I just realized that I have been neglecting this part of my blog… So, I have collected some of my favorite thoughts & blurbs I have posted on Facebook the past years. The fact that while going through them, I read a lot of variations of “I ❤ my job”, made me very happy. Be prepared for some cheezy stuff 😀
Professional classical singer – First session.
She sang Ave Maria (Caccini) beautifully. But I heard more potential, so I asked her to relax her jaw.
*BAM* Tears in my eyes after only one note. I didn’t know why. She started crying too, but kept on singing. After finishing the song, she told me that thìs was the freedom of singing she had been looking for her whole life. And then I knew why the tears caught me off guard: The power of a voice being released is undeniable. Those vibrations go through your whole body & soul and touch the very essence of your emotions. To sing is to be. To sing freely is to be freedom.
God, how I love my job…
“A good teacher is someone who pulls things out of you instead of stuffing you with it.”
I’m trying to live up to this ideal every day 😉
*ARGH* This singer only needed one hour to find the centre of overdrive, curbing & edge, after a lifetime of pushing volume with air. AMAZING results. And now I’m forced to wait at least a month. He has no time to book more lessons. Too many studio-sessions and gigs.
Fingers are itching. Can’t handle it. Don’t know what to do with myself *professional deformation*
That moment when you hear the single of one of your singers on the radio for the first time and you can sing along with every word, because the singer has been working so hard on the song with you…
Today, I have coached somebody to recite ‘In Flanders Fields’.
*Goosebumps*
I was not just happy with this moment. I felt honored.
That moment when you watch the first performance of two of ‘your’ singers with their brand new band and you end up crying like a baby for 5 consecutive songs. I ❤ my job…
The shy & tiny Neutral voices that open up in Overdrive with only a few tricks, after a lifetime of frustration… They never tire me.
The pure joy & release on the face of the singer, while creating the power she has always been wanting to create… It fills my heart with happiness!
I ❤ my job. And I ❤ Overdrive. And CVT
For my colleague-nerds 😉
Cutest coaching-moment ever.
A 12 year old boy has to focus on the active verb “making the girl that he loves happy”. When I ask whether can see the girl in his head, this is his answer “Yes, because you are that girl.”
*Awwwwwwww*
Aaaaaaah…
That moment when the singer has done the necessary technical work, can forget all about it, has found the perfect active verb and manages to LIVE it through the song.
❤ Ilovemyjob ❤ — *impressed*
Man: “Hello, I’m calling you regarding singing lessons. What is your price?”
Me: “Take a pen, because it’s a whole system.”
Man: “Ah, that’s impossible. *Cough* I’m outside. Smoking. *cough*”
Me: “…”
“Sarah is sensationally good! What a personality! What a voice! What a coach! She certainly made an enormous impression on us all and I hope that the investment in yesterday’s workshop will pay off handsomely in our oral presentations.” (A professor of linguistics)
I couldn’t resist sharing the feedback I just received about the workshop ‘Creative use of the voice during oral presentations’ I taught this week @ the university of Antwerp.
And apparently they loved my English 😀
I personally loved teaching this workshop in English too, as these linguistics have a British accent, so I was allowed to speak a bit “posh” 🙂
*me diva*
I’m loving this. LOVING THIS, I TELL YA! 😀
If you’d like to learn how to do this, you’re welcome.
If you’d prefer to learn how to sing the original version, you’re welcome too, of course.
Listening to the radio, asking myself where I know the song from, suddenly realizing it’s one of my clients singing… *Proud*
Best moment of the day:
An osteopath doing the happy dance at the end of his first singing lesson, because he sounds so much better and realizes that he is going to be able to use SO MUCH he has learned for his patients…
Singing is good for your health! Do it as much as you can! The osteopath agrees!
Yesterday, I took a trip down memory lane, teaching a workshop for a choir in the region where I grew up. It was the middle of nowhere, but driving through those familiar country roads and having all that fun with those lovely people sure felt good!
*ilovemyjob* ❤
According to the first singer of the day, teaching right after my yoga-class makes me extra mean.
BUT THE RESULTS ARE THERE!
So quit whining and sing!
Please.
A singer that beats a lifetime of flageolet in one lesson and walks out the door while saying ‘The world has opened’.
Thàt’s what makes me happy 😉
No, I did not watch The Voice Kids and am not planning to do that either. Reading the raging comments from my colleague vocal coaches is enough. I’m challenging myself NOT to engage in the discussions this time. Please punish me if I can’t help myself. Really.
You know you’ve been coaching a kinder garden teacher when you can’t get ‘Tic Toc Clock’ out of your head.
