Julie C

5 minutes ago, Sharon Tiano said:

where did you go for your lessons? I am curious... and now, like so many here - I really want to see maybe a few lessons might help me.   I know there are lots of online options but I think I need face to face initially. 

@Sharon Tiano I found a groupon online for a place near me called Real Brave Audio.  4 one half hour lessons for $30.  And there was a special for half off that.  I totally agree you need face to face initially.  There would have been no way to really understand this whole chest voice, mixed voice and head voice without knowing if I was doing things right. It is not second nature at all to me. This whole using your head voice to increase your range really works. 

On 9/2/2018 at 10:09 AM, Denise M said:

Great teacher. I took voice for a couple of years because I was doing theater but I never really had the voice. I tend to sing in a lower register so yeah, we're unique among female singers.

@Denise M singing in a lower register really does challenge us.  More than 85% of the songs we listen to are out of our range.  I seem to be able to sing songs for tenors the best.  But since they are pretty much all males the lyrics often sound wrong sung by a female.  Hoping to increase my high range more. Already have.  Want to be be able to go higher yet.

2 minutes ago, Lin said:

Hi Julie, 

That is so inspiring. You sound excited, learning a whole new area and fulfilling a dream. Thank you for sharing what you have learned so far.  I hope you will keep us posted on your progress. I'm sure there are many shower only singers in TAC that will be interested.  Myself included. Lin

@Lin I am hoping to post a video of my mouth voice versus the sound it makes when it resonates where it should.  Just need nobody to be home for that.  No one here knows I am taking singing lessons.  Don't want any negativity. Getting it to resonate consistently is hard.  Sounds like a kazoo when I don't get it right. Once placing the sound becomes more second nature, I can work on the quality of that sound.  I have spent years wondering if anything could be done to improve my singing voice.  Now I know any voice can be improved upon.  But it takes time and practice to see those results. Kind of like getting those fingers in just the right place for the F chord.  Takes a lot of effort for quite a while and it still isn't right.  Yet.

7 hours ago, Sharon Tiano said:

@Julie C - this is really fascinating.  I can't sing.. maybe yet.  I too have trouble in that most female driven songs are too high and most male are too low.  I love Ben Folds and played what you posted - can't quite hit him either but it doesn't help that I am not familiar with that song.  You really articulate well everything that goes into singing.  If I ever learn to play guitar, I think I might want to take a few singing lessons so I can discover if I have a range too.  So glad you shared this - it really is inspiring and I can't wait to hear more

@Sharon Tiano before the first lesson I did not have even an octave range.  Just by the teacher showing me where my sound needs to come from, my range increased dramatically.  Sometimes I nail it and the sound moves from chest to head voice as I go up. And I think where the heck has that sound been hiding all these years!   And other times I am like a croaking frog.  Lots to remember.  I keep breathing from my chest instead of my diaphragm. Breathing and speaking requires no thought normally.  My voice drifts in and out of what it is supposed to do.  We don't need a vocal range to speak.  The process needed to make those sounds correctly has never been used by me. Here is another example of a song where my vocal range sits.

And when I go out my range into my "mixed voice" and "head voice"  and I can keep the sound coming from where it should (sooo not easy-YET!)  I can pull off this song without changing octaves throughout .  Never ever would be able to do that singing with just my mouth.

1 hour ago, Honey Elizabeth said:

Wow! You must have an awesome teacher. You learned more in two lessons than I did after like two years. Love this post. ❤️👍

@Honey Elizabeth Have to say I was a bit intimidated by the teachers credentials.

Her:

Amy Jisun Ahn started studying piano at six and grew up singing in various church choirs. She holds Bachelor’s degrees in law and music theory, as well as two Master’s from Queens College and the Graduate Center in music composition. Her chamber and orchestral compositions have been performed by Cygnus, the InterComteporary Ensemble (ICE) and the Second Instrumental Group, among others.

She has performed in a variety of concerts, ensembles in musical venues in New York City as a classical, jazz, theatre, pop pianist and vocalist while working as a professional accompanist and arranger. She loves to perform in a variety of genres and to improvise with other instrumentalists in jam sessions.

She focuses on her students’ favorite music and helps them build their own repertoires so they can learn to freely express themselves with passion and joy. She regards her job as instructor to be a guide on the students’ own musical journey.

Me:

Julie started studying piano at age 8 and never practiced so mom promptly stopped paying.

She held the letter "W" in the school play and got to say "W is for wisdom, which Washington possessed".

In 5th grade, she joined the school band because you got to miss class every week for a group lesson.  She chose the flute because it looked like the easiest thing to carry.

Julie's only singing experience is when Peter Yarrow invited the audience to join him on the stage and Sing Puff the Magic Dragon with him.  And she did so with many others.

When asked at her first voice lesson what songs she would like to learn to sing, her mind went blank.  The only song that popped into her head was "Baby Shark". 

2 hours ago, Emma S said:

Hi @Julie C🙂, this is a wonderful HUGE WIN🙂🎶🎤🎉. This is so fascinating to read🙂. Awesome you have taken giant steps from your comfort zone😍🙂. Super pleased for you🙂.

