Keeping It Real Katie
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My (Vocal) Pet Peeve...

10/1/2019

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"Hey Singers! I'm losing my voice..."

I have to tell you about something that drives me a little nutso...

As you probably already know I'm a health coach, a singer and a vocal technician (read: fancy voice teacher). And there isn't a Facebook post out there - not political, not vaguebooking, nothing - that bothers me more than this post:

"Hey singers! I'm losing/lost my voice and I need your fastest fixes. And GO!"

Why does this bug me so much?

Because the thought process behind the question is inherently flawed! And I don't think people mean to do this, but this is - in a nutshell - what they're saying:

My career is more important than my body.
Even though my career IS my body.

See the problem here?

And don't get me wrong. I'm the queen of "been there done that" on this one. And honestly... it's only gotten me in creative trouble (pre-nodes, vocal loss for days multiple instead of singular, getting passed up for roles...)

As an artist, we never want our craft to "break" in any capacity. And as a performing artist, it's especially hard when our "craft" or "instrument" is our body.

So here's a perspective shift for you:

Losing your voice, twisting an ankle, getting a cold - it's not just your body telling you to slow down and give it some love and attention...

It's your CRAFT saying, "Whoa! Slow your roll! Let's make sure we're at our best here!"
It's your CRAFT saying "Keep me strong!"
It's your CRAFT saying "Keep me healthy!"

And if this is YOU? If you're the one who always has a cold, or a headache, or you're losing your voice all the time, or you have carpal tunnel from practicing, or you're stressed out because you're being stretched in a million directions at once, or any of the many multitudes of things that keep artists stuck...

Then reach out to me! Hit up my Contact page and let me know what you've been struggling with.  It doesn't matter whether you're in an actual creative career or if you have a creative side of you that needs nourishment.  Let me help you connect your health with your craft so that you're not only doing the work you love - but you feel ENERGIZED and ALIVE and TOTALLY IN TOUCH WITH YOUR BODY while you do it!
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Let's Talk About BRAVERY!

9/23/2019

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"You can't be brave if you're tired."
 Rachel Hollis

The reason this quote has stuck with me is because most, if not all of my students, are pretty much tired all the time. My high school students are exhausted from classes, homework, extracurriculars, and my adult students are exhausted from work, family, kids, etc. And the common complaint is they feel like they do not have enough time to make the needed change that will help them improve not just health/fitness but their career.

So let's flip the script.

In our chosen profession, bravery is not an option. By nature of performing, you HAVE to be brave. Bravery allows us to step into vulnerability, to make big choices in the rehearsal process that are wrong, so we can learn what the right choice is. 

And if you are tired, sick, run down, you straight up cannot be as effective because you can't be as brave. It will end up holding you back. And I say this from experience. I stayed hidden and small for an incredibly long time because I didn't want people to see things that were "wrong" about my body. Because I stayed small and because I blamed my body and didn't learn how to properly maintain and take care of my body - I didn't get the roles I wanted. And I didn't end up with the career I wanted, either. I blamed my height and fed into the mentality of take whatever gig I could because it was the only self-validation I had at the time. And that SUCKED. And this is not what I want for all of you, so:

I created a freebie email series called
Ideal Performance Lifestyle (click it!)

It's about making sure you have time for all of the things, creative and otherwise, and that you're taking care of yourself mentally and physically to be able to experience those things fully. It's a straightforward approach that will get you to look at where your time is realistically going, while also acknowledging where time is being sucked away from you. 

Move away from the rat race of feeling tired and into a sense of control over your schedule and career. If you are ready to be BRAVE, sign up for these FREE emails in your inbox, and get started!
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SUCCESS: As defined by YOU!

9/15/2019

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I’ve found myself asking many of my students similar questions lately:

“What are you hoping to get out of this audition?”
“Is your goal to audition and be in it no matter what? Or do you want to be a SPECIFIC role and otherwise it’s not worth it to you?”
Or… most importantly
“What’s more important to you and your happiness - to be in A show (any show) no matter what, or to be able to have the CHOICE to spend your time other ways?”

