Megan Stewart

Case study ( 14 hour in - vocal course duration).

Case Study 1

           I am now 14 hours into my vocal course at The Royans Professional Vocal School with world-renowned Master Vocal Coach, Diana Yampolsky. As a musician who has wanted to become a better singer, she is the best coach imaginable for my situation. Not only has this course been drastically helping my singing voice, Diana has made me realize many things about how I present myself in life generally. 

          I never realized how much I mumble and say “like”. It’s one thing to have your friends or Dad tell you that, but to hear it from a trained voice professional really puts things into perspective. My voice goes right to the ground; I speak through my throat/nose and that translates into my singing voice, which also disappears on stage. No wonder some people see me as unconfident, even though I have such belief in myself. After 2 hours into this course, I realized I haven’t been singing properly and that’s why! The last 4 years that I’ve been playing in bands, I have been singing at 20% of my potential. Everything I thought I knew about singing feels like a virus in my head that I must throw away. I sounded all right, but the technique wasn’t there. 

          I would have never figured out proper technique by myself. Not through any 20-minute YouTube video, or reading a book, taking one vocal lesson from some Joe Blow, or trying to take an easy way out. What I need is vocal instruction, someone correcting me and explaining word for word what I did wrong, and how to fix it. Diana literally drills these instructions into my head. She’s a tough Russian lady but I admire her strength and zero tolerance for bad technique. She’s definitely making my skin toughen up.

          Now that we’ve had a few sessions, I feel my muscles building where they should be with proper technique. I must tighten my lower abdomen, expand my upper rib cage, and use my mouth as an amplifier, and that’s just the surface. It sounds easy, but it’s very difficult to get there. I am at a point where I can tell if I’m using proper technique, and can correct myself, but I still have a far way to go. It’s difficult to sing even a line of a song properly without going back to my old technique of using my throat/nose. The moment I do, I hold the note and try to adjust it until I am singing it right, and then move onto the next word.

          It’s exciting to see my facial muscles building in a way that completely brightens my face when I sing and talk. I’m starting to look like a much happier person when I talk/sing and that’s a great feeling. I feel such a difference in my throat. Can’t wait to see what the next sessions bring!

Please also see Megan's previous feedback on her 20 hour Case Study Vocal Course - Part 2!