Darci Monet Vocal Style Studio

Yooz guys...my student Kat has inspired and impressed me! We had a really intense session last week where she had to go really deep emotionally to work through the song we were working on. She was absolutely brave AF in those moments...allowing another to see your vulnerability can be terrifying. I'll let her share how it went for her in her own words below. For me personally, it was truly the work with singers I love to do best and is the whole reason my studio's little catch phrase is "Sing Like You Mean It." And she absolutely did! Bravo, Kat. 🥰

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Today my voice coach and I had what I would call a breakthrough.
Do you ever try to connect with your material and just feel like there’s this giant wall in the way? Like you know you can relate to it but the emotion feels flat and forced?

Yeah… turns out when we have our own emotional blockages, it’s hard to be real and honest and vulnerable.
Sometimes we may not even realize that our attempts to “maintain our composure” are preventing us from truly experiencing the story we are telling, and consequently, preventing the audience from also experiencing the moment.

So, today Darci Monet watched me break down in tears when I finally was able to get out of my own damn way and not hide from the emotions brought forth by my piece. It’s been a very long time since I’ve sang anything with so much unabashed and raw emotion.

When you’re in the moment, you don’t even realize people are watching or listening. You are simply living your reality through the story you are telling, and the audience just happens to have the pleasure of experiencing it with you.

Real is better than perfect. People would much rather hear the humanity and truth of a voice cracking with emotion than a perfectly held note.

♪♫ Sing Like You Mean It Story Time ♪♫

A few years ago, I was working with my voice student Elaine, who had everything she needed to succeed in her niche, which was musical theatre. Great voice, solid acting chops (she was big into improv), cute as a button (think the perfect Elle Woods), stone cold work ethic...but she couldn't seem to even get a call back whenever she auditioned for shows.

She had struggled with this for a couple years and was so frustrated. And it made no sense to me, either...

Until I said to her, “Okay. Let's break down the audition process. Walk me through a typical audition for you from the minute you walk into the building till you walk back out."

When she started explaining, I realized that she was making a
very simple, but gargantuan, mistake.

The mistake was this: once she'd signed in, sat down and waited for her name to be called, turns out she was doing everything BUT mentally focusing on what she was actually there to do! She was eyeing the room, checking out - judging - all the other actors (who looked like her? who didn't?). She was straining to hear through the door of the audition room to try and figure out who sang better than her. She was trying to read the facial expressions of everyone who came out to see if they'd give the impression that they'd crushed it. She tried to guage who was a seasoned pro and who was wet-behind-the-ears and on and on...

She was being a Snoopy Suzie instead of getting herself mentally prepared for her audition.

When I pointed it out, she said, “But..." And I said, "No buts. Here's your new process. Sign in, sit down, stick in your earbuds and listen to your 32 bars play on repeat. Run your sides. Don't be rude, but don't bother with anyone else. They're not your business. This is YOUR time and you're not there to make friends OR judgments. Set your focus, then go in the room and slay." Reluctantly, she agreed to try it.

And wouldn't ya know, her very next audition, she not only slayed the audition AND got a call back for the first time in a couple years...SHE BOOKED THE DANG LEAD!

BADA BING, BADA BOOM.

That big shift in process and focusing her mindset on the task at hand helped Elaine go from being relegated to the company (not that there's anything wrong with that...there are no small parts!) to playing Lucy in "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown." She continued to book major roles in a few other shows following that until she retired to have a family.

If you’re struggling with streamlining your focus and mindset, whether it be in your vocal technique, your audition process, or your general work ethic, it's fixable. It's doable. And I can help.

If this is something you want, send me a DM and we can explore it further. Your best gigs are yet to come!

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