The Engaging Performer

In today's episode, Tara dives into the biz side of singing. In this three part series, she covers aspects of booking gigs. Many who are studying voice also want places to share their gift and in this week's part one, Tara shares what are some of the best type of venues to sing and get paid.

There are traditional gigs and non-traditional gigs. The traditional gigs tend to be places like clubs, music festivals in the summer, restaurants, theaters and weddings.

"Insanity: doing the same thing but expecting different results!"

10 great places to book:

1. Wineries
2. Breweries
3. Apple Orchards
4. County and State Fairs
5. Rodeos
6. Home parties like makeup, jewelry, clothing, health supplements, gadgets, products that are healthy for the environment, etc
7. Celebrations like 90th birthday parties, wedding anniversaries, graduations, bar mitzvah, etc
8. Art Fairs
9. Farmer's Market
10. 10. Fundraising events for charities or non-profits.

BONUS place: Senior centers, senior living places—independent, assisted living, memory care, nursing home

Want more booking help?

Here is a link to the Booking Hub, where you get more FREE booking tips. Sign up today:

https://tarab.vipmembervault.com/products/courses/view/10

Also, I'm a guest on these podcasts talking about booking:

https://tarabrueske.com/guest-on-other-podcasts

You can listen on Amazon Audible music, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, iHeart radio, PlayerFM Stitcher, Spotify and more. If you are willing to rate and review this podcast, please do where you listen. Or share it to social media and tag me.

Instagram: @tarabrueskemusic

Facebook: @tarabmusician

Today's episode focuses on what it takes to be a professional singer. Pro singers possess many skillsets and Tara dives into many of these skills to help pro singers recognize and value all they know and have experience in.

Here are some of the skills that many professional singers have:

1. Great technique to do all you need to with your voice.
2. Being able to sightread music.
3. Being able to improvise music.
4. Having the ability to harmonize with others, whether it's written out via notes or you pick out the natural harmony by ear.
5. Knowing how to blend your voice with other singers, whether in a choir or group.
6. Singing in other foreign languages—knowing how to read and pronounce them.
7. Being able to pace yourself in a concert so your voice stays healthy throughout the whole show.
8. Knowing what to do for a show if you are sick.

Want some voice lessons?

Please click here for Virtual online 30 minute lessons:

Or

You can find The Singer's Feedback Zone here:

https://tarab.vipmembervault.com/products/courses/view/21

Please reach out to me if you are interested via email:

[email protected]

You can listen on Amazon Audible music, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, iHeart radio, PlayerFM Stitcher, Spotify and more. If you are willing to rate and review this podcast, please do where you listen. Or share it to social media and tag me.

Instagram: @tarabrueskemusic

Today's episode focuses on ear training—how it's really possible for anyone no matter how they sing. Tara gives some practical tips on how to train your ear, whether you are a singer or a teacher trying to help your voice students!

"Being able to match pitch is possible for almost every person".

Ways to help people get good pitch:

1. Pick our high and low pitches in every day life.
2. Visually draw a note/pitch with a pencil and paper to help the person see the difference between two or more pitches.
3. Sing notes to someone with them singing back the same matching notes: call and response.
4. Listen to a song and then sing back what you just heard. This is great for teachers with a student.
5. As a teacher, you can show people the differences in steps and jumps in pitches through actually stepping and jumping with your body.
6. Listen to a song you know and see if you can pick out different sounds like harmonies, background vocals, guitar, drums, piano, and more.
7. Look for physical details in your house and then look for details in the musical sounds you hear or sing.
8. You can feel sound in your body—high and low sounds. Example: Putting your hand on your chest can help you be aware of the feeling going on when you sing. Or feeling the vibration of a train going by.
9. To get to the center of the pitch, think of the visual of a bullseye in archery. You want to hit it in the middle.
10. 10. Another visual way with taking steps and jumps is to show someone they have to jump or step dead center. It shows the middle of a pitch.
11. 11.Make sure the breath is able to support a pitch. It's not just getting a deep breath but maintaining the breath and pressure to hold the pitch.
12. 12. Record yourself singing something to hear back if you are close to the original recording pitches. This works well in a voice lesson too.

