Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Kujifunza Kuimba Kwa Kupiga Makelele Hakusaidii Lolote


Katika kazi yangu ya kufundisha kuimba, nimekutana na waimbaji wengi hapa bongo ambao hapo awali, kabla ya kukutana na mimi, walikua wana desturi ya kujifunza kuimba kwa kupiga makelele. Nimepata ripoti ya kua kuna baadhi ya kwaya ambazo hushauri wanakwaya wao kupiga kelele hadi siku ifuatayo wanakuta sauti zimakauka.

Nimepata ripoti kuhusiana na vijana wa bongo flava wanavokwenda kwenye ufukwe wa bahari kufanya mazoezi ya kuimba kwa kupiga makelele. Sii makosa yao. Kwani asiejue atafanya lolote lile analoambiwa kwa kuamini kwamba hicho kitendo kitamsaidia kua muimbaji mzuri zaidi. Hivyo ndivo jinsi wanaadamu tulivo.

Kwa mantik hiyo basi, ningependa kutoa ushauri wangu hapa, kwamba huo mwenendo potovu husababisha uharibifu wa sauti, na usipoangalia, unaweza ukawacha kuimba kabisa kwasababu kunakiwango cha uharibifu ambacho hakiwezi kurekebishika. Kwa maana ukisha fikia kiwango hicho, sahau habari za kuimba. Hutakua na sauti tena.

Ni hivi: Sauti, ili kuendana na muziki wenye mpangilio maalum kupitia kinanda, guitar na kadhalika, inatakiwa kuweza kupanda na kushuka kirahisi na bila kelele za kuumiza koo. Na vilevile, hupaswa kua na melodi yakuvutia ambayo inaendana na muziki huo.

Sasa basi, ili kuweza kufika katika levo hiyo inabidi ujifunze kuimba kufuatana na funguo (ama key) za muziki kupitia, kwanza kabisa, chombo asilia cha muziki kijulikanacho kama kinanda. Kindanda kina panga sauti yako katika njia tofauti kupitia mazoezi maalum kwa ajili hiyo, kama vile arpeggios, octaves, chromatic scales, descending scales na kadhalika. Hiyo ndio misingi ya kuimba ambayo nimepangilia katika mazoezi ninayo toa, na vile vile kwenye CD yangu Jifunze Kuimba na Joett. Kama ungependa nikupe assessment ya sauti yako, tafadhali wasiliana na mimi. Assessment za nusu saa hufanyika katika studio yangu siku za Jumamosi, na ni bure kabisa.

Ili kuanza kupata mafunzo ya bure kupitia mtandao huu, soma Jifunze Kuimba: Umuhimu wa Kuelewa Madhumuni Ya Mazoezi, na pia utawaze ku-download mazoezi yangu maalum ya sauti.

Wewe ndio chombo halisi, jifunze kuimba kama pro!


JOETT

Vocal Coach & Author "Letters from a Vocal Coach"
Private Singing Lessons
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Sunday, April 7, 2013

Letters from a Vocal Coach: Jinsi ya Kuzingatia Swala la Pumzi

Mafunzo ya kuimba ni kitu muhimu sana katika kujiendeleza kama muimbaji,  kwasababu huraisisha uimbaji wako kwa kuwezesha sauti yako kuendana na funguo za kinanda katika levo zote. Lakini pamoja na hayo, pumzi pia ni swala nyeti ambalo ningepende kugusia hapa.

Pumzi hadimu ni sauti hafifu, kwenye upande wa kuimba. Hili ni tatizo linalowakabili watu wengi. Jinsi ya kuepukana na upungufu wa pumzi ni kujizoesha kupumua kabla ya kila note. Yaani kabla ya kila kipande cha shairi. Hakuna wimbo ulioatungwa moja kwa moja bila hata sehemu ya kupumua...sidhani. Kwahiyo, kila pahala penye sehemu ya kupumua, tumia hiyo fursa kupumua. Kupumua kuimba ni tofauti na pumzi la kuzungumza.

