. It does not help you to put your audience at a disadvantage to your position as performer. Include them, talk to them, share your story. They want you to be successful – they are rooting for you! Give your audience what they came to experience – you. 

#3 Use It!

Stage fright is an over abundance of adrenaline running wild through your brain and body. Trying to suppress it will only make it more insistent on taking over. Accept the adrenaline rush. Welcome it to your body and brain. This will diffuse its’ power. 

#4 Be Prepared

Ben Franklin wrote, “It takes about three weeks to prepare a good extemporaneous speech.” Wise man, our Ben. Be over-prepared with your music and a healthy voice. Practice as though the person who makes you the most nervous is in the room. Practice welcoming that person and accepting their presence.

#5 Practice Every Chance You Get

Get out there and sing at every opportunity. The more you perform, the less nervous you will be when the real audition comes. 

#6 Establish a Pre-performance Routine

Maybe you’ve seen the baseball player who has an elaborate ritual of gestures that he makes every time before he swings the bat. That is a pre-performance ritual that keeps him focused on his performance. Find something that calms you and focuses your energy and thoughts. Try tapping a complex rhythm, send roots out of the soles of your feet into the ground, count your breaths, etc. Remember that the audience is cheering for you to be great!

#7 Move!

It is tempting to remain physically very still to keep the adrenaline rush from getting the upper hand before you hit the stage. However, that is like trying to contain a basket of frisky puppies – they have to work out their energy! Same with your stage fright. Figure out where in your body the energy is causing tension and wiggle it until you feel silly and can laugh. Now you are ready to perform!

#8 Keep Your Sense of Humor

Anyone who has performed a lot knows that anything and everything that can go wrong, will. We’ve all seen a president of the US vomit while speaking, performers trip and fall off the stage, “wardrobe malfunction” and the list goes on. Keep your sense of humor alive and well for those mishaps and enjoy the surprise. Acknowledge it when something goes wrong. Make a joke and continue with your performance. It makes you more human, more accessible to the audience and makes for a great story to tell later on.

#9 Breathe: Nature’s Valium

Never, ever take drugs or alcohol thinking that you will be calmer! You won’t. Instead, breathe. Follow your breath as it flows in and out of your body. Feel it open up your airways and bring calm to tense places in your body and mind. Go to www.VocalPowerTools.com products page to get Meditative Breathing Exercises.

#10 Listen! 

Stage fright originates with those negative voices inside your head. “The audience will think I’m a no talent hack.” “No one wants to hear this!” “I’m going to sound terrible and look foolish.” The voices inside your head are ancient history and they are not the truth. They are your fear talking. Instead, make a choice to listen to “breathing in I calm, breathing out I smile” “I am prepared and I’m going to have fun” and other positive messages that you can develop for yourself and practice.

** Always remember that the performance is not about you! It is about your audience – their comfort, their pleasure, their entertainment. Focus on them at all times and have fun! **

Exciting News! Singers Key Notes Teleconference Begins June 1, 2009 @ 1 pm

Please join us.

We have top industry guests lined up like Julie Gold and Jennifer Hamady!

Listed below are dates, topics and call-in info. 

Singers Key Notes, a FREE weekly teleconference hosted by Sally Morgan, beginning Monday June 1^st at 1 pm EST. Calls are based on the premise that “a group is smarter than the smartest person in that group.”

“To provide a forum for the exchange of ideas on the music business, songwriting, vocal technique, vocal health, and successful singing career choices.”

Conference Dial-in Number: (712) 451-6000 Participant Access Code: 975940#

All calls will be recorded and available for download at a later date for a token fee. Questions for Sally and her guests can be emailed to info@VocalPowerTools.com during the call.

Dates/Topics/Guests

June 1^st – Inhale!

         Your host, Sally Morgan leads a discussion about inhale techniques. Join us to share your favorite techniques and learn from others!

June 8^th – Exhale!

         Your host, Sally Morgan leads a discussion about techniques to release the breath and sound. “The muscles you use to inhale set up which muscles you can use on your exhale.” ~S. Morgan. Join us to share your favorite techniques and learn from others!

