Airtel Trace Music Star Season 2 Underway: Up for the Challenge?

It's another season for Airtel Trace Music Star and in Tanzania—particularly, the word is OUT exclusively via social media. I’m sitting on the judge panel again this season, sifting through all the Tanzania entries along with my fellow judges Jokate and Lucci, and with every sitting, we’re seeing more and more potential stars. It is quite amazing how much talent there is hidden out there. And this is one of the reasons I am so passionate about this event—I mean, look at last year’s pan African winner, Mayunga.

If I’m honest, Tanzania has every chance of winning the pan African competition again this year, and this is why I want you to know what we expect of you in order for you to make the grade for Tanzania’s Top 5 this season.

First and foremost we’re looking for real talent. And what I am looking for especially is a voice that can be molded from zero to pro in 10 hours, before they hit the stage to compete at the Tanzania Grand Finale.

I will explain so this is succinctly clear: If your voice has major issues like, you’re prone to shouting; your placement isn’t right and so forth, and I think I cannot break you in 10 hours… then you’re not what I’m looking for. Just so you know. And I’m a fair person, so I will give you a couple of tips on how to refine your voice for the challenge.

I have noticed something very interesting about some multiple entries, where a contestant would sing a bongo flava song and NOT make the grade for selection into the top ten, but when that same individual makes another entry with an international song, suddenly, they sound amazing and they are selected into the top 10 that week. This can only mean one thing… that this is a singing competition. So it is imperative that you select a song that will showcase your true potential as a singer. Don’t worry too much about being unable to hit certain notes, let me be the judge of that. If you’ve got talent, I can fix your voice in training.

And speaking of training, as I did last year, I will be coaching the Top 5 this year as well—at no cost to you. It’s free. If you would like a little online vocal coaching before you make your Airtel Trace Music Star submissions, I have published a rather interesting article in Kiswahili on my blog, “Mpangilio Maalum wa Kujifunza Kuimba na Joett Kupitia WhatsApp.” I wish you the very best.


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

JOETT

Vocal Coach & Author "Letters from a Vocal Coach"
Private Singing Lessons
BUY Online Singing Lessons Course

Mpangilio Maalum wa Kujifunza Kuimba na Joett Kupitia WhatsApp

Nimetoa mafunzo kwa jamii bila gharama yeyote kupitia WhatsApp kwa kipindi kirefu sasa. Na changamoto zipo, ndio maana imebidi mara kwa mara kubadili mfumo ili kuboresha huduma hii.

Jambo la muhimu kabisa ni kufanya mazoezi kwa mpangilio ambao utaleta mafanikio kwako.

Kujifunza wewe mwenyewe nyumbani sio jambo rahisi. Inataka kujituma, na pia wewe mwenyewe unahitaji kutuma mazoezi yako kwangu kwa Voice Note kupitia WhatsApp, ili niweze kusikia na kutoa muongozo na ushauri.

Kama unataka kujifunza kuimba, hili jambo ni muhimu sana, kwahivyo tafadhali usipuuzie. Kwa wanafunzi wangu ambao wanalipa ada na kuja studio kwa mafunzo, kuna tofauti kubwa sana kwasababu mimi nipo hapo kusimamia kila zoezi wanalofanya.

MAANDALIZI

PUMZI ndio zoezi la kwanza na la muhimu kabisa kabla ya kufanya zoezi la sauti (yaani scales). Unaweza ku-download mp3 ya Breathing Exercise kwenye kurasa langu la Hulkshare hapa. Zingatia unafanya pumzi yako kimya kimya. Kwenye mp3 sauti ni kubwa kwasababu ya kipaaza sauti ambacho kina nasa na kukuza sauti.

ZOEZI la sauti ambalo ni muhimu kabisa kuanza nalo ni la 5 Minute Lip Rolls with Joett. Fuata maelekezo alafu ufanye zoezi hilo. Ukishaona unaliwezea, jirekodi unitumie WhatsApp nisikie na niweze kutoa ushauri. Baada ya hapo, nitakupa ushauri zoezi gani lingine ufanye ili kuboresha sauti yako. Tafadhali usikurupuke na kufanya zoezi lolote tu bila ushauri. Badala ya kujijenga, utakua unabomoa. Video ifuatayo ni mfano wa zoezi la Lip Rolls. Angalia ili uelewe jinsi ya kufanya zoezi la 5 Minute Lip Rolls with Joett kwa kutumia mp3 toka kurassa langu la Hulkshare.

