All Things Vocal Podcast

Interview With Diane Kimbrough - Part 2

This is the audio version of the blogpost you can find at AllThingsVocal.com.
Today's topic is Part 2 of my interview with veteran live performance coach Diane Kimbrough. Listen to this podcast episode for tips to raise the level of your live performance staging.
This podcast is now playing at iTunes , Google Play,  TuneIn Radio, . Subscribe and don't miss an episode... and please leave a review where you like to listen! REVIEWS ARE MUCH NEEDED and APPRECIATED!
Contact Diane for vocal performance sessions at her website www.DianeKimbrough.com. If you’d like help with any vocal matter, get Power, Path and Performance vocal training, available at www.JudyRodman.com in vocal lessons and on CD courses.
Subjects covered in part 2 include:
Why Diane's approach is to practice the arena level show instead of the coffee-house show, and how that can benefit the smaller venue performance, too.
Training artists to work with a camera.
How being present with venue size changes how you perform live.
The circumstances for which a veteran stage performer needs to come back in for some live performance coaching.
Some of the worst things you can do on stage.
Mapping out talking points on stage.
How Acro Yoga helps Diane with her live performance coaching. How it benefits both artists and teachers of artists to keep learning and trying things we've never done before.
Why and how artists should watch awards shows.
How the mistaken belief that the audience is feeling what you're feeling can diminish your performance.
How and why to articulate clearly and use punctuation in performance.
Why it's important for best performance to understand and take on the responsibility of your unique artistic position on stage.
How important it is for an artist to work with a team that supports each member, and communicates to resolve any seeming differences so the artist is never confused.
NOTE: If you haven't listened to part 1 of this interview yet, be sure and check out my previous episode!

Interview With Veteran Live Performance Coach Diane Kimbrough - Part1

This is the audio version of the blogpost you can find at AllThingsVocal.com.
Today's topic is my interview with Diane Kimbrough. Listen to this podcast episode for tips to improve your live performances, your confidence on stage and your audience impact. You'll also learn how Diane's performance coaching and my vocal coaching work together in a synergy that supports instead of confuses our artist clients.
This podcast is now playing at iTunes , Google Play,  TuneIn Radio, . Subscribe and don't miss an episode... and please leave a review where you like to listen! REVIEWS ARE MUCH NEEDED and APPRECIATED!
If you’d like help with live performance, contact Diane at her website http://dianekimbrough.com/. For help with any vocal matter, try Power, Path and Performance vocal training, available at www.JudyRodman.com in vocal lessons and on CD courses.
Subjects covered in this episode include:
Diane's background & experience
Explanation of what live performance coaching is.
How Diane uses her dance and acting experience in her coaching.
Defining stage presence.
How Diane and I work synergistically to increase stage and vocal abilities.
The value of getting live performance coaching before recording final studio vocals.
How both of us work on focusing message delivery.
Diane's coaching strategy of videotaping performance and playing it back without sound.
A vital understanding Diane wants artists to get out of her coaching sessions: The song itself - the structure of the music and the lyrics - should largely dictate stage movement. How that goes with my vocal training.
How to figure out who your voice needs to represent in any song.
Diane and I discuss and solve our disparate ways of approaching and coaching authenticity. We discuss what is and is not 'real', how to use acting techniques to make the moment real for the audience even when it's not real for you.
Why you don't need to freak out at the thought of acting.
Case study about an artist we both successfully worked with who had a serious eating disorder and issues with 'feeling' emotion.
How critical voices and situations like bad-fitting heels affect confidence on stage. Knowledge brings power.
Case study about another of our artists who we helped go from serious insecurity to up & coming artist catching serious career fire.
Diane says it's best to have some stage experience before booking coaching sessions.
Ways Diane asks clients to practice what they learn from her. Written homework is assigned, along with continual videotaping and silent viewing to review how audiences see you.
The importance of separating singing and stage movement practice. Why you should put your guitar down and try singing without it.
How that same strategy - separate practice - is a wise way to practice vocal technique.
Diane and I bat around the concept of singing to the one heart. We use different words for the same thing... Diane calls it having a conversation on a melodic line.
PLEASE NOTE: There was so much we shared I decided to split the interview. This is Part 1. Listen to Part 2, on the episode following this one.
About Diane Kimbrough:
As an actress, dancer, and choreographer, Diane’s career has taken her to Europe, South America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East where she has directed and choreographed live shows for companies including IBM, Kawasaki, NCR, Chevrolet, Texaco, and Suzuki. She herself has appeared on stage & television with an array of stars from Garth Brooks to the L.A. Dodgers.Her work has appeared on every major television network. She has staged a wide array of events from ABC’s “Monday Night Football” promo to “The All-American Thanksgiving Day Parade” for CBS. Diane is a veteran of eight seasons of the CMAs (Country Music Association Awards), staging such knockout numbers as Alan Jackson’s “Chattahoochie”, Brad Paisley’s “Online” and Shania Twain’s “I’m Outta Here” and “Any Man of Mine”.Managers and record labels, including Arista, Atlantic, Capitol, Columbia, Epic, Mercury, RCA and Sony as well as a host of indie labels, have hired Diane to coach their emerging artists as well as top-selling stars. Her clients include solo artists, vocal groups and bands of any genre. Diane’s philosophy… “Create an experience and you’ve created a fan.”Contact her at http://dianekimbrough.com

