How to Sing 101 – Part 3: How to effectively Warm Up your voice!

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This is part 3 in my FREE short course series: “How to sing 101″.

This video gives a most effective warm up routine, as it addresses the most important things a singer must address in order to really warm up their voices.

Exercises covered are:

1. The Bubble: rolling the lips together to loosen up the jaw, tongue and face. Gets the vocal cords massaging together gently to prepare for singing

2. Mm mmm’s: these bring more cord closure to the vocal cords, developing resonance and strengthening our sound

3. Bla bla’s: gets rid of any tension or constriction in our jaws and gets the voice projecting on an ‘A” vowel

4. G + vowel scale: lowers our larynx to make sure our throats are open and not constricted. Exercises all the different vowels to get us ready to sing songs later

5. 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1-5-1: Brings every together and warms up our articulation and refines our pitching

So how long should you warm up for?

The warm up in this video will take a total of about 15 minutes if you go through the whole sequence. However, if you don’t have that much time, you can shorten the exercises – just make sure you cover a little of each exercise.

Another factor is the time of day. Often singers will need a longer time to warm up first thing in the mornings, sometimes at least 20-30 minutes. However by the afternoon 10 minutes should be enough.

But everyone is different and you need to find out what works well for you. But in any case, covering these particular aspects of the vocal warm up will most effectively prepare you voice for singing.

Do you have any other effective warm up exercises you’d like to share with the singing community ? Please do share with us in the comments below. And also if you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment.

Happy warming up!

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To dream or not to dream – is that the real question?

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When I suddenly upped and quit my successful corporate job with the hopes of pursuing a career that had something to do with music, I attracted 2 types of reactions from 2 groups of people.

One reaction is what I will call the “Supportive Admiration” Reaction given by the group of people I will call “The Fans.”

“Oh wow!” they would gush. “You’re following your dream, that’s awesome! You have lots of guts in doing this. I wish I had the courage you have. I hope you do really well!”

Pretty encouraging reaction I’d say. I love “The Fans”!

Then there was the second type of reaction which I will call the “Get back to reality!” Reaction dished out without invitation by the group of people I will call “The Critics.”

“You’re doing what? Quitting a secure and successful career where you can make lots of money to go into MUSIC? Don’t you know there is no MONEY to be made in music? You are completely out of your mind! You are in denial right now. You better snap out of it soon or you’ll end up hungry in a ditch one day!”

Ouch!!!

At the time I was making the decision, I was torn by both of these reactions. In hindsight, I can see that both of these reactions were both a bit helpful and a bit flawed at the same time.

The “Supportive Admiration” reaction given by “The Fans”, was helpful because it was positive and ultimately what I wanted to hear. But it was flawed in that even though quitting a job I knew I didn’t want to do for the rest of my life and going for the gold at the end of the rainbow of my dream seemed glamorous, it did deny the reality of the practical 4 W’s and 1 H of my dream. What exactly was I going to do? Who would help me get there? Where was the best place to pursue my intended career path? When was the best time to do it? And last, but certainly not least HOW on earth was I going to make it happen?

On the other hand, the “Get back to reality!” reaction fired out by “The Critics”, though at first like a harsh slap in the face, is at least a tiny bit helpful in that it reminds you that in order to see your dreams come true you still have to be grounded in reality because reality is where we actually exist. However it is really flawed in that it is essentially a dream-crusher and could be the main reason why many people don’t pursue their dreams and continue in soul-sucking work in the safety of their cubicle while dreaming of ‘somewhere over the rainbow’ until retirement.

So what is the ideal situation?

We need to understand that in order to pursue a dream, there needs to be a balance of Reckless Abandonment and Reality-Grounded Practical Common Sense.

Let me explain.

In order to pursue a dream, we HAVE to step into the scary unknown. It is impossible to stay in the safe land of comfort and familiarity if we truly want to do something different. So in that, we need a degree of Reckless Abandonment – the willingness to go for it no matter what people say and how scared you may feel. Because contrary to what a lot of people think, that we dream-pursuers have so much courage – we don’t! At least I know I don’t! I was terrified when I quit my job – but there was this heart-call that I just couldn’t ignore and chose to recklessly follow even though I was petrified!

The Reckless Abandonment allows us to take the step. It gives us the permission to go for it. It enables us to take that first step – to make that decision. It says “I will no longer ignore the call of my heart, I am going to give it a go!”

However, if Reckless Abandonment is all we have – we will run so fast towards our dream and only fall in a heap when we hit our first brick wall of opposition.

