This afternoon is the ABRSM theory exam date, and Trinity are holding theirs on Saturday. Good luck if you’re taking a theory exam this week! For those of you who are in a twirl, here’s a few last minute tips to see you safely to the end of the exam: Read more
Everyone gets nervous, and when it’s something like a singing exam, it can feel like your nerves are out to get you – they’re just determined to make you fail even when you know you’re capable! So here are some of my key tips to help you conquer exam nerves. Counteract every Read more
Yes, it’s that time of year when the Ned Stark memes run rampant on Facebook and we all start wishing we lived in a more equatorial nation. For singers, winter can pose particularly big challenges as we try to take care of our voices. Here are some of the things Read more
By the start of the 21st century, the globe had already been gripped by the digital revolution, and now computer technology is part of our everyday lives. In comparison to some hobbies, learning to play an instrument or sing can seem remarkably lo-tech. However, there’s a huge range of ways Read more
… And none of them are “It makes you smarter”! 1. Learning music is fun! I never have so much fun in the week as during music lessons. Demonstrating techniques in singing often involves doing really silly things, and this means lots of laughter. Once you get going, you can Read more
Practicing is the most challenging part of every musician’s life. Whether we’ve been playing six months or sixty years, we all face days when we just don’t want to sit down and work, or if we do, we don’t want to do what we should be doing. We face many Read more
One of the most challenging things about singing compared to playing an instrument is memorisation. Singers are expected to perform from memory in most situations, while instrumentalists are much more likely to have the music out in front of them. Certainly, for examinations, singers must sing from memory, but instrumentalists Read more
One of my favourite kinds of warming up and technical exercises is tongue twisters. They’re great for warming up all of the muscles needed to form words when singing and help singers practice good diction and articulation (i.e. the ability to sing words so that the audience understands what they Read more
One of the most important things you need to do when practicing singing is to warm up properly. Warming up is not quite the same as vocal exercises, although a good warm up routine will go from physical warm-ups to vocal exercises without feeling like the warm-up stops and the Read more
I have recently rediscovered the childhood magic of the drinking straw. I don’t know what it is about this small, plastic thing that creates such joy, but I love ’em. Why have I rediscovered straws? Well, I have been looking for some new ideas for technical exercises, and I have Read more