Unconditional Love is here … for you!!! ;-)

Shared from my songwriting page – this is a year long project I am undertaking where I will be putting together a 12 song album together from contributions all over the world. Each month I will upload the vocals of an original song … then anyone who wants, anywhere in the world, can record what they think sounds cool as accompaniment or vocals and send their recording to me at songboy_s_c@yahoo.com.

If your contribution is used you will be given equal musical songwriting credit on the album!

Collaborative Composition: Musical Mosaics that span the globe

(press play on the SoundCloud link above)

It’s here! “Unconditional Love”, a Reggae song … and it’s all yours to listen to, work with and create the accompaniment for. Listen to it, groove to it … if you want to sing the lead vocals record yourself singing it and send it to me at songboy_s_c@yahoo.com.

I am NOT a Reggae singer … so this is a BIG opportunity for someone to do lead vocals for an awesome song. This song flowed out of me in a wave of inspiration … and I am simply singing what I heard in my head (so you’ll have to pardon the phony accent, I just heard it that way! lol) I am singing it here, but this is only to convey the words and melody … if you want to sing lead? Go for it!

The long bit of silence 2/3s of the way through is meant to be for vocalist improvisation with a choir in the background singing “Unconditional Love” in chords.

This is the second Musical Mosaic song project for this year-long Collaborative Composition song project.

Anyone, anywhere in the world, can play whatever instrument they want to the vocals … when you have what you want to record down, send it to me. If I use your idea/contribution you will be given equal musical songwriting credit on the album.

That means if this album goes big your name will be on it for both songwriting credit AND as a performer. Nothing is a guarantee in this world … but why not live a life of hope rather than one of resignation. Resignation eats away at your insides and makes you miserable … so BELIEVE and go for it! Live out of inspiration instead … you’ll be much happier! 😉

Here are the lyrics:

Unconditional Love

By: Christopher Anderson

Unconditional love
means never closing your heart
although it be torn apart
or ripped to pieces.

Unconditional love
as pure as a newborn kiss
and as long Ouroboros
but much more gentle.

What they can’t see
can be heard in the silence.
Where they may go
so it follows surely behind;
like the tendrils of passion
it climbs the edifice of their mind
to bloom and spread a fragrance
Unmistakable.

Unconditional love
collapses all space and time
with all souls intertwined
but barely moving.

Unconditional love
it pierces right through your heart
tears flow at the very art
of its magic.

(choir sings “Unconditional Love” in chords while soloist improvs)

It can’t be broken
Cannot be changed
Not dismantled
Or rearranged.
No more fighting
No more hate
No more vengeance
It all dissipates.

It’s unconditional.
Love.

* This song has an informal copyright for Christopher Anderson. If you want to use it outside of Collaborative Composition, you will need to come to an agreement with the songwriter.

– art by Chris Dyer.

Unconditional Love is here … for you!!! 😉.

via Unconditional Love is here … for you!!! 😉.

Technique Tips for Singing – Placing the Voice “In The Mask” and advice on Widening the Jaw

Christopher Anderson-West teaches individual Voice Lessons, as well as a weekly group Singing Class and a class on Musicianship For Singers, at Raise The Barre dance studio in Laguna Niguel.

This week in our Musical Theater Workshop I introduced a few vocal exercises that had the express purpose of “placing” the voice optimally for volume WITHOUT strain. I used the example from the movie Jurassic Park, where a scientist blew into the resonating chamber of a Velociraptor skull, to illustrate that the best way to amplify one’s voice is to place the voice “in the mask”, or into the resonating chamber of our facial cavity.

At one point one of the students wondered aloud about “just opening your mouth wider” to get sound out. This is something I would like to address in this post. There is a time for widening the mouth/jaw, however it should be in proportion to the notes the singer is singing. If you are trying to sing the highest note you possibly can sing, yes … you need to have your jaw widened (while still maintaining vocal placement “in the mask”). However, when you are in your lower or middle range opening your mouth widely will actually result in tension. This type of technique results in pushing from the abdominal muscles and can actually do damage to your vocal cords. If you want to understand more about how to place your voice “in the mask” or how and when to widen your jaw while singing, I would be happy to demonstrate and assist you in understanding. Give me a call and we can arrange a lesson! (949) 613-0143

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“A popular misconception among voice teachers is to get their students to open their mouths when they sing.  I suppose this is to get more sound out, but in actuality it hurts the voice and has little to do with projection.  In fact, Lamperti, one of the greatest teachers of Bel Canto said, “…the less you open your mouth, the less you disturb your line of sound…”  It is a huge mistake to open your mouth widely when you sing.  Remember that sound does not travel by “throwing” breath out of your mouth.  It travels by sound waves.   If your voice traveled on breath, that would mean if you were yelling at someone at the end of the block, breath would fly out of your mouth, down to the end of the street, and land in that person’s ear.  Ridiculous!”

