After attempting to resurrect my ancient Studio blog on WordPress and managing to lose the entire thing several hours later (sigh), I recalled I had established this even more ancient Blogger blog over a decade ago. The main photo is of me in my current 2025 teaching digs in Huntington Beach.

I've been settling in amid some remodeling and such for many months and teaching mainly on Zoom. As I've been regrouping, I've also been rethinking my teaching practices. I've decided to return to teaching the way I teach best and not trying to be all things to all students. This means that those who might opt to study with me may be an even more select group than they have been in the past. By that I mean the students will be selecting themselves "in." Those who want what I have to offer will be the Studio "elite," if you will. This will be their designation, and not mine.

So, what do I mean "teaching the way I teach best?" Some back story is required. Back in the 1960s and 1970s, before social media and the Internet, before Star Search and America's Got Talent (I feel my English teachers rolling about in their graves. How about America Has Talent?), before popular music and the Rock stars so absorbed everyone's consciousness, when vocal music education was more concerned with education than stardom, when times were possibly more innocent, a certain young lady who found her natural voice found the favor of her teachers and others who thought she might do well in voice lessons. This was me.

At 15 my high school choir director introduced me to my first voice teacher. Lessons involved vocal exercises, the Vaccai method book, Italian Art Songs, arias, and musical theatre selections. This was traditional training. And I ate it up. When I asked that teacher if she thought I would become a professional opera singer, she told me she thought I might, instead, become a teacher. I was actually a bit disheartened by her comments. But, on second thought, I decided teaching in a college setting might be especially nice. I did manage to sing as a professional chorister with two opera companies years later and snag some recording work and a year as a section leader/soloist with the Crystal Cathedral Hour of Power Choir, among other professional jobs.

Over several decades I studied with more than ten voice teachers, coaches, and repetiteurs. As I learned, I collected vast stores of teaching techniques and valuable information - all in the classical or traditional vein.

I officially began leading choirs and teaching in 1973 with a California Standard Designated Subjects credential to my credit. It was a nice entry into teaching.

As we entered the mid-1980s and 1990s, however, I started noticing significant changes in the way students took to my teaching. Rather than finding their natural voices as a basis for their singing, students defaulted to more cosmetic, unnatural, and forced techniques that I assume they presumed were the sounds their favorite artists were making. They were less satisfied with lessons because they were working against themselves and the training. And the quest for fame and fortune, in some cases, caused them to be anxious and interested in quick fixes and immediate improvement or solutions to vocal deficiencies. The techniques I had learned and honed over many years and the voice-building materials I had been employing were of less interest. Singers were more interested in becoming copies of the latest contemporary artists than they were in discovering their own unique voices and musical styles that complemented their personalities.

Into the first fifteen or so years of the 2000s, some of the younger singers studying with me still had an interest in music education. But most of the adults wanted lessons for after-work therapy, karaoke, or for other more recreational reasons. The "serious" business of developing technique through the practice of exercises and technical studies, singing voice-building repertoire, and finding a beautiful resonant tone had waned for the general public who take lessons. Only singers aiming for college degrees in Voice or professional operatic careers opted for the rigors of voice training. I also credit the decline in interest to busy lifestyles and a general lack of knowledge as to what traditional voice lessons are - were - all about.

So here I am. A traditional voice teacher looking for those rare individuals who want to explore singing the way it has been taught for generations. This is what I do and what I will continue to do in my new digs as much as possible, working with those who are so inclined. And, by the way, traditional training does provide a good foundation for any style of singing. Those cosmetic approaches are best added on when singers learn how to care for and manage their own unique, individual voices. That said, there is traditional training and there is traditional training. Steer clear of a desired studio sound akin to the sound of the wonderful 1980s dog trainer Barbara Woodhouse saying "Walkies!" or cooking expert Julia Child saying just about anything, and teachers who ask students to speak in an artificial voice.

A Singing Musician

It seems to me that too many young people who see themselves as on the road to becoming professional singers would be better served if they found a road that better suits them, or simply make a bargain with themselves to concern themselves with learning to sing for the sheer pleasure of singing and see what happens.