For hours. And hours. And hours. (And hours)
*ARGH*
*KABOOM!*
Feeling the energy of that long desired high note, sung by a singer that has been working for it LIKE HELL…
Recognizing the destructive perfectionism –
OMG, how I know her feeling…
Witnessing her victory & hearing her belt it out…
I ❤ my job 😀
Me: “So, what do you want to do today?”
Singer: “Scream & shout”
I ❤ lessons like that!
But am in need of more deodorant, though…
Zingen,
dat is het mooiste
van binnen
naar buiten laten komen.
Dat is alles samen
wat apart niet te zeggen valt.
Het is trillend klank geven,
met je ziel op je tong,
aan de blijheid,
de boosheid,
de angst,
de trots
of de liefde.
Maar ook aan de stilte.
Ja, zingen,
dat is zo ontroerend stil zijn,
dat wie luistert
diep in zichzelf
een speld kan horen vallen.
*Geert De Kockere (Met dank aan Griet Samain)
Dear singers,
Next time I’m teaching you with spinach in between my teeth, please tell me. Spare the next singers this view. And me the shame.
Thank you.
Even though I’m graduating as an Authorized CVT Teacher tomorrow, this will remain one of my mottos forever 😀
Aaaaaah… coaching an equally big diva (in the good sense!) as myself with ‘Somebody to love’, ‘Music of the night’ & ‘I want to be a producer’. All in 1 session! ❤ it.
My dramatic heart has been spoiled today.
A loving family of 20 people
+ the claim that they know nothing about music
+ a desire to sing in multiple voices
+ lots of enthusiasm (& alcohol…)
+ me as a vocal coach
= An evening to remember 😉
If the video of my latest Skype coaching would be thrown online, I’m quite sure people would want to pay to see it. *HILARIOUS!*
❤ my job 😀
Desperately trying to find a legitimate reason to incorporate this in my lessons…
Today, Ambition-seminar.
“What are the values of my business?
My answer: Music, Joy, Growth & Depth.
I needed 3 seconds in order to come up with this. No. 2 ❤ 😀
When a client can’t go on singing, because she starts to laugh & cry at the same time during a session, I guess it’s safe to say she’s happy with the sound she just made
What an *AMAZING* day of teaching!
For 8 hours, I gave all I had, and I received even more.
Thank you, dear singers, for trusting me, for putting your precious voices in my hands, for letting me guide you in this beautiful path we call ‘growth’, for giving me all you have, time and time again…
I bow my head for you…
*HILARIOUS* session this evening… Pirate-metal!
A festival of rattle, growl and grunt 😀
Unfortunately, it wasn’t this yummy pirate that laid his voice into my hands 
Arrrrrrrrr!
20 Reasons to thank a music teacher
Thank you x1000, dear teachers! And thank you x1000, dear singers, to trust me and let me pass this magic on to you…
If only she’d know Complete Vocal Technique…
Still laughing my ass off, though ;o)
A beautiful quote and the beautiful truth…
4 very enthusiastic policewomen on an introductory-course… I didn’t need much time to get them to sing overdrive or edge! *ringing ears* ;o)
When during a coaching session, a man sings a lovesong with the lyrics “for Sarah” in almost every sentence… It’s difficult not to feel serenaded ;o)
One of my clients just called me a magician…Can I now say I’m a witch? ;o)
Why the things you say to your students may have a deeper impact than you think
I’m trying every day to put this into practice…
Oh, how *great* it is to see 4 superb women leave with a smile on their face and position my tired ass in the couch, knowing I have infected them irreversibly with the CVT-virus 😀
Improve Your Voice with Vibration
I’m thinking about introducing a sextoy in my voice studio… Really!
And then, a singer stands at my door unannounced, with a smile from here to Tokio (and back) & these flowers. Just to tell me that she has passed the audition and wants to thank me for my coaching.
I don’t care about the rain anymore, for me, the *SUN* is shining! ;o)
Another last lesson before THE day…
Saturday, he’ll sing for an audience for the first time ever.
And what’s most important: He’ll do it right after his ‘I do’!
Oh, I love love love my job ;o)
‘She gave me 75 years of her life’: The tone- deaf 96-year-old who entered heartbreaking song he wrote for his late wife into contest… and got it made into a real record
The power of music… *cry*
Conclusion after a 2 uur session: “So. Basically, I just have to open my mouth.”
Errrr… Yes. ;o)
It’s so touching when people start singing lessons, because they want to sing for their loved one at their wedding…
❤
And it feels so great to coach them! *happyvocalcoach
Yes, it’s very nice to read your enthusiastic email that tells me that playing your horn is easier since your last singing lesson. But… How’s the singing going? ;o)
I just ❤ LOVE ❤ to witness the smile that appears on the face of a singer that has just experienced how far his / her voice can go! *happyvocalcoach