How My Vocal Training Can Hurt You

This is the audio version of the blogpost you can find at AllThingsVocal.com.
Today's topic is vocal training and how it can hurt you if you misunderstand it. Listen to this podcast episode for tips to correctly apply my and other coaches' vocal training techniques so they can help, not hurt your voice!
This podcast is now playing at iTunes , Google Play,  TuneIn Radio, . Subscribe and don't miss an episode... and please leave a review where you like to listen! REVIEWS ARE MUCH NEEDED and APPRECIATED!
If you’d like help with radically improving your voice while conquering vocal strain, try Power, Path and Performance vocal training, available at www.JudyRodman.com in vocal lessons and on CD courses. If you have questions about my or other coaches' training, email me at judy@judyrodman.com. 
Subjects covered in this episode include:
Pull, don't push the voice
Take a breath and don't use it
Use your face
Press fingertips together for breath balance
Articulate clearly
Straighten your spine
You can sing as long as you want without strain
Apply the inner smile
Three other training techniques I never suggest
- Speech level larynx- Just relax and sing- Sing from your diaphragm
Links mentioned in this podcast include:
Why you should not sing from your diaphragm 

Interview With Mark Thress - Classical vs Contemporary Voice

This is the audio version of the blogpost you can find at AllThingsVocal.com.
Today I interview Mark Thress… classical singer and teacher, voice science researcher, entrepreneur and colleague. He and I have been trading vocal lessons for about a year. Listen to this episode to hear us share our explorations and findings concerning the similarities and differences in contemporary and classical singing and teaching, as well as how cross-training can help both.
This podcast is now playing at iTunes , Google Play, TuneIn Radio, . Subscribe and don't miss an episode... and please leave a review where you like to listen! REVIEWS ARE MUCH NEEDED and APPRECIATED!
If you want the best contemporary vocal training proven to maximize vocal ability and conquer strain, try Power, Path and Performance vocal training, available at www.JudyRodman.com in vocal lessons and on CD courses.
Find Mark Thress and his services at his Facebook page, Instagram @MarkThress and website.
Links mentioned in this podcast include:
A video of one of our vocal lesson exchanges. (Watch us teach each other!)
Subjects covered in this episode include:
How we met and our intention behind trading lessons.
Similarities and differences between the genres of classical and contemporary singing.
How all art is about effectively and authentically communicating a message to the one heart.
Subtle technical differences in formal and contemporary genres in performance focus, creating volume, using self-compression, facial expressions, vowel lengths, vibrato, the need for mic technique or to fill the hall acoustically, conveying emotion without pushing.
How “less is more” in contemporary music, while continuity in sound is important in classical music.
Ways cross training can benefit both contemporary and classical voice.
Issues students typically have when trying to cross these genres and perform them authentically.
Using tools such as a trampoline or bosu ball to loosen the body and increase access to breath and tone, as well as a coffee straw or balloon for warming up.
How 'pulling' helps both contemporary and classical singing.
How both coaches have improved each other's voices.

