Enjoy the incredible benefit of vocal rest after a bout with the flu

Adi Goldstein

I received a message from one of my online pupils the other day, and the complaint was that their voice wasn’t exactly up to scratch 'in training' after a bout with the flu.

He said that his voice wasn’t as connected as before. And so I quickly recommended that he took some more rest!

Speaking of the flu: I’d had a bit of an episode myself that very same week and although I’d managed to cull it with my ginger and honey concoction in no time at all, I still felt that my voice needed more rest, still. And so I gave myself a week off the scales.

It made a world of difference. When I got back in training yesterday, it was smooth sailing from start to finish—all invigorated and resonating.

So, if you’ve had an episode with the flu, cancel that recording session if you had one; and cancel the vocal exercises. Get some rest. You’ll be glad you did.

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 Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Lulu.

If you like my article, do me a HUGE favor and Share this blog post with others by clicking the Social Links below. And if you want to consider private lessons via Skype, you'll find more information here!

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


JOETT - Vocal Coach & Author:
“101 Letters from a Vocal Coach”

How to get custom-made vocal exercises to improve your singing

When you want to be able to do your voice training from the comfort of your own home when you don’t have a tutor present, the absolute best way to get this done is to have your piano scales custom-made for you by your vocal coach.

I frequently record my sessions with pupils and so I do know that this method works.

In today’s article, I’ll show you how you too, can go down the custom-made vocal exercises path to outstanding results.

When in session with a pupil inside my voice studio, I would generally run them through extensive vocal exercises, all of which are tailored to their individual ability and their specific needs.

And so, whilst we’re in session, I would intermittently record the runs. This is later delivered to their inbox for use in home learning. And likewise, even when working remotely, when I’ve worked with a pupil I become familiar with their range and what works for them in training, and so I’m able to create vocal exercises tailored to them, which I then mail off to them.

If you’d like me to create some vocal exercise scales for you, and if you’re not a student of mine, the best place to start if you don’t live in Dar es salaam, would be with a free half hour session with me on Skype, which will tell me more about your 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 Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Lulu.

If you like my article, do me a HUGE favor and Share this blog post with others by clicking the Social Links below. And if you want to consider private lessons via Skype, you'll find more information here!

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

JOETT - Vocal Coach & Author:
“101 Letters from a Vocal Coach”

The Process of Eliminating the Bad Singing Habits Explained

I’ve had this conversation with a lot of my pupils time and time again. When they first step into my studio, what we set out to achieve first and foremost, is to eliminate all of the bad singing habits they have amassed for themselves up to this point. And so quintessentially, it is a process of elimination.

I will throw in a couple of examples.

If your breathing pattern doesn’t allow you to sustain a note, in other words you’re always running out of breath and your voice isn't balanced and tends to fall apart, then that will need to be fixed. In my lessons, not only do we begin each lesson with a breathing exercise, you are trained to breathe correctly through the exercises as well. It is part and parcel of the learning process.

If you have a tendency to put too much weight on your throat thereby limiting your range, again, we eliminate this using speech-level singing technique with the exercises. And there are so many different approaches I would use, depending on the vocal issues at hand. 

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 Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Lulu.

If you like my article, do me a HUGE favor and Share this blog post with others by clicking the Social Links below. And if you want to consider private lessons via Skype, you'll find more information here!

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


JOETT - Vocal Coach & Author:
“101 Letters from a Vocal Coach”

I Want to Order a Bunch of Books for Tanzania. Interested?

As you will have noticed, my new book is not available anywhere in Tanzania. Not even from my own studio in Dar es salaam.

And I do have my reasons.

One of which is, sadly, you stock a bookstore like A Novel Idea on consignment; they sell your product and they'll keep the money. All of it! I have CDs from 2011 I haven't been paid a single dime for... and they have sold the entire stock. And when you ask, they spin you a lot of endless yarns about 'the accountant'. Amazing isn't it?

So: I have a couple of author copies in my studio and that’s it! They're not for sale. They're simply for display. If someone wants to purchase my book, they’ll have to place an order in America to receive the product by regular post.

However, I have decided, that if you would like to be able to place your orders for my book 101 Letters from a Vocal Coach without having to buy online, I can take your orders directly from you with deliveries in 2 to 3 weeks.

So, if you are interested in making a local purchase, please feel free to contact me.