Youngsters and their support contingent tend to be ill-informed and confused or blinded by the notion that anybody, especially their anybody, has what it takes to make it big. They think that assembling a team of voice teachers and coaches (especially those whose charges have seen major success), recording a demo, auditioning for a TV talent contest and making the right connections are the keys to success. While I believe much of the so-called talent we hear and see is fabricated in this way from the outside instead of developed from the inside, and it may well be that the up-and-comers can make names for themselves by being packaged, produced and auto-tuned with little skill to show for it, the formula performers do not transcendent, unique singing musicians necessarily make. And the greater numbers of youngsters taking on the task of learning to sing and, more to the point for them, attaining fame, are destined to fail.

I remember sharing a lunch not too many years ago with a rather fine singer and instrumentalist who had toured internationally with a well-known group.  He was opening a voice studio in his area. He hadn’t officially taught voice before, though his background, lineage of teachers, and exceptional skill level and intuitive nature set him up to be a fine voice teacher. During our lunch, he rather innocently made a comment about some of the singers with whom he had begun to work. He expressed wonderment over their objectives, since they had none of the inherent attributes of a singer in the making or otherwise. It was a, “What do they think they can do with this?” moment. The gentleman and his area of the country shall remain nameless to protect both of us.

The bottom line is that people who are meant to be singing musicians in the most genuine sense, have certain things going for them. Forget about the pre-packaged pop divas and divos for a moment. What follows is my description of the singing musician, subject to further additions, upgrades and edits.

Singers who are musicians are compelled to make music. Singers who are musicians are driven by the desire to sing and play – even in the absence of an audience. Singers who are musicians make music all the time, everywhere and anywhere.  Singers who are musicians are curious about old styles, new styles, and are always looking for ways to infuse their music with something different, something more.

Singers who are musicians have music spilling from them. It spills over to writing music – which, done properly, requires learning about the structure of music. It translates to playing an instrument to support their singing and just because the temptation to make music by doing something other than and in addition to singing is strong in a singing musician.

Singers who are musicians are like kids in a candy store when it comes to all things related to singing – visiting a music store, viewing a chart, hearing a new song and imagining it in their own voice, actively seeking other singers to listen to and being inspired by their sounds.

Singers who are musicians never wonder, “What do I do next?” Singers who are musicians are always flooded with tunes, ideas, projects, and the desire to work at their singing and expand their horizons. Singers who are musicians generally need assistance in channeling the abundance of musical energy, to help guide them to their goals and keep them from derailing.

Singers who are musicians are daring. Singers who are musicians are curious. They are inventive.

Singers who are musicians make sounds in less than ideal places, in less than ideal conditions, and under less than ideal circumstances. They can’t be kept down.

Singers who are musicians are driven to understand their instrument, the voice, and to care for the thing that conveys their inner being to the outside world. Singers who are musicians pay attention to and learn from sources of information, such as books, magazines, forums for singers and the like.

Singers who are musicians often don’t realize how competent they are. But there is a difference between turning from a duckling into a swan, unaware, and feigning modesty – which is indicative of an unbalanced ego.

What we too easily refer to as shyness is usually fear cloaked in embarrassment over something that has not yet happened, and that is unlikely to happen the way the fearful person envisions it. What is the worst that can happen? Does it even faintly resemble the end of the world? Does it mean the end of the beginning of a career? The answer is, of course, no. A singing musician meets the fear fearlessly.

Singers who are musicians don’t care what the rest of the world thinks of their level of competence. They are singing musicians, regardless.

Singers who are musicians train, and train, and train. Singers who are musicians find a way.

Like any artists, singers who are musicians are not necessarily motivated by or trapped by social and cultural norms or current modes and trends. There is a difference between behaving outrageously, however, and appearing to be outrageous to others because of a behavior or expression that emanates, organically, emotionally, spiritually, intellectually, or otherwise, from within.

Singers who are musicians, like other artists, might seem to move through the world at a slower or ‘other’ speed than their non-artist counterparts. Some singing musicians might seem to be detached, removed, distant, unfriendly or otherwise socially lacking. Frequently they are misunderstood. Because they are always working, and learning and growing, they may be labeled nerds, or misfits. They become cool, popular, in demand, when their artistry is sufficiently developed and becomes evident.

