Non-Sleeping Fun!

It's winter break, and for most of my students (namely the teens) have a million parties/sleepovers and the same goes for spring break. It doesn't mean you can't party and have a good time, but when you lose sleep...it just reaps havok on your poor little voice, not giving it ample time to rest and repair. You HAVE to sleep or otherwise, you'll be out of a voice!

WATER

I know I way over emphasize this point, but it's winter and I don't know about you but my skin is all itchy and my throat is dry. yuck. SO! What's that mean?! You better be picking up your water intake. With the heater on high, it drys out the room. If you're not drinking extra water, try a humidifier. That will moisten up the air and your throat too. If you have access to a steam room, that's good too! You can make your own steam room in your bathroom with putting a towel by the crack in the door and running the shower just enough to create steam. It's like a little spa in your house! If you have steam heat...put a pan of water on the radiator to moisten the air.

Just FYI I hate the word moist, but I feel like it's necessary here.

Anyways, Happy Freakin' Winter and drink your water or I'll haunt your dreams!

Kaity

It's been a while!

Yikes! Looks like I haven't been keeping up my end of the bargain here! So here's some fun stuff for you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9LKwISwb_c

Don't watch it while you're eating! It shows what you can do to yourself if you over sing and don't take care of yourself. So pay attention, and keep checking back here to find ways to keep that from happening to you!!

Open Throat

This is one of my favs. Just because you have an open throat, or a relaxed throat doesn't mean your sound has to be of a 'dark'/'choral' sound. A relaxed throat will let the breath do the work without any pain. So in a sentence,yes you can have a relaxed throat and a bright placement...you never have to sacrifice one for the other. Your whole body should be working together to get that perfect sound.

Visit kaityheart.com and facebook.com keyword Heart's Performing Arts for more info!

This one is for you Mad.

One of my students wanted me to post a tip on belting and breathing. Here's something to always remember. Singing is like a domino effect. If your breathing isn't dead on, neither will your singing. And this goes even more so when you're belting. Start feeling all scratchy and pain-y?? Stop. Good lord. Stop. No need to blow out your voice all at once. Take a second and rethink what you're doing. Is everything aligned? Are you taking a good breath, is it to the right place?? Are you stacking your breath or hyperphonating?! Take a breath and take an inventory before you go blowing out your voice....

Breathing fun!

Here's a cool visualization for you when you're thinking about breathing...a lot of times people think they don't have enough time in a song to take a decent breath. Honestly? one second is a decent amount of time to take a really nice breath...three seconds is a freakin' eternity!!!

So, next time you take a breath, think of smelling a rose or some other nice fragrant flower...you know when you stop for a second and really take it in?? Try it...think like you have all of the time in the world to 'smell the roses' and take a decent breath in your song!

Visit and like my new Facebook page!!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Minneapolis-MN/Hearts-Performing-Arts/125782644136960?v=wall

Holy Stuff Batman!!!

Hey everyone!

Took a little break because we have a lot of cool stuff going on!

Pretty soon we are launching Kaityheart.com where you can check out all sorts of things like my performance history, a calendar where I'm playing, information and resources for students, a student page, and even a store with cool Heart gear by Teri Harriet, jewelry by Quiet Girl designs, and a series of warm-up cds!

Cool!

Well, that's what I've been up to...more awesome tips to come soon!!

Love

Kaity

Leave it in the past...

So many times do I have a student, or myself that is held back from achieving their best voice from some weird or crappy ocurance from their past. Yeah things happen, you blew an audition, forget the words on stage on the most important show of your life, walk out into a performance with t.p hanging off your shoe and blah blah blah. Think of it like this. Every performance, every single time you sing you start over. You begin a new chapter. Every single time. So if you have no past...there is no place to go but up...right??


Want to learn more?? Contact Kaity at kaityheart@gmail.com

Practice makes perfect...until you lose your voice!

At a lesson today and one of my students voice was very hoarse. It's sleepover season for my tweeners so I assumed it was because she was tired. Nope. She has a performance this Saturday and was very nervous. She was practicing for hours a day and now she's losing her voice. So to make a long story short, practice does make perfect but never at the expense of your voice.

Want to learn more? Contact Kaity at kaityheart@gmail.com

Fake it!!!

That's it. That's all I want to say really. Seriously when it comes to confidence and stage presence I tell my students all of the time...Fake it, Until you Make it. You'll get there eventually!!

Want to Learn More?! Contact kaity at kaityheart@gmail.com

Water, water everywhere!

Ahhh. Summer time! It's freaking hot! And you're crazy if you're not drinking lots of water right now. But its not just the summer time we should be drinking lots of water! This should be a year round practice. As a singer you need to consume much more than the average person. So get yourself a cool aluminum bottle and start sucking it down!!

Want to learn more? Contact Kaity at kaityheart@gmail.com

Smile!!!

I had a student the other day singing a super uptempo song and the look on her face was pure boredom. This is what I told her to repeat to herself everyday...'if I don't smile I look either scared, bored or like I don't want to be there...' So all she had to do was smile and all of that changed! She finally looked engaged, interested and had attitude!!! Finally!! And all it took was a little smile...

Want to learn more?? Contact Kaity at Kaityheart@gmail.com

Breathe....

Tip #2-Isn't it funny how the most important thing that keeps our body functioning is the very thing that we need work on the most?? Breath is the most important aspect of singing, your stamina, range and power all depend on the little muscle in your stomach, called the diaphragm. Harness this, and you're well on you're way!


Want to learn more?? contact Kaity at kaityheart@gmail.com

It's more than just singing...

Tip #1. It's more than just singing. Because it is. Really. Singing notes isn't going to cut it. How many singers have an amazing voice?? Lots. Millions even. Great timbre. Tone and range to kill for. I know them, you know them...we see them on American Idol and America's got Talent and star maker and blah blah blah. But what pulls us in?? It isn't normally just the voice. It's that special something else. In fact, how many successful singers can you name that can barely sing? Here's some: Pearl Jam, Bob Dylan, Brittany Spears, Jessica Simpson, and the list goes on and on. Does it make them bad!? hell no. These guys and girls are all amazing, because it isn't just the voice that matters. It's soul, heart, images, performance, body, control, breath, dance, movement, acting, it's all of those things and a lot more.

If you want to learn more...contact Kaity at kaityheart@gmail.com to get started!