Olga Botsi
Singer and Vocal Coach
Singing lessons and coaching in Zurich, Switzerland or Skype
Some examples of how I teach:
Some snippets of how I teach songs and give feedback.
Lesson 1: Price Tag - Jessie J
Lesson 2: Rivers - Tallest man on earth
Lesson 3 : Cry me a river (jazz standard)
Lesson 4: Forgive me ( musical theatre)
Beginners
This is actually a video of me teaching Eliza for the first time! I don't have a "textbook" way of teaching , I try to gage what the student can already do and use it to approach "the unknown". I have a few exercises that you will see repeated in the videos but I alter them depending on the student or improvise and make up new ones.
I like to keep it quite friendly , this helps students to feel comfortable and non judged when singing, which is important as singing to someone can be nerve wracking at any level!
We have already had a lesson on breath support and in this lesson I am teaching Janette how to start connecting the voice to the breath safely.
Jaw openers and humming simple exercises usually do the trick. A tight jaw usually leads to a closed throat and dropped pallet and all these problems deduct focus from an open voice and breath support and lead to pushing.
Janette has also expressed an interest in learning Nana Mouskouri songs. Since I'm bilingual in English and Greek I'm helping her with Greek pronunciation, translating the lyrics, phonetic spelling etc
Intermediate
Claire is a contralto. She has quite a broad range and I'm helping her access it by opening up her voice so she can have one supported voice throughout. We are working on Jazz standards because they require an acute ear (so good for ear training) and a lot of energy to perform. Through raising her energy levels she will have more access to a full voice and thus more power.
Advanced
This was filmed a year ago in London. Intermediate level lesson (leaning towards advanced). Romeo has some physical tension issues in the video when trying to "reach" notes, he has managed to resolve alot of these issues since. I use repetition and call and response so the students can start changing their habits and singing behaviour over time, ensuring deep learning and deep rooted change.
Ally is a coloratura soprano (although she hasn't unlocked her full range yet). She came to me with a very small breathy voice and in just a couple of years has managed to make her voice big enough to be heard without a mic in a theatre. We are working on opening up the voice away from a "cute girl" tone which will also help to extend her range. We are also working on refining her pitch as she has no musical instrument training.