Everyone knows that a path that is worthwhile pursuing is always laden with obstacles.

So in order to see our dreams come to fruition, we need to pair our Reckless Abandonment with Reality-Grounded Practical Common Sense or we will not be prepared to overcome the obstacles that will threaten to stop us.

To use a silly example to illustrate: if your dream was to become the next Michael Jordan but you don’t know first rules of a basketball game and the last time you played basketball was when you were 12, that is purely Reckless without being grounded in Reality.

To use a more Reality-Grounded example to illustrate again; if your dream is to make it big as a singer one day – Reckless Abandonment would say “Go for it” and Reality-Grounded Practical Common Sense would say “Well, I better go and get the best singing training I can afford and find NOW!”

Make sense?

So, by all means, run towards your dream with Reckless Abandonment! But Ground yourself also in Reality and use Practical Common Sense to figure out how you will get there.

If you and I were sitting across from one another in a cafe sipping tea right now, and you told me about your dream…my heart would skip a beat and I would smile, look you in the eye and say “I encourage you to listen to your heart and go for your dream. And let’s talk about the 4 W’s and 1 H of your dream and one step at a time, I believe you’ll get there!”

To dream or not to dream?

Don’t just dream, but go and make it happen with both Reckless Abandonment and Reality-Grounded Practical Common Sense.

Go for gold!

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The Unforced Rhythms of Grace

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I’ve been a bit tired lately. In fact bordering on exhausted. Not my optimal self. Haven’t been sleeping well. Which is really bad when you have extra things on your plate.

Extra things on your plate…

Is there ever a time when I don’t have extra things on my plate?

Anyway, it got to a point yesterday when I tried to go through my normal vocal workout regimen and I just couldn’t do it. Not properly anyway. My breathing was all out of wack. I kept tensing up. I just couldn’t do it anywhere near as easily as I usually do. It became really really hard work. But instead of stopping, I just kept going. Just try harder I told myself – you’ll get it if you keep trying.

Until a fellow wise vocal coach told me that I have to get lots of rest and even stop talking for a the next few days, just to give my body and voice time to recover. “You’re just too tired Kerri. When you’re that tired, you have to leave your voice alone and REST!”

Stop talking?

You’ve got to be kidding!

Anyway, I tried to take her advice…except that I had 3 singing students that day and I haven’t quite mastered the art of teaching without speaking AND I had a gig on that night AND… a HUGE gig on Saturday!

As I thought about what was happening to me and why I felt unusually tired, it occurred to me that I was going about things the HARD way.

Let me explain.

I was trying very hard and striving towards achieving certain goals that I had set for myself. And that’s not a bad thing in itself. Diligence is virtue right?

But I’ve learned that there are 2 types of diligence. The smart type and the stupid type.

1. Smart Diligence

This is where you go about doing your part the best you can and then you leave the rest up to others and God. You do what you can and you’re disciplined about it. But you don’t kill yourself over it.

2. Stupid Diligence

This is where you go about doing yours and everyone’s else’s AND God’s part (well you TRY!). You kid yourself into thinking you can do ALL that but you end up burning out.

I was dangerously close to burning out.

Suddenly it was like I had an out of body experience (I didn’t, it just felt like it), and I saw myself in my mind’s eye saying something I say A LOT to my singing students:

“Don’t push your voice. Don’t try too hard. Push and overdo it and your voice will sound strained and flat. Relax, support with a good breath and open your throat – and your voice will be free to come out. The resulting sound will be much nicer!”

Yes you are right if you thought that I am going to use this as a metaphor for my point.

If I go around acting as if I control the running of this universe and that everything depends on me, I put a lot of pressure on myself , causing me to strive and try too hard. In the end things fall in a heap.

But if I simply do what I know to be my part and TRUST that everything will fall into place, giving myself permission to rest and have space when I need it, I will FLOW with the unforced rhythms of grace.

The what?

Unforced rhythms of grace.

What I mean is this:

Stop trying so hard to get MORE done FASTER, BETTER and NON-STOP, and risk running into a brick wall and falling in a heap. Instead, do what my heart calls me to do, with passion and wisdom, and join the FLOW of life partnering with others and God AND TRUST that all that MUST get done WILL get done!

The stuff that doesn’t end up getting done was probably not that important anyway!

Stop striving and trying too hard.

And instead let’s choose to FLOW with the Unforced Rhythms of Grace…and really FLOURISH!

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Live Music that will change the world!