For those of you that want to buy online directly, please go to Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Lulu. The latter is more universal in that, they process orders from all over the world—unlike Amazon who are more territorial.

If you like my post and you think it could be of help to a friend, do me a HUGE favor and Share this blog post with others by clicking the Social Links below.


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


JOETT - Vocal Coach & Author:
“101 Letters from a Vocal Coach”

Are You Pushing Your High Notes through Your Nose? Here's How to Spot and Correct Off-Track Vocal Trajectory

Biruk Masresha

I was watching a video clip of someone on Instagram. The voice sounded alright, but when they pushed the higher notes into the nasal cavity I thought, oops! What’s going on there?

The thing is, if your voice as you ascend into your higher register begins to change trajectory and heads towards your nasal cavity, then there is a problem. Because now you will be trying to take it up via the nose—and hence your tone will be, well—nasal.

Here’s how to ensure that you vocal-train correctly to cancel out the tendency to push your voice into your nose. On the three-tone piano scales which come with my book 101 letters from a Vocal Coach, I’m going to suggest you close your mouth, grit your teeth and simply hum your scales. Another really good alternative is to grit your teeth, part your lips to produce a pharyngeal 'NG' sound through your scales.

In both vocal exercise alternatives you'll feel a sensation in front of your face and the tone will sort of begin to push into your head rather than up your nose. It is an incredibly powerful sensation and it will correct your vocal posture.

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 Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Lulu.

If you like my article, do me a HUGE favor and Share this blog post with others by clicking the Social Links below. And if you want to consider private lessons via Skype, you'll find more information here!

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


JOETT - Vocal Coach & Author:
“101 Letters from a Vocal Coach”

Joett Voice Studio: Utaratibu wa Zoezi la Tathmini ya Sauti

TATHMINI YA SAUTI YAKO

Utaratibu wa zoezi hili la tathmini ya sauti ni kwa wale ambao bado hawajafika kuniona studio kwa tathmini tu.

Kwa wale ambao tayari wamesha fanyiwa tathmini na kupewa muongozo, hatua ifuatayo ni aidha kuendelea na mazoezi ya sauti nilio pandisha Mkito.com au kufanya booking ya kuanza madarasa studio. Muongozo na programu zote zipo hapa.

Madhumuni ya Assessment ni kwamba, kabla haujaanza mafunzo ya ana kwa ana, nakukaribisha uje studio kwa dakika 30 tu niskie sauti yako, na vile vile nikupitishe kwenye mazoezi kadhaa kwenye kinanda ili niijue sauti yako na changamoto zako za kurekebisha.

Sasa nafanya assessments—yaani tathmini ya sauti, kwa wanafunzi wanaotaka kujiunga na madarasa yangu ya masaa 10—siku za Jumatatu hadi Jumamosi kwa nusu saa bila gharama yeyote.

Ni bure, lakini kwa mihadi maalum ya muda wa assessment. Ili kupata nafasi ya assessment, tafadhali wasiliana na mimi kwa njia ya simu au kupitia WhatsApp.



JOETT - Vocal Coach & Author:
“101 Letters from a Vocal Coach”

How to Create the Next Generation of Singers through Private Tuition for Schools, Revealed in New Book

Over the years, I have given private vocal coaching to many pupils from the International School Of Tanganyika and French School in Dar es salaam as an extracurricular activity. But what this has made me realize is that, there are a lot of parents out there that want to put their potentially talented kids into private tuition to learn to sing, something most schools do not provide.

And if I’m honest, even if they did, if you really want to learn to sing the only way to get true results is to work with a vocal coach one-on-one. And I can’t see that happening in a classroom setting, with loads of other pupils attending the same lesson.

Voice lessons require individual attention. After all, you are training both your ear and your voice; and most importantly, when it comes to the voice, everybody is different.

If everybody is training inside the same room all at the same time, something is bound to go amiss. I expound a lot more on this in my new book 101 Letters from a Vocal Coach now available in paperback from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Lulu.

If you like my article, do me a HUGE favor and Share this blog post with others by clicking the Social Links below. And if you want to consider private lessons via Skype from wherever you are on the African continent (or the world), you'll find more information here!

For more on what drove me to write a book on singing, read my interview with one of Africa's premier music platforms Music In Africa, here!

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


JOETT - Vocal Coach & Author:
“101 Letters from a Vocal Coach”

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