Ear training takes time!

Want some voice lessons?

You can find The Singer's Feedback Zone here:

https://tarab.vipmembervault.com/products/courses/view/21

You can listen on Amazon Audible music, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, iHeart radio, PlayerFM Stitcher, Spotify and more. If you are willing to rate and review this podcast, please do where you listen. Or share it to social media and tag me.

Instagram: @tarabrueskemusic

In this episode, Tara talks about how singing in a new situation can be stressful. She brings tools to help!

Things that can help you be calm singing at a brand new place:

• Get to the place early so you have plenty of time to deal with anything unknown
• Assess the situation by looking at what things you might need or what the room is like. Pay attention to details.
• Make sure that you ask as many questions to help you feel prepared. Ask your point person so you get all the details ahead of your playing time.
• Check sound levels before you start so you can hear yourself and have an idea of how loud it is for your audience.
• Don't assume that the audience should accept you immediately. But don't assume they don't like you.
• Be extra prepared with your songs. Don't try to do new songs, but instead do songs that are super familiar to you.
• Be yourself when you sing. You don't need to be what the audience wants. Be authentic.
• Don't over sing even if people are being really loud. Save your voice. Allow people to listen to you.
• Have conversations with your audience to make them feel more at home with you.
• Sing your songs with passion, fun and with giving 100%. Some will respond well!

Want some voice lessons?

You can find The Singer's Feedback Zone here:

https://tarab.vipmembervault.com/products/courses/view/21

You can listen on Amazon Audible music, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, iHeart radio, PlayerFM Stitcher, Spotify and more. If you are willing to rate and review this podcast, please do where you listen. Or share it to social media and tag me.

Instagram: @tarabrueskemusic

In this episode, Tara talks about how knowing vowels and consonants and the role they play in our warmups can help us!

VOWELS

"All of us probably have certain vowels that are just easier to sing."

When we start with a vowel that works and then start singing from that place on other vowels, it can help train our muscle memory to sing with more freedom!

If we start with easy vowels, it will help you get to the harder vowels in time because you build a foundation with easy ones!

CONSONANTS

Consonants can help you commit to a note and engage the breath.

G, Y, K, B, F, V are great for attacking the note.

Fricatives: S, Sh, Ch, Z, V, Th, F, Jz

Fricatives help us hold out notes—they help us with pacing our breath and phrases.

You can Find The Singer's Feedback Zone here:

https://tarab.vipmembervault.com/products/courses/view/21

You can listen on Amazon Audible music, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, iHeart radio, PlayerFM Stitcher, Spotify and more. If you are willing to rate and review this podcast, please do where you listen. Or share it to social media and tag me.

Instagram: @tarabrueskemusic TikTok:@tarabrueskemusic

In today's episode,Tara chats about our speaking voices. As singers, we need to take equal care with how we talk so that it doesn't cause problems for us when we sing.

You can Find The Singer's Feedback Zone here:

https://tarab.vipmembervault.com/products/courses/view/21

Let me help get you to that next level of singing!

The Speaking Voice—Paying attention to it:

