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Author: michellep

13 Sep

Why Your Studio Needs a Blog

by michellep
in Marketing
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I have been blogging for a couple years, and I really feel like this is a valuable part of your marketing plan. Blogging does a few great things for your business. It lets current students and potential students who you are. You have a chance to post updates when your studio does something great like a performance or a festival. You can also provide “free” bits of instruction. For example, during black history month, I will post an article about Blues music or if I see a really cool Youtube video on music theory, I will post that. The blog is an extension of my studio. My hope is that current students will go on and read my posts and learn more than I have time to teach them in the studio. For readers who are not yet students, it hopefully gets them thinking that I am the kind of person they would love to study with. 

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29 Aug

Review: Jazz Standards for Female Singers

by michellep
in Performance
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This is a review for Hal Leonard’s “Vocal Pro” Series “Jazz Standards for Female Singers, Volume 2.” First of all, I just love this book! I am even considering making it a required purchase for all incoming voice students this year. The songs are classic and fun. They are challenging, as the notes move up and down a lot, and quite unexpectedly, but at the same time, the keys are all friendly enough for the beginning singer. With that in mind, I will say the only downside is that these keys are not good for soprano singers. If your students are most comfortable in a high register, you may want to consider the male keys. 

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18 Jul

Visualizing Success

by michellep
in Performance
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When I was a kid, gymnastics was what I lived for. I practiced everyday in the backyard and in the front yard when I felt like showing off. I worked on my form when landing, trying to make it perfectly still just like an olympian and I prided myself on my ability to flip forwards or backwards with ease. I remember working on a roundoff...

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24 Jun

Focus Over Fear

by michellep
in Performance
Comments

Last week, I held a recital for my students. We only do 2 a year, and for most of my kids, that is the only performance practice they ever get to experience. That means that every recital is a potentially terrifying event. When I introduce the students one by one, they look so scared and then after they take their bow, relieved. Like a survivor....

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