Read posts by Master Instructor Heidi Skok!
Recent Blog Posts
10 IMPORTANT THINGS I deliberately did before the BIG AUDITION
I have been on a long journey with my voice. And it has not been an easy one.
Many people who’ve shared a similar path would have quit by now.
But I am here to tell you that it is the best journey in the world for me to have taken.
Now, at this stage of my journey, there are TEN SUPER IMPORTANT THINGS which I want to share with you that I deliberately did before my recent BIG audition that helped me and that can help you too, if an audition is to be your next step as well.
5 SIMPLE REALIZATIONS why “Age Limits” should not keep you from your Professional Singing Career Goals after age 30
It seems to be a normal thing to feel you are too old once you hit thirty years of age in the singing world because there are “age limits” that the industry imposes. These limits can be both actual age-discriminatory hiring practices as well as artificial limits that we accept when we ourselves have begun to believe that at “it’s too late for me at this age”.
But should these age limits stop you?
My answer to that is a resounding NO.
#1. With voice, age is truly just a number.
#2. It takes time for “a voice to really find itself”.
#3. It also takes time for a person to “find themselves” and to attain self-acceptance, too.
#4. Once a singer has both really “found their voice” and “found themselves” through self-acceptance, you are never too old for singing opportunities.
#5. Keep on going because the only way you can be absolutely sure to fail (at any age) is to quit.
3 Essential Reasons Why Attempting to make your lower voice sing higher won’t have you singing better and could cost you your voice
There is big thought out in the world of singing that singers need to sing high, even if you are a lower voice. Gotta get that high note. Such a mentality had me sent down the wrong path vocally from the time I was twelve years old until I was 36 when I crashed and burned with vocal nodules caused by singing out of my range. Here are the 3 reasons why trying to sing higher can really harm your voice.
It’s Your Vocal Journey, Keep Going, Never Quit
31 years later from my start in NYC as a YAP at The Metropolitan Opera and here I sit again in NYC looking out the window on Broadway, this time singing the right stuff as a Contralto. I’m still in the game. My vocal journey has been long but I have stayed in the game
The 4 BIG Benefits of “Box Breathing” with Video Demonstration
What is Box breathing?
I daily implement what I feel is the most important breath exercise for singers.
Box breathing is also known as square breathing. Many people use it including US Navy SEALS, people in high stress jobs, artists, athletes, business people, and many others in all walks of life.
The FOUR BIG BENEFITS of Box Breathing
The Six Simple Steps for Box breathing
THE CRITICAL REASON why the REST vocal technique makes powerful, healthy Belting EASY!
Popular opinion holds that Belting is not so good for the voice, or can even be damaging. “Belting will hurt or ruin your voice!” they warn. I disagree…
Healthy Belting: My 7 Non-negotiables
Belting is one of the best things that you could ever do for your voice. I say that with such certainty because I do it every day with my own voice and singers who want to learn how to belt or work on refining their belt come to me on Zoom to do so. Here are a few things that you must do that will make your belting technique effective, powerful and healthy.
1. I always make sure I am completely hydrated.
Heidi Skok offers an inspiring message of support to all singers out there!
"Never Say You're Sorry For The Sounds You Make" - Heidi Skok
Heidi Skok Returns to Pop from Opera!
Wow, what a feeling it is after so many years of singing opera and Classical music to return to your soul, and my soul has always resided in the land of pop. I will never forget the week before Thanksgiving in this 2020 COVID year- I went into the recording studio at The Center for Rock Research in Cleveland, OH and laid down an audio and video of “We shall Overcome”, an arrangement of my own that I adapted from a Pete Seeger arrangement, and I played the piano for myself.
Ten positive affirmations for singers
Ten positive affirmations for singers According to the Webster’s dictionary, the word “affirmation” means: The act or an instance of affirming; state of being affirmed. The assertion that something exists or is true. Something that is affirmed; a statement or...
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