I just feel like they try to make it so difficult and to deprive people of sleep, when that is so important to a singer, it baffles me.

“A little sleep deprivation is good for them once in a while”

~ Steven Tyler

Really? My body is my instrument, I rarely scream like Steven Tyler does. When I do, I do it correctly with my stomach muscles, not my throat.

The lack of talent this year is amazing to me. I feel like I am watching Karaoke contest. No one yet has blown me away.

There were three strong singers from the Houston, Texas audition. One who became my student, when they had that 2-month break. Scarlett Peavey found me ion the net, and moved here to prepare for the Los Angeles American Idol boot camp. The problem she experienced was pain when singing. It was too late for her to get well, so when she went to LA with the correct way to sing from me. Her vocal cords needed anti-inflammatories and rest.

The boot camp of the Hollywood Round consisted of no sleep, exhaustion, and no rest at all, inflamed her voice more. It was not a bad thing when she got cut the third day. I told her to see an ear , nose throat doctor, immediately. He said she had over done it, and needed vocal rest.

And resting is what she has been doing since December. When she is OK we will record her and shop her and I swear she will out sell anyone American Idol produces this season. No one I’ve seen this season can touch Scarlett. Since we live in Las Vegas, we hear great talent all the time. We hear real singers, who nail it every single time we hear them.

Why is Jennifer Lopez a judge? She is a dancer and actress, who lip-syncs her records. Give me a show like The Voice that has singers for judges, and I am interested. I cannot even remember who won American Idol last year.

Former Idol contestant, Katharine McPhee, co-stars on a new TV show on “Smash“. It is a legitimate show about Broadway. The problem I have with her, is , she is a good singer but not as good as the rival REAL Broadway singer she is up against on the show.

Having sung professionally since age 12, and now, decades later, I can still sing. And as a coach, my new career, I have earned the right to an opinion.

Singers need sleep. rest, coaching, multi tasking, dancing, and ‘IT’ these people need ‘IT’ and I haven’t seen ‘IT’, this season. That’s why I don’t watch American Idol on a regular basis. It is painful to see a good show devolve into a hot mess.

~ Jessica Marciel

Love, Peace, and SOUL

Jessica Marciel
Las Vegas Vocal Training

Dusty Springfield

I never thought I would answer this question. There are so many great singers and all different.

I was watching a cable film with James Caan and Sally Field, “Kiss Me Goodbye”, and at the credits, there she was, I recognized her right away, Dusty Springfield, a song written by the late Peter Allen.

We lost Dusty to cancer way too soon, just so unfair. I searched YouTube and watched her with Tom Jones, Andy Williams, a lot of great singers. She had that velvety, smokey, yet soulful, cream cheese sound. She could be breathy and take your breath away., Her interpretation of a lyric was heartfelt.When she sang Randy Newman‘s, “Think it’s gonna Rain Today” you knew she really got it. When she sang, tin can at my feet, think I”ll kick it down the street, you knew she really got the way to express the cynical lyrics.

Dusty was a British, soulful, young gay beautiful blonde. In the 60,s we didn’t see that a lot. Everyone white was “White”, she sang with Tom Jones and it was magical.

She lives on, in films, like “My Best Friend’s Wedding”, where they all break into her songs through the film.

So, after thinking about, Eva Cassidy, Whitney, Barbra, Celine, I just keep going back to Dusty. She was the one, when I hear her sing, I go to another place. A serene, beautiful place. I hope she is at peace, and I hope she knew before she died, the legacy she would leave.

Sleep well beautiful girl.

Love , Peace and Soul

Jessica Marciel
Las Vegas Vocal Training

Students constantly tell me

“I am warmed up, I sang on the way over.”

No! Singing in or out of the car is not warming up. Would you run a marathon, and at the end, stop and then stretch? There is a reason it is called warming up. Your muscles are cold when not used. If you don’t want to injure yourself, you need to warm up slowly and then hum into singing.

A wonderful easy warm up, that does not need a CD or piano, is the motor or bubble lips. It is like blowing a feather lightly and then humming on a note, or pitch, and go into more notes. You can do this on two notes just as easily as a scale.

Another is to hum on pitch, just hum and make up a melody and hum. Then place your tongue on the roof of your mouth, and hum, that is the NG hum. It warms you up faster.

If you start singing cold, it might be fine, but it will take you longer to feel comfortable in your harder range. If you warm up, you can do your most difficult songs with ease any time you want with confidence.

Please take this advice, it will save your voice and make you a better , stronger singer.

Love and Soul,

Jessica Marciel
Las Vegas Vocal Training

Don Cornelius

I have been very fortunate to have traveled, met with, and hung out with people from Janis Joplin to Hugh Hefner to Frank Valli.The list is long.

