Vocal Mechanics Coaching by Amanda Jeanne Busch

I created this profile in July 2015 teaching singing lessons and several musical instruments in person at my home. In March 2017 I paused this page as I was in a car wreck with a terrible neck injury and spinal trauma. I ended up being in another car wreck 6 months later, battled cancer twice, and suffered 4 strokes. In August 2020 I reactivated this page only doing vocal mechanics coaching and only doing it online usually using the Zoom app, which has made major improvements in sound quality for musicians in the past few years. I have over 30 years experience helping mostly college students and professionals perfect their sound before entering the recording studio, and taking their live performances up to the next level, and 2008 to 2017 I had the opportunity to be Children's Choir Director at Robbinsdale United Church of Christ in Robbinsdale Minnesota conducting 2 choirs - one of 3 year olds to 1st graders, and one of 2nd to 5th graders. When I started doing private one on one sessions with amateur musicians in 2015 I started working with people of all ages - aged 3 to 99, and at all stages of their musical journey, and in 2022 and 2023 over half of my clientele were age 14 and younger. One reason I began giving sessions from home, because my husband lost his job and I was hoping to help, but Music Tech (The Rock and Roll College) in Minneapolis where I gave my "Artist In Industry" seminars and worked with students in the '90s, and McNally Smith College of Music in Saint Paul Minnesota where I gave my seminars and worked with students in the '00s both had closed their doors. In 2020 I discovered I could do private sessions online usually using the Zoom app, but if you prefer a different platform I'm always willing to try something new. Come log in and meet me in a Zoom screen so I can be more detailed and attentive than in person, and you can be more relaxed in the comfort of your own home, and have a direct close up view of your own reflection to monitor your own facial movements and responses to the information presented. I was trained in Bel Canto 30+ years ago, and recently trained in The Cole Vocal Method which were both designed for opera singers but are applicable for production and manipulation of sound for any and all genres under the sun. however I do not feel I am professionally proficient to work with clients whose goals are in opera. I also have trained in Arabic, Hindustani, Oriental, and Sephardim traditions to name a few, and teach other stand-alone techniques such as distortion, scream fry (the use of the ventricular cords), and mimicry. I consider myself to be a life-long student of the craft and am constantly alert to glean new information both in person and online to add to help each client meet their own specific goals, but I'm not a psychic. The more detailed you are in expressing your inspirations, aspirations, goals, and expectations the more adept I can be about building a yellow brick road to help get you there. We start with some physical stretching and exercises to prepare the body for singing, then focus on your beathing techniques. Next we do warm up exercises made up of scales and arpeggios moving up and down chromatically strengthening and lengthening the vocal cords, helping to smooth the transitions between the 5 stages of the voice: chest voice, head voice, the belting range, falsetto, and whistle tones, and of course all of these exercises double as ear interval training. In the second half of the session I will introduce new techniques, ideas, and visualizations using your favorite songs to sing along with. I always let my clientele select their own songs to work with in the second half of their session, or else I'm happy to make recommendations, unless you have specific repertoire for an upcoming audition or performance to prepare, but the more familiar you are with the songs the better my methods work. I have real world experience and have helped my clients reach their personal goals in literally nearly every genre imaginable including but not limited to Country, Rock and Pop of the '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s, all the way up to current Top 40 hits, K-Pop (Korean), Hip Hop, Rap, Eclectic Electronica, Blues, R and B, Alternative, Indie, Hard Core, Punk, Ska, Industrial, Black Metal, Heavy Metal, Reggae, Bluegrass, Christian, Gospel, New Age Christian, Americana, Creole, Musical Theater, Bollywood, Folk music of many cultures including Irish, European, Oriental, Roma, Sephardim Jew, Lebanese, Spanish, Hindustani, and Classical in many languages including Latin, Italian, German, and much more. I do NOT coach opera. Although my training classically began at a very early age - my mother was a music teacher at a K-8th grade Catholic school when I was young and she taught me to sight read vocal sheet music before I learned my ABCs, and when I began paying for my own weekly singing lessons in 7th grade with my babysitting money the only song choices my teacher allowed was something from "G. Schirmer's 22 Italian Arias for Medium Low Voice", I have performed cover music of many genres most of my life starting with Country, Bluegrass, and '70s Rock (because it was the '70s) with my dad literally from the minute I outgrew my car seat. I was 8 years old the first time I sang for a band that my dad wasn't in. In 1997 I began writing original music and created