RESOURCES
FOR SINGERS
WELCOME to the Vocal Resources Page, where you’ll find free downloads and links for your
inner singer and your music career, recommended voice teachers, books, and more.
Free Downloadable Discovery Sheets
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FIND YOUR NORTH STAR
Why are you pursuing a career in music? What do you value? What gives you energy — and infuses your life with meaning?
With this eBook and Discovery Sheet, you'll discover why it's essential to have an inner compass and how it can help your singing career.
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YOUR SONG LIST IN THE CLOUD
When you're a singer, you wear a lot of different hats. One of the least expected? Librarian! Keep your song lists organized with this Google spreadsheet.
For more on how to use it to create set lists, notes for practicing, and more, read
the blog post HERE. -
HOW TO USE THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE IN SONG
Knowing how to use these stylistic tools in singing will help you to sound more authentic within a genre, give you more ways to experiment in your practice sessions, and expand your artistic possibilities.
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INSPIRATION & ORGANIZATION
In this practice planner, you’ll find Yearly, Monthly, and Weekly calendars, a Daily Practice Page for journaling, a Master Song List, and Song Sheets for capturing all the details about the tunes you sing.
You’ll also learn nine strategies to help you find time to practice and discover the joy of making music every day.
Watch this short video to learn how to use the Vocal Practice Journal.
A helpful video for all singers from my course, Becoming A Singer
FOR
…THE ARTIST, SINGER
Vocal Health:
The National Center For Voice And Speech: Check Your Meds
Medications can have a negative effect on your voice. Before you take a prescription, over-the-counter medication, or supplement, check to see what the side effects are. This website page has lists of medications, supplements, and herbs and their effects on your voice. Be sure and bookmark it!
(For more on vocal health, check out my blog post: How To Make It Through The Cold & Flu Season When You’re A Singer.)
Tools & Apps For Practicing
iReal Pro offers an easy-to-use tool to help musicians of all levels master their art. Their app simulates a real-sounding band that can accompany you as you practice, and also lets you collect chord charts from your favorite songs for reference.
I’ve not used Band In A Box myself, but some of my students and singer friends have. It sounds amazing — much better than iReal because the sounds in it are created by professional musicians. Some people even use it to create backing tracks for professional recordings. It sounds that good.
Tools For Organizing:
Evernote is one of my favorite tools for organizing, well, just about everything. It’s a cloud based system you can use to capture ideas and inspiration in notes, voice, and pictures. Perfect for singers!
…THE ENTREPENEUR
Be Your Own Business:
In my search for how to create a website that reflects who I am and what I care most about, I found a woman whose courses made all the difference, and I’d like to introduce her to you. Meet Squarespace expert Kerstin Martin.
Her Squarespace website design courses (including the Simple Start course below) will only be offered through 2024. However, she has other courses for solopreneurs (which most of us singers are) under her new business umbrella, My Calm Business.
Simple Start by Kerstin Martin
Kerstin has a beautiful design aesthetic and a wonderfully organized and easy-to-follow way of teaching. From signing up for a Squarespace account to launching SEO, Kerstin really knows her stuff. She is a Squarespace Authorized Trainer and Web Designer.
Digital Sheet Music Systems
A great digital sheet music app will do more than store your charts or sheet music in the cloud. It will expand the ways that you can use it.
For more about how to organize your sheet music, lyric sheets, and charts, check out this blog post: Your Inner Librarian: How To Keep Your Gig Books, Charts, and Sheetmusic Organized.
ANDROID
PRIVATE VOICE TEACHERS
Are you looking for a voice teacher or coach that really knows their stuff? You're in luck!
The teachers below teach all styles of music and are well-versed in vocal pedagogy.
They also have their own areas of focus and expertise. I highly recommend them.
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Tom Blaylock: NW Institute of Voice
Voice teacher, voice scientist, performer, and conductor.Specializing in vocal function for singers. Creator of The Blaylock Method.
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Deanna Maio: Confident Voice Studio
Helping performers of all ages to perform with their most healthy, consistent, and confident sound. Specializing in Jazz, Musical Theatre, Pop, R&B, and Rock.Certified Blaylock Method Instructor
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Elizabeth LaVenue Vocal Studio
Elizabeth inspires students to find their voices with compassion and humor; all styles, ages 8 to 88, LGBTQ+, vocal rehabilitation, 25 years experience.
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Center Stage Voice: Mark Bosnian
I help singers look, sound, and feel confident when they perform. Transform your Core Mechanics, Dynamics/Emotion, and Stage Presence. Sing what you love, love what you sing.
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Path of Authentic Voice: Beth Noelle
Creator of PATH of Authentic Voice. Certified Blaylock Method Instructor. Supporting singers to activate empowered self-expression.
RECOMMENDED COURSES, WORKSHOPS & MORE
JAZZVOICE.COM is an online educational community offering private lessons, master classes, videos, professional development, and educational books.
There are some excellent resources on this site — including access to lessons with accomplished jazz vocalists like Jane Monheit, Catherine Russell, Kate McGarry, Karrin Allyson, and Tierney Sutton.
PIANO SKILLS FOR SINGERS WITH BRENDA EARLE-STOKES
Brenda offers a membership program for singers who want to level up their skills as a musician. Learn how to play piano, accompany yourself while singing, solfege, and more.
Membership benefits include video lessons, print material, and live support.
Greta's teaching menu is wide-ranging, with everything from private lessons to clinics and mentorships. But my favorite thing on the menu is hard to find unless you have a gig — learning how to work with other musicians.
If you’re in the Seattle area, you can take part in her rhythm section performance workshop series in person. Lessons and workshops also take place on Zoom.
The 3-day virtual event for singers to break out of the starving artist mentality and learn what it takes to make a great living, build a lifelong career, and stay relevant as a musician.