– shared from Brianvollmer.com

***

Christopher Anderson-West is a conservatory trained operatic tenor and voice teacher currently living in Southern Orange County, California. Christopher is pleased to be working with Raise The Barre dance studio as a Vocal Instructor and teacher of a weekly class on Musicianship For Singers for students in the Southern Orange County area (Irvine, Mission Viejo, Laguna Hills, Ladera Ranch, Laguna Niguel, Aliso Viejo, Laguna Beach, Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano, Talega and San Clemente).

Christopher studied both voice and composition for five years at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He has had the honor of performing in England, France, Italy, China, and around the United States.

As a voice teacher, Christopher’s method is primarily based on the operatic bel canto technique; meaning “beautiful singing”. This technique is currently employed in not only opera, but virtually every form of singing from Pop, to R&B, to Broadway and more … the principles can be carried over as a basis for just about any style of singing.

Christopher’s goal is to impart a healthy vocal technique that will allow you or your child to progress confidently into whatever field of music you or they enjoy. 

 

Musical Theater Workshop!

Christopher Anderson-West teaches individual Voice Lessons, as well as a weekly group Singing Class and a class on Musicianship For Singers, at Raise The Barre dance studio in Laguna Niguel.

For the next four Saturdays, at Raise The Barre dance studio, we will be conducting a Musical Theater Workshop! There will be multiple elements involved in terms of faculty and my element, of course, will be the vocal aspect of Musical Theater.

For my portion of the Workshop, we are primarily going to focus on HOW to learn a new song from sheet music … and we will be learning the song “Seasons Of Love”, from Rent. Many people can learn songs from simply listening to another artist’s performance and then copying it. This is helpful to get a tune into your ear … but you should not base your entire knowledge of a song on what some other singer has done. If you want to be able to “make something your own” you need to be able to learn the song as the composer wrote it … and THEN you can add your own personal embellishments from that base.

If you are singing what somebody else has already done? Then it’s already stale in terms of how it will be received. That doesn’t even mean that you have to drastically alter the song … what you change could simply be the emotional feel of the song, or any number of things.

To do ANY of those potential individual expressions you need to know the song as it was written … and that is what will be focusing on.

Tomorrow, starting at 1:00 pm, we will be focusing on rhythm for the first class. For any song, the very first thing you should do is break down the rhythm of how the song is written and how the words fit into that structure … WITHOUT the music. Then, after you have master the rhythm and diction … add the music into it and FEEL how much more confident you are for having done it that way.

Come on down and take part in our Summer Musical Theater Workshop … if you can’t make all four, come in for what you CAN to see what you can learn! 🙂

Christopher Anderson-West is a conservatory trained operatic tenor and voice teacher currently living in Southern Orange County, California. Christopher is pleased to be working with Raise The Barre dance studio as a Vocal Instructor and teacher of a weekly class on Musicianship For Singers for students in the Southern Orange County area (Irvine, Mission Viejo, Laguna Hills, Ladera Ranch, Laguna Niguel, Aliso Viejo, Laguna Beach, Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano, Talega and San Clemente).

Christopher studied both voice and composition for five years at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He has had the honor of performing in England, France, Italy, China, and around the United States.

As a voice teacher, Christopher’s method is primarily based on the operatic bel canto technique; meaning “beautiful singing”. This technique is currently employed in not only opera, but virtually every form of singing from Pop, to R&B, to Broadway and more … the principles can be carried over as a basis for just about any style of singing.

Christopher’s goal is to impart a healthy vocal technique that will allow you or your child to progress confidently into whatever field of music you or they enjoy.

A modern example of quality vocal technique: P!nk

Christopher Anderson-West teaches individual Voice Lessons, as well as a weekly group Singing Class and a class on Musicianship For Singers, at Raise The Barre dance studio in Laguna Niguel.

As promised, here is an example of a modern (non-operatic) singer who I feel has excellent vocal technique: P!nk.

