Vocal Mechanics Coaching by Amanda Jeanne Busch

$40

starting price

Select a service

Zip code

Interested musical styles

Lesson length

Student age

Responds within a day

Introduction: I prefer working with people trying to explore the endless possibilities their voice has in store. I always let my clientele select their own songs to work with in the second half of their session, or else I'm happy to make recommendations, unless you have specific repertoire to prepare for an upcoming audition or performance to prepare. I have real world experience and have helped my clients reach their personal goals in literally nearly every genre imaginable including but not limited to Country, Rock and Pop of the '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s, all the way up to current Top 40 hits, K-Pop (Korean), Hip Hop, Rap, Eclectic Electronica, Blues, R and B, Reggae, Bluegrass, Folk music of many cultures including Irish, European, Roma, Sephardim Jew, Lebanese, Spanish, Hindustani, and Classical in many languages including Latin, Italian, German, and much more. I've written my own music in several genres over the years (I'm 47) but what I've been most recognized for is my contribution to the Saint Paul Hard Core Scene 15-20 years ago. If you write your own music I'd love to sink my teeth into your passion of creativity. If you have sheet music for what you want be singing I will make sure you understand and know what to do with every letter, number, and symbol on the page, and help you learn your line so it becomes familiar and you know exactly where your entrances, intervals, dynamics, accidentals, time signatures, and lyrics mean and can sing it with confidence walking into your next audition, rehearsal, or performance. Ask me about my "crash course in Western Music Theory" based on the choruses of Handel's "Messiah" see below for greater details. Great technical crossover into other genres! I find great personal satisfaction aiding people in awakening their vocal chords, usually surprising themselves significantly discovering what their vocal chords are already capable of, painting different pictures for the mind with words makes miniscule adjustments of the features of your face, mouth, neck, and body take place that there really is no way to do consciously, but once you have it it is a tool for your toolkit you get to keep, one more option to choose from when you pick which skills to use to share your song with the world outside of your shower or your car. I believe there are dozens if not hundreds of different ways to sing the same thing, because once you have tools inside your toolbox You are the ARTIST who gets to choose which ones to use when. I offer instant gratification, tangible results in every session, and I get great personal satisfaction helping people discover the endless possibilities their voice is truly capable of! I relish any opportunity to work with people in the process of writing their own music to perform and/or record, and I work with clients of all ages and at all stages, from ages 3 to 99. I have experience at every step of the way, and even people with their heart set on Musical Theater or church choir as their goals, the first 16 sessions or so with me apply universally to everybody no matter what your genre of choice is or where your goals are, it's just a fact that you are going to need to learn sight singing too if you want to pass an audition, or keep up with a choir that rehearses one night a week plus one hour before the Sunday service and have new music you are expected to learn nearly every single week. I think it is in each and everyone's best interest to give me at least a shot, to give me one session to prove myself to find out the nature of my breathing visualization that includes immediate instructions how to make further progress with it yourself between sessions without necessarily having to match pitch to anything, to accomplish my stated goal of "30% increase in breath capacity" because some of my exercises plus the aforementioned visualization technique truly engage the lower ribs of your back that typically barely participate in the breathing process. What more amazing things could your voice be tricked into doing with 30% more air on board for the process? Truly amazing the scope of doors that swings open nearly effortlessly, and that's the way we want things, your expression flexing effortlessly thru the PA to catch your audience off guard or catch them get them hook line and sinker and know that you are making them FEEL your music! I am always still booking forward for groups, duos, trios, foursomes, and moresomes, bands, choirs, etc, and I have some dates coming up "guest speaking" within the Saint Paul school district. I love the vibe of face to face sessions but have been learning my way around Zoom, Facebook Messenger, GoogleDuo, and Microsoft Teams, and this old lady is always willing to try out something new! I have sometimes in the past charged upwards of $350 an hour for my services (when working with choirs charging $10 per person in the room) many of my peers in the industry try telling me "no one is taking me seriously because I don't charge upwards of $120 an hour considering my credentials", but I just CAN'T DO that to people! I started taking voice lessons in 7th grade and I paid $11.50 for my 30 minutes each week out of my own babysitting money, I never would have been able to take voice lessons at today's expected prices, but 2 years ago I tried dropping my price to just $60 an hour and No One Contacted Me Whatsoever for 4 Whole Months! But now at $80 an hour I get just about the right amount of attention for me to stay in business, but January 1st I started advertising that "Every 4th session is FREE!" which if you do the math for once a week sessions for one month my price IS $60 an hour, and that's a price I feel good about - compared to my competition here on this website. I used to present vocal mechanics as a 3 hour college seminar at Music Tech in Minneapolis in the '90s and at McNally Smith College of Music in Saint Paul Minnesota in the '00s so I do have quite a bit of material up my sleeves. Both of these colleges closed their doors over a decade ago though. I KNOW my price tag doesn't match my credentials lol! I've been told I give Excellent bang for your buck! Make sure