June 15^th – Perfect Practice Makes Perfect!

         Your host, Sally Morgan leads a discussion about practicing. The old adage about how to get to Carnegie Hall – practice, practice, practice – is true only in part. Perfect practice makes for perfect performance, so say leading sports and business coaches. Join this important dialogue to make your practice efficient and productive.

June 22^nd – Special Guest – Julie Gold, singer/songwriter who gave us “From A Distance” recorded by Bette Midler and many others. Julie is one of the warmest, most generous performers I have ever met and I am thrilled that she will be my first guest on Singers Key Notes.

The biographical info on Julie’s website is typically modest, so I’ll try to fill in the blanks about this Philly girl who makes good in NYC by writing a hit song that has brought peace and understanding to our world.

	Julie Gold

                             Julie Gold – Singers Key Note special guest June 22^nd at 1 pm

June 29^th – Special Guest – Jennifer Hamady author of the recently published, The Art of Singing: Discovering and Developing Your True Voice, published by Hal Leonard. We will be talking about her new book, teaching on both coasts and the heart and soul of a singer.

                                            Jennifer Hamady – Singers Key Note special guest June 29^th at 1 pm

July guests will announced shortly!

Please join us!

Sally Morgan has been helping performers sing as simply and naturally as they speak for 25+ years. She developed an innovative method with a sensitive eye on the latest medical, acoustical and therapeutic research, and authored a book, the Morganix Method, Sing Like You Speak. Learn the secrets of star power singing - knock ‘em dead without killing your voice - command the stage! Sally’s passion is to make the process of singing simple, for the professional singer as well as kids just starting out. Learn the natural simplicity of using your body as an instrument - the way it was meant to be! 

Are you determined to become the next American Idol? Good for you! Anything is possible when you believe in yourself.

In this series of blogs I’m going to walk you through the process I am using to prepare a student of mine to audition on the east coast this summer for American Idol. We’ll first take a look at the basic ingredients needed to become a star. Then I’ll walk you through the specific steps, vocal exercises, choosing music, overcoming fears, choosing the “look”, finding the dedication and focus, plus many more aspects of preparation.

There are certain basic ingredients you need to be an American Idol. Here are some of them:

       A great singing voice

       Musical ability (different from vocal ability)

       A great performer (different from musical/vocal ability)

       A comfortable, outgoing personality

       A definitive ‘look’

       Audition song that ‘harmonizes’ with your definitive look

       Time to devote to practice and preparation

       Willingness to learn and take direction

       Realistic picture of yourself and how you fit into the Idol mold

First of all let’s look at the singing voice. No one has a bad voice it’s all in how you use it. And what do we use the voice for? To communicate. That’s the bottom line – to communicate your message and its’ emotional content to your audience – to take them on a journey.

We all know musical artists who really don’t have great singing voices, but have had powerful careers. Bruce Springstein, Mick Jagger, Christina Aguilera, and dare I say, Britney Spears.

None of these performers has a great singing voice. What they give is a completely focused, powerful, intimate communication with their audience. Passion crosses the footlights from them to you.

If your voice is not as strong as you’d like then take a look at the other qualifications and see if you make up for your lack of strength in one area with an extra dose of strength in another area.

Don’t stop working on your voice and studying with a great teacher! The human voice is capable of infinite expression when free from tension and bad habits. Working with a top voice teacher can be a life-changing experience (as some of my students say). If you find the right teacher, s/he won’t try to make you a clone of him/her, but will allow your natural voice to find it’s true expression.

Do take a realistic look at your strengths and weaknesses. When you watch an embarrassing Idol audition, you’re usually seeing someone who has not taken an accurate look at him/herself and the results are painful for the performer and the audience. 

Want some advice and guidance about becoming an American Idol? Send me an mp3 or a link to a video (better) and I’ll be glad to give you some feedback. The more professional training you get, the better prepared you will be.

Luck is not chance. Luck is being prepared when you get the chance to strut your stuff! Shoot me an email info@VocalPowerTools.com and I’ll be glad to help you sing like you speak, simply and naturally.