Not only is this one of my favorite dramatic performances of all time, but you can also watch as she sings and notice some of the very things we have been working on in our singing classes.

* Her vocal placement is excellent. For someone who has a breathy, almost raspy, sound she can still be easily heard … you can see “the snarl” or “smile” in her cheeks as she places her voice in “the mask” so that her voice carries.

* In order to pull off such a naked performance vocally she HAS to have her voice supported in an “on the breath” technique that keeps her sound free of tension. If she (or anyone else) tried to “belt” this song it would sound pushed and strained … and it wouldn’t sound good at all for this particular song. Belting has it’s place, sometimes, but this song is not one of them.

See if there are any other lessons from our classes that you can notice as you watch. If you haven’t taken lessons with me, or been in our class, then feel free to chime in anyway … and perhaps you’d like to come and see what you can learn about having an easy,”on the breath” vocal technique. If so, give me a call: (949) 613-0143.

Christopher Anderson-West is a conservatory trained operatic tenor and voice teacher currently living in Southern Orange County, California. Christopher is pleased to be working with Raise The Barre dance studio as a Vocal Instructor and teacher of a weekly class on Musicianship For Singers for students in the Southern Orange County area (Irvine, Mission Viejo, Laguna Hills, Ladera Ranch, Laguna Niguel, Aliso Viejo, Laguna Beach, Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano, Talega and San Clemente).

Christopher studied both voice and composition for five years at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He has had the honor of performing in England, France, Italy, China, and around the United States.

As a voice teacher, Christopher’s method is primarily based on the operatic bel canto technique; meaning “beautiful singing”. This technique is currently employed in not only opera, but virtually every form of singing from Pop, to R&B, to Broadway and more … the principles can be carried over as a basis for just about any style of singing.

Christopher’s goal is to impart a healthy vocal technique that will allow you or your child to progress confidently into whatever field of music you or they enjoy.

Juan Diego Florez – an example of relaxed, on-the-breath singing

Christopher Anderson-West teaches individual Voice Lessons, as well as a weekly group Singing Class and a class on Musicianship For Singers, at Raise The Barre dance studio in Laguna Niguel.

Singers, I am posting this video for you to watch to see if you can notice any of the different elements we have touched on in our classes: the raised palate (yawning or smelling a rose), placement of the voice “in the mask” (the part of your face where a mask would rest), on the breath singing.

This is one of the premier tenors of the world today (Juan Diego Florez) and he is renowned for easy, relaxed singing … see if you can notice when he actually has tension in his voice. There are actually only a few times this occurs and it usually was for effect. One time I noticed he had tension that was not for effect, but he corrected it immediately.

This aria is one of the most difficult arias for tenor as it has multiple high C’s (toward the end). Enjoy! Tomorrow I will post an example of a non-operatic singer who I think has a relaxed singing technique so that you can notice the similarities in how “on the breath” singing can be incorporated across genres.

Christopher Anderson-West is a conservatory trained operatic tenor and voice teacher currently living in Southern Orange County, California. Christopher is pleased to be working with Raise The Barre dance studio as a Vocal Instructor and teacher of a weekly class on Musicianship For Singers for students in the Southern Orange County area (Irvine, Mission Viejo, Laguna Hills, Ladera Ranch, Laguna Niguel, Aliso Viejo, Laguna Beach, Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano, Talega and San Clemente).

Christopher studied both voice and composition for five years at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He has had the honor of performing in England, France, Italy, China, and around the United States.

As a voice teacher, Christopher’s method is primarily based on the operatic bel canto technique; meaning “beautiful singing”. This technique is currently employed in not only opera, but virtually every form of singing from Pop, to R&B, to Broadway and more … the principles can be carried over as a basis for just about any style of singing.

Christopher’s goal is to impart a healthy vocal technique that will allow you or your child to progress confidently into whatever field of music you or they enjoy.

Broadway belting – Should Singers Ever Belt?

Christopher Anderson-West teaches individual Voice Lessons, as well as a weekly group Singing Class and a class on Musicianship For Singers, at Raise The Barre dance studio.

A great post on “belting” as a style of technique for singing. There certainly are plenty of successful singers who do belt (Idina Menzel, for instance), however this technique often results in “pitchiness” (being off the pitch intended) and tension. That tension can often get worse and worse as singers try to make their instrument work … and this can lead to injuring the vocal cords.