Ultimately what these questions are coming down to is...

What is your PERSONAL version of success?

Back in the day (“B in the D” if you will…) I HAD to be in a show. I was not happy if I was not able to say proudly and loudly “I CAN’T I HAVE REHEARSAL!!!”

It was the thing that made me the happiest :) It was also where my friends and chosen family were. If it wasn’t CONSTANTLY in something or had a show to look forward to, I was immediately a failure. And when I felt like a failure, things got dark.

Honestly, looking back now, it was a pretty awful way to live. 

My success was defined, ultimately, by my ability to impress one or two people in a single room on a single occasion. And unfortunately, my happiness was defined by my success in theater.

What’s actually wrong with this, you might be asking?

At the end of the day, having my happiness be defined by my external success… and my external success depend on what someone else thinks of me as compared to only a handful of other people (and sometimes just depending on whether they’ve had enough coffee yet or not…)

Just ends up meaning my happiness is completely out of my control.

So I got smart. (After reaching some serious lows.) And started to define success FOR MYSELF.  

For me, in my life, success means:
  • Plenty of time to spend with my family
  • Feeling financially secure, or at least having a plan and clarity to get there
  • Performing regularly but sanely (not always in a show, but really enjoying my time when I AM in a show)
  • Time to read
  • Time to watch shows I like
  • Feeling confident enough in my abilities to go for work outside my regular genre (I’mma be in a podcast soon!)
  • Ability to take time OFF regularly during the week as well as bigger vacation times
  • Ability to travel
  • Lots of Finn snuggle time

As you can see, performance is in there, but in a very measured capacity. 

Defining my time for myself puts me back in charge. And it started by REALLY looking at my schedule and seeing what things FELT good to spend my time on, what time I realistically needed to be OFF, what time I needed FREE so I could get things outside of work done, and being able to compare that to what I WANTED my schedule and life to look like.


And I want to help you do that too! Which is why I’ve created your “Ideal Performance Lifestyle” completely for free. Click that link if you want in :)

So often as performers it can feel like we can only control so many things. And because we are passionate and creative people, we WANT to be creating as much as possible.

However, imbalance leads to burn out.

Keep creating. But keep it sane :)


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Why Group Work?

8/26/2019

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I’m introducing Small Group Voice Lessons for girls grades 8-10. As with all my lessons, this time will still be chock full of great technical work and continued improvement on your child’s performance abilities.

But I wanted to really write out WHY I think this format will be SOOOOO much more advantageous to this age group...

In my coaching practice (cause, ya know, health and life coach too!) I talk A LOT with clients about the stories we tell ourselves. If you’re not aware of this idea, “stories” are beliefs or thoughts that we tell ourselves UNCONSCIOUSLY causing us to take certain actions or uphold certain beliefs, whether or not those beliefs are ACTUALLY true. 

And I’ve gotta tell you, I’m hearing the same stories from A LOT of young girls.

The same stories I used to tell myself as a young performer (too big, bad voice, can’t dance, won’t ever be a lead because I’m not the “pretty” one… you know what I mean…)

A good example of a story and what the impact can be is this; if you do not think you are good at performing, you probably will not be a good performer. The reason why you won't be a good performer is not because you just won't mentally make it happen magically...

But because that belief will take hold of your subconscious and sabotage you.

This means, without a second thought as to why, you will choose not to go the extra mile and…
  • Take the voice lessons or
  • The dance or 
  • The acting lessons or
  • Choose to skip the open call to your high school’s drama club or
  • Get enough sleep the night before if you end up auditioning (because you’ll just mess it up anyways) or
  • Choose a song that is clearly out of your range and just “hope for the best”...

LOTS can go wrong when we let these beliefs lead the way!

I'm actually a great example of this because I avoided acting lessons for years. I was a good singer, I was not, in my mind, a good actor. I ended up stopping dance lessons for a while there because I was "too big" for them. 

