Do voice lessons make you lose your natural sound?

Written By Jess Baldwin

It’s very common for people to be nervous about taking voice lessons if they value a “natural” and “untrained” sound. Client Michael Bond had those exact concerns.

After working with Jessica, he realized that whether he was conscious of his choices or not, he was always making choices with his voice, and he enjoyed being able to have more awareness and control behind those choices. He was able to achieve that by becoming more aware of how his body could create the sounds he wanted to make, and building consistency in his ability to create those sounds.

Here’s Michael’s take:

Jess Baldwin

Teacher-Coach // Jess has a passion for working with underserved populations who sing and teach musical styles that are generally excluded from academia. After getting her master’s in classical vocal performance and pedagogy, she dedicated herself to studying how the voice works in contemporary, commercial, and popular music styles. She became an assistant faculty member of the CCM Vocal Pedagogy Institute at Shenandoah University in 2017 and created Commercial Voice Resources for voice teachers that same year. In addition to running private studios in Columbus and Marietta, Ohio, she teaches contemporary voice techniques at colleges, theaters, conferences, and workshops. For a complete list of her training and experience, check out her curriculum vitae.

Artist // As a performer, Jess has worked in many different genres, including classical, jazz, Americana, blues, funk, fusion, pop, and rock. She appeared on NPR's Mountain Stage in 2013, was a quarterfinalist in the 2015 and 2017 American Traditions Competition, and won Best Cover Song in the 2015 and 2017 Ohio Music Awards. After years of wanderlust, she finally felt the pull to write and create her own style, settling into an artistic identity that lives somewhere between soul, R&B, and quirky indie pop. She looks forward to releasing her first album this year. Until then, you can check out her singles and videos here.

http://jessbaldwin.com
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