1. You may get a hoarse voice from shouting at a sporting event, screaming at an amusement park, or having to talk over other competing sounds in a restaurant. When we talk too loudly, we put too much pressure on our vocal folds—too much air pressing through, creating a tired voice.
2. Talking too low can also hurt our voices. It puts a strain on the vocal folds by constantly putting pressed air through the entire vocal fold and having them at their thickest. We may push it out with the musculature of the throat versus good support. It pushes the larynx down—not keeping the layrnx neutral.
3. Talking too high for your natural voice. With anxiety or nervousness, it can force you voice higher and again puts pressure on the larynx going up. Tension is created and that's why it's going up. It makes you have vocal fatigue or soreness.
4. Vocal fry. Even though it's not necessarily bad, but it can create your vocal memory doing something without enough breath support even in your singing because it's remembering your speaking voice. The article from John Hopkins Medicine: "When you use vocal fry, you relax your vocal cords but do not increase the amount of air you're pushing past your vocal cords, which produces slower vibrations and ultimately results in the lower, creaky sound."
5. Talking in a breathy soft sound. It's similar to vocal fry where not a lot of breath pressure happens. But the problem is that the voice gets held back, creating tension. It tries to control so it's not too loud and therefore creates rigidity in the voice. That creates a lack of resonance as well—resonance that "brings the voice to life".

" So much of singing is about letting go of trying to control, 'cause controlling can create that tension. We want to be tension-free."

"The way that we use our pitches—our brain is also remembering every day—it's remembering how we use our breath… and so we will tend to repeat what we did the day before."

"Your speaking voice IS your singing voice so don't treat it differently!"

You can listen on Amazon Audible music, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, iHeart radio, PlayerFM Stitcher, Spotify and more. If you are willing to rate and review this podcast, please do where you listen. Or share it to social media and tag me.

Instagram: @tarabrueskemusic TikTok:@tarabrueskemusic

In today's episode,Tara chats about the reasons that even pro singers should have some checkins with a voice professional. She also tackles reasons why people sometimes don't get coaches.

Why train if you are a pro?

Think about the pro sports world. They constantly train and get better!

Reasons that people might not get training:

1. Based on shame. Not feeling good enough.
2. It might make you look bad as a professional because you have to go to someone else. You might be concerned about what people think.
3. You might think you don't have enough time or money for training.

"What would stop you from being at the best stage of your singing?"

Examples of great students:

A couple who started in their 50's who took for 10 years and sounded even better at the end.

A lady in her 70's her took for 7 years who ended up recording 2 CDs in her 80's!

My own lesson taking with other teachers has helped me incredibly.

"People that have known me for 15-20 years think that I'm singing the best now that I've ever sung." I attribute this to taking lessons with a voice teacher!

You can check out The Singer's Feedback Zone:

https://tarab.vipmembervault.com/products/courses/view/21

Or

My private online lessons here:

https://tarabrueske.com/music-lessons

Let me help get you to that next level of singing!

You can listen on Amazon Audible music, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, iHeart radio, PlayerFM Stitcher, Spotify and more. If you are willing to rate and review this podcast, please do where you listen. Or share it to social media and tag me.

Instagram: @tarabrueskemusic

TikTok:@tarabrueskemusic

In today's episode,Tara chats about some commonalities that automobiles have with singers and why you shouldn't ignore problems that come up with singing. And how to schedule maintenance of your voice!

You can still join the Singer's Feedback Zone before it goes up. Click here:

https://tarab.vipmembervault.com/products/courses/view/21

Do we give our voice the same maintenance that we give to cars?

Do we just ignore what might be going wrong with our voice?

What things could go wrong if we ignore it?

• You may get vocal fatigue
• You might lose your voice
• You might not be able to sing high notes
• You may lose flexibility
• You may not have as much freedom in your range of notes
• You may lose some power or presence in your voice

"Taking care of our voices as singers…is going to help us let "them" last a lifetime and …sounding good for a lifetime."

We have tools to help maintain our voices!

Here is a huge solution that helps with a maintenance checkup:

Go to a professional vocal trainer!

Do you want a voice that remains healthy and beautiful?

You can message me if you want to get some training or a checkup with me.

Here is my website for traditional private lessons:

https://tarabrueske.com/music-lessons

You can listen on Amazon Audible music, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, iHeart radio, PlayerFM Stitcher, Spotify and more. If you are willing to rate and review this podcast, please do where you listen.