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Read more about the ‘behind the scenes’ below:

Wow – it was an exhausting day on Saturday – as I rehearsed song after song after song with the wonderful artists from The Songbird Tree for a live music gig which is happening in less than 2 weeks time! It was awesome to see it all come together, myself on keys, Amanda on cello and Tom on acoustic guitar – just beautiful!

But apart from being exhausting, I was incredibly elated!

It is such a privilege to work with talented artists and see them flourish in their artistry week by week! I am really proud of all the artists involved and really can’t wait to show them off! lol…

This all started when I began to think “How can I create an opportunity for my students to show their gifts to the world AND do something good to change the world?”

My desire to do some “good to change the world” really was because for 2 years I have been burdened in my heart by an incredibly complex and tragic issue that happens in the world and is the cause of countless victims. And that is sex trafficking. Where innocent women, young girls and even young boys are brutally trafficked and sold into sex slavery. It is suffering to the nth degree. It is suffering no human being should have to go through.

Luckily, there are organisations who do amazing work in an attempt to abolish sex slavery and one of these organisations is A21 (www.thea21campaign.org).

So…I put 2 and 2 together and over a casual lunch one day with a girl friend, said “Hey..I have this idea…what about putting on a cafe gig with live music performance to raise money to support A21? My students are getting really good now and I think it’s time for them to show case their talent. And this issue of sex slavery’s really been on my heart…” My friend, Nat, who is also an amazing artist in her own right, said “That’s an awesome idea! Let’s do it!”

And that conversation between 2 friends, turned into an idea presented to a group of girls passionate about doing what they can to change the world, which then turned into being supported by the power’s at be at Arrow on Swanston (thanks to them we have a FREE cafe venue to play in!)!

So now this one little idea, sparked by a prompting in my heart, has now become this amazing event where we are empowering not only singers to do their thing, but photographers, videographers, culinary students, graphic designers, interior space designers, event managers and a whole host of other wonderful people!

I just love seeing people do their thing to make the world a better place!

If you’re in Melbourne, please get along to the event and be a part of a LIFE CHANGING cause! You’ll also have a thoroughly enjoyable night I promise! Full of hope, joy, and love as you’re entertained and inspired by the local artists of The Songbird Tree community. Oh by the way, I might be making an appearance too! lol…

Purchase tickets here online at a discount before the event at http://liveattoastbar.eventbrite.com

If you’re not in Melbourne, you can take part in a LIFE CHANGING cause. By sharing this post on your facebook, tweeting it and liking it on youtube. The gig will be uploaded onto youtube for your viewing and you can enjoy and DONATE online at www.a21campaign.org

Thanks for your support!

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The 3 main keys to unlock your full potential

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I’m passionate about seeing people operate in their ‘sweet spots’ and do what’s on their hearts. And in my work with a vast array of artists I really do get the privilege of meeting with some amazingly talented people.

People who without thinking can paint or draw up a storm.

People who open their mouths to sing and captivate everyone in the room from their first note.

People who start businesses from nothing and create multi-million dollar enterprises.

People who spend their days parenting and make it look like a piece of cake.

People who dance – really dance, and the way they move it just takes your breath away.

I could go on…and on…and on…

Apart from suffering from mild a case of envy as I see all these talented people =P, it has caused me to ask a few hard questions:

Is there a special recipe that these people follow that enable them to be so successful at what they do?

Is there a formula that we could follow in order to ensure success like that?

And facing the danger of oversimplifying something that is probably quite complex – I do believe that there are 3 main elements to this sort of ‘shock the world into jaw-dropping-awe’ brilliance.

GIFTS + WORK + FAVOUR

1. GIFTS

We all have been graciously gifted by God in very unique ways. I do believe that when God created each individual, He did it very intentionally. Allow me to explain what I imagine He did. (please note I wasn’t there, so I don’t really know – this is just my hunch)

What I imagine God didn’t do: “Ok, well I’m a bit tired of this people creating business. I’ll just put some random qualities together and ‘ta-da – there’s person number 879million’, next…

What I imagine God did do: “One day, this precious daughter of mine will champion the cause of the poor. I am going to give her extra compassion, patience and resilience. And an incredible motivational gift – to help her with getting others to catch the same vision and join her cause with their money and time”

“This son of mine will contribute to educating the new generation. Here’s the gift of teaching, gallons of patience and a heart for kids.”

“This daughter of mine will have great influence in the business world. Leadership gifting, strategic thinking and a focussed temperament I will give her”

I wonder what you would imagine God saying when He dreamed you up?