Now, neither of these things were true, but they were stories I was telling myself that kept me stuck in a place that I did not want to be in. BUT! It was a place I was comfortable with. And there weren’t any other places I felt okay learning how to be UNCOMFORTABLE. 

There wasn’t a space where I could really learn who I was a performer. Where I could make mistakes and learn from them in a healthy way that also supported a healthy vocal technique.

AND see other young women doing the same thing!

So one of the reasons that I really really want to create a safe, loving, and compassionate space for girls to be taking voice lessons is because these stories make us feel so alone. We think we are the only ones who feel this way. With that comes self-criticism, shame, and frequently, a squashing of some incredible potential talent.

But being able to work together in a small intimate group on an activity that you are passionate about allows you to see that these things come up for other people too. People you might think are wonderful and "How could they possibly believe that about themselves?!"

I am not a terrible dancer, I'm not too big to dance, I’m not a bad actress, and I can play the leading lady even though I’m 5’9”. It’s just that I let that belief system take me over. And it took me a really long time to stop telling myself that story and for the right person to be able to show me that that belief was not helping. In fact, it was hurting me and my career and was not even true to begin with.

So this space I’ve created is one where other girls will come to see that dichotomy. 

Watching someone else get up on stage, do their best, do the work, and be in a vulnerable and imperfect situation allows us to step into their shoes and take the same chances ourselves.

It helps us to realize that when we identify the stories in our heads, we can take a step back and say, "Oh... That's what I'm telling myself! How rude of me! Maybe I just need to take a step back and look at myself objectively and see that I'm not actually bad at this thing overall. I'm just still in a process for it.”
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Put the cake down...

8/15/2019

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There are two distinct types of work when it comes to any activity you want to get involved in:

  • FOCUS: What pieces need to be in place specifically in order to accomplish your task
  • GENERAL APPLICATION: Taking that focus and applying it to the activity as a whole

These are the two ways we, as performers, have to be taking persistent and consistent action towards our goals.


So what do I mean by this exactly?

Let’s put it in terms of food (because, ya know… health coach… and I mean really who doesn’t love food amiright?)

Think of your FAVORITE dessert. For me, personally, it’s most kinds of cake smothered in chocolate Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker frosting. You know… the cheap stuff. SO GOOD!

Cake is one of those things that, if it’s around, I will eat it all. I mean, I’m an adult, so I do have some sort of ability to control myself. But if I was allowed to without consequences? All cake all the time. Happily.

In reality, here's what happens when I have cake all the time:

  • I get a beautifully calming sugar rush
  • My anxiety over potentially NOT having the cake is calmed and that feels good as well
  • I finish my piece, I have no other food and am still hungry, so I eat more cake
  • Meaning more sugar
  • Meaning eventually I start to have a sugar crash
  • Meaning I’m left feeling anxious and jittery and wondering when I’ll get cake again
  • So I go find more cake
  • And I start gaining weight because of all the cake
  • And I start breaking out, getting canker sores, always tired, and having other health problems because ALL I’m eating is cake which has zero nutritional value BUT I’m still feeling full after the cake which is confusing my natural bodily rhythms because how is it that I’m getting MORE than the number of calories I need but still getting no nutrition so I’m gaining weight but my body is breaking down at the same time…
  • And now we’re stuck in a cycle…

Numbers 1-10 there is what I see SO. MANY. ACTORS. Do. Only it’s not with cake… it’s with shows.

Being in a show is the general application bit I was talking about in the beginning. Cake is, in reality, just calories. Calories are the way our body gets energy and life, but that’s not ALL it needs to keep running efficiently.

And shows are NOT the way to improve specific skills!

For the body to keep running in an efficient and energized manner, we need vegetables, and protein, and whole grain carbs (maybe depending on the person). We need SPECIFIC and FOCUSED types of energy to stay healthy.

And, in order for our performance to improve, we need SPECIFIC and FOCUSED work in the areas that make up our performance.