Ili kua napumzi ya kutosha kuimba unahitaji kujaza pumzi kwa haraka zaidi. Jinsi yake ni kama nilivoelekeza kwenye zoezi la kupumua kwenye CD yangu Jifunze Kuimba na Joett. Tanua mdomo taratibu huku ukivuta pumzi kupitia mdomoni mwako tu...kama unavyopiga miayo, na kujaza pumzi hilo kwenye maeneo ya tumbo lako. Zingatia hilo, na ufanye hivyo (kwa haraka) kila kabla ya note.

Wewe ndio chombo halisi, jifunze kuimba kama pro!



JOETT
Vocal Coach & Author
Letters from a Vocal Coach

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Letters from a Vocal Coach: How to Realign Your Vocal Placement

Whilst training a student who has struggled with voice placement issues for quite a while, I decided to write an article solely based on how I discovered the root of the problem and how I solved it. So yes, this, as it were, is a case study piece that may trigger a few alarm bells should you be experiencing a similar problem.

Do you feel a strain in your voice? Are you singing unnecessarily high and reaching the limits of your range and feeling desperately uncomfortable? Are you experiencing a sort of whiny, screechy tone coming from your voice and is there a nasal tone added to the list of vocal malfunction? Let’s correct your placement!

A strained whiny voice when singing just doesn’t sound right. It can be irritating, and I’m sure—if you listen to yourself well, you’ll realize something is amiss. People carry such baggage around them for years and I’ll tell you something, some habits are unbelievably difficult to ditch. You have to want to do this. I’ve seen so many people hanging on to their old habits. To become a better singer, you have to make a decision to change. I’ll show you a quick solution to realigning your vocal placement.

Go back to the voice you speak in. That’s the one area you could never go wrong. I’ve never heard anybody run into any of the above problems when they speak. So let’s get back to basics. Speak. Speak the line you want to sing, first. And then try singing that line in that same voice. If you’ve managed to wing it correctly thus far, your next step is to take it up a few octaves whilst ensuring that your placement, as in the way you’re well placed when you speak (no strain no pan), is right. If you do this correctly, you’ll be surprised how farther up the scale you can go with the same good placement and form. If you lose your balance, go back and start again.

Time and time again I’ve corrected, quite easily, students who couldn’t help but sing way above key, by simply asking them to stop and speak out the note instead. And then I would say… “Now, on that note, here comes the next key.” And miraculously, this little maneuver manages to realign their vocals in key. Don’t ask me why people shoot up to high octaves like that, it’s so endemic, one has to make a concerted effort (even under supervision) to correct this.

These are one of the many reasons one's placement would go wonky. That’s when the strained vocals and mangled tones become commonplace with you and leave you wondering WHY you’re not singing properly, comfortably, and enjoying the experience. Singing is meant to be fun and enjoyable. Not some arduous task that puts you in a position of wanting medical attention. Singing properly can’t be that difficult to achieve when you go back to basics. So in future, whenever you’re stuck, please bookmark this page and return to this article for guidance.

To find more handy singing tips and articles on this blog, run a search for Letters from a Vocal Coach and or Singing Lessons.

You are the instrument, learn to sing like a pro! BUY Learn to Sing with Joett CD Online from TripleClicks            

JOETT
Vocal Coach & Author
Letters from a Vocal Coach
 BUY Learn to Sing with Joett CD Online from TripleClicks            

Download Joett tracks from iTunes, Amazon MP3, TuneCore.
Buy Joett CDs from A Novel Idea Bookstores Dar, Zanzibar, Arusha.
Nationwide CD distribution via Joett Music (Airtel Money, TIGO Money, M-Pesa).
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Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Learn to Sing with Joett Vocal Training CD and Book PREVIEW


My comeback single I Could Never Live (Without Your Love) began life as a training program I gave my students back in 2010. One of my students said to me “this is such a beautiful song, why don’t you finish it off and record it?” Well, I took their advice and the next thing you know I was not only recording the single, I was also recording an entire training program around the song, the result of which is my Learn to Sing with Joett vocal training program on CD. What makes this program particularly unique AND useful, is that, unlike many vocal training programs on the market today, it is based on a song and requires you to do the scales within both a vowels and lyrical setting. One of the greatest challenges with teaching voice is that, the exercises prepare the voice, but when it comes to applying your newly acquired skills to singing a song, I find, students have difficulty in making that transition. This program is designed to bridge that gap. It kills two birds with one stone.