One evening in 1975, I met Don after my gig at the Chicago Playboy Club. This tall man, with a big afro walked over to me. He was instantly recognizable and started a conversation.

Not a typical pick up line… I’ve heard a few. I was with some of the guys from my band Commonwealth, so it was more of a “Are you with anyone?” I explained that we were a house band at Playboy and I knew who he was.

Deep Dish - Chicago Style

We didn’t dance, I am not a drinker. I seem to remember he wasn’t a drinker, either. We sat and listened to the music, and we clicked a little.

Don and I stayed for hours. In those days, one stayed out all night, slept all day, and then went to work in the evening. We were hungry and he said, “I know the best deep-dish pizza place and it’s open all night.” I felt safe with Don and told my band mates where I was going.

We went to this crazy crowded pizza place, and ate until we were in pain! Don and I talked about Soul Train moving to Los Angeles, but he considered Chicago home so kept a penthouse apartment. He asked if I would like to see it before I went to my hotel. I said “Yes, of course I would love too.”

We didn’t have a chemistry of that sort where he was going to try anything with me. We just visited the penthouse apartment, and enjoyed the spectacular view. I remember the furniture like it was yesterday. It  was white and beige, and immaculate.

Chicago at night

As I started to tire, he said, “You are welcome to stay or I will take you home.” I said I should go home, as the band had a whole night ahead of shows at the club. He drove me back, kissed me on the cheek, very sweetly, and I asked him to try to come and see us.

I have never forgotten my one night of intelligent, lovely, conversation with this entertainment icon. To hear of his suicide, today, was both sad and shocking.

I am one of the lucky ones. I spent a lovely night in Chicago with this fabulous, interesting, and soft-spoken man.

Rest In Peace Sweet Don. I will never forget your kindness, your manners, and your role in American musical history. Bringing Soul Train, its guest performers, the Soul Train Dancers and the Scramble Board had a tremendous impact on a generation… and then some.

Love, Peace & Soul!

Jessica Marciel
Las Vegas Vocal Training

X-Factor meltdown

I tuned in for the X-Factor semi-finals. I wasn’t knocked out by the performances, but thought that 13-year-old Rachel Crow deserved to be in the finals. She was up against a young man, perhaps 18, Marcus Canty. His performance was weak and out of tune. When the judges gave their save votes, Simon and Paula choose Rachel to stay. Wow, nice surprise. However the other judges, L.A. Reid voted for a male singer and Nicole gave up her vote because she couldn’t cut Rachel. Nicole was crying over it.

Then the Host read the ‘viewers vote’ and as he announced Rachel was leaving, she crumpled to the floor as though fainting. Her mic still on, she was hysterical. Her mother, Simon and Paula all came up and tried to soothe her, but she was out of control. Then saying to her mother “You promised!” …

Excuse me, but promised what!!?? You led your 13-year-old daughter to believe she would win this show? I was very upset, remembering my daughter in pre-school losing a costume contest and her tears welling up on stage, and swore to never put my daughter in that situation again.

The idea of removing age minimums or limits may have seemed like a good idea; however, watching this young girl come apart, before my eyes, was way too much in the name of entertainment.

The X-Factor last night, for me, was not entertainment. It was excruciating pain.

Jessica Marciel
Las Vegas Vocal Training

“Now, being a coach, I realize, I would have been a better singer than I am if I had a good coach.”

~ Jessica Marciel

It is better to have no coach than a bad one. I have had many students come to me after four or five vocal coaches, and I hear the same thing. “They never taught me how to breathe.”

We all know how to breathe, we do it all day long. The difference in singing is the need for more air than you need, just to speak, and understanding when to breathe, within the context of the lyrics. I have students who will struggle with a high note. I say, bend down over and make an L-shape and sing to the floor. The note comes out easily. When you do breathing exercises it helps you hold and control notes.

Again, when my students go in the studio, my producer Tom Marolda insists I be there, because he is unable to work the engineer board, and explain what he needs from the singer. A phrase like “How Does it Feel” becomes fell, as we soften the ‘E’. The emotion has to come through. A singer isn’t seen on a CD so one must make the listener feel what the vocalist is feeling.

The texture and colors of a song are important. You cannot sing a song the same way all through it, or it becomes monotone. My student Marine aka Lou White is recording her album, and we are concentrating on her dynamics, because this is an important project. I wanted her to almost whisper a part and then bam, when the band comes back in, it explodes and really is quite effective.

Tom wanted her voice to sound a little raspy. This is not the way she sings , so I took an hour with her and wore her out. I put her through the hardest exercises I could think of, and trashed her voice. Tom came back in and we proceeded with the song and it was more funky and a little more sexy, with a few words that had a rasp.
This isn’t something I suggest be done often, because it is hard on the vocal chords. Afterwards, we gave her warm water and honey and I had her hum gently, which soothes the throat.