I’m talking:

  • Voice Lessons
  • Dance Classes
  • Acting Coachings
  • Other instruments you might be able to use
  • Exercise so your body can keep up on stage
  • Energizing and fresh foods that allow us to keep out focus up during long rehearsals
  • Getting enough sleep

All of these are specific areas that probably have a big ol’ “NEEDS IMPROVEMENT” grade on them.

"But whenever I feel like I do really good work in a lesson, I never feel like I can do it again on stage!"

YES! THAT’S OFTEN TRUE!

And it’s kinda the point...



In my studio specifically, you’re in a very specific environment, learning a very specific thing. Often, I have taken away as many variables as possible. Leaving you with the ability to really DEEP DIVE into a super specific feeling or skill. As you get better and better and identifying sensations and recreating specific vocal environments, the muscles slowly start to learn what they should be doing (instead of going on auto-pilot with old habits).

Stepping into a rehearsal adds WAAAAY more variables. Enough that it can often feel like you’ve lost EVERYTHING you worked on.

But behind the scenes those muscles are learning how to adjust. When you keep a bit of focus on your voice, they are able to slowly, over time, actually accomplish what we want them to…

Efficient and Sustainable Singing!

But that TIME and FOCUS and SPECIFICITY cannot be skipped. Otherwise you’re only ever working on auto-pilot BUT YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW IT.

You don't need to be in three shows at a time to succeed in this business...

You DO need to be in 3 lessons, or classes, or any of those areas of FOCUS. You DO need time and space to hone in on what is working and what is not. You DO need to think of these areas of focus as long term investments.

So put down the cake. Pick up a piece of broccoli. And allow your body the work it needs in order to be the best performer you can be.



You will never be “done”. But you will ALWAYS get better (and better and better and better and…) 

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Stop Yelling At The Cat...

8/5/2019

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I have this friend. An actor friend. Really I have many friends like this but there's one in particular who has been popping up in my mind lately.

This friend (who I will call Aloysius from here on out… Al for short… no that’s not his real name…) has been an actor for many many years. With just one problem…

He's not... like... doing much of it.

You see, Al was fed this lie, like all theater people are, that in order to “make it” you must LIVE, BREATHE, and EAT theater. Everything you do must be in service to your art. Every choice you make MUST leave room for you to keep performing.

Which, considering how poorly the arts are frequently funded in this country, meant that he had two choices:
  • Give up (nope…)
  • Accept, nay, take PRIDE in his ability to survive on the lowest income possible… for his art.

He did the thing that MANY theater artists do. He got a low paying job, just enough to pay the bills, that allows him all the time in the world to head out to auditions.

In theory… this is great! And if you have access to the perfect opportunities, exactly the right people referring you to exactly the right other people, literally ONLY do theater related activities, have exactly the right kind of job that can let you off at a moments notice to attend that audition that you just HAVE to be at (because it might be your big break)... You can totally make this work.

However... that whole paragraph I just wrote...

NEVER works out that way.

Because it doesn’t take a few things into account:
  • Jobs like that are basically keeping you at poverty level leaving you no leeway for if anything goes wrong EVER financially (or if you want to… like… have fun?)
  • You are a human and FAR more complex than only ever wanting to do one thing ever (even if you don’t realize that yet).
  • It is RARE that the exact right connections are made in perfect time. More often it’s a connection that leads to a connection that leads to a connection… see where I’m going here?
  • Businesses need to run to make money and they need employees to be reliable in order to run. Thus, they’re usually not super cool with frequent last minute call outs.
  • All of this TAKES TIME. Time that usually means Al is slogging day in and day out at a job he doesn’t care about, not making enough money to FURTHER himself in his art through classes or networking, constantly worried that he’s missing out because he has to choose between his job or that audition for that show he would be PERFECT for…

It takes a special kind of person to live that life.

And honestly, during my 10 years in NYC, I knew one, ONE person who could happily live that way. Now, he’s jet-setting around the world originating the titular role in a musical. That’s his “made it” point. He’s having a great time! But he’s left a slew of jobs in his time to go to auditions and made all sorts of sacrifices for his art. And again… 10 years in NYC… ONE person who made it work well…

The rest have realized something else. Something Al is just coming to terms with.

