What's the point of singing, anyway?

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,

To the last syllable of recorded time;

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

By William Shakespeare

(from Macbeth, spoken by Macbeth)

Oh, man, what a heavy thought!

After working for weeks or years on your voice, it might be easy to say, "What's the point of all this, anyway?"

I've heard that said by loads of singers and artists.

But singing jumps into your life when you don't expect it.

How music has improved my life this week:

• I sang lullabies to my premie newborn niece when I didn't know what else to do.

• I played and sang for my closest friend in a secured memory facility.

• I was playing piano and connecting with my nephew.

How has singing crept into your life this week?

Do you wish you had another tune to sing for someone?

A huge aspect of my online course is the 3rd section, in which we learn to interpret and perform a song.

It's not just about the words, notes, and rhythms, but a song's emotional impact on you and the audience.

We want that song to affect our audience profoundly.

That's why we sing.

Technique is a means to an end (a tremendously essential means).

My goal for you:

• Connect to a song with powerful emotions.

• Perform the song and be the vessel through which the audience connects with your interpretation of the song.

• "Hold the room" with your artistry.

The audience could be one person or Carnegie Hall. It doesn't matter.

Learn how to connect to a song here: https://www.singwithjosh.com/academy​

Best,

Josh

Yoga Chanting Confidence 🧘‍♂️

I want to chant better.

I want to feel more confident singing in Yoga (or Church, Choir, or at Home)

I've been hearing this from my peeps lately.

We all know there's more to a song than just singing, like:

• pronunciation

• the notes

• the tempo

• the right rhythm

• musicality

• emotional interpretation!

Sometimes, we take these things for granted - as if these concepts will automatically be perfect.

Learning a song doesn't take long, but you must learn it correctly.

I can teach you how to learn any song (any language or genre).

If you want to chant or sing better, there's no better time to start than now.

Learn more here: https://www.singwithjosh.com/

Josh

The Nose Doesn't Know(s)

Every day before pouring the cream into my coffee, I take a quick whiff.

I have an unnatural fear of pouring chunky spoiled milk into my precious caffeinated wake-up potion, and the smell test always works. That's probably a little OCD, but singers are a little wacky, and I don't like chunky spoiled milk.

The nose knows foul smells!

But what the nose doesn't excel at is sticking itself into your singing sound.

Get. Outta. There.

Why does nasal singing stink? Because it distorts your vowels.

​Here's a 60-second YouTube video that will teach you how to get nasality out of your singing!​

Nasal singing will prevent you from singing the way you've always wanted, and that video will get you on the path to vocal freedom.

If nasal singing is the last step in your vocal journey, awesome, that video will fix all your problems.

But if you'd like to dig a little deeper into your singing, I invite you to check out my conservatory-level singing course, The Sing with Josh Online Vocal Academy.

Inside The Vocal Academy You Will:

• Learn professional techniques for every level of singing

• Develop the muscles that directly control your singing voice

• Develop your chest and falsetto registers and learn to coordinate between the two voices

• Learn to overcome any fears of singing

• Learn vowels, vocal anatomy, ear training, breathing for singing, and performance skills

• Personal feedback from me

• Apply your technique to songs you love

• Learn to experience the pure freedom of singing well

The joy of singing is a beautiful thing!

Join the crowd of current students that are enjoying the benefits of the Sing with Josh Course.

Learn more about it here:

​https://www.singwithjosh.com/​

Josh

Be extreme in your daily quest for greatness

I have always been a person that goes to extremes. If I were going to practice stretching I would stretch until it hurts. If I were to work out by lifing weights I would lift the heaviest weight possible. Basically any technique, I would take it to the nth degree, because that’s how to do it best, right? Wrong. 

Something has changed in the last year, though. I don't know if it's because I'm just getting older, if I'm getting further along in my jiu jitsu practice, if I'm getting older as a father, or what, but I've had a pretty seismic idea, extreme, if you will, of being extreme..

Maybe it occurred to me these past couple weeks as I've been working out almost every day at the Opera Colorado office. It’s not the greatest gym in the world, but, if you just work out with what you have, and keep on the slow and steady grind on this campaign of self-improvement, one begins to see results. If I just come in every day and work and go through the motions and lift the weights do my stretches my injuries heal, my body strengthens, and I feel overall, better.

The same thing can be said regarding our singing. In the beginning of your singing journey, you are building your voice, much the same way as you are building an instrument. You can't play a violin unless it's built, and you cannot sing to your full extent unless the muscles that are directly in control of producing the sounds have been strengthened...

The muscles allow you to sing softly, loudly, to add emotional textures to your voice, to add caricature textures to your voice, singing dark, singing light, singing clear, and have a ringing tone. All of these things are the standard, the baseline, the foundation of what it takes to add artistry to your song, to your band, to your life....

Once again, we come to this idea of extreme. I can't tell you how many students I've seen in the past few years that want a major change in one lesson. It doesn't happen like that. Expecting a change in one lesson… that is extreme. One must recognize that one needs to build the muscles that are directly responsible before producing those sounds over a period of YEARS! it took Arnold Schwarzenegger a long time to get that Mr. Universe body. It's the exact same way with the voice.

Slow and steady. Steady. Steady. Constant and disciplined workouts will get you to your goals.

Oh, and by the way, I can help get you there!

Singing Lessons schedule is a bit wackadu for a little while, but sign up on the Boulder Voice Lessons website for available lesson times.

Free Piano Lesson and Daily Piano Warmups

Boulder Voice Lessons Daily 7 minute piano warm up will make you a better piano player.

Daily Piano Practice will make you a better piano player!

If you don’t know what to practice, or if you are sick of practicing your assigned song, just do this simple 7 minute warm up, and you’ll continue to improve.

It’s like 7 minute Abs, but for your fingers.

Check it here: