CrystalVoice Studio

What does it mean to be ?

It means I look at the WHOLE person and not just from the vocal folds to the lips. You can’t separate the voice from the person’s lived experience, because

I’ve been a vocal coach for over 30 years, and traditional voice training failed me, big time. I struggled with vocal injury after vocal injury, even though I was doing EXACTLY what my voice teachers told me to do!

Along the way I started looking OUTSIDE my voice lessons for answers. And that’s when my voice started to heal, and for the first time felt my voice truly reflected my talent and artistry.

Today I incorporate multiple modalities into sessions, according to the needs of the individual client:

Laryngeal Massage
TRE (Tension & Trauma Release Exercises)
MDH Breathing Coordination
Vocal Health Education
Functional Voice Work
Mindfulness

And much more.

My clients are seriously rockstars, and I love every minute.

For more information or to request a consult, visit my website at http://crystalvoicestudio.com/

📷

Every singer deserves to have a learning environment where they feel safe and supported. I am seriously in awe of everything Geri does. She is changing lives and lifting up everyone around her with courage and commitment to self-care and advocacy. Please follow consider donating to the **MULTIPLE** organizations she has founded to bring about change equity, and accountability in the performing arts.

Unstoppable Singer Summit starts today! It’s not too late. Grab your free ticket!

Bean approves. 😻

Don't miss out on the FREE 3-day virtual Unstoppable Singer Summit, where you'll learn how to make a great living and stay relevant in the ever-changing music industry. Starts TOMORROW! Register now!

Meet some of the most well-known names in the music industry at the Unstoppable Singer Summit. Register now for three full days of live instruction and inspiration!

Try it and comment below. How's your voice feel???

Don't forget to like, save and follow so you don't miss out on !

Time for your .

I can’t think of many things cuter than a kitten who looks like a mouse.

Welcome to the Midwest. Current status: embracing humidity

Let’s keep normalizing self-care, m’kay?

Practicing is NOT just running through the same scales every day then going into singing your songs. The first 3 steps of your practice ideally prepare your entire body to sing your songs, so by the time you get to step 4, singing feels EASY.

As you are practicing, consider these:
• Where

Accessibility to professional quality training in the arts is heavily skewed to favor the able-bodied, neurotypical and wealthy. Talent can only take you so far. Without access to high level training and mentoring, many singers find themselves unable to compete for highly skilled singing work, such as session singers and Broadway performers.

It is very easy for contractors to say “Well we couldn’t find a (insert type of systemically discriminated against group here) singer for this (insert singing gig), so we hired a (insert non discriminated group here) singer instead.”

In wealthy communities even public schools supplement their music programs with booster clubs and donations from parents to bring in clinicians and outside consultants. These same students often have access to virtually unlimited private instruction on various instruments, voice and dance. A parent or caregiver is available to take them to all their lessons and provide structure at home for them to practice regularly.

Contrast that to a student who only has access to their school program due to financial and transportation challenges. Even if the school music teacher is amazing, the lack of funding of the program limits the amount of training that can take place.

And in all schools, there is an extreme lack of training for music educators to best serve singers with disabled bodies and neurodiversity, as well as trans and nonbinary singers.

It’s not enough to just talk about the problem. How do we fix it? Here’s some projects that I’m working on, but I’d love to hear from you.
➡️ Develop low cost and free resources for vocal training, gender affirming voice care and vocal health education
Build a non-profit organization to provide scholarships for professional vocal training to young singers who are at a socioeconomic disadvantage
Partner with high schools and community colleges to provide free training events
Community education events

What else can we do?

You can't make this stuff up, y'all! Have you tried TRE® yet? If not, what are you waiting for?

Link to more info in bio!

Yes, you. Whatever it is, you can do it. Now, go be a badass.

Whatever it is, it can wait!

Don't forget to like and follow for more tips to nurture you

Want 2 play with me?

Even if you are a beginning singer, your vocal coach should listen to your goals and build lessons around what YOUR interests are. If you are not singing in the style you wish to learn to sing, this is the wrong vocal coach for you.

Last chance! Straw Phonation--Harnessing the Power of the straw is TOMORROW! Will we see you there?
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/harnessing-the-power-of-the-straw-tickets-597237943767

Only 2 more days to sign up for Harnessing the Power of the Straw!

Does this sound familiar?

👉🏻You want to get rid of your break once and for all.
👉🏻You have a stubborn flip in your voice and no coach has been able to help you connect the bottom to the top of your range.
👉🏻You want to belt, but every time you try, it hurts. Deep down inside you believe singing shouldn’t be as hard as it feels sometimes.
👉🏻You are tired of being vocally tired. You’ve been to every vocal coach under the sun and no matter how careful you are on your gig, your voice is tired by the end.
👉🏻You have been struggling with vocal injury for some time now. Speech therapy and vocal rest aren’t cutting it and you are ready to find the solution that will work for you.
👉🏻You’ve been a working singer for a while, but have some “missing pieces” to your voice that you are tired of hiding.
👉🏻You are a touring vocal pro or session singer who is tired of the nagging worry and constant vigilance around keeping your voice ready to go from gig to gig.
👉🏻You are a mature (ahem) singer, and have noticed that the old gray mare just ain’t what she used to be. And you’re tired of pretending like everything is ok. Maybe you think it’s just a normal part of the aging process (spoiler alert: it doesn’t have to be). But you are not willing to go down without a fight and are ready to dig your heels in and bring back the vocal glory days.
👉🏻You aren’t sure what it is, but you know there is something missing from your voice. You are ready to try new things, to find out what you might be missing.