Sally Morgan helps performers sing as simply and naturally as they speak. She is the author of Morganix Method,äSing Like You Speak – used as a text at U of T, Austin and City U of NY; a respected vocal artist, well-known NYC vocal trainer and actress. Her vocal technique demystifies learning how to sing. Sally’s online video lessons have helped people all over the world learn to sing as simply and naturally as they speak. www.VocalPowerTools.com

How do we develop a strong voice that is resonant and can sustain a long phrase or note?

As in every part of voice training, as you strengthen one point of technique you are helping others also. It is also true that as you are concentrating on one fine point of technique such as releasing the jaw as you inhale, then another point of technique falters. Such a dilemma!

This blog post is concerned with developing the strength to sustain a phrase or pitch. Think of yourself as an athlete. Your body must be in the best condition possible. For singers that means well hydrated, well rested and properly aligned with a straight, stretched spine. (that’s a whole other blog post)

The ability to sustain a phrase or hold out “Ah!” in Poor Johnny One Note for 16 beats has to do with several factors.

1. An inhale that opens the airways and engages the abdominal muscles.
2. Using that breath efficiently. This comes with practice.
3. Generously releasing the breath and not holding or conserving at all! Big no-no: The act of parsing out breath a little at a time only creates tension and the breath you do have to use gets stale. That’s why you feel you need to take another breath, not because you need more air!
4. A steady, consistent release of the breath. In the exercise below, you will see how you are using the air as well as learn how to use it efficiently.
5. The exit route for breath and sound must remain as open as possible. That requires muscular strength.
6. You must be saying something to someone! Can’t just sing “Ah” until the 16 beats are up without a clear thought process about why you are still singing that “Ah.” The “Ah” has to mean something to keep your mind and body actively involved in saying it! You might be thinking “Ah, when I see my love tonight, Aaahhhh!”

Here’s an exercise to help build the muscular strength to keep the body open on exhale. It strengthens abdominal/diaphragmatic coordination and response. This exercise will show you right away the inconsistencies in your breath and sound release. Done right, it will help you explore how you are currently thinking about releasing sound – or if you are holding it!

That’s a big build up for this little exercise, but it really is that useful.

You know that annoying sound when a gnat gets in your ear and just keeps buzzing and buzzzzing and bzzzzzzzzz? Well, you are going to make the gnat sound. bzzzzzzzzzzzz. You will sustain the zzzzz… forever. Well, maybe not forever, but for as long as you can moving the pitch around. Don’t concentrate on pitch, but on the zzzzz.

A few rules:

• Get a simple opening inhale – jaw released, lazy.
• Make sure you begin the sound up above the hard palate. Yes, above the hard palate, high in the head.
• As you continue annoying your family and neighbors with the sound, do your best to continue releasing the sound from above the hard palate.
• Make the sound absolutely consistent. When you experience gaps in the bzzz, that means the breath is stopping then starting again. The sound may not want to continue – this is usually due to the lack of muscular strength. Just keep doing it and the strength will build.
• When you are comfortable with just making the gnat sound try matching it to musical pitch. Play a pitch and bzzz on that pitch. No singing allowed, just be a bug.
• Then bzzz on the pitch and slide it down a 5^th and then an 8va – all the while keeping the sound steady and consistent – still be a bug!

Try it and let me know how it goes!

I lifted these 10 Rules from Tom Griep’s Newsletter. Thanks, Tom! tom@auditiontrax.com 

Some of the following points I agree with and some I’m not so keen on. Let me know what you think!                                                                                                                                             -Sally

1. The first rule is that any rule can be broken, providing yo know why you’re doing it, and have a good reason.

2. Preparing for a musical audition is like preparing for a 15-round prizefight. It takes that much preparation. Don’t pick up a song and run through it a couple of times, and then take it into an audition. You need to know the composer, the lyricist, the appropriate tempo (which may not be the traditional tempo - more on that later), the key you’re singing in, and the show the song comes from. Know what you’re doing with every word - this is not an improv.  

3. You are the doctor -they are the patients. This is perhaps the least understood aspect of the auditioning process. They WANT you to be the one they’re looking for. They don’t want to sit through hours upon hours of auditions waiting for the right actor to show up. They want it to be you. THEY’RE ON YOUR SIDE.