the band "Dreamcorps: Army of the Dream. Making the soundtrack for when you're not awake". For genre I think I would have to call it "eclectic electronica" although we performed 8 cover songs of the '70s Swedish band "Curved Air". In 2000 I formed the band "Rhimshodt {No } Alternative Rock" (note to self: always pick a band name your fans can spell). In 2002-2003 I was part of the Arabic performance group "Hijazzer", and in 2002 also hooked up with a sitar player (who also started teaching me to play sitar too) and formed the duo "moose and Squirrel" and we performed until 2006. In 2004 I formed the band "Niobium - Sadness Made Metal" (ancient tribal psychedelic metal), but was having major health complications and was fired supposedly for "not being healthy enough to go on tour". I have just recently started writing music again. If you have sheet music for what you want to be singing I will make sure you understand and know what to do with every word, letter, number, and symbol on the page, and help you learn your line so it becomes familiar and you know exactly where your entrances, intervals, dynamics, accidentals, time signatures, and lyrics mean and can sing it with confidence walking into your next audition, rehearsal, or performance. Ask me about my "crash course in reading Western Music notation" based on the choruses of Handel's "Messiah" see below for greater details. Great technical crossover into other genres! I find great personal satisfaction aiding people in awakening and getting in touch with their vocal cords, usually surprising themselves significantly discovering what their vocal cords are already capable of, painting different pictures for the mind with words makes miniscule adjustments of the features of your face, mouth, neck, and body take place that there really is no way to do consciously, but once you have it it is a tool for your toolbox you get to keep, one more option to choose from when you pick which skills to use to share your song with the world outside of your shower or your car. I believe there are dozens if not hundreds of different ways to sing the same thing as long as the PITCH is accurate, because once you have tools inside your toolbox You are the ARTIST who gets to choose which ones to use when. Some of the skills I teach build on one another so you cannot possibly use all of the skills at once. These are not "rules to sing by" these are "options" and I make sure you know the difference of what works best when. This applies for all ages! I offer instant gratification, tangible results in every session, and I get great personal satisfaction helping people discover the endless possibilities their voice is truly capable of! I relish any opportunity to work with people in the process of writing their own music to perform and/or record, and I work with clients of all ages and at all stages, from ages 3 to 99. The first 16 sessions or so with me apply universally to everybody no matter what your genre of choice is or where your goals are, it's just a fact that if your genres of choice are musical theater, or singing with a school or church choir you are going to need to learn sight singing western music notation too if you want to pass an audition, or keep up with a choir that rehearses one night a week plus one hour before the Sunday service and have new music you are expected to learn nearly every single week. I learned to read sheet music for singing before I learned my ABCs. Yes, it is VERY possible for all ages. I am always still booking forward for groups, duos, trios, foursomes, and moresomes, bands, choirs, etc, I love the vibe of face to face, in-person sessions but have been learning my way around Zoom, Facebook Messenger, GoogleMeet, and Microsoft Teams, and this old lady is always willing to try out something new. Many of my peers in the industry try telling me "no one is taking me seriously because I don't charge upwards of $150 an hour for one-on-one private sessions, considering my credentials", but I just CAN'T DO that to people! I started taking voice lessons in 7th grade and I paid $11.50 for my 30 minutes each week out of my own babysitting money. I never would have been able to take voice lessons at today's expected prices, but a few years ago I tried dropping my price to just $60 an hour and No One Contacted Me Whatsoever for 4 Whole Months! But now at $80 an hour I get just enough attention to stay in business. I also offer family discounts - if 2 family members want back to back sessions - 2 kids, parent/child, or a couple - the price is $60 an hour, or $30 each for 30 minutes. I used to present vocal mechanics as a 2 hour college seminar at Music Tech in Minneapolis in the '90s and at McNally Smith College of Music in Saint Paul Minnesota in the '00s so I do have quite a bit of material up my sleeves. Both of these institutions closed their doors over a decade ago. I KNOW my price tag doesn't match my credentials lol! I've been told I give Excellent bang for your buck! Make sure to keep your notebook handy so I don't speed away too fast! I will pause the timer for your session if you feel you need a moment to catch up on note taking. Especially important when working with the under age 12 crew. Some notes are drawing simple pictures to remember what we've learned, and I'm always happy to double check spelling so you can do more online research afterwards if you choose. I have a great book too called "The