2. WORK

No matter how easy talented people might make it look – it’s quiet possible that they’ve put hours and months and years and their whole lives of work to make it look easy.

I tell people, especially my singing students everyday, I wasn’t born with an amazing singing voice. Ok, so yes, I was gifted with music. There was something in me that I could work with. But the amount of time I’ve invested in practicing and developing my craft, and the money I’ve spent on lessons, courses, books and seminars would probably give me a heart attack if I was to calculate it!

Gifts are given graciously by God – but we have to be faithful in growing them by investing in them to make us the best we can be.

Do you invest in your gifts?

3. FAVOUR

Ok, so this might be getting a little mystical or weird for some. But I really do believe there is an unexplained factor in all of this.

Have you ever experienced any sort of success and looked back and gone “What just happened? That wasn’t me!”

Maybe you brought it down to luck, co-oincidence or the starts aligning in the universe or whatever…

But I believe it’s more than that.

I believe it’s nothing less than the favour of God.

I mean, if He’s intentionally gifted us with certain unique talents, He wants us to use them right? To be fully alive. To make our corner of the world a better place.

So if we’re cooperating with Him and WORKING to develop our talents, and actually using them – why wouldn’t He give us special favour?

I see it as heaven smiling down on earth

In fact, I’m probably not the only person who gets overly excited when I see people flourishing in their gifts and talents and doing what’s on their hearts.

I bet God does back flips in heaven when He sees it happening. After all, He was the Giver of the Gifts in the first place.

When you give a gift to someone, say for their birthday or whatever – don’t you hope they will them to use it?

So there you go, the 3 elements I believe that sets people on fire to make a difference in their worlds:

GIFTS + WORK + FAVOUR

Are you seeing these 3 elements at work in your own life today?

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How to sing 101: Part 2: How correct Posture & Effective Breathing will make you sound GREAT!

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If you haven’t already done so, please check out Part 1 of my FREE short course: “How to sing 101: What every singer needs to know!”

And today, I welcome you to Part 2: How correct posture and effective breathing will make you sound great!

Correct posture is so important because without it you won’t be able to breath effectively. And without an effective breath to the vocal cords, you will not get a great sound.

You see, an effective breath to the vocal cords is like petrol to a car. Without it, it just won’t run!

Correct posture involves standing in such a way where you feel tall and proud, buoyant and free and completely grounded. It involves getting rid of all the ‘kinks’ in our body so that the air can flow freely from our lungs to the vocal cords.

Effective breathing involves a low and deep breath, where you will see expansion in the tummy, ribs and back. This expansion allows the lungs to really breathe in its full capacity.

Practice practice practice and make correct posture and effective breathing a part of your daily life and see your singing improve!

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Change the world – but don’t do it alone!

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We were never meant to do life lone-ranger style.

But sometimes, as a creative visionary with many ideas and things that I want to achieve, it’s actually quiet tempting to try and change the world on my own.

I tend to get an idea and then charge out like a bull ready to knock down anything that will get in my way – I mean, c’mon, excuse me but I’m changing the world! But this approach normally results in the idea either not coming into fruition or it does but I’m left feeling half dead.

I believe there is a seed of brilliance in all of us and that we all have the capacity to change the world in some way. However, imagine what would happen if we all teamed up and connected all of our individual brilliance together…

So rather than being a lone shooting star, we’re gonna shine like full blown fireworks across the night sky!

And the world is a bit like a night sky these days. There’s just a lot going on. On a global scale, we have problems like poverty, environmental deterioration, modern day slavery, corruption, war, economic troubles …Closer to home there are manifestations of the same problems; domestic violence, abuse, depression, suicide… I could go on forever, but rather than lay a heavy blanket over your shoulders I’ll stop here.

And instead remind you that you have something special that this night sky world needs you to shine!

You and I can be conduits of peace and joy in a chaotic world gone mad.

And we can do it better together!

So next time an idea pops into your head about something you’d like to do to change the world – take one step back and ask;

“Who’s in my corner that I could team up with do this even quicker and more effectively?”

And then take them out for coffee…

And tell them your idea…

And be a part of a dazzling FIREWORK DISPLAY across the night sky! It’s much more fun than being a lone shooting star.

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Let your heart speak…

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I’ve always been a person quicker to speak than listen.

Today I feel challenged to change my approach. To do something other than charge ahead with the voices in my head that are already directing me towards this and that task – I have a notorious monkey-mind, my mind is always chattering!

Today I feel directed towards listening.

and letting my heart speak…

So as I go about my day I want to be sensitive to my heart and what is truly important to it.

