Starting Point:

Sarah came to see me after I had coached her, briefly, at a rehearsal for an Arts Club performance. She had a great classical high (‘head’) voice and some ‘chest-belt’ ability but wanted better pop tone and range.

Sarah was an experienced Film and TV actor but was auditioning for a production of Les Misérables soon, and wanted to ensure her singing would be ready.

Process:

1. Develop a strong high pop tone: Sarah started singing higher and with better pop tone in her first lesson, and we simply continued reinforcing and expanding clean strong pop tone or “mix” via carefully chosen exercises and song work.

2. ‘Cross-Training’ for Pop and Legit Singing: Once Sarah’s mix range was mostly worked out and consistent, we began to ‘cross-train,’ adding pop mix/belt songs to her book, alternating with legit soprano musical theatre songs, usually touching on both styles, each lesson.

Results:

Sarah developed a strong mix in a few months—in time to book Fantine in her school show.

Over the longer term, she was able to build a very strong, high mix and good pop stylizing skills, while simultaneously improving her legit soprano tone.

Sarah can now sing Kelly Clarkson songs and riffs, authentically, but also Light in the Piazza repertoire, and even the Queen of the Night aria.