In life, sometimes it all comes down to bandwidth!
After working in the music scene for several years, an opportunity came by that looked fun, challenging, and gave me room to expand professionally... outside the industry! I took it and don't regret it for a moment... but it definitely cut back on the time I was able to dedicate to teaching, practicing, and puttering with music.
Still, I felt like there was so much inside me, so many amazing lessons needing to be taught! After a long journey that will be the subject of another post, I finally came to the conclusion that the best way for me to continue to serve musically with my current life choices was to make an online course. Record once, add and tweak as time goes by/students go through, and voila! problem solved... right?
Roadblock #1
Of course the most immediate road block was this key question: How does one go about making an online course when each voice is so unique?
The most obvious vocal difference is between men and women. Being able to demonstrate concepts was important to me, especially since for this project it is just "me, myself, and I" (all stellar and dedicated staff) doing everything! So while I have taught men in the past, I realized I needed to start with women for range and demonstrative purposes.
Folks who don't fall into that box, for example men with strong high ranges or trans folks who can sing in those ranges, can read through all the material and decide if it makes sense for them. It's a mushy box.
Ok, so women...
This is still such a wide array of voices! How in the world can I make a single course that provides value to all women?
Well, I can't. But I can make a course that focuses on key issues different groups of women work through in lessons with me.
The spark course came to me after a realization that I was having two separate sets of repetitive conversations with students. My “lightbulb” moment was when I realized the first group were all introverts and the second were extroverts!
There are two main areas where introverts and extroverts differ: Goals and technique.
There are two main areas where introverts and extroverts differ: Goals and technique.
Goals
Introverts love to learn for learning's sake! They're not looking to be the frontliner in a band, or steal the show at karaoke every week.
If you're on the introverted side, you want to sing for YOU! You want confidence to let loose in the car, around your children, or chilling with your partner. These contexts can feel intimidating to a lot of people (I literally had a student who, week after week, came to me saying she couldn't practice because her cat meowed at her and acted concerned whenever she started singing! This completely prevented her from practicing. Boundaries, folks!).
Goals are important because they inform the direction of and content of the lessons. I'm not going to spend lesson time covering elements of solo performance posture if you're not planning on, say, starring in your own Lady Gaga cover band (though I do include how to sing with confidence!).
I will, however, cover how to have needed conversations with said kids, partner, (cat?) etc so you actually feel comfortable singing around them. Or how to accept praise when you sing Happy Birthday at your coworker's party at the office and sound totally incredible because you've learned how to sing.
Technique
If you are an introvert, you also most likely have a few tendencies when it comes to learning to sing, including things like air movement and posture. For example, introverts may be great at breathing in.... but not at breathing out! As one of my beta testers put it, "I can hold my breath forever! What was valuable here was learning that I needed to actually push that air through when I sing."
That is not a conversation I have had to have with a more extroverted student.
I crafted a course that covers all the main aspects of vocal technique, but goes into more detail in certain areas I work on most often with my introverted students.
So, yes, each voice IS unique, but there are general (mushy!) groups that will benefit from a curated set of material! THAT is what Discover Your Voice is designed to do: get you going with the basics and knowledgeable about the concepts relevant to YOU.
Roadblock #2
The next roadblock was the length of the videos. Should I make each lesson a full 30-45 minutes like I would do with a lesson? That seemed like a long time watching videos, but I wanted to make sure students were getting the value I craved to give them.
So, I did a time study. When I looked at the structure of my lessons, I found they are generally structured:
5-7 minutes warmup
~10 minutes reviewing last week's assignments, checking for holes and listening to the student run through the assigned music
10-20 minutes new material/concepts
Doing that time study was super useful, as it made the structure of the lessons in the online course easier to manage. Most of the videos are under 15 minutes long (trust me, there's a lot of content in those 15 minutes!). The videos are pure content that can then be applied to music. I even made videos reviewing how to apply the content to songs students are working on to as closely as possible mimic the lesson environment.
Roadblock #3
My next road block was a little more existential. The reason we sing is often to make a connection with others! Can I really in good conscience put something I love so much because it connects me with others, behind a screen? What is our world coming to...!
But I'm going to get real with you... as a teacher, the content of the first month or 2 of lessons is very, very repetitive. In fact, by taking the content of this course off my plate, I am actually preparing students for better, more effective in-person feedback!
The content in Discover Your Voice lays the foundation for a way better connection to your voice teacher. I want students to take lessons! I want them to join a choir or other group if that's what they crave. I sing in ensembles because I love the camaraderie. It fills my soul to sing with others!
But again: you can only refine material you already know. If you have the basics covered, know generally how to control your breath and support your diaphragm... then, when a teacher, conductor, or mentor reminds you, you'll know what to do! I believe it will actually facilitate greater learning and faster progression through lessons, and better contribution to an ensemble.
The final product...
The goal of this project is:
I want to help women go from feeling like they don’t know how to sing to owning their voice and feeling confident when singing.
I want to provide support and vocal training to people who are nervous about taking that first step, in an accessible and practical way, with resources they can use forever
I want to see tons of social media posts about people being excited to sing and sharing the songs they’re working on!
I want choirs around the world to sound better and better
Most importantly, I want people with low self confidence around singing to get the boost they need to take their own next step, whatever that means for them!
This is for you if:
You are a woman
You are an introvert who wants to learn to sing. You may have taken some voice lessons but never felt comfortable, or have never taken lessons at all.
You would love to feel more confident in your voice. Maybe you’ve dreamed of performing somewhere, or singing to your kids… or maybe just want your partner to stop giving you grief about how you sound!
You are kind and interesting (I mean, it's not required but I like to think that's who's taking the course)
You want to stop feeling like you suck at singing and start having fun with it
You enjoy watching videos
From there, if you want to take in-person lessons to build and hone your abilities, I think that's wonderful and I encourage you to do it! However, the course is designed for you to be able to use for years regardless of whether you take lessons or not.
If this sounds like you, Discover Your Voice is exactly what you've been looking for. Click below for more info and to register!