If I listen to my heart I might just hear the answers to these questions:

What do I truly value?

What is my heart leading me to feel and therefore act on today?

Today, I can choose to tick off the 12 things on my To-Do List and merely be productive…

OR

I can choose to truly listen and not only be productive, but fruitful…

As I listen to my heart, I become more aware of who I am created to be. And as I do what my heart leads me to do my tank will be filled to overflowing.

Then I will not only be useful but a fountain of blessing to others.

That I believe is truly life changing from the inside out.

What is your heart saying to you today?

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How to sing 101 – what every singer should know!

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Many singers simply launch into singing, wishing and hoping their voices will just sound great. And it’s quiet a hit and miss thing.

But what if you could consistently sound great?

What if there are essential tools that if every singer applied would help them to sound great every time they sang?

Well, I’m excited to announce my very first FREE short course release:

How to sing 101 - covering the essentials of what EVERY singer should know.

The video below is Part 1 : How to prepare your body and throat for great singing.

In summary,

1. Good preparation is essential for every singer in order to sound great.
2. There are two things we need to prepare to sing well
i) Our body
ii) Our throats
3. To prepare our body, we need to get rid of tension! Why? Because tense muscles absorb your sound! Which causes
you to strain
4. To prepare our throats, we need to use some exercises to make sure we OPEN our throats, so that there is no
restriction to the vocal cords

These are your first steps towards singing freely and sounding great.

See you next time for How to sing 101 – Part 2: How effective posture and breathing help you sing great!

Do you have any quirky ideas of OPEN-THROAT exercises that you can share?

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How to Flourish in the busyness & obligations

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This week is a very busy week for me. As head of the Creative Team at a contemporary church and Easter weekend being around the corner – I am flat out. The plan is an aesthetically beautiful experience on Good Friday – I mean with dim lights, video art with eerie music, candles, gorgeous acoustic music featuring my favourite instrument the cello – the LOT. Then a huge celebratory Production on Easter Sunday with lots of quirky funness featuring Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny and a slightly emo Tooth Fairy. Oh and I get to sing!

But instead of being excited about these amazing experiences my team and I have crafted, rushing around in my mind is all that needs to get done. All the rehearsals that need to be scheduled and directed. Every detail of the production to be seemlessly woven together. Managing actors, production crew, musos, singers, etc. Making sure the band sounds amazing, the lighting cues are correctly followed and the set goes up properly without anyone being injured in the process! It’s a HUGE undertaking and I would be lying if I didn’t say I was just a little overwhelmed. Although I love Easter, I also must admit I’m gonna be really relieved when it’s all over!

But this morning as I sat with my morning cuppa, and tried to quiet down the chatter of my monkey mind, a thought kindly interrupted -

“Kerri, you have 2 options this week. You can go about it like it’s a job you have to get done OR you can be completely overtaken.”

Completely overtaken? By what?

As I thought about that, I discovered the significant difference between the 2 approaches:

“Like it’s a job” vs “Completely Overtaken”

Merely surviving vs Completely Thriving

Obligation vs Privilege

Stress and overwhelm vs Joy and Excitement

Task vs Opportunity

So this week, I have a choice to either say to myself “Ok, Kerri, you just gotta get passed this weekend, do what you have to do, get it done, then all will be well and you can sleep for a week.” OR “Kerri, this weekend is gonna be an amazing opportunity to creatively engage the community at such an important time of year as Easter. Let’s make the most of it and have fun!”

It’s a no-brainer in terms of which option I know I should choose. But funnily enough, it’s not easy to actually make the choice. Because it’s just so easy to be consumed by the nitty-gritty of all that needs to get done and the pressure of being fired if this all falls in a heap!

Don’t we all go about our days sometimes with an attitude that what we do is ‘just a job’? It could be your actual day job that you feel this way about. It’s an obligation. It’s something you do simply to put food on the table. To be a responsible adult.

Or maybe you’re a full time mum – and though your kids are extremely cute, some days after the 50th smelly nappy change – you’re a bit over it. You tell yourself all you have to do is just get through another day. I don’t blame you one bit!

But this morning I discovered another secret to flourishing daily. We have to choose to change our mindsets. From it’s just a job/obligation/task/something I just have to do, to being completely overtaken.

Overtaken by the privilege of doing what we do, the opportunity to be a blessing to others in the process, and the chance for us to discover more about ourselves and grow into all we can be.

I choose to be completely overtaken.

By the opportunity to do what I do…

And the privilege to be alive.

What about you?

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