Learn how to improve your craft, grow your fan base, and turn your passion into profit LIVE from 30 top industry experts. (Because music really can be your job!)
Hosted by podcast guest Danielle Tucker
Jessica’s journey as an artist ran alongside her expansion from a voice and piano teacher into a creativity and productivity coach with trauma and neurodivergence training. Her coaching path was inspired not only by her own journey but the many singers and voice teachers she’s met over 15 summers at the CCM Vocal Pedagogy Institute who needed tools to help them find and use their own artistic voices. Her business became True Colors Creativity Coaching, which provides creativity, voice, and executive function coaching to singers and creatives who want to finish projects that let them shine brighter. You can find out more about Jessica in this episode of the Living A Vocal Life podcast. She’s also written a fantastic book for singers that I recommend below!
RECOMMENDED
BOOKS & ARTICLES
Singing & Practicing:
The Jazz Singer’s Handbook: The Artistry & Mastery of Singing Jazz
by Michelle Weir
One of my favorite books in the “how to” section of my bookshelf. It doesn’t matter what style you sing, this book will give you the tools to make a song your own.
The Talent Code
by Daniel Coyle
Talent. You've either got it or you haven't.' Not true, actually. In The Talent Code, award-winning journalist Daniel Coyle draws on cutting-edge research to reveal that, far from being some abstract mystical power fixed at birth, ability really can be created and nurtured.
Becoming An Artist
A Singer's Guide to Finding Your Style & Artistic Voice
by Jess Baldwin
This is a book I wish I’d written! Jess is an outstanding vocalist, educator, and creativity coach I interviewed for my podcast. (Listen here!) She’s written a workbook/guide bursting with thoughtful questions that will give you insight into your life as a singer.
“This insightful guide offers practical tools and wisdom for singers at all levels. Jess’s compassionate and systematic approach covers every aspect of the whole person—balancing self-acceptance, exploring personal stories, understanding musical influences, and embracing visual and embodied expressions. Perfect for novice and seasoned artists alike, this book is your essential companion on the journey to authentic artistry.”
Writing:
Bird By Bird: Some Instructions on Writing & Life
by Ann Lamott
Writing Down The Bones
by Natalie Goldberg
These two books aren’t about songwriting, but it doesn’t matter. Whether it’s for your website, a press release, or your social media posts, you still need to write — and write like you. These two women will give you the courage to just begin.
For some other fantastic resources for writing, visit this resource page compiled by Nicole Bianchi — who excels at teaching the art of writing copy.
Being A Singer:
The Inner Voice: The Making of A Singer
by Renee Fleming
Renee is one of my favorite voices in opera. In The Inner Voice, she tells the story of her own artistic development and the “autobiography” of her voice.
Unmasking What Matters: 10 Life Lessons from 10 Years On Broadway by Sandra Joseph
“After ten years on Broadway, Sandra Joseph―the longest-running leading lady in Broadway’s longest-running show, The Phantom of the Opera―knows one thing for sure: the only way to have a truly fulfilling life and achieve success that satisfies is to recognize that the journey up is no substitute for the journey in.”
Songwriting:
The Craft of Lyric Writing
by Sheila Davis
A book from the 80s that teaches you everything you need to know about the craft of lyric writing. (Just ignore the music examples!)
Inspiration:
The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life
by Rosamund Stone Zander
and Benjamin Zander
This book is on repeat in my library. I’ve read it at least three times (and I almost never repeat a book.):
“Through uplifting stories, parables, and personal anecdotes, the Zanders invite us to become passionate communicators, leaders, and performers whose lives radiate possibility into the world.”
Music & The Brain:
This Is Your Brain On Music
by Daniel Levitin
In this groundbreaking union of art and science, rocker-turned-neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin explores the connection between music—its performance, its composition, how we listen to it, why we enjoy it—and the human brain.
Every Brain Needs Music: The Neuroscience of Making and Listening to Music
by Larry Sherman and Dennis Plies
Every Brain Needs Music draws on leading behavioral, cellular, and molecular neuroscience research as well as surveys of more than a hundred musical people. (Including me!) It provides new perspectives on learning to play, teaching, how to practice and perform, the ways we react to music, and why the brain benefits from musical experiences.
Being An Artist:
THESE books by Austin Kleon!
Steal Like An Artist
Show Your Work!
Keep Going
An essential trilogy of books on creativity and living the artist’s life by artist/writer Austin Kleon.
Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear
by Elizabeth Gilbert
"A must read for anyone hoping to live a creative life... I dare you not to be inspired to be brave, to be free, and to be curious.”
—PopSugar
The Business of Music:
How To Make It In The New Music Business: Practical Tips on Building A Loyal Following & Making A Living As A Musician
by Ari Herstand
“…a must- have for anyone hoping to navigate the increasingly complex yet advantageous landscape that is the modern music industry.”
Beyond Talent: Creating A Successful Career In Music
by Angela Myles Beeching
“Whether you're an emerging artist or a mid-career professional, this edition offers the inspiration to transform your music career journey so you can get more of your best work out into the world and finally become the artist you are meant to be.”
On Music:
How Music Works
by David Byrne (Talking Heads)
“Touching on the joy, the physics, and even the business of making music, How Music Works is a brainy, irresistible adventure and an impassioned argument about music’s liberating, life-affirming power.”
Music Therapy:
Music Therapy Treatment Options & Resources
by Jessica White
Music therapy is a clinical and evidence-based practice that has been used to treat a variety of mental health issues and other ailments. It involves using music to promote the health and well-being of people of all ages.
This article reviews the different types of music therapy available and what conditions are most benefited by it. It also includes resources for those seeking more information about music therapy for themselves or a loved one.