Mark JW Graham: Singing Lessons Nottingham
Mark is the Midlands' leading Certified Voice Coach, providing professional singing lessons in Nottingham. Mark is known for getting BIG results in voices, fast. – 0115 871 7660 || [email protected]
Explore how to build a stronger, healthier voice through proven techniques and expert advice. Whether you’re working on range, tone, or control, these hand-picked articles will walk you through every major vocal challenge.
Artificial intelligence has rapidly expanded into the world of music education, offering digital alternatives to traditional singing lessons. But how do AI singing apps compare to working with a real vocal coach? Below, we weigh the pros and cons in a side-by-side comparison to help you understand which is best for your voice.
Continue reading “Can I learn to sing using an AI voice coach?”
Here’s a summary of what all the search engines say are THE top 5 questions about singing lessons that people like you want answers to:
A typical singing lesson encompasses:
Each lesson is tailored to the individual’s goals and vocal range. For a deeper dive, explore What Happens in a Singing Lesson.
I’ve worked with well over a thousand singers over the years. I’ve also watched a lot of singers live. Over this time, I’ve noticed that there tend to be different mindsets behind people who work on their voice. I thought I’d discuss both of these today, and perhaps you can recognise yourself in one of these camps.
Continue reading “The Dangers of Perfection vs Ignoring Mistakes”
This week I was having a few conversations around the nature of how to learn songs fast, and refining them to a high standard. It struck me that I’ve not written explicitly about this.
I wrote an article a while ago on misunderstandings that amateurs make about singing. I also wrote an article on how pros practice that is relevant to this topic.
Hence I thought I would flesh out the key difference between beginners, intermediates and pros, and how they approach learning songs. Keep an eye out for where you feel you fit in this spectrum.
I was having a discussion this week with a client, regarding how to change the nature of one’s voice. It was a fairly nuanced topic, but it centred around:
1. Can we actually change the nature and structure of our voices?
2. How much say does a singer have in how they sound?
3. Why do some people sound better than others?
Each of these are quite complex discussions. Moreover, even if we can say ‘yes, you can go far with developing your voice’, that doesn’t tell us how far, or what the differences are likely to be. So instead of trying to give concrete answers, let me try and simply adjust your mindset on these topics.
Here’s an alternate framing of the first question in the world of exercise: Continue reading “Change the nature of your voice”
This article forms part of our advanced vocal techniques collection. Click here to dive deeper.
I think a lot about the learning process, and the creative process. While there is heavy overlap between the two processes, they are not exactly the same.
Nevertheless, people often want to rush both. They want to push as hard they can, like it’s all metric driven, like it’s a profit and loss chart in a high-pressure sales room…
“OK, we have to acquire one new note a week, because by the end of the year I’ll have more range than any singer ever”
“This song feels comfortable, so I can’t be pushing myself, gotta find something that finds my limits again”
“If I can’t nail this song in one attempt, I’m a total failure”
Yet we have all thought along such lines at some point or another. We may never have articulated such things in so many words, but we’ve all FELT that way about progress.
That progress has to be measurable, quantifiable, dissectible. And that measurable progress needs to be constant and even day to day, week to week, year to year. Slow downs, setbacks, or worse, variable performance is not acceptable.
Learning and the creative process really isn’t like that. With such a mindset, frustration and burnout is an inevitability. Continue reading “Jason Alexander on the learning and creative process”
I’ve been working as a voice coach for about a decade and a half now. Many of my clients are professionals who earn some or all of their income from making music. I also know many other musicians who work within the music industry.
As such, I thought it might be worth sharing a few things that have made working in the music industry achievable. If you are trying to make a living as a singer/musician, or would like to learn more, please do have a read.
When I first started making music in my teens, people noticed I seemed to have an aptitude for it. They would say things like:
“You’re good at music… you should do music for a living” was something I’d hear a lot.
It didn’t strike me until years later, that’s like saying:
“You’re good at maths… you should do maths for a living“.
In reality, there is no job that is just “maths“. There are jobs that employ maths as a skill, e.g. accountancy, actuary, mathematics teacher, even engineering, but being “good at maths” is only one component of the skill set needed to become valuable within a job.
Similarly, just because you love singing, this does not automatically mean you HAVE to become a solo performer or front a band. There are always a plurality of jobs that require musical ability as a skill, but it is deployed differently within each arena. Continue reading “Making Your Living In Music”