I  recommend these 5 steps for memorizing and what is called “getting inside the lyric”.

#1 Listen, listen listen! It is recommended that you listen to many artists singing the same song, as the lyric may vary a bit from artist to artist. Research what the original lyric really is, according to the composer and look up any words, expressions or phrases in the lyric that you don’t fully understand.

#2  Write down the lyric by hand, yes, the old fashioned way! Finding them online and printing them out does NOT get them in.

#3 Read what you wrote. Ask yourself – what is the story of the song and why do you feel to sing it? Where’s the poetry? What is the chronology of the events (if there are events) that the song speaks of? Sometimes different phrases of the lyric are interchangeable, so make mental notes of the order of the of the phrases. I often usethe alphabet or find something that works for you.

#4 Speak the lyric, this is important! Speak it slowly with breath support and feeling.  Dig in!  Take it out of the tempo in which it appears in the song.  Caress each word and let no words go by unimportantly.

#5  Okay, now you’re ready to sing it.  You can start by singing along with vocal recordings of other artists.  It’s recommended that you don’t get stuck in any one rendition. Sing it many times. And/Or.. look for an instrumental or karaoke track of the song and sing with that or just sing it a cappella OR come to me for some voice lessons! I’ll accompany you on piano and we’ll work on it together.

Final note – Your goal should be to not just memorize the lyric but to internalize it.  That is to say, bring it in to a deeper place within.  That place where you will still remember it when you are ninety. When you perform you need to know the lyric better than you ever thought you needed to know it…inside out, upside down, backwards and in your sleep! When you’re performing, if a little nervousness kicks in,  lyrics that you thought you knew can fly right out of your head… trust me on this one!

For more vocal tips please visit my YouTube channel and subscribe – https://m.youtube.com/channel/UC_AkUWj6zY2b9CXDMxrabgA

talking about scat singing on YouTube

For more vocal tips please visit my YouTube channel and subscribe. Lots more tips to come! https://m.youtube.com/channel/UC_AkUWj6zY2b9CXDMxrabgA

Say that you are backstage before a performance and you can only do one thing to warm-up…do this…

Simply hang forward from your waist with your knees slightly bent and breathe.Let yourself drop down a little further with each exhalation. Let your neck be long and your head be heavy. Not only does this wake up your band of breath support muscles that wrap around your back and sides, it encourages relaxation and aligns your spine…all good!

For more vocal tips please visit my YouTube channel and subscribe.  Lots more coming!   https://m.youtube.com/channel/UC_AkUWj6zY2b9CXDMxrabgA

To find a singing stance that is conducive to ease of vocal production try this…

Lift both arms above your head.  Feel your rib cage lift off your diaphragm and your torso get taller and feel more open.  Drop your arms but leave your torso in the same position and adjust to have it feel comfortable. It’s as if you have a string of pearls running through your body and someone comes along and gives the top a gentle tug,  so you literally get taller and retain your flexibility.

Singers, open your mouths!  This might seem like an obvious one, but often I find that my students are singing with out truly opening their mouths especially on certain vowels.  If you don’t open your mouth wide enough when you sing your voice may get stuck in your face, so not only will you not be releasing your true sound but you can end up sounding nasal.

If you want to go from a wannabe singer and start feeling like a “real” singer, SING EVERY DAY! Become obsessed, take weekly lessons, listen to other singers,  instrumentalists, songwriters, go hear live music and start performing if you haven’t already.  Start keeping a journal of your practice time and everything about your musical life.  If you do a bunch of these things, YOU WILL BE LIVING It and IT WILL BECOME YOUR LIFE.

In order to give yourself a more open voice you need to position your body accordingly. If you are compromising your stance, you are compromising your sound and you will never reach your true vocal potential. So here’s my suggestion…raise both arms  high above your head and feel how this position opens your torso and lifts your rib cage off of your diaphragm allowing it to function fully.  Then, just simply drop your arms and keep your torso in that lifted position. Try to find a relaxed version of this position and notice how it effects your voice.

Want more? Come and take some lessons:)

Let’s sing our way into Spring….

Come and release your inner singer & unleash your creativity!!!

Tuesday, April 22nd

7:30 – 9:00pm

Tribeca Music Studio

340A Greenwich St. NYC. 10013

Session Includes:

Powerful  “body, breath, voice warm-up” which encourages relaxation and brings awareness of your voice as the instrument that it is.

Vocal exercises specifically designed to open the voice as a spontaneous improvisational instrument.

Experimenting with vocabulary, rhythm, textures, sounds, vocal percussion and look for places we’ve never gone before

Exploring traditional as well as extended vocal techniques (big fun!!)

Searching for your own personal language

Exercises & ensemble pieces that explore different facets of free improvisation as well as improvising over chord changes & rhythms.

Logical left-brain thinking will be discouraged in favor of a more expansive, intuitive right-brain approach.

This workshop is appropriate for singers who feel “boxed in” and want to expand upon their musical vocabulary or open their voices in order to use them more expressively. It is also appropriate non-singers and instrumentalists  or inexperienced singers who would like to get more comfortable using their voices. Great for dancers, actors and anyone in the performing arts and last but not least, folks who sit in front of computers all day and need to switch gears

No experience necessary, just an adventurous spirit!

These workshops are always rockin’ and a lot of fun!! The atmosphere is encouraging and nurturing.

Here’s what one of my students said about it:

We played with Jazzy Rhythms and Beats and took turns using our voices as instruments to create a wonderful  acappella Ensemble. By the end of the day, Dori was able to bring out the strengths in each of our voices and had us feeling comfortable enough to perform individually in front of each other and then collectively as a group. I highly recommend this workshop for singers of any level. You may go in already sounding good but you’ll come out with a new vocabulary of all the dynamic things you never imagined your voice could do. – Jeannie F.

$20 in advance or $25 at the door, space permitting. Paying in advance is welcome as space is limited. Please pay here: www.PayPal.com

using this email address: dorilevine50@gmail.com

If you prefer to not receive further  notifications of this kind please let me know, no spam intended.

I will be presenting 7 wonderful singers whom I have the pleasure of coaching on Saturday, March 1st at Tribeca Music Studio. I will be accompanying them on piano.

$10 includes wine, beverage and snacks. Contact TMS for directions.