MaJoVTA Members: It’s week 8 of our 15 week Spring Training Term. Are you feeling it? I sure am. In my experience, it’s always about this point in each Training Term where things can bog down a bit. Life intrudes: gigs come at us (gotta earn that $$$ yes?), family responsibilities pile up … the…

It’s that time of year! Persistent wet, cold weather drags on and on into early spring, and so do our allergy  and other symptoms. For singers, a sore throat can be a common yet uncomfortable ailment, often caused by viral infections, allergies, or irritants. While conventional medicine offers immediate relief through over-the-counter medications, many vocal…

Overcoming Adaptation in Vocal Training: Unlocking Your True Potential Part III   In this three-part series of blog posts, we’ve done the deep dive into what adaptation means in Vocal Training. I’ve worked with each of you individually to unpack and understand your own circumstances and how adaptation works in *your* vocal training regimen. Hopefully,…

Overcoming Adaptation in Vocal Training: Unlocking Your True Potential Part II Strategies to Overcome Adaptation In Vocal Training and Vocal Performance Change Your Vocal Training Program: Periodization: Implement a structured training plan that cycles through different phases (e.g., hypertrophy, strength, endurance). This can help prevent your body from becoming too comfortable. Used in sequence, the…

Overcoming Adaptation in Athletic Training: Unlocking Your True Potential Part I Vocal Training is a journey filled with peaks of progress and valleys of frustration. One of the most challenging hurdles Vocal Athletes face is adaptation—the body’s natural ability to adjust to rigorous training over time. While adaptation is a fundamental aspect of physical training,…

Rest Does Not Equal Rust My dad was nearly 91 when he passed. And until the day he died, I don’t think he knew the meaning of the word “rest.” As a child and youth, he grew up in the back of his parents ’39 Ford. My grandparents were lay-preachers who held brush arbor revivals…

Every Valley Shall Be Exalted, And Every Mountain and Hill Made Low. The Crooked Straight, and The Rough Places Plain. from Handel’s Messiah – ref. Is. 40:4 On a recent hike, I hit a hill. For about a ¼ mile, a relatively steep grade of between 15-20% presented itself. I was not aware that it…

We Are Here!!! Those of  you who know me well, or have done Vocal Training for some time, know that I’m very much a ‘work hard/play hard’ kind of person. What we do in elite-level Vocal Training is hard work … but too great a focus on the ‘hardness’ of the work can lead to…

Are We There Yet??? Back in the day, we lived in North Carolina and most of our family lived in Oklahoma and Texas. For a period of years, we made many an epic, two-day holiday journey overland with first one, then two young kiddos. The destination? My in-law’s house. They lived about the same distance…

In celebration of the Thanksgiving Holiday, the MaJoVTA will be on hiatus next week. Please know how grateful Molly and I are for each of you and what you represent to us: an opportunity for us to “pay it forward” with the skills, talents and gifts that we have been given, so that you might…