Anatomy of the Voice" to show you simple diagrams of the internal soft tissues I'm talking about sometimes, so be sure to jot down the labels at least, sometimes I move pretty quickly as we identify, feel, locate, isolate, strengthen, lengthen, protect, manipulate, and undo each action we reacted to, from each of the body parts involved in making you the beautiful unique snowflake that you are, striving to master the instrument that is the human body! I do NOT recommend buying the book "The Anatomy of the Voice" unless you're pursuing a Master's degree in vocals, it's an awfully dry read without much explanations on its own. There is one major master exercise for us to test our waters of aptitude with, an exercise almost embarassingly devised as you first learn it but it is so multifaceted in how it helps you grow in breath support, 30 to even 50% increase helping you release the lower rear ribs, using a vibrational feature assured to protect the vocal folds from damage no matter how far into the depths of your whistle tones even above the piano's top keys we may go exploring, which really IS a realistic possibility over time for men as well as women, and once you understand lip trills you can utilize them at any time chromatically preferably or circularly maximizing the workout of your diaphragm which holds your heart and both lungs separated from the organs below it, pumping at mass reaction so your voice may truly fill a theater above a full orchestra without need for microphone amplification as the performers of bygone eras were wont to do and did well. It's amazing to duplicate, the capacity still exists, it's up to you to learn to control it! Great crossover for your yoga practice and meditational breathwork practice you may do too. We will spend maybe 8-10 minutes on this exercise your first session or so depending on the scope of your range. Seems silly, but believe me it's really priceless, worth its weight in gold even! And everyone, and yes I mean EVERYONE uses lip trills to warm up before every performance or recording session, such as Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Miley Cyrus, Beyonce, Ed Sheeran, Celine Dion, Prince Rogers Nelson, Pink, Angelique Kidjo, just to name a few. The 2nd half of your session will be learning "tools for your toolbox" working on your chosen songs. There are so many tools to pick from, I pick the order on what I feel serves your needs best as you demonstrate for me your best effort to change notes on a page or in your ear poured back out your mouth as liquid emotion. I LOVE the look on someone's face when a technique "clicks" and they startle themselves and LOVE the sound they just made! Instant gratification has always been my favorite part of this job! I am a vocal mechanics coach, which is slightly different than giving singing lessons, and share many "stand alone techniques", not a progression of "rules for singing", more like "tools for your toolbox" that you can take out and apply to your performance as you see fit for the rest of your life. Stand alone techniques to actually isolate, control, strengthen, and lengthen the actual mechanics of how you produce, resonate, and release your sound. I have worked with many of "the best in the business" and gleaned a few new "tools" off of each and every one of them. These include Cari Cole, Prince (Rogers Nelson), Gwen Stefani, David Nordli, Paula Holmberg, Kathy Saltzman Romey, Paul Oakley, Bobby McFerrin, Robin and Linda Williams, Garrison Keillor, Amy Lee, Miriam Gerberg, Luanna Blake Mitchell, Stuart DaVaan, Tiny Tim, Elvira, Venus DeMars, JD Steele, Souhail Kaspar, and even Mitch Miller himself! See below for more specific credits. Effective Nov 2017 I am no longer teaching guitar, bass guitar, sitar, cello, or Middle Eastern, North African, Hindi, and Oriental hand percussion. However some music theory, sight singing, and solfege can be incorporated into your sessions if you wish, and all the exercises we do in the first half of the session double as ear interval training. Each year as summer bids farewell, I offer for clients looking for a "crash course in reading Western sheet music/modern notation" by working on 8 of the Christmas choruses of "Handel's Messiah" to prepare for participation in a "Sing Along Messiah" concert held in nearly every major metro area during the season of Advent, leading up to Christmas. It is the most often performed work of music in the history of the modern world - since 1741 it has been performed at least annually in Europe and the Americas offering the unique opportunity to experience singing with a live orchestra or pipe organ, conductor, and 4 soloists, and the audience sitting by choir sections - Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass, so when it comes time for the choruses to be sung the conductor turns around and conducts the audience. This is no easy feat, the music is quite challenging even for the seasoned veteran, often presented as fugues riddled with melismas that offer a fabulous technique crossover to hip-hop and R&B music especially. It was originally written and performed as a benefit for a new hospital in Dublin Ireland in 1741 during the season of Lent which required all of the opera houses to be closed - the fad of entertainment in that day. Registration deadline is August 1st each year with a commitment to 16 one hour weekly sessions at the steeply discounted price of $760 total.