If any of these sound familiar to you, then sign up now and see ya Saturday! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/harnessing-the-power-of-the-straw-tickets-597237943767

Are we awake and listening? Can you feel the pain?


Posted • All knotted up watching videos of Jordan Neely dancing like MJ on the subway.

Tired of writing posts about Black life being stolen from us.

Claim tenderness for yourself this week.

Practicing is NOT just running through the same scales every day then going into singing your songs. The first 3 steps of your practice ideally prepare your entire body to sing your songs, so by the time you get to step 4, singing feels EASY.

As you are practicing, consider these:
• Where

It’s not just about singing through a straw.
It’s about building strategies tailored to YOUR specific vocal goals.

Super excited for this one, in conjunction with Empowered Singer Workshops!

In this in-person workshop we will
✅ Explore the science behind the straw
✅ Utilize proven strategies to train your voice
✅ Learn specific exercises to target different vocal issues

Discover how to use the straw to…
✅ Train your airflow
✅ Build a flexible pressure management system
✅ Shape your vocal tract for optimal resonance and acoustic efficiency
✅ Improve vocal fold closure
✅ Reduce vocal fatigue and inflammation
✅ Eliminate breaks in the voice

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/harnessing-the-power-of-the-straw-tickets-597237943767

I love tour support and live on-site coaching!

It is such a joy to be there to support my clients, managing all the details of caring for their voice, so they can focus on being an ARTIST.

Attention all singers: It's time to turn up the volume on your career! Join me at the free 3-day Unstoppable Singer Summit from May 15-17, 2023, where you'll learn how to build a lifelong career as a thriving business owner. I'll be presenting, alongside some industry GIANTS! You won't want to miss this once a year event!

Why I do what I do. Thank you Mikayla for trusting me with your most precious resource. I love learning, laughing and singing with you!

Days like this I love working at my computer. Until they start to chase the cursor on the screen. Then my productivity dips a lil bit, lol! 😆😻

Don't forget to like and follow for more tips to nurture you

Looking at cute kittens releases dopamine, the reward chemical and oxytocin the bonding chemical (inspiring a sense of safety).
This improves attention and concentration.
When the dopamine and oxytocin release are linked to learning, it makes you learn better.
This is (part) of the reason why I foster kittens and let them run around in the studio (if the client is ok with it, of course).

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/cuteness-cute-kawaii-power-krigolso-uvic-joshua-dale-japan-1.3984970

All vocal "warmups" are NOT the same! You wouldn't start a running workout by doing sprints or running stairs. Our voices need to ease into singing as well. Just a few minutes of gentle range of motion exercises gets the voice ready to do the deeper work.

Professional vocal coaching is not cheap. But instead of thinking of it as an expense, have you ever stopped to consider that it’s an investment?

Imagine I save my pennies for years & purchase the fanciest of fancy cars. Then I never take it to a mechanic. Or only get the oil changed because it was too expensive to keep up the maintenance and it “seems” to still be running fine. How long do you think my fancy car would stay fancy? Unfortunately, our voices are kinda like that too.

For most pro singers, the reality is we aren't headlining the Super Bowl with unlimited cash for professional development. But— we still have to take care of our instrument.

Part of being is doing things differently, including how sessions are structured.

🔹No weekly lessons (unless you want them)—schedule according to your availability, min of 1 hour per month for ongoing clients.
�🔹We work on what YOU want. You are the boss. I’m there to facilitate.

🔹We don’t just run through some warmups and then sing songs while I tell you to drop your jaw & support more. We take functional voice concepts and go DEEP. Until you feel your body experiencing something new & concrete. Then, we build a practice sequence to take home, digest & master.

🔹If applicable, you’ll also get additional resources to turbo charge at-home integration, such as links to free videos, books and articles to read.

🔹Unlimited text/email support between sessions.

🔹If you have a vocal coach you love and only want bodywork, or breathwork, or laryngeal massage, that’s ok too! I play nicely with other vocal coaches😆. Happy to be part of your support team as a bodyworker or laryngeal massage therapist.

Here’s the thing—you are a prof. You don’t need me to babysit you. My job is to give you the tools and show you how to use them. Your job is to take them with you and figure out how the tools best integrate for YOU.

Interested in learning more? Visit https://www.crystalvoicestudio.com/ and follow the instructions to request a consult.

Love hearing these words from an incredibly accomplished singer, voice teacher and dear friend. TRE is the real deal folks!

Harnessing the Power of the Straw

We are going deep with this one folks.

Even if you think you know all there is to know about SOVTEs, betcha you'll learn something new and mindblowing. ;)

Harnessing the Power of the Straw Go beyond the science of straw phonation and learn its practical application to TRANSFORM your singing.

Dream bigger!

Bonus, massage one foot, then put it on the floor and notice how much more awake and aware it is compared to the one that hasn’t gotten the love yet!

What do you notice?�� Let me know in the comments!

What’s a trick you use to motivate yourself?

I usually go for a short walk, and while I’m walking my mind starts thinking about what is next on the agenda, and after a few minutes I can hardly wait to get back and get to work.