Singing Tips #1: The Deep Breath

Day to day, most of us breathe as deep as our chest. As long as our lungs get their fill we're content with this. However, to sing properly and with ease, there is a proper way to breathe that will not only help you develop more control the breathhing itself, but help you support the voice that is inside of you. It will also affect how you sing, project, sound, and will ultimately enable you todo those melismas and other singing techniches that you so badly want to emulate.

Another benefit of this deep breathing, is relaxation. Which helps with stage fright, anxiety, stress, and over all confidence!

That said, the first things you need to know about breathing:

1. Stand up straight, arms by your side. Exhale all of the air in your belly.
2. While counting to ten in your head, take a slow, deep breath in to your belly. Fill it up with air. Think of it as being pregnant with air. This is what you want to see. What can help you achieve this, and help you see whether you're doing it properly is standing in front of the mirror and placing both hands on the sides of your belly [without force] while doing the breathing. If you're doing it properly you should see your hands expand with your belly. You really need to see your belly expand, and almost feel it pulling on the inside. This is telling you that you are, in fact, filling up the right area.
3. Hold the breath for another ten seconds.
4. Release the air as you count to ten again.
5. Repeat another three times, but don't go overboard. You might get dizzy or light headed, so take it slow. If counting to ten is too much for you, start with five and work your way up! Remember, there's no rush, and certainly no standard speed at which people learn to sing, breathe, or anything for that matter. Take your time and do what is right for you! Everything will work out in time!

Control over your breathing is very important, and this will help you a lot later one. Think of it as the foundation on which your skill will be relying on.

And as everything else, practice, practice, practice! It doesn't matter how good you think you are, or how much you're fed up of doing silly elementary exercises! I can't stress enough how important it is to keep the basics a priority if you really want to develop your skill.

If you have any questions, comments, concerns...anything at all, please don't hesitate to send me a message or a comment! I'm happy to answer any questions you may have!

-Sarah :)

New Beginnings

Well, it's been a while since my last post. A lot of changes have taken place, such as new living location and arrangements, new job, a bit of a paradigm shift in many areas of life in general.

Life throws curve-balls at you; sometimes full of opportunity and sometimes they're laced with concrete and run into your face. It's up to you to do what you need to do to make the most of them, and see the good they have to offer. For me, it was about marking the end of a long standing relationship, put my big-girl pants on and move on with life. Since, I've learned a lot about myself and what my aspirations and goals are, and am generally happier than I was. That's not to say that I wasn't happy, just that I felt trapped in a cycle I didn't want to be in and was too afraid to make the changes necessary to move ahead.

Anyways, I'm back, and I will do my best to post regularly and keep up with the copious amounts of talent that the internet holds.

Hopefully I haven't lost too much of a following, but, alas, I guess I deserve it.

Here's to new beginnings and wonderful times :)

-The Music

PS. I've recently decided to start working on my music more seriously, so you may be hearing from myself every now and then! ;)

The CO [Band]

Name: The CO
Where from: Nashville, USA

I personally think there is an excessive amount of self-proclaimed pop/rock bands out there and find it difficult to try and find new music in the genre when there's so much to listen to. I found The CO by going through some of Tyler Ward's videos. I wanted to see if I missed anything, seeing as I've become something of a fangirl, and I fell upon a collaboration done by Tyler Ward & The CO...of course, I had to see what they were all about.

At first listen the band reminds me a lot of a generic and slightly more pop-sounding combination of Kings of Leon and, at times, Muse. After a few more listens, however, started falling into their own and I've found a soft spot for their music. Though it can come across as generic and nothing special, everything that pulls the band apart from everything else is, for one, their lyrics, in addition to their vocalists beautiful and melodious rockstar voice. Everything together starts to sound like a cocktail of great bands put together, which is awesome.

Their song entitled '3 AM' is reminiscent of an Incubus/Muse/Kings of Leon lovechild. I am more than okay with that. In fact, it's just about everything I've dreamed of in terms of collaborations. This is no substitute for those three bands to come together as one, but it's a fair alternative until I can get my fantasies fulfilled.

Of course, it's not a band without a song about love losing touch. Their song "Might Be Leavin'" is perhaps the token love-lost track. Though formulated, I can't say it's a bad song nor can I say it's anything but real. Everyone goes through heartache and everyone's got something to say about it. It also wouldn't be a rock band without a song about making mistakes and wanting to start over- "Permanent Mistake" fills those shoes and then some.

