You don't have to think of yourself as a 'singer' to have lessons, they are for people who want to sing and to learn more about doing it. You may never have sung since someone (mean) told you not to as a child, you might be in a choir, or a West End professional. Your needs may differ, but to me you're all singers, and you're all important.
​
What can I do for you?
• Provide a safe space for to explore and learn about your voice, to take risks and explore making amazing (and sometimes hideous) sound.
• Give you a range of warm-ups and exercises to get the best from your voice by practice.
• Take the mystery out of voice work by teaching you the anatomy and mechanics of your vocal production.
• Check that your breath and support are working to help you.
• Navigating and understanding your break.
• Work out pitching issues and ear training.
• Guide you in exploring timbre and resonance, texture and colour, by looking at how you can place and use your voice in different ways.
• Show you how to listen to your voice and feel what your body and your ears are telling you about your vocalizations.
• Give you what you need to self-check vocal issues and correct them, using theory in practical ways.
• Guide you in taking your repertoire apart to find your ideal interpretation – applying technique to navigate tricky bits, choosing appropriate tone and colour, refining your intention and meaning to make your story-telling clear.
Maybe you feel you can't sing a single note?
We can change that. If you really want to sing, then we will find a way.
​
Do you have a kick-ass voice and want to do more?
We will hone and polish your voice just the way you want it, and we will perfect your repertoire.
Your sessions will be built around your voice. I don’t subscribe to any one-size-fits-all notion, especially where our voices are concerned. Just as we all differ in our needs, abilities, moods and preferences, so it is with singing.
Whatever you put your voice to, regular one-to-one sessions help you get to really know and understand your voice. If you don't feel I'm the right person for you, I still encourage you to find someone who is.
Lessons are available in person and via Zoom.
How I've helped other students
• Getting off the ground, and finding that there is, in fact, a singing voice in there.
• Training ear and voice in matching pitch.
• Changing the perceptions of those who feel tone deaf.
• Confidence and technique for participation in community choirs.
• Making demos for voice-over and continuity announcement work.
• Preparing repertoire for stage productions (solo and chorus).
• Preparing for college entrance auditions.
• Working across genres such as pop, musical theatre, baroque aria, rock, folk, reggae.
In 2021 I took Vocal Health Education's Vocal Health First Aid course because most voice teachers are the first people who singers might present voice health issues to and we need to know when we can continue working, when to rest a voice, to see a GP, or maybe even seek counselling for performance anxiety. Our voice isn't just what happens in our larynx--it comes from the whole human.
Just so that you know
• You don't have to have sung 'properly' before, or even at all!
• I teach from my home in Penzance, and there are two flights of steps up to my flat; unfortunately, there is no disabled access.
• I teach from 10:30 to 16:00 on Mondays and Thursdays; and 10:30 to 19:00, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
• Sessions are £32 per hour. If you have regular lessons I will give you a discount.
• So that you don’t get charged for missed sessions, please let me know not fewer than two days before the day of your booking.
• Singing is brilliant!