to keep your notebook handy so I don't speed away too fast! I will pause the timer for your session if you feel you need a moment to catch up on note taking. Especially important when working with the under age 10 crew. Some notes are drawing simple pictures to remember what we've learned, and I'm always happy to double check spelling so you can do more online research afterwards if you choose. I have a great book too called "The Anatomy of the Voice" to show you simple diagrams of the internal soft tissues I'm talking about sometimes. I do NOT recommend buying it unless you're pursuing a Master's degree in vocals, it's an awfully dry read without much explanations on its own. I have a LOT of knowledge and info to share, and I love sharing what I know! The first half of your session we will devote to "the anatomy of the voice" so be sure to jot down the labels at least, sometimes I move pretty quickly as we identify, feel, locate, isolate, strengthen, lengthen, protect, manipulate, and undo each action we reacted to, from each of the body parts involved in making you the beautiful unique snowflake that you are, the instrument that is the human body! There is one major master exercise for us to test our waters of aptitude with, an exercise almost embarassingly devised as you first learn it but it is so multifaceted in how it helps you grow in breath, 30 to even 50% increase helping you release the lower rear ribs, using a vibrational technique assured to protect the vocal folds from damage no matter how far into the depths of your whistle tones even above the piano's top keys we may go exploring, and once you understand lip trills you can utilize them at any time chromatically preferably or circularly maximizing the workout of your diaphragm which holds your heart and both lungs separated from the organs below it, pumping at mass reaction so your voice may truly fill a theater above a full orchestra without need for microphone amplification as the performers of bygone eras were wont to do and did well. It's amazing to duplicate, the capacity still exists, it's up to you to learn to control it! Great crossover for your yoga practice and and meditational breathwork practice you may do too. We will spend maybe 8-10 minutes on this exercise your first session or so depending on the scope of your range. Seems silly, but believe me it's really priceless, worth its weight in gold even! And everyone, and yes I mean EVERYONE uses lip trills to warm up before every performance or recording session, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, Ed Sheeran, Celine Dion, Prince, Pink, Angelique Kidjo, just to name a few. The 2nd half of your session will be learning "tools for your toolbox" working on your chosen songs. There are so many tools to pick from, I pick the order on what I feel serves your needs best as you demonstrate for me your best effort to change notes on a page or in your ear poured back out your mouth as liquid emotion. I LOVE the look on someone's face when a technique "clicks" and they startle themselves and LOVE the sound they just made! Instant gratification has always been my favorite part of this job! I have been involved in the music industry my whole life but just started doing private sessions with amateur musicians in 2015. Prior to that I was working almost exclusively with college students and professionals heading into the recording studios at the colleges and at Paisley Park, as well as conducting a 13 voice choir of 3 year olds to 1st graders for a handful of years and a choir of 2nd graders to 5th graders for a handful of years (same kids). I hope to be returning to my work with little tykes again sometime soon, there is Nothing quite like it! I have been charging far upwards of $100 an hour working with professional artists, madrigal groups, bands of almost every genre, and choirs since 1994. Many of my clients are far more talented and accomplished musicians than I am. I am NOT a "traditional voice teacher" and I do NOT give "singing lessons" per se, I am a vocal mechanics coach and share many "stand alone techniques", not a progression of "rules for singing", more like "tools for your toolbox" that you can take out and apply to your performance as you see fit for the rest of your life. Stand alone techniques to actually isolate, control, strengthen, and lengthen the actual mechanics of how you produce, resonate, and release your sound. I have worked with many of "the best in the business" and gleaned a few new "tools" off each and every one of them. These include Cari Cole, Prince Rogers Nelson, Gwen Stefani, David Nordli, Paula Holmberg, Kathy Saltzman Romey, Paul Oakley, Bobby McFerrin, Robin and Linda Williams, Garrison Keillor, Amy Lee, Stuart DaVaan, Tiny Tim, Elvira, Venus DeMars, JD Steele, Souhail Kaspar, and even Mitch Miller himself! See below for more specific credits. Effective Nov 2017 I am no longer teaching guitar, bass guitar, sitar, cello, or Middle Eastern, North African, Hindi, and Oriental hand percussion. However some music theory and ear interval training can be incorporated into your sessions if you wish. Each July-September I accept willing students looking for a "crash course in reading Western sheet music" by working on 8 of the Christmas choruses of "Handel's Messiah" the most often performed work of music in the history of the modern world - since 1765 it has been performed at least annually in Europe and the Americas offering the unique opportunity to experience the live orchestra, conductor, and 4 soloists, and the audience sitting by choir sections so when it is time for the choruses to perform the conductor turns around and conducts the audience. This is no easy feat, the music is quite challenging even for the seasoned veteran, often presented as fugues riddled with melismas that offer a fabulous technique crossover to hip-hop and R&B music, these are often performed as "Sing Along Messiah" concerts throughout the Western world during the Christmas season usually as a benefit for some charity, as it was originally written and performed as a benefit for a new hospital in Dublin Ireland in 1765 during the season of Lent which required all of the opera houses to be closed - the fad of entertainment in that day. I require a commitment of at least 16 one hour sessions to register for this goal.