UTARATIBU

Tafadhali tumia computer ku-download mp3, halafu burn kwenye CD, na baadae tumia CD player kufanyia mazoezi. Usitumie sauti ya simu wala headset ya simu kufanya mazoezi ya sauti kwasababu sauti ya simu haitoshi... kwa maana hailingani na ya binaadamu. Ni hafifu sana. Matokeo yake, sauti yako pia itakua hafifu na isiyo na mvuto wala ladha yeyote.

MIFANO

Nimeweka mifano mingi kama Joett Studio Session (for reference only), na Joett Case Study #7a kwenye kurasa langu la Hulkshare kutoka madarasa ninayotoa studio, ili kukuwezesha wewe kuelewa zaidi madhumuni ya vocal training. Sikiliza ili uelimike.

Wewe ndio chombo halisi, jifunze kuimba kama pro!

JOETT

Vocal Coach & Author "Letters from a Vocal Coach"
Private Singing Lessons
BUY Online Singing Lessons Course

3 Of the Worst Places to Practice Singing

If you have struggled with practicing your singing, in that you’re not actually getting the desired results but instead, only hurting your voice—well, there is an explanation. This article will aim to point out to you 3 of the worst places to practice your singing. Yes, it’s that simple. When you know where these places are and why they don’t work, you’ll have all the information you need to make the necessary changes to where you practice your singing.

THE BEACH

Absolutely don’t go there! Why? Because the wind will carry away your voice and you won’t even hear yourself. Result? You will shout and keep on shouting and you will be achieving nothing but pain in the throat—oh, and you might even lose your voice while you’re at it. You’d be better off inside a room with minimal furniture for better acoustics.

OPEN SPACES

This is just as bad as going to yell your lungs out at the beach, not to mention the possibility of you being bitten by something nasty in the bushes. Please refrain from this practice. Trust me, you will achieve absolutely nothing.

INSIDE PADDED ROOM

Well, imagine this. Singing inside a padded room like a recording studio—minus the headset, of course—and here’s what happens. Your voice is absorbed into the padding and the end result is you will hardly hear yourself unless you shout, thereby inflicting pain upon the very instrument you so desperately need to sing. Actually, the same applies when you’re cooped up inside a small room practicing your songs with the band playing at full blast. I’ve seen this destroy many fine voices. The human voice cannot compete with the noise of the speakers, so make sure you balance the sound properly so that your voice isn’t taxed and damaged in the process.

In Summary: the beach, open spaces and padded rooms are the worst places to practice your singing. If you want the right balance, sing inside a room with minimal furniture for that desired acoustic effect—you’ll want to hear yourself. Period! And if you’re practicing with a band, make sure the sound is properly balanced. I have stepped into a room where a band was rehearsing and I was shocked at the noise factor. The first thing I advised was that they turned it down.

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

JOETT

Vocal Coach & Author "Letters from a Vocal Coach"
Private Singing Lessons
BUY Online Singing Lessons Course 

Why You Must Listen, Listen and Listen Again to get it Right in Vocal Training

The beauty of pre-recorded vocal training programs is the convenience and affordability of it, not to mention they actually give you a workout regimen to follow, that takes away even the need to think and plan—because it’s all there set up and ready to go in a sequence that brings about results. However, there are pitfalls to be stumbled upon no doubt, and this is what has inspired me to write this article. I want to talk a little bit about WHY people fail to get it right when going it alone, and the best ways to stay on the straight and narrow to help you circumvent the stumbling blocks.

The key is to listen. Listen to the examples, listen to the piano and listen to yourself. I’ve witnessed too often how overzealous some people are. Not only do they not pay any attention to instruction, they don’t even bother to listen to the piano... which means they sing off key and do whatever the heck they like, absolutely contrary to what’s on the tape. Now this sort of conduct gets you nowhere. You will learn nothing. You may as well forget about vocal training and choose another vocation or hobby.

Now I’ve mentioned the 3 Ls. Listen, Listen and Listen! You’re not only training your voice here, you’re also training your ear. So if you don’t listen to examples; if you don’t listen to the piano; there is no way your voice will work in key with the music. Am I making any sense? Someone submitted a tape via WhatsApp today wherein they breathe in-between a scale—when the example given isn’t at all like that, it illustrates a single breath intake for the entire scale—the result, as I listened to this astonishing recording, was a series of off notes, off key deliveries, and exercises being done not in accordance with the pattern of the piano. It’s like they quickly invented their own thing for their own convenience and threw that into a vocal workout that is destined to have them fail miserably.