Another student, Dayna, just recorded a fantastic song for an up coming film. We had to make sure she had the right timber in her voice, the right tone. Tom believes a lot of people make mistakes not including coaches during recording sessions. Vocal coaches can explain things that producers and writers can’t.

A good coach is hard to find. I will be the first to say, I was not that good, I was just learning to be able to explain how to get the voice moving and the right way to warm up. I know that Brett Manning helped me a lot. He has a great method that works for pop, R&B and country, blues, rock, metal, you name it. I have my own methods that adds some emotional connection to the music. I can help by telling a singer, where to take a breath, where to sing softly, where to punch it, etc.

Our throats are our instruments, we have no piano case, no guitar case, nothing!, we need to be, well, Diva’s! Only because to protect our throats, we need rest, water, warm up’, and special attention to our health.

I believe if you find a coach you can connect to, one that will really help you find your voice, you are lucky. It is nearly impossible to get signed now by a label. With so many independent labels and producers making you pay for your own albums before they will shop you.

There is no point in spending a lot of money unless you have the right material, producer, and connections to shop the product. It is a different time than when I recorded. They paid for everything. Now, you make your own album and then if you are lucky, you can get someone to shop you to labels. They wont listen to anything unsolicited. So, don’t waste your money unless you think YouTube will help you get discovered. It does happen, but not very often.

When and if you decide on a coach, make sure every moment of your money is well spent. I mean, they really work you, like a personal trainer would. I also believe in homework. Get a CD to take home and practice with, everyday. You don’t use your voice, you lose it.

Good luck, and hopefully this information helped

Jessica Marciel
Las Vegas Vocal Training

The latest audition was a story I just had to share with you. Ken is a strong singer and presence, tall, dark, handsome, ex military, good contestant. I will admit, at first, I thought The X Factor would be something different. The clips on YouTube , from its UK edition were impressive. But, when the show announced that Paula Abdul was joining Simon, I thought “Uh Oh, here we go again…”

Well, my Uh Oh moment came true.  Before I even get to my students audition, The show became unwatchable when they had the American Idol-like, bad singers, and a guy who actually DROPPED his pants in front of the live audience. ENOUGH! I am sorry, I am no prude, but you turn away thousands of good singers for this nonsense?

My student Ken (pictured far right, with another contestant, Javon), and his wife Michelle, flew to Los Angeles, waited six and a half hours, just to get the tickets! The next day , they waited in the rain, until 7pm. Ken made it through to the next day’s rounds. That meant, another night of lodging expenses, and Michelle and Ken missing work. Something the X-Factor Producers couldn’t care less about.

Now the third day, second round of auditions,  He got his golden ticket, and they stayed over again. This time, the security was very rude to Ken’s wife, literally pushing her back.

Ken wasn’t really upset he didn’t make this third round, BUT, he was surprised that some very good singers were passed over. They took 35 people all under 35 years of age from the Los Angeles auditions. Ken is good, and he was better than the man they did take with the oxygen tank. Just sayin’…

These shows are all scripted and calculated. I wouldn’t bet your career on any of these shows.

Jessica Marciel
Las Vegas Vocal Training

A couple of years ago, I had some students who were right there at the doorstep of being signed by a major label. They had the right manager with connections and some of the best writers… two of whom are now very famous and have gone out on their own as performers. They had videos and me as a coach, and stylists. What went wrong? At that crucial moment they were to do a showcase, they decided that the direction the of the songs, were, well, not the way they wanted to go! What?? When did they decide this?

After a YEAR of recording, pictures, videos, choreography, and going to Los Angeles for a showcase, suddenly, they were not happy with the material? One must realize, that to even have a realistic shot in the recording industry, today, you have to know someone.

Where are these artists now? In a lawsuit with the former manager, waiting for their day in court, hopefully, to be set free to do their own thing. Whatever that will be. Meanwhile the years are going by and their youth is going by.

Then, you must have the material, already produced. It is essential to look great AND young, and be molded and controlled by a record label. Case in point: Kelly Clarkson won American Idol and had to do that stupid movie with Justin-whoever-he-was, and then she hated her music. She had become a big star, but clashed with Clive Davis and went on to produce her next CD without him. It tanked… big time.

Young, new singers, need to listen to the big boys. They know what it takes. If you think you know it all, you have another thing coming.

If you really are a serious artist, you need to be a serious contender. You have to be ready for rejection, and failure. You need a backup plan. Sheryl Crow was a backup singer for Michael Jackson. She first played the really decrepit Huntridge Theater the first time her band was in Vegas. It took time, and the right song before her dream came true.

Have a dream, but have a plan, but listen to those who have been in the business before you, and trust them. Believe me, you cannot do it on your own!

Good Luck

Jessica Marciel
Las Vegas Vocal Training