Dianne Stewart Singing Lessons

Wednesday, December 8, 2021 by Dianne Stewart | Studio News

Looking for a present for your singing friend? Child? Parent?  I thought I would make a list of some things that would be appreciated - and useful.

• Music Stand - these are really helpful for practicing at home - singers can free their hands and bodies from holding music and make it just the right height for them - so it helps with posture when practicing.
• Portable speaker - at its simplest this is a small  bluetooth speaker that can play your backing track - at home, hang it on your music stand and you are ready to go whenever you want to practice
• tickets to see a live performance - all performances are worth seeing, something local, something professional, big or small - experiencing live performing is not only enjoyable but it builds our understanding of performing.
• pre paid music lessons - all music learning supports musical knowledge and skills - pre paid singing lessons are available - SPACi run workshops as a part of SPAFest, or there may be other workshops available in neighbouring towns, learning another instrument or experiencing music in other ways like being involved in a singing group, choir or other activity all of these things build our musical and singing knowledge and abilities.
• Singing bag - something that is just for our singing stuff is really useful, and having it branded or fun in a singing way is a reminder to ourselves that we are singers and we are proud!

So, Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and enjoy the holidays - I will see you back in the studio next year.

Have fun singing

Dianne

Tuesday, November 9, 2021 by Dianne Stewart | Studio News

Hi Everyone, 

Just a note to say that I will be finishing up lessons the 2nd week in December - so the last lessons being on Saturday the 11th of December.  

I will be starting back again in the 3rd week of February - so lessons will start from Monday the 14th of February.

I will be available for lessons in January if you would like to book something in - just to keep you going or to get ready for a performance - I will be available from Monday Jan 10 to Saturday January 29 - but you will need to book in your time with me in advance - no regular lessons will be booked in for that time.

I will send out an email in the first week of February to confirm with current students if they are returning and if they would like to hold their current day and time - or if you would like to confirm earlier I am happy to do that - but from the 2nd week in February 2022 I will be open to new students bookings.

Next Performance opportunity - SPACi Take the Stage Open Mic - theme is Anything Goes so any song is ok - Friday the 19th of November at the Stawell Golf Club - come along and enjoy the night. facebook Event Link

Have fun singing

Dianne

Wednesday, October 6, 2021 by Dianne Stewart | Blog

We all know practice is important.  Practice makes perfect, practice is how we get better at things, it takes 10,000 hours of doing something to become a master of it.  These are all pieces of information that are often referred to when we talk about practice, but what is practice?  

Here is what I recommend for my singers (and for myself) 

• REGULAR - practice needs to be regular, daily if you can manage it but definitely a few times a week - schedule it in like a lesson with yourself
• PURPOSEFUL - know what you are practicing to improve - have a focus - review your singing goals
  • learning the notes? listen to the learning track - play it on the piano if you can - recognise the notes you are having trouble with - bring that to your lesson to work more
  • memorising the lyrics - putting the music down, testing your memory, writing out the lyrics, working out the patters or story or other way to remember it
  • working in a skill - dynamics, soft and loud or singing in your light high voice and so many more - you may have a list to work on
  • working on a difficult passage of a song - using techniques like slow it down, tap the beat or rhythm out 
• REVIEW - what did you achieve? in your practice - what do you need to focus on next time - having a practice journal can help you stay focussed and see what you have achieved - and celebrate it.

Even 10 minutes where you practice a few little voice exercises, work on your posture or breathing, or just have time to look at one small passage or entry - every little bit adds up and puts us a step further along the path of learning and achieving our goals.

So -  start with review - what are your practice goals for this week?

And don't forget you can track your practice in the student portal - you can even send me a video or recording of your practice so I can see how you are going at home.

So have fun singing and keep on practicing - we all like singing so we should all like practicing too

Dianne