If you have wondered how to get onto a voice training program that’ll bring about the quickest results possible, then in this short article you’ll find links to plenty of free voice training tips and options to my private lessons.
My latest vocal warm-up program, designed for pre-stage and pre-studio, is quite versatile... in that anyone that wants a quick voice training program for whatever reason, can turn to. Read my article Vocals Quick Fix Africa Project: Pre-Studio Recording & LIVE Gigs
If you like this article, please be so kind as to share on your social media using the links below. AND please make sure you tune in to Nam Radio for your Daily Dose Of African Music!
Nam Radio Local is an all African music channel that gives power to the upcoming African artist by creating a platform for those typically lacking media access.
Nam Radio Local aims to reduce social exclusion among emerging African artists by creating awareness of their needs through a local-abroad focus to enable them gain international recognition.
Whilst it is perceived that local talent is wasted since these local potential artists lack resources, Nam Radio Local aims therefore to provide training that will equip artists with skills and knowledge to attract their recognition by mainstream platforms.
Music Submission
If you are a Namibian artist, you can complete a form online to submit your music and press kit to Nam Radio Local here!
Vocals Quick Fix Africa Project
In association with Nam Radio Local, we proudly present Vocals Quick Fix Africa to provide training that will equip artists with skills and knowledge to attract their recognition by mainstream platforms.
We've created something that is tailored to the mindset of African singers, a program that doesn’t involve a lot of time and requires absolutely no long-term commitment from the artist whatsoever.
It is what it is. A ‘Vocals Quick Fix’ for the job at hand. Plain and simple! This, I feel, should work well for Africa. You'll find out more about this program here!
If you’re having difficulty interpreting a song and in delivering your vocals in your own inimitable style without trying to sound like somebody else, then this article will offer tips and guidance on how to be your true unique self.
Just the other day, one of my online pupils recorded a couple of covers on his phone—including a Michael Jackson number—and sent them to me. Now, what struck me as rather odd was how he tried so hard to sound like somebody else. It’s like suddenly, he had lost his own identity.
This is especially common nowadays. But the more you entertain the misguided notion that you have to sound like someone else, the more difficult it gets to wriggle out of it. You’re going to be amazed to find just how powerful singing in your own voice is. And it isn’t difficult at all when you allow your own emotion and style to shine through.
The idea behind the best delivery of a song is to breathe new life into it, and not to copy every emotion and all manner of affected tone production to emulate someone else’s rendition.
To illustrate my point, and this is exactly what I passed on to my pupil on this matter, I’d like you to watch Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, Elton John and Gladys Knight perform “That’s What Friends Are For” to see how each artist owns the song in their own unique voice and distinctive style.
If you’re the kind of singer that wants to be able to interpret a song—or shall we say, do it your way—then there’s no better time than now to express yourself in music in the true sense of the word. You’ll find plenty more tips and voice training modules in my book 101 Letters from a Vocal Coach.
If you like this article, please be so kind as to share on your social media using the links below. AND please make sure you tune in to Nam Radio for your Daily Dose Of African Music!
And for those of you who downloaded my audio product from Mkito.com, you'll be in possession of the vocal drills but what you don't have are some additional instructions on how to make the most of my home-learning vocal training audio programs.
The following instructional audio tape will offer tips on how to expand your range into the vowels AEIOU.
Furthermore, I provide FREE online support and tons of videos straight out of my classroom on my Telegram Channel here (opens into new window), wherein you’ll also find a link to join my Telegram group Joett Voice Studio. (You'll need to first download the app).
If you like this article, please be so kind as to share on your social media using the links below.
In association with Nam Radio Local, an all African music channel that gives power to the upcoming African artist by creating a platform for those typically lacking media access, we proudly present Vocals Quick Fix Africa to provide training that will equip artists with skills and knowledge to attract their recognition by mainstream platforms.
When news of Nigerian artist Tekno surfaced, regarding what they alluded to being the collapse of his voice box, I thought the time had come to at the very least, try to fix an endemic problem afflicting African singers.
Shouting and putting weight on your throat when you sing damages the vocal folds. And this is how Tekno damaged his voice.
From my eight years experience as a voice coach in East Africa, I have come to realize that voice training—unlike with our friends in the West—is not deeply rooted in African culture and that the way around the inability to deliver a song with dynamic range, resonance and control has led to the auto tune conveniently come to the rescue. And so—sadly, listen to almost any mainstream song by an African artist and you’ll find the excesses of auto-tune use.
It’s as though the entire industry, is built on it.
But it is never too late to begin to fix the problem.
Vocal rebalancing that ultimately frees the singer from ‘strain and pain’ takes consistent training and commitment, something I find lacking in the attitudes of many African singers—especially the more established ones.
On that note, I have decided to create and make available to the struggling vocalist, a Vocals Quick Fix solution for African singers. What this means is that an artiste can get a pre-studio recording session vocal warm-up and similarly, before a live gig.
It requires no long-term commitment and very little effort, but in 30 to 40 minutes it will adequately prepare the voice for a recording session or a live concert.
I did this with Jux on Vanessa Mdee’s opening night to her In Love & Money Tour in Mwanza, Tanzania.
After giving Vanessa a vocal warm-up, I worked with Jux for about forty minutes. When he took to the stage a couple of hours later, Vanessa—who has been my student since 2011—looked at me in shock backstage and asked, “What the hell have you done with his voice? I’ve never heard him sing like that. He is SO opened up!”
What I’m trying to say is, rebalancing the voice for a gig OR for a recording session is something that can be done in just a few minutes, but to maintain that level of vocal delivery and to further develop your range and vocal technique, you’ll need regular training.