If anything, working as a vocal coach over the years has helped me understand the human voice better. 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. Letters from a Vocal Coach is intended to serve as a reference point 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. It’s very easy to regress in this business, you’ll be amazed. In an easy-to-understand fashion, I have compiled a collection of some of my best articles on singing. I’d like you to refer to these every now and again to help you along with your quest to becoming a better singer. Voice training alone doesn’t quite cut it. I’m almost certain you will fall back to your old ways at some point—at times, it happens to the best of us—so let these articles serve as a constant reminder. Call it your singers tip sheet if you like, but use these articles to keep you on the straight and narrow. You’ll be glad you did. Look out for release date of this voice training package, which will also include my CD single I Could Never Live (Without Your Love)... complete with lyrics and backing tracks to sing to. 

JOETT

Download Joett tracks from iTunes, Amazon MP3, TuneCore.
Buy Joett CDs from A Novel Idea Bookstores Dar, Zanzibar, Arusha.
Nationwide CD distribution via Joett Music (Airtel Money, TIGO Money, M-Pesa).
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Thursday, March 28, 2013

Tanzanian Boy Band 3G, and Joett's Vocal Training CD Coming Soon

This is me pictured with G Fullah, who is signed to my record label and is part of my new boy band 3G. It has been one of my busiest work stretches of late. I'd flown in my record producer Ken Kanyeria from Nairobi last Wednesday (he flew back yesterday), and worked pretty much flat out to complete the acoustic and voice recordings for the debut 3G single "Mrembo wa Kiafrika"...which I've now sent off to London where my UK producer Patrick Jonsson takes over. He will be mixing and mastering the acoustic track, and then he will remix the vocal tracks to a nu disco beat. I can't wait! Patrick is AMAZING.

And what's more, Ken, who'd worked with me on the vocal and acoustic guitar recordings to my comeback single I Could Never Live (Without Your Love) in 2010 and the Boogie remix in 2011, had been busy re-editing my soon-to-be-released-on-CD vocal training program Learn to Sing with Joett, with which I'm also releasing a singers handbook Letters from a Vocal Coach.

My comeback single I Could Never Live (Without Your Love) began life as a training program I gave my students back in 2010. One of my students said to me “this is such a beautiful song, why don’t you finish it off and record it?” Well, I took their advice and the next thing you know I was not only recording the single, I was also recording an entire training program around the song, the result of which is my Learn to Sing with Joett vocal training program on CD. Watch out for release date COMING SOON.

JOETT
BUY Learn to Sing with Joett CD Online from TripleClicks 

Download Joett tracks from iTunes, Amazon MP3, TuneCore.
Buy Joett CDs from A Novel Idea Bookstores Dar, Zanzibar, Arusha.
Nationwide CD distribution via Joett Music (Airtel Money, TIGO Money, M-Pesa).
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Friday, March 8, 2013

Down Memory Lane: A Closer Look At TIKISA In Pictures


Going down memory lane with these backstage photos from TIKISA Season 2. This is the lovely and extremely talented Helen Mangare from TIKISA Series 1, who has now joined our team of choreographers for Season 2.  And my gosh she lost so much weight on Season 1, and what's truly amazing is that she's kept it off into Season 2. The quickest way to lose lots of weight in no time at all is to DANCE DANCE DANCE!

I was running dance-into-shape classes at Nanasi studios at the time (during Season 1) and boy oh boy did I lose weight! What I'm seriously considering doing next is to create a dance-into-shape video. I'm sure that'll go down pretty well. The more fun it is to get into shape the better, I say.

And now take a look at the boys below. They all worked really hard to bring you some of the BEST entertainment on television ever.

Dancers Abeid (right) and Daniel (below right) took these pictures with me backstage. Talented kids. Daniel won the competition in the end. He is SO talented, it's unbelievable. He deserved to win. I'm sure he'll be joining our team of choreographers in Season 3. Coming up next (see below left): some of the lovely girls who lit up our television screens as they danced away to the Salsa, Rumba, Chacha, Mirenge, Tango. Standing far left is Daniel (Helen Mangare's dancing partner) from Season 1--who is also on the choreography team in Season 2; with Rehema, Suleiya and Gloria (far right).