That Malcolm Gladwell 10,000 hour thing? (The book is titled, Outliers: The Story of Success.) No-brainer. But a singing musician doesn’t sigh over the thought of the long road ahead, or waste any time counting to 10,000. They are too excited about and busy making music.

Sure. Singers who are musicians are often frustrated. They might worry about the future. They might experience tiny standstills. But they are not allergic to hard work. They know that hard work is the path. They are challenged by mistakes, of which there are none, by the way. Though they may be temporarily sidelined by poorly-delivered criticisms, they soon meet such rejection with rekindled inspiration.  “Never say die!” is the unspoken motto of one who is determined to be a singing musician.

Singers who are musicians entertain regular crises of confidence. But they will kick themselves in the rear end and move forward – or they are not singing musicians.

The crises always stem from some important business that the singer is not taking care of. The crisis of confidence always comes from within, not from the outside, and overrides the higher thought, action, purpose. It is the singing musician’s responsibility, because no one else can or will solve this for the singer, to replace the crisis with better energy – or quit.

If that last sentence stung you, you might be a singing musician. For you, quitting is not an option.

Singing musicians don’t make excuses. They make progress. They make music.

Singing musicians come in all shapes, sizes and personalities, like all other people. While it would be nice for a singing musician to be a wonderful example of a human being, that is not always the case. But, realizing that being a successful singing musician is highly dependent upon working fluidly within the greater community of musicians, and dependent upon building positive relationships with those who might help along the way, the singing musician is best served by endeavoring to become a wonderful example of a human being. However, the singing musician who wastes time worrying about the world’s perception of them and trying to conform is, well, wasting time, etc., etc.

Mel Tormé and Nat King Cole were two examples of fine contemporary singing musicians of their time. Those who are too young to have heard of Tormé may know The Christmas Song (Chestnuts roasting on an open fire…). Tormé composed the tune and co-wrote the lyrics. In this YouTube example of absolute singing musicianship, Tormé sings and accompanies himself at the piano. Later in the clip, Tormé plays the drums while Nat King Cole plays some marvelous piano with his trio and another singer, June Christy. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgxXyZT8vJY 

Pre-teen and teen singers considering auditioning for the various performing arts schools, take note. Increasingly, schools are asking what other instrument you play.  If the thought of learning an instrument strikes you as tedious, might cut into your social or texting time or interfere with soccer, too many theatrical auditions or other activities, you might want to consider an alternate major.

You may now resume singing. Do your exercises. Make exercises of your songs before you add polish. Think time and study time are as important as is actual application time. I applaud you very loudly in absentia. 

Taking Care of the Rest

When my students vacate the studio en masse for their summer vacations, I find myself periodically involuntarily idled as a voice teacher, which is a bit of a blessing in disguise. The time off from teaching gives me an opportunity to work on my other projects. And the gaps between students provide me with generous buffer time for my own vocal practice, which I consider to be quite a luxury.

The art of singing suffers a little in this busy world. I used to suggest to my students that they take a walk before their lessons and their practice sessions, to clear their heads of work, school, problems and the rest of life, and to prepare their minds for singing and for developing their artistry. Reading in a quiet room for an hour or taking a power nap for 20 or 30 minutes are also good lesson preliminaries. Studies have shown that nappers are more focused, more receptive and better able to retain information. And quiet time is important. We need to remove ourselves from the din in order to refine and re-set the ear.

My elementary school students dash into the studio at the last minute from school or some other activity, already dressed in soccer uniforms for the practice that follows the voice lesson. Their minds are on where they were and where they’re going next. The lesson is just a blip in a jam-packed day. The rest of the week, daily practice usually is edged out in favor of whichever activities take immediate precedence. There isn’t enough time to learn to sing at all, let alone to learn to sing well. There most certainly isn’t enough time to prepare for the singing experience, to experiment while practicing, or to reflect on it afterwards. If they continue with lessons, these children will become the teen and adult students who chronically offer up reasons for not having practiced.