@Emma S this was a HUGE step out of my comfort zone.  And all because of @dr_dave and his use of the word "yet". I am glad to know the why behind my horrible singing.  There was barely a song I could sing without having to change octaves all throughout the song.   I didn't know much about vocal range.  Turns out my range  is too low for 85% of female sung songs and too high for most male sung songs.  No wonder I cannot sing along. This song range is kind of where my voice sits.  Now I get to discover what my unique voice will sound like.

She plays so effortlessly!

I am definitely a "why" kind of person.  Did a quick glance at bits and pieces of the video.  I absolutely will be watching the whole thing.

I cannot do anything at slow. And I have been here over a year.  I have stopped expecting anything.  I just enjoy my guitar journey wherever it takes me each day.  Everyone is different. You will find there is no destination or a point where you can "play the guitar".  There is always something new to learn.  The more you learn the more you realize how much more there is to know.  Take you time and enjoy the journey. 

On 7/23/2018 at 12:57 AM, Kurt G said:

#jealous @Julie C!!!! Peter Paul and Mary is another one of those groups I grew up listening too  remember mom and dad leaving us with the babysitter to see them play. What a cool experience   

PS - haven’t forgotten about Julie’s song, it’s out there - written in a day  but the stars need to align for @Doctor How, @Dom T, and me to get together and record it live  PS - I think it’s pretty good  

Incredibly cool experience! Can't wait to hear this song! Never thought about writing one.  Would not even know where to begin. And you did it in a day? Wow!

On 7/22/2018 at 3:49 PM, Rae said:

I can't say how cool this is enough times to even get to how cool this is!! What a wonderful experience for you, and really glad it inspired you to pick up a guitar and join us here at TAC!

Best on stage experience I will ever have!

On 7/22/2018 at 11:43 AM, BobGarrity1 said:

That is indeed so cool @Julie C🙌 I'm betting Peter Yarrow has some magical Puff powers that he shared with you.  Glad he did and glad those powers worked to start your journey. Thanks for sharing this fun and inspiring story!

He is such a nice nice person.  Signed autographs and chatted with everyone during intermission and asked us what songs we wanted to hear in the second half.  He played all our requests.  And he was a great storyteller between songs.

On 7/22/2018 at 11:30 AM, Emma S said:

Hi @Julie C🙂, what a incredible moment and starting point with your musical adventure🙂. 

I always loved the sound of an acoustic guitar and a voice.  Growing up I never had the means to pursue it.  Guitars and lessons cost money I did not have.  So it never happened.  But the desire was always there.  Seeing the pure joy on Peter's face when he played and how he was one with the guitar brought that desire to the forefront.  So I asked my cousin who plays if he could just finger the chords to a song so I could strum and feel what it is like to play.  He pretty much said why don't you get a guitar and learn to play the chords yourself? I chose an in between step.  Got "Chord Buddy".  If it were not for Chord Buddy, I never would have stuck with it.  Such an amazing invention.

On 7/20/2018 at 1:18 PM, Clueless said:

If you ever doubt whether learning to play and sing is worth all the time, trouble, and non-understanding of some other people, remember this moment.  It's magical.

It is likely to be the only time I sing in public, since I really cannot sing, but I got to sing on stage next to Peter Yarrow!  I cannot imagine any onstage moment, even if I could suddenly sing,  ever topping that.

On 7/20/2018 at 1:03 PM, Fatih P said:

Very cool story. What inspiring moment this must have been. 

It really was. 

1 hour ago, Keith "SibeDad" L said:

Did you get Luna fixed yet?

Still haven't had the courage to try to fix her.  My borrowed guitar doesn't have to be returned until September so I have a little cushion for now. 

If I didn't stop practicing until  I nailed something 10-12 times in a row I would never get to stop ever lol.  Haven't nailed anything yet.

Looks like there are a few members in that area: https://tac.tonypolecastro.com/membermap/

48 minutes ago, Carol M said:

Hiya @Fletch I have a bottle of the F-one and I LOVE it!!! And my entire guitarsenal loves it too. When I go to change the strings, they always remind me to please don’t forget the nice F-one Fretboard oil!!! (I have 10 guitars and just one bottle of this stuff, a little goes a long way and it’s still goin strong)

I wouldn't even have a place for 10 guitars although I would sure be willing to try to fit them all in. 

3 minutes ago, Kurt G said:

@Julie C - permission to write the song?

Go for it!

2 hours ago, Robert Carhart Jr said:

@Julie C, so glad to have you among all of us at this jam, and I beg forgiveness as I didn't make the connection that you were the same Julie who almost left TAC altogether a while back--and aren't you glad you stayed?!  I think that TAC jams, and this is only my second, are what really makes TAC, TAC.  @Tony P, in my view, should give some serious weight to considering changing the "C" in TAC from "Challenge" to "Community" in this respect.  Your comments above embody so many of our journeys, and that it's not a race to some destination with shifting goal posts (sorry for the mixed metaphor).  Please come to the next one, and if you ever wish to come slightly south to one of Stacked & Staggered's jams, consider this your personal engraved invitation to do so.  Same vibe, different locale.

@Robert Carhart Jr I actually didn't stay.  My membership expired in March.  And due to both financial and personal circumstances, I did not renew.  I hadn't touched my guitar in about 2 months at that point. Callouses were gone. Nails grew.  But then I got an email that an anonymous TACer had generously allowed me to continue.  I was stunned and totally overcome with emotion that someone I did not know had such faith in me.  And I vowed not to disappoint them.

As of now slower than slow is in the lead lol!