And to my right, a picture of me and the dashing Brighton who after a wobbly start in Episode 1 seemed to give everybody a run for their money to emerge the 3rd winner with his dancing partner... the gorgeous Faiza.

(Left) Work work work. In a meeting with fellow judges Sauda Simba and Ali Baucha sat opposite me, and management discussing the finer details of the show--well what you don't get to see on telly LOL. And below, me on the judge panel with head choreographer Ian looking on.

We had so much fun on TIKISA. The entire team was great, the dancers were great. And yes, the audience in the auditorium who religiously attended each shoot WERE amazing. We couldn't have done it without them. And as for YOU viewers out there, you keep us motivated. Your love and support is immeasurable. Quite literally. Thank you so much. Hope to see you all next season!


JOETT

Download Joett tracks from iTunes, Amazon MP3, TuneCore.
Buy Joett CDs from A Novel Idea Bookstores Dar, Zanzibar, Arusha.
Nationwide CD distribution via Joett Music (Airtel Money, TIGO Money, M-Pesa).
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Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Letters from A Vocal Coach: How to Maintain a Healthy Throat

One of the most frequently asked questions my students throw at me is... "how do I look after my throat?" Well, I'm going to begin by telling you what you SHOULDN'T do, and then I'll fill you in on HOW to preserve your voice and what supplements to take to maintain a healthy throat.

DON'T smoke. DON'T take recreational drugs. DON'T booze excessively. It practically destroys the voice (Want proof to all of the above? Look at Whitney Houston towards the end of her life!). DON'T drink ice cold drinks. They interfere with the vocal chords. DON'T scream and shout when you're out on the town partying. You'll have lost your voice the next day and if you don't know how to fix the problem (as I will show you later in this article), you'll have a croaky voice lingering on for longer than you'd want. And here's a message to those of you who go to the beach to practice singing by yelling your lungs out. DON'T do it! This is the fastest way to ruin your voice completely. Now let's take a look at what you CAN do to preserve your voice.

1000 MILLIGRAMS VITAMIN C

I'll begin with a quick remedy tip for putting a stop to flu symptoms, including a tired sore throat from overuse. Simply pop a 1000 milligram vitamin C effervescent tablet into a glass of water and drink up. If you're in a really bad way, pop up to 3000 milligrams over the course of the day. I regularly take vitamin C once a day. Especially when I'm using my voice a lot (teaching), and when I have concerts lined up. Vitamin C protects me. Always!

VITAMINS & MINERALS

Let's take a look at the whole body approach for a minute. You need to keep your immune system working optimally. And the quickest way to do that is to ensure that you're taking vitamins and minerals to stay healthy. I take Super Potency Megavites (or if you'd prefer liquid vitamins, Veriuni Advanced Liquid Nutrition  is superb AND delicious!). And to add to that arsenal, I also take Super Antioxidant Formula. And I'm going to ask you a quick question. Would you like to have smooth, flawless skin? Well, Super Seven Skin Support works for me! Honest.This helps fight free radicals that, well, slowly but surely, destroy the body . So there you have it! In a nutshell, what-to-do and what-not-to-do to maintain a healthy throat. For access to the full Health & Wellness department click here!

DRINK WATER

Keeping the vocal folds moist through good hydration is very important for good voice health. We can provide moisture to the vocal folds by drinking water. It is highly recommended that you drink at least 2 liters of water a day. And when you're singing, it's advisable to have a bottle of water handy.

To find more handy singing articles on this blog, run a search for Singing Lessons as well as Letters from a Vocal Coach.

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

JOETT
Vocal Coach

Download Joett tracks from iTunes, Amazon MP3, TuneCore.
Buy Joett CDs from A Novel Idea Bookstores Dar, Zanzibar, Arusha.
Nationwide CD distribution via Joett Music (Airtel Money, TIGO Money, M-Pesa).
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