In Summary: Not listening to demonstrations and not planning your vocal workouts in accordance with what has clearly been spelt out to you, is planning to fail. Time isn’t going anywhere. If it is going to take you a week just to listen to tapes to figure out what you need to do to get it right, then so be it! It would be a lot wiser than rushing into it. There’s no hurry. Take your time. Aim to get it right. And you will become a better singer.

If you want to improve your singing voice, read my Vocal Training Product Review for Home Learning article in which I recommend vocal training programs that cover the entire spectrum in voice training to include: Pitch, Tone, Vocal Agility, Head Voice, High Notes, the Mix, Vibrato and MORE. Click Here!

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

JOETT

Vocal Coach & Author "Letters from a Vocal Coach"
Private Singing Lessons
BUY Online Singing Lessons Course 

How to Get the Most Out of a One Hour Vocal Training Session

I received a rather peculiar message on WhatsApp earlier today, from someone who evidently wasn’t on my list. They complained that despite training diligently they were not getting results. And I asked them HOW did they train? Their explanation was even more bizarre—by SHOUTING!  Well, my response to that was simply, “you don’t train the voice by shouting—you’re deluding yourself.” I have no idea who started this craze in Tanzania, but I can assure you this: this godforsaken practice has destroyed many potentially fine voices. In this article, I want to go over how to make the most of a one hour vocal training session with a tutor as well as on your own.

The following is a very simple vocal training template for success. Start out with a breathing exercise (you’ll find a free download track on my Hulkshare page or on my Learn to Sing with Joett Vocal Training CD), and always do this exercise before you begin your vocal training exercises. The next thing on your list, if you’re working from home, is to do the scales in different combination sets. And once again, my Hulkshare page has examples and with my vocal training CD, the booklet or online page on Alternative Workouts will explain how it’s done. But to be absolutely sure—if you’re learning from home—make sure you listen to demonstration tracks on my Hulkshare page and follow instructions accordingly.

Private lessons in my studio run for a full hour. If you’re training from home, however, I would strongly recommend that once you get a little more proficient with training on your own, try to gun for a one hour session. And if that becomes a bit of a challenge for you, try to do a vocal workout for at least 20 minutes and perhaps gradually build on that. It gets easier with time. And what’s more, I have just recently created a once off one hour private vocal training session you can purchase to help you get started—just with the once off session—in my studio.

If you want to improve your singing voice, read my Vocal Training Product Review for Home Learning article in which I recommend vocal training programs that cover the entire spectrum in voice training to include: Pitch, Tone, Vocal Agility, Head Voice, High Notes, the Mix, Vibrato and MORE. Click Here!

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

JOETT

Vocal Coach & Author "Letters from a Vocal Coach"
Private Singing Lessons
BUY Online Singing Lessons Course 

Top 4 Vocal Training Exercises Anybody Can Learn to Do Correctly (Audio Tapes Series)

Nothing brings home more vividly the concept of learning to sing than recorded audio tapes to help you understand better what needs to be done to train your voice. In this article, I have on tape one of my ace students. And for the purpose of this article a session with this pupil is serialized in audio tapes labeled Case Study #7a, 7b, 7c and 7d. But first, I’d like to give you a bit of background on this particular individual, because I feel it is a key element in bringing this article together.

Case Study #7 is a high school student from Canada who has been studying voice with me for at least 3 years. I can see the surprise in your eyes already. Yes, this pupil has trained with me once a week, every week—with the exception of the holidays and vacation time—for a number of years and continues to come to my studio for voice lessons once a week. She’s covered my Beginners 1 & 2 programs, Intermediate, Advanced, Pro & Pro 2, and is now on my maintenance program—namely the Pro Club. I’ve been itching to tell you this, especially, after someone (a local record producer) recently asked me why “some” local pupils tend to drop out of training after a few lessons (he must’ve heard this in the grapevine). An interesting question, don’t you think? Now let me explain a few truths about vocal training and why some people find it difficult to stay committed.

Finance! Yes, one of the main reasons pupils find it a challenge to stay committed to voice training is because it costs a considerable amount of money to hire a vocal coach. In Europe you’ll pay a vocal coach up to $100 an hour. I charge nowhere near those rates. This is Africa for crying out loud! The second reason is twofold. Either they simply procrastinate; or they really don’t have much talent and have come to realize that for themselves. And now I want to talk a little bit about the solution to both problems.