THE STARVING ARTIST MENTALITY IS BULL$#!T!

It’s great and all if you honest to god want to give up everything just so you can make it to another audition, buy another canvas, or do whatever you need for your chosen art form. But artists have to remember that that’s not ALL we are.

We also, like, humans? And as such we have certain physical, emotional, and mental needs that frequently think we can live without nourishing for WAAAAAAAY longer than we actually can.

I mean… really… do you want to be surviving on ramen and 2 Buck Chuck when you’re 30?  There’s something fun and bohemian about it when you’re just out of college, but eventually it catches up to you.

Not to mention the PRESSURE you’re putting on your passion! Do you really expect to make the smartest career choices for your art when all you can think about is how you’re going to pay next month’s rent?

Elizabeth Gilbert puts it well in her book
Big Magic (required reading for ALL artists!):
“...to yell at your creativity, saying, “You must earn money for me!” is sort of like yelling at a cat; it has no idea what you’re talking about, and all you’re doing is scaring it away, because you’re making really loud noises and your face looks weird when you do that."

Stop yelling at the cat.

Go get a job. One that pays you well. Not as a Plan B, but so you can live your Plan A. So you can go to the classes you need, take the voice or dance or acting lessons, go on a vacation once in a while, buy food that’s actually good for you, get a gym membership, LIVE SOME FREAKING LIFE!

AND be an artist.

Just... ya know... one with enough money to pay your rent.

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Green-Eyed Monster

7/15/2019

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Have you ever said some version of this:

“I mean I’m totally not jealous of them. It’s not a jealousy thing. I just think they are wrong for the part.” (When you ALSO went for that part…)

Or…

“It’s the way they sing it… I just don’t like HOW they do it. I think their technique is off…” (And in your mind you KNOW you could do it better…)

OR (to take it outside of the performance realm…)

“They look AWFUL in those gym clothes…” (But that also means they went to the gym and actually took care of their body when maybe YOU are NOT doing that...?)

Whether you want to admit it to yourself or not, this is JEALOUSY. And I KNOW what that feels like. That feeling that it SHOULD have been you. That you felt like you ROCKED that audition and you’re not getting any props for doing so. That feeling of knowing how HARD you know you’ve worked and yet… someone else got the part… (maybe AGAIN…)

And jealousy is SO EASY to fall into without even being aware of it. It happens to me ALL. THE. TIME. Not because I want it to. Not because I mean to. But because it is, ultimately, the human condition. And as humans we have two choices whenever we encounter something we don’t like.

Stay stuck and complain about it.
Or GROW from it.

So I’d like to offer you a way to move out of your jealousy when it takes you over. It's called...

COMPERSION!

The idea of compersion comes from a completely different world than performance but it SOOOOOO APPLIES. Compersion is the OPPOSITE of jealousy. Instead of being unhappy or hurt that a need of YOURS isn’t getting met…

You find a way to be HAPPY and GRATEFUL that another person's needs are getting met.

And this can look like a lot of different things! It can be as simple as...
  • truly enjoying the smile on your friend’s face when they find out they got the part you both wanted…
  • acknowledging that someone who types similarly as you REALLY rocked their audition and deserved that role.
  • seeing outer pieces, like the fact that someone will be able to more easily pay their bills because they have the income from this role.

It can be HARD too! Sometimes jealousy sneaks up on me and I have to very actively question it and search for reasons to be happy for someone.

And at the end of the day it’s worth it because that seedling of jealousy can’t take root and grow. And I get to keep moving forward in my career and create deep and meaningful relationships with people that, if I HAD let jealousy win, I never would have gotten to know.

Because here’s the other thing I know about jealousy. It feels CRAPPY to live there. It SUCKS when you’ve got things to be doing and all you can think about is the unfairness that’s been done to you or how much better life would be if XYZ was just a little different.