Jux never came back for more voice lessons, which is quite normal with African singers, always in a hurry to get that next record out and to go gigging to rake in the cash. The more established artists seem under the impression that they don’t need to train. But when they do train, as did Jux that one occasion, they get to see the immediate benefit.
When Jux came off the stage that night I asked him, “so how did it feel?” And he replied with a really broad smile, “Joett, it was SO easy. Thank you SO much!”
I have created something that is tailored to the mindset of African singers, a program that doesn’t involve a lot of time and requires absolutely no long-term commitment from the artist whatsoever. It is what it is. A ‘Vocals Quick Fix’ for the job at hand. Plain and simple! This, I feel, should work well for Africa. And to give you a better idea, below is a Before & After video you MUST watch.
How It Works
I’ll want to liaise with recording studios and artist management anywhere in Africa. My modus operandi is pretty simple. If you have an artist going into the recording studio and they need help getting their vocals in order, I will gladly work with them for up to an hour prior to the recording session.
And in the case of the live gig set—similarly, I will prepare them for it right before they hit the stage.
Ideally, whether we do this via Skype or I work with you in your country and city, you have the option to book a four-hour program so as to get even MORE value for YOUR money!
The four hours will be evenly spread into an hour-a-day slots, and can be scheduled to begin three days before the recording session, with the fourth and final hour taking place on the day of the recording session OR day of the gig, as it were.
Concert Tour Voice Coaching
It is very common for major acts in Europe and North America to travel with a voice coach on tour. If you are an African artiste or band going on a concert tour and you would like to travel with your very own personal voice coach, look no further, I’d be more than happy to join your entourage. Please ask your management to discuss with me the finer details, options, and financial implication via correspondence (contact info in #VocalsQuickFix banner above).
How to Setup for Skype Voice Lessons with Joett
Send me your email address. I will want to send you some working files.
Download Skype to your phone.
Add my Skype ID tojona so we can talk for free Skype to Skype.
When you receive my sound files, make sure you burn mp3 to cd to playback on sound system like the 'home theater' with speakers. If using a laptop or PC it needs to be connected to home theater speakers (or similar).
When you come on the Skype call make sure everything is ready: i.e. your music system is setup and the sound files are ready for use. Also ensure your email is connected for easy delivery of additional working files to your inbox during the session. Also, I will create and record 2 minute scales on piano during the call and transmit that through Skype chat window.
FEES: Please send inquiry via WhatsApp (contact info in #VocalsQuickFix banner above).
If you have been searching for vocal exercises for singers to increase range, then you will find this particular program very useful. I had created this program for the Tanzanian Swahili-speaking market, but even if you do not speak Swahili you’ll understand what to do by simply following the demonstrations that precede each run. However, there’s a breathing exercise labeled Zoezi La Pumzi included here, that gives instruction in both English and Swahili; and you’ll find video demonstration on how to do the lip rolls and tongue trills on my Facebook page here.
Please view the video on top of this page (illustration in English) for guidance on how to log-in to download Joett Vocal Drills Vol. 1-7 from Mkito.com. If you're outside Tanzania, all major credit/debit cards are accepted on the Mkito platform.
Joett Vocal Drills Vol. 1-4 is a set of vocal exercises for singers to increase range, the duration of which is approximately 30 minutes, and they will improve and develop the quality of your voice AND increase your range very quickly with consistent training.
Furthermore, I provide FREE online support and tons of videos straight out of my classroom on my Telegram Channel here, wherein you’ll also find a link to join my Telegram group Joett Voice Studio. (You'll need to first download the app).
Joett Vocal Drills Vol. 5-7 is a guitar driven set of riffs for singers set to the song Color Me Beautiful from my acoustic pop EP Twisted, which will help you to begin applying your training to delivering a song. Only attempt this set of exercises several weeks down the line, once you’ve had sufficient training on Volumes 1-4. Just for reference, Vol. 6 is in a lowered key.
And so if you wanted vocal exercises for singers to increase your range, my prerecorded piano scales Vol. 1-4 are a must-have, and for more handy tips in paperback please grab a copy of my new book 101 Letters from a Vocal Coach, available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Lulu.
I can also recommend that you purchase the voice training product Superior Singing Method—which I frequently use in my classes—that comes in male and female range prerecorded tapes. Excellent for home use!
And before you go, please spare a moment to take a look at the Before & After video clip of my student Japhy Ross. His musical journey and growth with me as his tutor has been outstanding, so much so that I felt I needed to take this to Africa. And so I partnered up with Namibia's Nam Radio to create Talent Showcase Africa. I'm so excited and passionate about this new project as it will give me the opportunity to work with talent right across the African continent.
If you like this article, please be so kind as to share on your social media using the links below. And wherever you are in the world, you can learn to sing via Skype. You'll find information on my Personalized Skype Lessons here. You are the Instrument, Learn to Sing Like a Pro!
Much as you might want to just get up and hit the recording studio, rehearsal session, or the stage for that matter and hope your voice will warm-up during the session as you went along, the truth of the matter is, preparing your voice for singing beforehand will make a world of difference in the way you feel and certainly, in the way you sound. You’ll find singing easy and more comfortable for you.
Ideally, a quick vocal warm-up for at least 20 minutes prior to any of the aforementioned sessions should suffice. Do anything from lip rolls to humming… you can watch some examples on my Facebook page here.
I can also recommend that you purchase the voice training product Superior Singing Method, that comes in male and female range prerecorded tapes. Excellent for home use!
If you like this article, please be so kind as to share on your social media using the links below.
