I had a blast performing on the Ronnie McDowell show this week. When it was time to do the interview, Ronnie asked me a very interesting question. He said when he recorded "Older Women Make Beautiful Lovers" he did it in one take, and it of course became a hit. So, he asked me, what would I as a vocal coach have suggested about that vocal?

Well, folks, the short answer is that if you do a one take vocal and it becomes a hit I would not mess with it! If any vocal strain occurred, I would of course be able to help the artist be able to accomplish that vocal more easily, but would not want to alter the gist of the performance. So, I thought I would speak to this here:

If you...

• ...are singing as well as you want/need to, 
• ...have no vocal strain
• ...have no reason or desire to learn to do anything new with your voice...

...then there is no reason for you to want to take vocal lessons. Period.

If you do need some help with vocal ability or strain or want to improve in some vocal area, don't let these reasons stop you:

• lack of finances (you can train very inexpensively (such as with my 1-cd PPP course) or even for free by searching for articles and blogs like this on the voice.
• lack of time (how bad do you want it?)
• distance from a good vocal coach (many voice teachers including myself give phone lessons which are highly effective)
• fear that someone will find out you're taking vocal lessons (most professional singers have vocal coaches and sometimes they even thank them in award acceptance speeches. Heck, a recent huge movie unearthed the fact that even a king needed vocal lessons!

PS... "Music City Late Night with Ronnie McDowell " will be broadcast on a giant internet platform and on a new Comcast cable TV channel soon. I'll let you know when and where it launches.

Labels: "vocal strain", Judy Rodman, phone lessons, Ronnie McDowell, vocal coach, vocal control vocal lessons