There’s a secondary benefit to compersion actually. It allows you to fully CELEBRATE your successes. You are allowed to feel AWESOME when you accomplish something, whether it’s as big as getting a lead, or as little as making it to the gym that day.

CELEBRATE THAT!

And let others have space to celebrate when good things happen to them as well!

At the end of the day, your life didn’t work out that way, and someone else's did. And wouldn’t you want them to truly and honestly congratulate you when your next success comes along?

In a world where we so often connect through complaints and negativity, be the shining light in the room that can’t be extinguished.

In a world where we so often connect through complaints and negativity, be the shining light in the room that can't be extinguished.

Not sure how to find your COMPERSION? Reach out and let's see if I can help ;)
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Niche Yo'Self!

7/1/2019

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When I was in school for theater, I was told what most theater kids are told:
"Try EVERYTHING. Say yes to EVERYTHING .”
So… I did that. For a LOOONG time. And it was SUPER useful in many ways. Theater is the reason I know how to use a drill, paint on a badass bruise, use nail polish to fix nylons, run a light board, organize a rehearsal schedule, pump up a group of people, manage a group of people, LEAD a group of people, etc.

But, once I was no longer in school, it was super NOT useful.
  • Because I didn’t know where to show up.
  • I didn’t know how to demand my worth.
  • I didn’t know that my time SHOULD have an hourly amount attached to it. Even if that is situation specific.
  • I didn’t know that burnout didn’t have to be my way of life.

At least, not until I started a business. And started learning BUSINESS things. And started having to MARKET myself (HELLOOOOOO! Isn’t that what ALL performers are doing ?!?!?!?!?!?!!)

The most useful thing I learned through marketing?
Find. Your. Niche.
Your niche (in biz) is the super specific sub-sub-sub-type of what your business does. For example, I’m a voice teacher and health coach. So let’s take the health part. 

I could, in theory, shout my services out to anyone who wants to pay me and they could, in theory, hire me for whatever I want to charge.

But that’s not actually how sales works. Sales works by speaking to SPECIFICS. Specific people, about a specific problem.

So, I’m a health coach who works primarily with performers who have hectic, non-traditional, lifestyles who need their energy going often late into the night so they can show up and be their best on stage in roles that are frequently super physical.
That's SPECIFIC.
And it means that when people who are in the performance world need help with their health, they know exactly who to come to. And they do!

In performance, we call “niching” your “type”. The super specific thing you do best on stage.

I will forever and always be able to show up for most auditions for “Mom” because that is my type.

Yes, I’m good at many other things as well. Yes, I find doing other roles fulfilling. And yes, I will sometimes go for those other roles.

But I REGULARLY don’t have to audition for shows BECAUSE people know they can count on a good performance from me within this type. I’ve sold myself this way as a performer and show up and do my job WELL.

And, because I know what I want to go for and what is appropriate for me, I know that I’m not wasting my time at auditions that aren’t going to go the way I want them to.

Meaning…
  • More time for friends
  • More time for family
  • More time for work
  • More MONEY because I can work outside of performance
  • More time doing less time intensive gigs that STILL pay me

You can be the go-to guy for EVERYTHING…. 

But ultimately that means you’re becoming very mediocre at MANY things…

Instead of EXCELLENT at just a few.
SPECIFICITY and FOCUS breeds EXCELLENCE.
Niche yo’self!
Not sure what your “type” is? 
OR think your type only exists within, like, 2 roles? 
Reach out to me! I can help with that ;)
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Warm the F*** UP!!

6/17/2019

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You're a vocal ATHLETE!

Let’s talk about this for a second because a RIDICULOUS number of singers I know don’t really understand why I’m so adamant about this one...

The purpose of warming up before ANY physical activity is to slowly get the muscles stretching and to increase blood flow to the area you’re planning on using. Additionally, in voice we use that time to make sure technique (placement, breath flow, etc.) is doing what we need it to do for EFFICIENT and SUSTAINABLE vocalism.