How To Sing A Love Song

This is the audio version of the blogpost you can find at AllThingsVocal.com.
Today's topic is How to Sing Love Songs. Listen to this podcast episode for tips to go deeper into the various messages that are present in love songs, and the how to deliver love songs more interestingly and authentically to get a more powerful response.  
This podcast is now playing at iTunes , Google Play,  TuneIn Radio, . Subscribe and don't miss an episode... and please leave a review where you like to listen! REVIEWS ARE MUCH NEEDED and APPRECIATED!
If you’d like help with performing emotional songs or any other vocal matter, try Power, Path and Performance vocal training, available at www.JudyRodman.com in vocal lessons and on CD courses.
Subjects covered in this episode include:
Examples of various love song messages and songs that carry them
Four questions to ask
What to do if you’re not feeling it
Mistakes to avoid
How to create nuance
Two exercises
Links mentioned in this podcast include:
Lots of songs
The vocal magic of intention and expectation
How Voice and Message create each other

Singing and Creating Harmony

This is the audio version of the blogpost you can find at AllThingsVocal.com. 
Today's topic is Harmony. Listen to this podcast episode for tips to sing and create harmony parts.
This podcast is now playing at iTunes , Google Play,  TuneIn Radio, . Subscribe and don't miss an episode... and please leave a review where you like to listen! REVIEWS ARE MUCH NEEDED and APPRECIATED!
If you’d like help with singing or creating harmony, or any other vocal matter, try Power, Path and Performance vocal training, available at www.JudyRodman.com in vocal lessons and on CD courses.
Subjects covered in this episode include:
The power of harmony
How to pick a part
How to train for harmony singing
Some examples of great harmony
Links mentioned in this podcast include:
Flyte Three
Simon and Garfunkel
Bohemian Rhapsody
Africa by the band Toto
Emmylou Harris
Alison Krauss and Union Station - Down To The River (live)
HearFones
The Judds - Grandpa
Wynonna - She Is His Only Need
Pentatonix - Havana
Washington Performing Arts Gospel Choir
The Hall Sisters - Beginning To See The Light

Lessons On Courageous Creativity From New Zealand

This is the audio version of the blogpost you can find at AllThingsVocal.com.
Today's topic is Courageous Creativity of New Zealand.  Listen to this podcast episode to learn about the unique and breathtaking creativity I found during my New Zealand trip, and to find inspiration for your own expanded possibilities.
This podcast is now playing at iTunes , Google Play,  TuneIn Radio, . Subscribe and don't miss an episode... and please leave a review where you like to listen! REVIEWS ARE MUCH NEEDED and APPRECIATED!
If you’d like help with exploring your voice’s potential, or any other vocal matter, try Power, Path and Performance vocal training, available at www.JudyRodman.com in vocal lessons and on CD courses.
Links mentioned in this podcast include:
Christchurch Street Art
Dance-O-Mat
Flat White Coffee
Kumara potatoes
Start City Mall
Eye Language of Sheep Dogs
Rachael Leahcar
Glow Worm Caves
Maori Culture
Hobbiton
Photos from my New Zealand adventure

How Adversity Has Blessed My Voice

This is the audio version of the blogpost you can find at AllThingsVocal.com.
Today's topic is adversity and how it can be used to benefit the voice. Listen to this podcast episode to find out why I add humorously negative and seriously hard times to my voice’s gratitude list, and how you can, too.
This podcast is now playing at iTunes , Google Play,  TuneIn Radio, . Subscribe and don't miss an episode... and please leave a review where you like to listen! REVIEWS ARE MUCH NEEDED and APPRECIATED!
If you’d like help with difficult vocal issues or any other vocal matter, try Power, Path and Performance vocal training, available at www.JudyRodman.com in vocal lessons and on CD courses.
Subjects covered in this episode include:
My childhood demotion from lead to harmony
Mandatory piano lessons
Paying dues with vocal abuse
Serious illness and vocal damage
Multiple career failures
Links mentioned in this podcast include:
How my damaged voice came back
Interview with chiropractor Dr. Dwaine Allison
John and Judy Rodman ep 'Here We Are'
Rascal Flatts performance 'Bless the Broken Road'