I personally teach a classical technique that is based on relaxed singing that is “on the breath”; meaning there is no muscular clenching from the abdominal muscles or in the neck. If you would like to learn more about this, give me a call and we can set up a lesson. I teach at Raise The Barre dance studio, on Crown Valley Parkway (near Costco). (949) 613-0143

Should Singers Ever “Belt”?

By Sarah Sloan at sfcv.org

Photo courtesy of Sarah Sloan voice studio

To belt or not to belt? This is often a controversial question within the singing community. Part of the controversy lies in a preconception about the term “belt” and how it is used in musical theater. Belting has a bright, often brassy tone quality with significant power.

 

When talking about belting it is useful to understand the terms head voice and chest voice. Chest voice, where the sensations of the voice vibrate in the chest, is often used in pop music and is used in the lower ranges of the voice. Head voice, where the sensations vibrate in the head, is associated with the female classical voice, is used in the upper range and is called “legit” (meaning “legitimate”) in musical theater. Belting can be defined as pushing the chest voice up past the natural transition into head voice; when done improperly it can result in a “break” or sudden flip into the head voice register.

With Broadway-style singing, a safe alternative technique that comfortably executes the demands of today’s musical theater uses a combination of both head and chest voice or “Mixing”. Ideally in mixing, both registers are blended to achieve a unified voice. To acquire this, the entire vocal range, particularly the head voice, must be strengthened and developed. Eric Howe, voice faculty at Holy Names University says, “The voice involves many muscles, and often some of the muscles need to be strengthened and coordinated to work with the other muscles.” Here are some things to keep in mind:

If you sing primarily in your chest voice, spend as much time as possible singing in your head voice to strengthen that sound.

• Try a “top down” approach by coming at the pitch from the top rather than pushing up.
• Do not scream. The voice should never feel forced. If you become hoarse stop immediately.
• Keep the head and neck in a normal relaxed position. Do not lift the chin or allow the neck muscles to tense.

Unhealthy belting can create excessive tension in the throat. Vocal chord injury is common. So find an experienced teacher who can monitor your progress. Learn to mix in a healthy way and your vocal chords can enjoy a long and fruitful life.

Sarah Sloan is a classical singer and voice teacher in the East Bay. You can find her blog at sarahsloan.net.

***

Christopher Anderson-West is a conservatory trained operatic tenor and voice teacher currently living in Southern Orange County, California. Christopher is pleased to be working with Raise The Barre dance studio as a Vocal Instructor and teacher of a weekly class on Musicianship For Singers.

Christopher studied both voice and composition for five years at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He has had the honor of performing in England, France, Italy, China, and around the United States.

As a voice teacher, Christopher’s method is primarily based on the operatic bel canto technique; meaning “beautiful singing”. This technique is currently employed in not only opera, but virtually every form of singing from Pop, to R&B, to Broadway and more … the principles can be carried over as a basis for just about any style of singing.

Christopher’s goal is to impart a healthy vocal technique that will allow you or your child to progress confidently into whatever field of music you or they enjoy.

Group Singing Class – Performance of “Part Of Your World”

Christopher Anderson-West teaches individual Voice Lessons, as well as a weekly group Singing Class and a class on Musicianship For Singers, at Raise The Barre dance studio.

In our Group Singing Class yesterday afternoon we had our first ever live performance and coaching of a song! One of our younger students performed a beautiful rendition of “Part Of Your World”, from Disney’s “The Little Mermaid”. Part of what I try to incorporate into the Group Singing Class is a safe place to perform whatever it is that each student wants to work on. After the song the remaining students each offered what they enjoyed about her performance and then we went to work on technique.

A live coaching might seem like it only benefits the one person receiving the coaching, but that really is not the case. Each singer can incorporate what they hear from the coaching into their own practice habits … and hopefully each singer gets their own turn to sing when they feel comfortable doing so as well. I will also try to create a time for all the singers to work on what was being coached at the end of each class as well … just to make sure everyone understands what was presented and taught for the day.

Yesterday we worked on having the soft palate raised throughout entire phrases, how to blend and sing through changes in register (specifically the middle to upper registers), the importance of releasing with a nice deep breath after each phrase, and where exactly to place higher notes so that they don’t sound pinched or flat.

