Understand your voice. Explore your options. Make informed choices.
Singing Begins with Choice™ is an anatomy and movement-informed approach to singing.
I help singers develop a clearer understanding and awareness of their own voices and bodies, so they can move beyond information or instruction that may be confusing or incomplete and discover more choices to draw on in service of their singing and musical artistry.
The goal is not to prescribe one “correct” way to sing. Singers are given accurate information, opportunities to explore through movement and singing, and guidance in discovering what works for their own voice and the music they want to make.
The Framework
Expressive Intention: Start with what you want to express.
Singing is communication. The sound you want to create and what you want to communicate through the music help determine the vocal choices you make.
Awareness
Stay curious and self-aware.
Awareness is present throughout the process of learning and singing. It invites singers to become curious observers of themselves, noticing what the body is doing, where tension is present, what sensations arise, what they hear in their sound, and what thoughts or beliefs they hold about their voice.
What you notice helps you better understand what you need and desire from your voice.
Accurate Information & Exploration
Learn how your instrument works and explore what is possible.
Accurate anatomical information can give you a clearer understanding of your voice and body. Through movement, exercises, experimentation, and singing, you explore that information for yourself and discover how different choices affect your singing.
Informed Choice
Choose what serves your voice and what you want to communicate through singing.
As your awareness and understanding grow, you have more choices available to you. You can explore those choices, notice their effects, and decide what works for your voice and the sound and expression you want to create.
Practice: Practice the choices that serve you.
With practice, useful choices can become more familiar and reliable. Eventually, you don't have to consciously think about every part of what you're doing. Those practiced coordinations become part of your technique. Technique ultimately has a purpose: to give you more freedom to communicate, express, and make music.
What this is
- •Anatomy and movement-informed vocal education
- •Accurate anatomical information about the voice and body
- •Exploration through movement, exercises, and singing
- •Greater awareness of your own instrument
- •Guidance in making informed vocal and musical choices
What this is not
- •One prescribed “correct” way or technique for every singer
- •Anatomy taught simply for the sake of knowing anatomy
- •A quick fix (though improvement can happen quickly)
About Body Mapping
Body Mapping teaches accurate anatomical information about the body for movement and music-making.
I have studied and personally practiced Body Mapping for more than 13 years, and this work provides an important foundation for my anatomy and movement-informed approach to teaching singing. I am not a licensed Body Mapping educator.
The Three Areas We Explore
Breath, tone, and expression are interconnected. The choices we make in one area can influence the others.
Understand how your breathing system is designed to work and what breath support involves. Explore your own breathing patterns and discover breathing choices you can apply to singing.
Explore vocal resonance and the different choices that can influence the tone qualities you create.
Explore how the many elements of a musical performance work together to shape what you communicate. Vocal choices, words, movement, gesture, musical interpretation, accompaniment, and the story being told can all inform how you express meaning and emotion through singing.