If you’re vocally tired after only 30 minutes of WARMING UP…

You're doing it WRONG.

For those of us who have never done an activity that forces us to be active mentally about our athleticism, this can be a difficult concept. Frequently, when we start an exercise routine or a job that is physically active (landscapers, construction worker, baker, etc.) and without any guidance, we also tend to skip the warm up. Our bodies WILL slowly warm up, but you’re GREATLY increasing your chance of injury in the process.

And for the voice, that also means almost ZERO technique work happens. Which… also means injury.

Skipping the technique work means:
  • Extra subglottal pressure builds up (below the vocal folds)
  • Placement of resonance is incorrect (and frequently even thinking about this is non-existent)
  • The muscles used for breathing aren’t warmed up (intercostals, abdominals, diaphragm, etc.) meaning you’re breathing inefficiently

All of this leads to an increased chance of INJURY.

And if you’re injured you’re out of the job. And if you’re constantly out of the job because you’re hurting yourself… no one will hire you for future jobs.

You might be able to recoup…
Or you might be screwed.

Why take that chance?

Just warm up.
Don’t know how?

Drop me a line here and we’ll set up a time for me to teach you!

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Auditions 101

9/11/2018

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Ahhhh the Audition!  The bane of every performers career!

We all know that auditioning is just as much a part of the job as the actual performance is.  But not everyone acknowledges that rocking your audition and having a stellar performance are actually two DIFFERENT skills.

Think about it: one includes an audience full of people who’s faces you usually can’t see due to lights who have chosen to come see all the hard work and preparation you have put in for weeks.  The other, a small room with 2-3 fully lit faces only feet away doing their best to stay blank-faced while you give it your all and they judge you for it.

DIFFERENT!!

When we go off to school for performance, we frequently get classes in acting, dancing, singing, repertoire building, and a whole host of other things having to do with PERFORMANCE.  But only a few times throughout that are we really in a situation that is truly representative of a professional audition.

9 times out of 10 we are in a room “practicing” with friendly faces who already know something about our strengths and weaknesses. So how can you REALLY prepare for your auditions?  How can you make sure that skill is up to snuff?

Up your audition game by:

Preparing
I mean this one seems “duh” but you’d be AMAZED at the students who have come in to me needing a new song for an audition that is happening THE NEXT DAY!  Ideally, we as performers have somewhere between 5-10 songs and 2-4 monologues that we have DOWN. Like, we can be on Death's door sick and we still know we can sing the crap out of our audition. That takes TIME.  That means you’re not choosing songs based on the audition you have coming up, but instead based on what your voice does best in a few different genres. And these are songs that you work on for MONTHS. Not days. No last minute memorizing here!


Practicing
Not in a practice room or studio.  No. I mean go to auditions and “practice” auditioning.  Go to all of them. Go to ones you’re not appropriate for.  Go to ones you can’t be in due to scheduling conflicts. Go to ones off the cuff because they just happen to be held next door.  Go. Do the thing!


Dump the Jitter Juice
Ok a health thing here.  Coffee ain’t gonna help you out super close to your audition time. Have your cup in the morning and leave it at that.  No need to add to the anxiety.


Get into your body
This means having a physical warm up AS WELL as a vocal one.  Doesn’t have to be long, but something that grounds you a bit. Personally, I like to stretch, do some sun salutations, and a quick breathing exercise to bring my energy back into my center.  Otherwise you’ll just end up giving yourself a voice/acting lesson while you’re supposed to be rocking it.


Feed your body
For god’s sake EAT!  Doesn’t have to be right before, but don’t show up on an empty stomach.  A small meal up to 2 hours before is great. Or if you’re like me, you might like having a meal not long before (I can’t stand being distracted by hunger).  Aim to get in some protein, veggies, and maybe some whole grains. Filling food grounds you and keeps your anxiety and stress at bay.


Need more help prepping for your audition?  Or know your vocal game could be more on point?  Hit the button below to shoot me an e-mail and set up a discount first time lesson!

Audition Help Please!!!
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