4. The person in the room with the least amount of power - who has the least say in whether or not you’re hired - is the musical director. The musical director will be the only one in the room who will know how well you can sing, and s/he will be able to determine that within 2 measures of music. Therefore, the least important purpose of your audition is showing that you can sing. So there’s no reason to choose a song filled with vocal acrobatics - choose a song that shows you can ACT. 

5. Despite what you may have heard, teh song you choose will tell you whether or not to look directly at the auditors. Odds are are, you’ll want to. Most likely, what you’re doing with your song is telling a story, and you’re telling that story to the people sitting at the table in front of you - you are not telling it to the wall behind them. Singing directly to them does not force them to look away - and it doesn’t’ make them uncomfortable. it challenges them to listen to you. Let them look at your resume after you’ve left. For now, you want them listening to, and watching you. 

6. Anyone can sing a song straight. Classic interpretations of lyric and melody are a dime a dozen, and usually unmemorable. don’t be afraid to reinterpret your song. The classic example of this, originated by Albert Hague, (a B’way composer who was prompted by George Abbott to teach actors how to audition), is singing Irving Berlin’s “I Love a Piano” slowly and erotically, (actually making love to the piano as you sing.) You may get a number of different reactions from your auditors - they may even be angry at you, demanding immediately that you sing the song as it was meant to be sung. Which, of course, you are fully capable of doing - brilliantly. Make them laugh, make them angry, make them think. What this does, is make them remember you. 

7. Brevity is the soul of wit and auditioning. That story you’re telling doesn’t have to be an epic. What you’re doing here is showing the auditors how good you are, and it doesn’t take a lot of time to do that. Be economic, and get out. 

8. Yes, GET OUT. And by that, I mean get you of the building. Don’t hang around, waiting for them to ask you to do something else - if they need to hear more at that moment, they’ll have no trouble asking for it. Don’t hang around to talk to your friends in the anteroom. Don’t do a post mortem of the process. Go home. 

9. Id a friend asks you what you sang and wants a copy of it, give it to them. First of all, they can go to a music store and get it themselves. So what if they sing the same song as you? Someone may do that whether or not you’ve provided the music. 

10. Thank your accompanist! Even if he or she has done a lousy job. As for hte auditors, despite all I’ve been taught to the contrary, I’d five them a brief thank you. In reality they should be thanking you.

The near-tragedy of January 16, 2009 that has been dubbed “Miracle on the Hudson” became Emma Sophina’s Opportunity with a capital “O”. Emma was on the US Airways flight that made an emergency landing in the Hudson River.

Emma is an Australia singer/songwriter who had been in NYC writing music and was on the way to Atlanta to visit friends when the plane went down. Miraculously, all passengers and crew got out of the plane alive and well. Emma was luckiest of all.

Emma was lucky for several reasons.

#1 – she’s alive! She survived a plane crash.

#2 – Emma’s only connection in NYC was a songwriter.

#3 – she’s adorable and full of spunky personality. (I had the pleasure of meeting Emma – more on that in the next blog entry)

#4 – Mark Swersky, the songwriter Emma traveled to NYC to write with saw an opportunity and knew how to take advantage.

#5 – the time is right, the situation is right and Emma is ready. 

Mark and Emma wrote a song about her surviving the plane crash. Within 10 days of the crash the song was written, recorded, produced and mastered. I met Emma less than 3 weeks after the crash when she was being interviewed by Extra and Entertainment tonight.

Lucky Emma. She survived a plane crash, wrote a song about it with a hit songwriter and is hopefully on her way to stardom. That’s what we’re all waiting for is that one stroke of good fortune to swoop in and make us a stars! Right?

Emma could not have taken advantage of this opportunity if she had not been ready at that very moment, though. Can you imagine her asking the gig to wait while she took a few voice lessons to get into shape? No! She had to be ready at that moment to go full speed into writing, recording, being interviewed, hair and make up and all.