The Group Singing Class is on Wednesdays, from 3:45 – 4:45. We will be having a break this next week as I will be out of town, but will be letting our voices ring out again on Wednesday, April 30th. Come on down! You’ll have fun and are guaranteed to learn something :-).

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Christopher Anderson-West is a conservatory trained operatic tenor and voice teacher currently living in Southern Orange County, California. Christopher is pleased to be working with Raise The Barre dance studio as a Vocal Instructor and teacher of a weekly class on Musicianship For Singers.

Christopher studied both voice and composition for five years at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He has had the honor of performing in England, France, Italy, China, and around the United States.

As a voice teacher, Christopher’s method is primarily based on the operatic bel canto technique; meaning “beautiful singing”. This technique is currently employed in not only opera, but virtually every form of singing from Pop, to R&B, to Broadway and more … the principles can be carried over as a basis for just about any style of singing.

Christopher’s goal is to impart a healthy vocal technique that will allow you or your child to progress confidently into whatever field of music you or they enjoy.

Support Your Voice: Breathing, Again.

Christopher Anderson-West teaches individual Voice Lessons, as well as a weekly group Singing Class and a class on Musicianship For Singers, at Raise The Barre dance studio.

In my Group Singing Class, held weekly on Wednesdays at 3:45 pm, we have been looking into the importance of proper posture and how it affects your breathing. Then, from a place of having proper posture, learning how to utilize your breath in an easy, relaxed manner to produce sound. Here is a great article from Voice Council going into more detail on the subject (to students; note the toothpaste metaphor as it was something I mentioned in class).

~~~
Sing with less muscle effort and sustain your voice for longer phrases.

I am going to focus on one neglected part of supporting, which is the pelvic musculature.

From the anatomical point of view, this support comes not only from the gradual contraction of the abdominal muscles (both the recti in the front and the obliques on either side), but also a sustained level of tone in the muscles in the floor of the pelvis—these are the muscles which lift the pelvic floor and also control the sphincters involved in excretion.

(These incidentally are the muscles that are strengthened by the Kegel exercises prescribed by the obstetrician.)

The Toothpaste Tube

Simplistically, think of the expelled breath (which flows past the vocal folds and powers the voice) as toothpaste, squeezed out of a tube.

You can of course squeeze out the toothpaste like kids do, by grabbing the tube in the middle and forcefully closing your hand.

But this is not the best way to get toothpaste out- it pushes only some of the stuff up through the nozzle.

Much of the energy is wasted in pushing the paste down the other way, toward the crimped end of the tube.

To get every last bit of the toothpaste out of the tube, you need to squeeze beginning at the bottom end of the tube, pushing all of the paste toward the nozzle, in a gradual and controlled fashion.

Breathing with Less Muscle Effort

Grabbing in the middle and squeezing corresponds to abdominal breathing with no support: it wastes muscle effort, lacks control, and only partially empties the lungs.

Contracting the abdominal muscles without pelvic floor support will push the abdominal contents in both directions- up (against the diaphragm, expelling the air from the lungs), but also down.

Pushing down is useful when going to the bathroom or giving birth, but not for singing!

The key to good support then is to maintain a degree of resting tone in the muscles of the pelvic floor while exhaling.

This directs the force of abdominal muscle contraction upward, allowing for maximal controlled emptying of the lungs.

Musically, this translates into singing with less muscle effort, the ability to sustain the voice for longer phrases, and also better control of sound intensity.

Anthony F. Jahn MD

Dr. Anthony F. Jahn is an internationally renowned otolaryngologist based in Manhattan with a subspecialty interest in the professional voice. His practice includes classical and popular singers. He holds academic appointments at Columbia University and Westminster Choir College in Princeton, and is Medical Director at the Metropolitan Opera and Jazz at Lincoln Center.

***

Christopher Anderson-West is a conservatory trained operatic tenor and voice teacher currently living in Southern Orange County, California. Christopher is pleased to be working with Raise The Barre dance studio as a Vocal Instructor and teacher of a weekly class on Musicianship For Singers.

Christopher studied both voice and composition for five years at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He has had the honor of performing in England, France, Italy, China, and around the United States.

As a voice teacher, Christopher’s method is primarily based on the operatic bel canto technique; meaning “beautiful singing”. This technique is currently employed in not only opera, but virtually every form of singing from Pop, to R&B, to Broadway and more … the principles can be carried over as a basis for just about any style of singing.

Christopher’s goal is to impart a healthy vocal technique that will allow you or your child to progress confidently into whatever field of music you or they enjoy.

