Billboard: The Climate is So Good for Singer-Songwriters

An article in Billboard Magazine caught my attention. The article talks about a parade of guitar-toting male troubadours who have climbed, slowly and sensitively, on to pop radio, with acoustic singles over the last 12-15 months.

And they include James Arthur's "Say You Won't Let Go" to Niall Horan's "Slow Hands".

Described in the article as, “strum-happy tracks, which tend to be subdued even while expressing desire or angst, also offer the opposite of rap's buoyant energy. (Additionally, their lethargy separates this recent period of acoustic popularity from a similar surge that took place in 2012 and 2013, when the Lumineers and Mumford & Sons scored hits with songs meant to inspire arena clap-alongs.) But they continue to get airwave play.”

"Ed Sheeran really led the way for this," says Nadine Santos, Director of Programming for Music Choice, which controls audio content for cable TV subscribers. "He had the same sound that came off so adult contemporary, but you went to his shows and saw 12-year-old girls. Everyone picked up on that, and this year you saw a lot more of it."

I have to say, this quite excites me. I feel a sense of déjà vu with this one. Cos I’ve just released an acoustic EP myself—just for the heck of it—but who knows where it’ll end up. If demand for acoustic continues to grow, the future certainly looks bright for contemporary acoustic pieces. Read the full Billboard article Return of the Top 40 Troubadour: How Singer-Songwriters Reclaimed Pop Radio.

A couple of weeks prior to the release of my memoirs 101 Letters from a Vocal Coach, I released an acoustic pop EP titled Twisted, containing an eclectic mix of my acoustic recordings from 2010 to 2017. Distributed by London-based Africori, Twisted is now available on all major download/stream platforms: iTunes, Apple Music, Deezer, Google Play, Amazon, Akazoo and Spotify. Download/Stream Twisted EP Here!

And would you like to follow the acoustic trail yourself? You'll find plenty of vocal warm-up tips and piano scales audio tapes in my new book 101 Letters from a Vocal Coach, now available in paperback for a WHOPPING 25% DISCOUNT here!

You are the Instrument, Learn to Sing Like a Pro!

JOETT — Vocal Coach

Personalized Skype Lessons

Private Singing Lessons

Is your Deodorant Spray Affecting Your Throat?

Warren Wong

I know, the image on here looks a wee bit over the top, but I thought it would grab your attention.  

I get all sorts of complaints from singers looking for solutions to issues relating to throat irritation. This one actually is a problem I face myself.

Aerosol spray deodorants do not sit well with me. In fact, quite a few brands do irritate my throat, getting to a point where I actually experience rather weird spasms that almost feel as though someone is pouring acid down my throat.

And so I can only use underarm deodorant stick. Ironically, I don’t have a problem with cologne.

The purpose of this article therefore is rather simple. If you are sensing throat irritation and you cannot figure out what is bringing this on, if you’re using a deodorant spray, try switching to a deodorant stick for several days and see if it stops. If your problem is gone, it means your throat irritation is caused by your deodorant spray.

You’ll find tons of helpful tips and articles for singers in my new book 101 Letters from a Vocal Coach, now available in paperback from Lulu for a WHOPPING 25% DISCOUNT… and SOON coming to Amazon and Barnes & Noble.


You are the Instrument, Learn to Sing Like a Pro!


JOETT — Vocal Coach
Personalized Skype Lessons
Private Singing Lessons

Download/Stream my brand new acoustic pop EP Twisted now available on iTunes, Apple Music, Google Play, Amazon, Akazoo, Spotify. Click here! 

How Much of the Body Is Water and its Significance for Singers

Izzy Gerosa

Have you ever wondered how much water we have in our body? Well, the amount of water does vary, depending on the organ in question. Blood plasma in particular, contains much of the water (20% of the body's total).

According to a study performed by H.H. Mitchell, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the amount of water in the human heart and brain is 73%, the lungs are 83%, muscles and kidneys are 79%, the skin is 64%, and the bones are around 31%.

Therefore, the overall amount of water in the human body ranges from 50-75%,

And water serves multiple purposes. Water is the primary building block of cells. It acts as an insulator that regulates internal body temperature, partly because water has a high specific heat, and the body uses perspiration and respiration to regulate temperature.

Needless to say, in order for the body to metabolize proteins and carbohydrates from food, water is needed. It is the primary component of saliva, used to digest carbohydrates and aid in swallowing food.

Water lubricates joints and also insulates the brain, spinal cord, organs, and fetus. It acts as a shock absorber. And last but not least, water is used to flush waste and toxins from the body via urine.

That is the important role water plays in our body. So you can imagine how beneficial this is for our overall wellbeing, not to mention the vocal folds—and thereby our voice!

