Would like some feedback please

Hi Everyone,

Hope you all are doing well!

We came across 30daysinger after searching around for voice lessons for my 10 year old. 

My daughter sings a lot and she performs in public now. She loves to do it. Problem is that she has not had any formal voice training.

We signed up for membership and are planning to do the exercices but was wondering if 30daysinger is able to provide feedback on the way she is singing her songs as well. For example i can post a video of her singing then a teacher can let us know if they see anything that my daughter should do differently on her singing. My goal is for her to not develop bad habits and correct them early.

Is this something i can do with my membership? If so,  would this forum be the appropriate place to post her videos and get constructive feedback? I can also send it via private message.

My daughter has her own youtube channel too which i monitor and she posts vidoes of her singing there as well.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Regards,

Jen

Link to a youtube video below is my daughter performing again tonight.  She's spending more and more time singing that I really want to help her develop good habits. Also, towards the middle of her set she mentioned that there was something in her throat and she kept on drinking water to try to get rid of it. I wonder if it was plegm, what type of vocal exercise can she do to clear her throat or when she encounter this problem?

I hope to hear from one of the instructor soon. Thank you!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB7RDDCN8cE

Hi, Jen!

At this point, the only opportunity for instructor feedback is to book a private lesson: https://www.30daysinger.com/live-lesson. 

As for mucus/phlegm, it's quite common for that to be "kicked up" when singing. To gently clear the throat, try either lip trills or gentle vocal fry for a minute or two. 

I can't overstate how important hydration is - not just when singing, but all the time! Plain water or water with lemon (either room temp or warm to hot), is my favorite for thinning out mucus and hydrating my throat. Singers also like hot tea with honey (especially Throat Coat tea). 

Another singer favorite is eating an apple before singing or recording to cut down on saliva/mucus - apparently green apples work well!

And last, avoid foods/drinks that cause excess mucus production or thicken your mucus. Dairy, sugar and spicy foods can all do that - so avoid them if they do affect you adversely!

Thank you so much for the tips! We brought some warm lemon water and she ate green apple before her gig yesterday. :). I will check out the private session.

With the membership she gets 15 minutes of one on one time is this correct? When can we schedule the 15 minutes private one on one lesson?

Awesome :)

Please e-mail [email protected] for help with scheduling your check-in! 

Thank you Camille!

Hello Camille or whoever reads this, 

Question for you.  My daughter sings every weekend (2 hrs on Saturday and 2 hrs on Sunday).  I worry that this might be too much for her. I've told her already that she need to take a break after one hour but sometimes, she is having too much fun with her audience and she doesn't take a break in between.  It's like when she sees her audience having fun and singing along with her, she wants to keep going. This happened last week, no break for 2 hrs straight. She didn't even want to stop after 2 hrs. lol. I forced her. She was still talking at home after the gig and her voice sounded fine, no hoarse voice afterwards so I was glad.  Is taking a 5 min break every hour good enough? I always remind her to keep drinking water too, I'm like her water girl on the sideline.lol.  I tell her that in the 5 minutes break she cannot talk at all.  Am I being too paranoid? 

BTW, my daughter and I have been doing 2 courses per day and we are now at lesson 12.  I really like the structure of the online lessons, the way how it explains what the exercises are doing to our vocal chords and explaining some theories.  It is not only training our voice but educating us as well.  I am already seeing improvement on my daughter's voice and stamina.  We are upgrading to yearly membership as I can see the importance of finishing all of the lessons for my daughter. 

I appreciate all your advice. 

Thank you,
Jen

Hi, Jen!

It sounds like she's able to handle that amount of singing, if you're not hearing hoarseness in her voice (both speaking or singing). With a good warmup on the way and gentle warmdown afterwards, she should be good! (As for a warmdown, I like to do some lip trills and massage my neck/throat on the car ride home). 

5-minute breaks are a good idea, and hydration is also very important! You can let her know Camille approves :) I fall on the side of overly cautious as well! But I certainly wasn't into warmups and vocal health as a kid. I do think more important than the 5-minute breaks, however, is how she's singing during those 2 hours. The 2 big things to look out for are shout-belting and lots of breathy tone. See here for more on healthy singing and preventing vocal injury: https://www.30daysinger.com/blog/vocal-nodules-preventing-injuries.