An afternoon of singing, learning vocal technique, and merriment in general

Christopher Anderson-West teaches individual Voice Lessons, as well as a weekly group Singing Class and a class on Musicianship For Singers, at Raise The Barre dance studio.

We had a great inaugural Group Singing Class at Raise The Barre dance studio yesterday. The focus for the day was on some of the psychological aspects involved in being a singer (how you feel is how you sound/what you convey), learning proper posture, breathing and then finally a bit of work on how to place the voice through the passagio (passageway from one vocal register to another). The group was a mix of happy, friendly adults and kids and it is my belief that much fun was had.

I personally noticed a great deal of improvement in each of the singers over the course of the class. I shared that, over time and with lessons, one can expect to expand their range around a third (4 half steps) each direction … for some that can be an even bigger improvement, depending on different variables … and this was made evident yesterday in just one class!

Even better was that it seemed (to me) that the students in the class could tell the difference in their singing by the end of the class … and that is always the most important thing – for THEM to see the improvement!

There was a goal to achieve, for those who couldn’t make it yesterday but would like to come next week or in the future:

Each person is to come up with a declaration stating their name and what they LOVE MOST about singing. Think of the thing that absolutely makes you ridiculously happy about singing … and create a statement around that. Then, just notice throughout the week or whenever you sing … notice, without judgment … if your mind is ever in a different place than what you absolutely LOVE about singing. Does it go to fear, or insecurity, or discouragement? Any time your mind goes to a place that is different than your declaration … stop and take notice (without judgment about it) and then just repeat your sentence to yourself of what you LOVE about singing. 

We create neuropathways in our brain … if how you feel affects how you sound … then you don’t want to create neuropathways that subconsciouusly take you to negative places in your thinking about singing. Think about what you LOVE instead … you’ll have more fun and you will actually SOUND better for it as well!

That’s it for this week … hope to see you next week!

Christopher Anderson-West

***

Christopher Anderson-West is a conservatory trained operatic tenor and voice teacher currently living in Southern Orange County, California. Christopher is pleased to be working with Raise The Barre dance studio as a Vocal Instructor and teacher of a weekly class on Musicianship For Singers.

Christopher studied both voice and composition for five years at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He has had the honor of performing in England, France, Italy, China, and around the United States.

As a voice teacher, Christopher’s method is primarily based on the operatic bel canto technique; meaning “beautiful singing”. This technique is currently employed in not only opera, but virtually every form of singing from Pop, to R&B, to Broadway and more … the principles can be carried over as a basis for just about any style of singing.

Christopher’s goal is to impart a healthy vocal technique that will allow you or your child to progress confidently into whatever field of music you or they enjoy.

Learning To Sing – A Group Singing Class in Laguna Niguel

Christopher Anderson-West teaches individual Voice Lessons, as well as a weekly group Singing Class and a class on Musicianship For Singers, at Raise The Barre dance studio.

Christopher Anderson-West as Canio in Pagliacci – Washington DC.

If you, or anyone you know, is interested in learning the basics of singing you should come down to the weekly Group Singing Class I will begin teaching tomorrow (Wednesday) from 3:45 – 4:45 at Raise the Barre LLC dance studio. The class is open to adults and kids (7+) alike and will focus on discovering a basic foundation technique for singing in a fun and friendly environment! Call (949) 340-9070 for more details.

If you would like private voice lessons I am available for half hour or hour long sessions. I will be conducting most of my lessons at Raise The Barre, however, if you would like a lesson at your house I am willing to do so if you have a piano or keyboard (for one hour lessons only).

***

Christopher Anderson-West is a conservatory trained operatic tenor and voice teacher currently living in Southern Orange County, California. Christopher is pleased to be working with Raise The Barre dance studio as a Vocal Instructor and teacher of a weekly class on Musicianship For Singers.

Christopher studied both voice and composition for five years at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He has had the honor of performing in England, France, Italy, China, and around the United States.

As a voice teacher, Christopher’s method is primarily based on the operatic bel canto technique; meaning “beautiful singing”. This technique is currently employed in not only opera, but virtually every form of singing from Pop, to R&B, to Broadway and more … the principles can be carried over as a basis for just about any style of singing.

Christopher’s goal is to impart a healthy vocal technique that will allow you or your child to progress confidently into whatever field of music you or they enjoy.