You’ll find tons of helpful tips and articles for singers in my new book 101 Letters from a Vocal Coach, now available in paperback from Lulu for a WHOPPING 25% DISCOUNT!! COMING SOON to Amazon and Barnes & Noble.


You are the Instrument, Learn to Sing Like a Pro!


JOETT — Vocal Coach
Personalized Skype Lessons

Download/Stream my brand new acoustic pop EP Twisted now available on iTunes, Apple Music, Google Play, Amazon, Akazoo, Spotify. Click here! 

How to Spot the Fake Free Online Singing Lessons for Beginners

For those of you looking to find free online singing lessons, I want to go over a couple of things to help you find a plan that works. In this short article, I’ll want to help you get smart.

First of all, beware of the word free. There is no such thing as free. Most vocal instructors out there will give you nothing for free. Yes, you might get a couple of free download tapes and videos for free, but those are only teasers to entice you into buying the full product.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not knocking anybody here. I’m only stating the obvious. So forget about the freebies, because they don’t exist.

Now let me show you how to get smart to get what you want.

If you want to find free online singing lessons for beginners, you’ll want to find, at the very list, a vocal coach who isn’t trying to get you to sign up for their email list outright, using the free offer as a carrot to get you to subscribe. They’re trying to sell you something. Period. And I wouldn't hold that against them. They've got to make a living too, right?

The smart thing to do is to find a collection of products that offer something substantial PLUS backend support: like email, WhatsApp, Viber, Mobile visibly on display. This would tell you one thing: that they’re real and accessible.

And this is the reason why I decided to publish a book and to include with it vocal training exercises to help you get started with voice training and also, to motivate you to keep training. It isn’t entirely free. Of course not! But for what you get, it is extremely affordable. And it's a tangible product. One you can touch, feel and open anytime you want.

My new book 101 Letters from a Vocal Coach is now available in paperback for a WHOPPING 25% DISCOUNT here!

You are the Instrument, Learn to Sing Like a Pro!


JOETT — Vocal Coach
Personalized Skype Lessons

Download/Stream my brand new acoustic pop EP Twisted now available on iTunes, Apple Music, Google Play, Amazon, Akazoo, Spotify. Click here! 

Diary of a Vocal Coach: Pre-recording Studio Session Vocal Warm-up

I received a call from one of my pupils the other day, mind you, this happens quite a lot nowadays; who wanted to simply pop by my studio for a vocal warm-up before a recording session that very afternoon. He had a beautiful song he wanted to record, and his voice was holding up really well.

He only wanted to get the voice prepared and ready for the recording session. Which is what I always advise my pupils--get a vocal warm-up! When your voice is warmed up prior to a studio recording session, it tremendously improves your performance in the booth.

So I got on the piano to run him through a combination of scales, whilst being very attentive not to overwork his voice. A 30-minute vocal warm-up is all he required to get him good and ready.

So the next time you’re headed out to a recording studio, remember to warm-up your voice. You'll find plenty of vocal warm-up tips and piano scales audio tapes in my new book 101 Letters from a Vocal Coach, now available in paperback for a WHOPPING 25% DISCOUNT here!

Hope to see you soon!

You are the Instrument, Learn to Sing Like a Pro!


JOETT — Vocal Coach
Personalized Skype Lessons

Download/Stream my brand new acoustic pop EP Twisted now available on iTunes, Apple Music, Google Play, Amazon, Akazoo, Spotify. Click here! 

101 Letters from a Vocal Coach by JOETT Goes to Paperback

It has been a rather hectic couple of months. First, I had to work around the clock with the pagination of my new book and the artwork and design—which, I cleverly outsourced to India. And once that was all done I had to get back into the manuscript to do some more proofreading and editing.

A Windows Document expert in India helped me out with conforming manuscript to publisher’s template. Tons of back and forth work, but we got it all sorted in the end. And then I got to publish the eBook. At last!

But hey, I needed this book available in paperback also. So, back to the manuscript one more time; AND I had to hire another designer (the original designer of the book cover was messing me about. I had to ditch her!). Luckily, this new designer was incredibly amazing.

Today, we spent a couple of hours working on inserting final content and conforming book design to publisher’s template. And I’m glad to announce that, this very day, my paperback has hit the Lulu bookstore. I couldn’t be happier.

I need to now sit down to write a thousand short articles for my blog, to provide helpful content to all my wonderful readers and to promote the book.

You can now purchase my new book 101 Letters from a Vocal Coach in paperback for a WHOPPING 25% DISCOUNT here!

Hope to see you soon!

You are the instrument, learn to sing like a pro!

JOETT — Vocal Coach

Personalized Skype Lessons 

Download/Stream my brand new acoustic pop EP Twisted now available on iTunes, Apple Music, Google Play, Amazon, Akazoo, Spotify. Click here! 

