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What Happens in a Voice Lesson

I decided to put this here because I’m cleaning up my website so that it’s not so wordy (what, me wordy?), but I still feel like this info should be somewhere. So here it is and I’ll link it on the website (this is what you can expect  in MY studio – YMMV in anyone else’s):

  • The Warm Up: A lesson usually starts out with some stretching to get your body ready to sing. Then we start with exercises to get your voice ready to sing. This can take anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes, depending on where you are in your vocal studies, what you’ve done before your lesson, and what you need on that particular day, both to serve yourself and to serve the song(s) you’re planning to work on.
  • The Repertoire (Songs): Once you’re ready to go, we work on the song(s) you’re preparing. Sometimes the song might be one that you’re going to sing next week; sometimes it’s something you’re working on for a future performance; and sometimes it’s something you might never sing again, but it’s preparing you for something else (kind of like vocal “training wheels”).
  • Digging Deep, Technically: Christine will usually have you sing the song all the way through and note the parts that are working really well, and the parts that need some attention. Then you’ll go back and she will help you to use what’s working to help the parts that aren’t at the same level yet. Working techique can be painstaking and picky – but you’ll wind up being able to count on it when you sing it (or something like it) in front of an audience, whether that’s for an audition, in a theater, or just on karaoke night.
  • Digging Deep, Artistically: Christine will also help you delve into the song and find what the text means, both in context of the song and, if it’s from a show (a musical or an opera), the context of the show. She’ll help you find clues in the music to tell you what the composer wanted. She’ll tell you the history of the time in which it was written and how it influences the style. Again, it’s picky. But it’ll set you apart as a singing artist, not just a singer.

I also took this picture out because, honestly, as much as it amused me, it might make someone else run screaming for the hills. And I don’t want to traumatize anyone. (Plus, as one of my students pointed out, I don’t teach little kids, at least right now, and this picture kind of implies that I do.)

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If you’d like to experience a Mezzoid Voice Studio lesson for yourself, please contact me and we’ll set up a Vocal Discovery Session

Published by Mezzoid Voice Studio

Christine Thomas-O'Meally, a mezzo soprano and voice teacher currently based in the Baltimore-DC area, has performed everything from the motets of J.S. Bach to the melodies of Irving Berlin to the minimalism of Philip Glass. As an opera singer and actress, she has appeared with companies such as Charm City Players, Spotlighters Theatre, Chicago Opera Theater, Opera Theater of Northern Virginia, Opera North, the Washington Savoyards, In Tandem Theatre, Windfall Theater, The Young Victorian Theater of Baltimore, and Skylight Opera Theatre. She created the role of The Woman in Red in Dominick Argento’s Dream of Valentino in its world premiere with the Washington Opera and Mary Pickersgill in O'er the Ramparts at its world premiere during the Bicentennial of Battle of Baltimore at the Community College of Baltimore County. Other roles include Mrs. Paroo in Music Man, Mother Abbess in Sound of Music, Dorabella in Cosi Fan Tutte, Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro, both Hansel and the Witch in Hansel & Gretel, and many roles in Gilbert & Sullivan operettas. Her performance as the Housekeeper in Man of La Mancha was honored with a WATCH award nomination. Ms. Thomas-O'Meally received an M.M. in vocal performance from the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. She regularly attends master classes and workshops in both performance and vocal pedagogy, and is certified in all three Levels of Somatic Voicework™ The LoVetri Method. Her students have performed on national and international tours of Broadway productions, at prestigious conservatories, and in regional theater throughout the country.

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