Let’s not confuse luck with being ready when the opportunity arises. Emma’s readiness isn’t luck, it’s the result of focused hard work on her craft. When I speak to groups of junior high and high school students about a career in music, I ask what they want from their music. Inevitably, 95% of them answer, “I want to be rich and famous. I know with a little luck I can do it.” Wrong answer!

You have to be passionately driven to create, to know every detail of your craft and to incessantly work on improving. In my book, Morganix Method™-Sing Like You Speak, at the beginning of every chapter there’s a quote from a famous performer. Chapter 11 begins with, “I never wanted to be a star, I just wanted to get work.” Gregory Hines.

Gregory Hines did become rich and famous not because he was aiming for fame and fortune, but because he loved his craft, gave it the respect it deserved by working constantly to make it better.

Why do you think there are so few people who make it in our business? There are millions of very talented people out there. So few people make it because few are so driven by the love of their craft – singing, acting, dancing, songwriting – to persist.

What do you think? Would you be ready if your plane went down in the Hudson and suddenly you had a chance at making your dreams come true? 

Our current economic climate is challenging just about everyone on the planet. Our biggest problem is fear. I never realized what FDR meant by, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” Now I do.

Most of my students’ economic status has not changed since the recession began, but their ease with spending money on voice lessons has. Fear. But for those of you who must study to keep your skills sharp without a teacher? And because the job pool is diminishing rapidly, the need to hone your craft to its maximum strength is essential to your survival as an independent artist. Terrible dilemma.

You may want to look at how much money you might loose if you don’t keep your craft shinny and new. With fewer jobs available your skills and flexibility mean a lot to those hiring you. So if continuing your voice (acting/dance) studying is out of the financial picture, here are some suggestions to help you keep growing on your own as an artist. 

Practice. Always practice. Perfect practice makes for perfect results – that’s what the gurus of sports coaching tell us. What does that mean? It means taking one very small point of technique and concentrating fully on that one point.

Let’s say you know your jaw is tight and interfering with your vocal freedom. So during your next practice session, resting your jaw is the focus of the entire session. First action you take for every inhale is to rest your jaw. During phonation keep the jaw at rest. All you need to do is to remind yourself.

Watch in a mirror. Instantaneous feedback is invaluable in learning. Watch your jaw. Is it tight? Release it! This will reinforce the thought process of resting your jaw. In fact, while watching in a mirror, your jaw may behave very well because of the instantaneous feedback.

Record yourself – audio and video too. Tell your recording if you didn’t feel the jaw was loose enough and then repeat the exercise with your jaw loose. You’ll hear the difference and learn.

Take your small point of technique into the rest of your life. Practice happens all the time – especially when the instrument is your body. It’s always with you. When you are at the computer or cooking dinner, keep your jaw at rest.

Something I talk with my students all the time about is that you cannot separate your speaking life from your singing life. That means every day, all the time, as best you can be aware of that jaw. If it is tight, let it rest. Then it becomes a habit. If a released jaw is a habit for you, then when you are on stage, you it’s one less thing to think about to make your vocals great.

As always, allow your unique voice, your unique personality and style to lead the way. Individuality will make you stand out as much as your talent. Be bold about being you!

Reliability is just as important. Gone are the diva days where the star got away with coming late to rehearsals. You will be fired in a heartbeat.

There are other tools available to you to keep your voice in top shape.

• How about a workbook and 4 practice CDs? You’ll find it on my website.
• If you’ve gotta’ sing, but can’t get to NYC or don’t have the cash for private lessons, you can still study with a top NYC voice teacher – me. Get my desktop video lessons online and work in the comfort of your own home for a mere fraction of the cost of private lessons.
• Consider taking a voice class. I love teaching classes – you never know what is going to happen and who is going to learn what from whom in the room. It’s a fascinating dynamic and a valuable learning experience. You can find classes most anywhere. If you are in NYC, contact me. 

Lastly, listen. Take the time to listen to singers you admire. Preferably singers with great technique and listen deeply.

• How is phrasing defined – rhythm, lyrics, other?
• How is the unique sound of the song achieved? Instrumentation, vocal presence, other?
• Do you hear the song done differently? Try it.
• Absorb the music and take it with you.

Best of luck to all! Please let me know if I can help you in any way to become who you are meant to be!