It's not that I'm bashing the generics the band has to offer, just that it is what it is. I enjoy their music very much and think you should take a few minutes to check them out. I think they're worth the time and deserve to be put out there, so go see what you're missing!

Here's where you can check out The CO:

YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
The CO Official Website

Laura Mary [Singer]

Name: Laura Mary
Age: 18
Where from: Canada
What she does: Singer

I fell upon Laura Mary while searching for 'The Last Song I'm Wasting On You' by rock group Evanescence and her cover of said song came up. It always amazes me when people dare cover Evanescence- it's not an easy task and one with some pretty high expectations. As I am a singer myself and they are my favourite band, I tend to judge Evanescence covers harshly. Naturally, I had to check it out and see how she did. No one compares to Amy Lee, that goes without saying, however I have to say Laura Mary surprised me.

Her voice is beautiful and flows nicely with the style of piano ballads Evanescence/Amy Lee put out and for someone who claims to not be taking voice lessons, it's very nicely developed. Her technique seems well rounded and she's got a beautiful, rich tone to her voice. One of the key aspects in Evanescence songs, I think, is the high notes Amy can flawlessly touch, and Laura reaches them, and then some.

She's very naturally talented, Canadian [I guess I'm biased that way, hehe] and seems to be an easy going girl with a bright future ahead of her. I think she deserves to be promoted [hence this posting] and I look forward to hearing more of what she has to offer!

To check her out [and please do!]:

Laura Mary's YouTube

Return from short hiatus!

Hey guys & gals!

So it's been over a month since our last post- for that I am very sorry. Finals and, you know, life were happening and some things needed to be sorted out. But, we're back and going to go through some minor changes, but for the most part things will remain mostly what we are right now- a blog to keep you in the know about upcoming/underrated talent.

Hope you haven't been turned off by our short hiatus, and we look forward to hearing any questions/comments you have for us!

Again, very sorry for the hiatus! Thanks again for your ongoing support, we appreciate it!

-The Music

Hello there :)

We're working on a very special addition to the blog, so stay tuned for some really cool stuff. In the meantime, I want to remind you all that if there are any artists you believe deserve to be featured on 'Music, It Is', don't hesitate to suggest them!

You can send your requests/question/comments several ways, as listed below:

Twitter
E-Mail: themusicitis@yahoo.com

OR Leave a comment to this post.

Thanks for your continued support and I look forward to developing this blog and seeing where this goes.

Peace!

-The Music

New Twitter Account!

Hello everyone!

Hope all is well with everybody!

I just wanted to let y'all know that I finally created a Twitter account solely for this blog. If you have Twitter and want to be kept up-to-date with the blog and know as soon as a post is up, I encourage you to follow the account! Just click on the link below and you'll be brought to the profile.

Twitter

Thanks for your patience and as always if you have any criticisms, comments, artist suggestions....whatever, don't hesitate t contact me either through here [Blogspot], Twitter or by e-mail at: themusicitis@yahoo.ca

Keep it real!

-The Music

P.S I would LOVE it if you could help me get some more readership- pass on the word, show off your favourite artist, whatever... I'd really appreciate it! Thanks!

Just poking by!

Hey guys!

I just wanted to pop by and thank you for your support and patience! Mid-terms were good, but now it's back to business.

This is something I do for fun, I absolutely love seeking out new talent and sharing it with everyone and I would love it if you would share your thoughts with me! If there are any questions, comments, artist suggestions...or anything that you think will be good to add to the blog, please give me a shout! I love receiving feedback. This blog is still in its beginning phase, so try not to judge too harshly.

If you want to know when new posts are up, don't hesitate to follow me on Twitter: @Sarah_Noella

Again, thank you for your continued support and patience, and please spread the love [a.k.a this blog]!

-The Music

A Quick Note [From Yours Truly]

This blog is fairly new and still in its developing stages. In the near future, I would like to incorporate artist interviews and span out to more than just music, however for the time being I will keep it simple until I feel ready to expand.

Despite the fact that I haven't set a goal and it's only been one week, I've managed to keep a fairly regular pace at posting- I'm pretty happy about that. Provided that I manage my time as I have, it will continue this way.

If you've got any questions, comments, advice or if you've got an artist you would like to see featured, please don't hesitate to contact me at: themusicitis@yahoo.ca

Thanks for reading!

-The Music

P.S Would you do me a favour and share this blog? The more people know about it, the more input I have and the better it will get. I would love for this to become something but I need your help! Another thing you could do to help would be to follow my posts [little button on the right side above the 'Archives' that says 'Follow'; I would greatly appreciate any support!