Instagram: @tarabrueskemusic

TikTok:@tarabrueskemusic

In today's episode,Tara interviews fellow piano/voice teacher Brenda Earle Stokes. They chat about some of the reasons that piano can be such a helpful tool for singers, whether you are performing or are a voice teacher!

Click here to get your Singing Straw 10% off:

Singing straw: http://bit.ly/Tarabsingingstraw

Use the code: tarab10

For Brenda, hearing Oscar Peterson play (jazz piano) was a huge inspiration for her in music!

An avid pianist, singer , conductor and more, Brenda had a curiosity about so many different interests in music that helped mold her as a well rounded musician.

On coming from a wholistic and variety background in music for Brenda:

"It gives me a huge toolkit to serve people…and then I pull out stranger, random things (musically) out as a pathway to helping people."

Why piano skills can be so helpful to learn:

"I think the piano is really the basis of understanding functional theory, ear training… and more"

Brenda says that being able to do everything at the keyboard can help to have a more three dimensional experience—from seeing to hearing to playing it.

"What people need is a very simple functional set of skills (on the piano)…and be able to gather it in a very short period of time."

Why do voice teachers need piano skills?:

• Be able to listen fully without barriers or distraction.
• Being able to whip up a simple accompaniment.
• Having these skills make you look more professional and being able to attract more students.

"How can you nourish your offerings so that every student who comes in, you keep them?"

Brenda has a program—a membership group called The Versatile Musician

Here is where you can find it at The Versatile Musician.com: https://pianoandvoicewithbrenda.com/membership/

It includes lots of smaller courses like Piano skills for singers, solfège, jazz piano, rhythms and more, along with a once a month live call meeting.

You can also find her here:

https://pianoandvoicewithbrenda.com/

You can listen on Amazon Audible music, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, iHeart radio, PlayerFM Stitcher, Spotify and more. If you are willing to rate and review this podcast, please do where you listen.

Instagram: @tarabrueskemusic

TikTok:@tarabrueskemusic

In today's episode,Tara talks about different qualities and characteristics that you may possess that would help you be a great voice teacher. It isn't a complete list but a comprehensive one to check out if you are thinking about teaching some voice lessons.

You can check out The Singer's Feedback Zone:

https://tarab.vipmembervault.com/products/courses/view/21

Qualities that can be wonderful for teaching voice:

1. Having curiosity about life. Implies you will seek out knowledge.
2. Being able to analyze and take stock of what's going on—what is working and what is going wrong.
3. Being teachable yourself and willing to learn.
4. Helping someone get from A to B—help them find a way to improve.
5. Being empathetic, compassionate, encouraging and patient. It helps people become confident. "You have to take them step by step…sometimes it might be three steps forward and two steps back."
6. If you don't know the answer, being willing to find out from some other source.
7. Willing to take lessons from another teacher—getting a coach for yourself and being accountable.
8. Being ok to be open about your own struggles in voice.
9. Knowing how to be a problem solver—not giving up till you find an answer. "It might take many different ways to get to the solution…It's about being willing to try many possibilities."
10. 10. Possessing musical skills like having a good trained ear. Being able to sing in tune and know when others are in tune as well.
11. 11. Listening and looking for details are necessary. Paying attention to small details and focus.
12. 12. It's helpful to have an understanding of music theory and harmony. And the voice parts like SATB.
13. 13. Being able to understand and define genres of music and the repertoires that would fit your individual student's needs.

"Teaching is a helping industry. It's making sure that they are able to get to their best self of whatever they are capable of doing."

If you want to check out my vocal course, here's the link:

https://tarab.vipmembervault.com/products/courses/view/12

You can listen on Amazon Audible music, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, iHeart radio, PlayerFM Stitcher, Spotify and more. If you are willing to rate and review this podcast, please do where you listen.

Instagram: @tarabrueskemusic

TikTok:@tarabrueskemusic