I will begin by addressing the issue of finance. Vocal training doesn’t have to cost you a fortune for the rest of your life, but training can go on for the rest of YOUR life when you know what to do. The truth is I’ve gone to bat to try and help; by offering free vocal training via WhatsApp and introducing more affordable products like the 3 hour Quick Start Program and the 1 Hour Trial Session. This is all in an effort to avail the training to more people all over the country. If singing like a professional is what you really want, and if money is an issue, then you ought to consider products tailored to suit your budget. You’ll be amazed how far you can get with a bit of commitment and dedication.

If your only problem is procrastination—well, that can be fixed. Surround yourself with regular reminders of what you want to achieve as a singer; listen to great music as often as you can to nudge you into submission; and allot a specific time to train your voice. If you drive—trust me, your car is a brilliant place to do your exercises whilst stuck in traffic with little more than a vocal training CD plugged in. Just do a little work every time you have a chance, and it’ll gradually become a habit.

I like to duplicate myself by providing an aftercare service with my Learn to Sing with Joett Vocal Training CD Booster Program… which I hand out to all of my students attending private lessons. And to my online pupils whom I train free of charge via WhatsApp, recorded studio session files and exercises uploaded to my Hulkshare page come really handy. That being said, it takes a lot of determination to go it alone, but if you stay focused you will succeed. Now let’s take a closer look at what you can expect from Case Study #7. The main exercises that everybody starting out with voice training should do are the Lip Rolls (listen to tape #7a), Nay Nay (listen to tape #7b), Na Na (listen to tape #7c), and Wee (listen to tape # 7d). In all of these tapes, Case Study #7 performs the exercises with an evenly connected tone through the female range. Listening to these tapes will help you understand better what training your voice with correct form is about.

If you want to improve your singing voice, read my Vocal Training Product Review for Home Learning article in which I recommend vocal training programs that cover the entire spectrum in voice training to include: Pitch, Tone, Vocal Agility, Head Voice, High Notes, the Mix, Vibrato and MORE. Click Here!

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

JOETT

Vocal Coach & Author "Letters from a Vocal Coach"
Private Singing Lessons
BUY Online Singing Lessons Course 

Learn the Art of Synchronizing Your Breathing Technique to Singing

I’ve written about the importance of breathing sufficiently in time for each note and phrase that you sing, but nothing can be said enough about this topic. In this article, I will re-cap some of the pointers I gave in some of my previous articles on breathing, but more importantly, today I want to show you how to apply a different technique to help you develop the technique and spontaneity of correct breathing for singing.

The idea is to practice deep diaphragmatic breathing for a few minutes a day to develop the technique, but there isn’t a one-size-fits-all exercise in existence that everybody can do and get the same results. I personally prefer the eight by eight by sixteen breathing exercise wherein you breathe in to the count of eight beats, hold your breath for eight beats and then exhale with a hiss for sixteen beats. This is perhaps THE most effective breathing exercise—for me—and it can be alternated between sipping in the breath and dropping the jaw gradually to drink that breath. However, if this doesn’t work for you, you’ll certainly know about it soon enough. And here’s how the alarm bells on that go off. IF the jaw drop isn’t continuous—if at some point your mouth simply freezes and doesn’t move an inch and you’re not breathing steadily to the count of eight beats, then you’ll know it’s certainly not happening for you. So what’s the alternative? Sip in that breath instead. It’ll help open you up for deep diaphragmatic breath intakes because it’s just one continuous sip. From my experience teaching, almost anybody can do this. But there is also another way to improve your breathing technique. And that’s what I’m about to explain next.

If at the drop of a single piano key as your cue, you were to take in a deep breath whilst opening out your mouth and inhaling deeply, and then immediately blowing out before the next piano key drops in the next key up, and if you repeated the same breathing pattern—pretty much breathing like your life depended on it—you’ll begin to realize that you will be effectively doing two things. Simulating the breath intakes that are essential for singers before each note and phrase; and also conditioning your ear to open to breathe in time for the next scale in training—well, and inherently when you sing the songs that you love. My Learn to Sing with Joett Booster Program CD has a single key piano track you could quite easily use to this end. To download free mp3, Click Here!

If you want to improve your singing voice, read my Vocal Training Product Review for Home Learning article in which I recommend vocal training programs that cover the entire spectrum in voice training to include: Pitch, Tone, Vocal Agility, Head Voice, High Notes, the Mix, Vibrato and MORE. Click Here!

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

JOETT

Vocal Coach & Author "Letters from a Vocal Coach"
Private Singing Lessons
BUY Online Singing Lessons Course