Memoirs of a Vocal Coach Published In New Book

{Press Release} JOETT, an appointed Juror, a member of the AFRIMA Academy of Voters representing Eastern Africa (Tanzania), and an ASCAP singer-songwriter; newspaper columnist and celebrated vocal coach from Tanzania, releases 101 Letters from a Vocal Coach via United States online bookstore platform Lulu.

Primarily created to chronicle the life and vocational challenges of a vocal coach, this fascinating book began life as a column in Tanzania’s Business Times Newspaper, and quickly grew into a must-have resource for information for singers; as it cataloged real-life scenarios that provided credible content offering solutions emanating from a real voice studio.

As it did in the newspaper column, this book offers links to audio and video content documented inside the studio. In essence, you get a three dimensional view of the workings of a voice studio; its pupils; and case studies that backup the steps taken to solve issues relating to voice training: steps that also serve as an eye-opener for anyone that wants to study voice in a more informal manner, oftentimes on a shoe-string-budget from the comfort of their own home.

Also included with this unique book are your very own vocal exercises audio files for home-learning, aptly entitled Joett Vocal Drills Vol. 1-7.

The purpose of these memoirs, therefore, is to give readers an insider’s view and knowledge-base into the study of voice through the journey of others, with helpful tips and articles for singers being the intrinsic value and thrust of this publication. Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Lulu bookstore links to the paperback are here. (You'll find the link to the eBook here).

A couple of weeks prior to the release of his memoirs 101 Letters from a Vocal Coach, Joett released an acoustic pop EP titled Twisted, containing an eclectic mix of his acoustic recordings from 2010 to 2017. Distributed by London-based Africori, Twisted is now available on all major download/stream platforms: iTunes, Apple Music, Deezer, Google Play, Amazon, Akazoo and Spotify. Download/Stream Twisted EP Here!

For those of you based on the African continent, please read 3 Simple Steps to Purchasing Online, the Book "101 Letters from a Vocal Coach" in Paperback from Africa.


Joett Music Publishing

101 Letters from a Vocal Coach by JOETT Published on Lulu

If anything, working as a vocal coach over the years has given me a far deeper understanding of the human voice. (Purchase my book on Lulu).

Whenever I’m dealing with voice issues that my students are going through and trying to solve their problems—as everybody is different—I almost always pick up yet another solution to seemingly insurmountable difficulties and challenges singing throws at you.

“101 Letters from a Vocal Coach” is intended to serve as a resource you can return to again and again, should you run into any difficulties with your singing. Contained herein is a fountain of articles and knowledge that you can draw inspiration and guidance from all year round.

From Popular Newspaper Column to Book 

I wanted to write a book because I felt the need to document what was happening in my voice studio on a daily basis. There was a wealth of amazing real-life content emanating from my studio that I was completely certain would be of great help to singers. I figured, if only I got all of these incredible stories to print, they would be of tremendous help to thousands of people.

Obviously, I blogged regularly, but it wasn’t nearly enough to generate content for a book. And so I thought, if ever I were to get this book project off the ground, quintessentially, a newspaper column would compel me to write. The pressure to deliver articles for my weekly column meant keeping up with submission deadlines, and so that alone, I reasoned, would spur me on.

Case Studies: Audio and Video Files 

The purpose of these memoirs, therefore, is to give readers an insider’s view and knowledge-base into the study of voice through the journey of others, with helpful tips and articles for singers being the intrinsic value and thrust of this publication.

And so as it did in the newspaper column, this book offers links to audio and video content documented inside my voice studio. In essence, you get a three dimensional view of the workings of a voice studio; its pupils; and case studies that backup the steps taken to solve issues relating to voice training: steps that also serve as eye-opener for anyone that wants to study voice in a more informal manner, oftentimes on a shoe-string-budget from the comfort of their own home.

Also included with this unique book are your very own vocal exercises audio files for home-learning, aptly entitled Joett Vocal Drills Vol. 1-7. You can now purchase both my eBook and paperback 101 Letters from a Vocal Coach here! (You'll find a link to the eBook bottom right of sales page).

Acoustic EP - Twisted

I needed something relevant to tie-in with the book release, and I felt an acoustic EP would be the perfect fit. Twisted is a cross-genre pop-folk EP with an eclectic mix of my acoustic recordings from 2010 to 2017, details of which you’ll find in my press release ASCAP Songwriter Releases Twisted Acoustic EP on Africori. 

You are the Instrument, Learn to Sing Like a pro!


JOETT — Vocal Coach
Personalized Skype Lessons 

Download/Stream the brand new acoustic pop EP Twisted by JOETT, now available on iTunes, Apple Music, Google Play, Amazon, Akazoo, Spotify. Click here!