Overview

Hired 60 times

Serves Spring Park, MN

Background checked

1 employee

8 years in business

Payment methods

Pay on Thumbtack

Pay your pro simply and securely through the app.

This pro accepts payments via Cash, Check, Google Pay, PayPal, Samsung Pay, Square cash app, Venmo, and Zelle.

Social media

Facebook

Featured Projects

6 photos

Specialties

Interested musical styles

, , , , , , , , ,

Reviews

Customers rated this pro highly for work quality, professionalism, and responsiveness.

Very good 4.6

14 reviews

86%

Read reviews that mention:

Ray R.

May 23, 2023

Hired on Thumbtack

She is patient and has provided exercises to improve my sound and my range. Exercises and guidance for better breathing and breath control. Exercises and guidance for loosening my jaw and opening my mouth wider while singing. Warmups and stretches, even tongue exercises. I am not a pro and don’t intend to be, but this will be valuable in improving my choir performance. Very good to be observed by an experienced teacher.

Details: 45 - 64 years old • No, the student cannot read music • No formal training • Classical • Gospel • 30 minutes • Remotely (phone or internet)

Singing Lessons

David T.

Aug 4, 2023

Hired on Thumbtack

Highlighted areas of importance to get to improve in singing

Details: 26 - 44 years old • No, the student cannot read music • No formal training; some self-taught experience • Pop • R&B • Musical theater • Jazz • Classical • Country • Opera • Rock • Gospel • What the teacher recommends • 30 minutes • At the pro’s location • My home, venue, etc. • Remotely (phone or internet)

Singing Lessons

Rozalyn L.

May 3, 2023

Hired on Thumbtack

I'm really enjoying working with Amanda. She's available if I have a question about things. If their any sort of problem she will do her best to fix it. I enjoy the notes and exercises that she provides. I would absolutely tell people about her.

Details: 26 - 44 years old • No, the student cannot read music • No formal training • Pop • R&B • 60 minutes • Remotely (phone or internet)

Singing Lessons

Gary K.

Jan 23, 2023

Hired on Thumbtack

So far I have not started my lessons but after communicating with her and what she has to offer I plan on starting soon

Details: 45 - 64 years old • No, the student cannot read music • No formal training; some self-taught experience • Gospel • What the teacher recommends • 30 minutes • At the pro’s location • My home, venue, etc. • Remotely (phone or internet)

Vocal Mechanics Coaching by Amanda Jeanne Busch's reply

Thank you! I'm looking forward to it to! Just let me know if I'm moving too fast. There's so much valuable stuff worth knowing and I like to be sure I'm giving my clients "good bang for their buck" but if you ever want more detailed explanation on something, or a pause to take down good notes just say the word. Don't worry about "interrupting me". It's YOUR session!

Singing Lessons

Elyse M.

May 27, 2023

Hired on Thumbtack

Very knowledgeable and has great techniques! Super easy to work with

Details: 26 - 44 years old • No, the student cannot read music • 0 - 2 yrs of formal training • What the teacher recommends • Pop • Country • Gospel • 30 minutes • At the pro’s location • Remotely (phone or internet) • My home, venue, etc.

Singing Lessons

Credentials

Background Check

Amanda Busch

FAQs

What should the customer know about your pricing (e.g., discounts, fees)?
I normally charge $100 per hour, prorated by 15 minute intervals, when working with 2 or more (30?) people at a time. If you conduct or are thinking about conducting a choir, especially if a large group of children I have a great method I gleaned that can pinpoint/divide your sopranos and altos up into sections accurately all at once in under 5 minutes. For a nominal fee I am willing to leak my 3 sentence answer by phone or email. ;) I count that by time ACTUALLY TEACHING, not discussion time about what your experience is, what your goals are, selecting appropriate music to work on, what YOUR worries, concerns, and insecurities may be, "turning each other on to new artists" the other is unfamiliar with, etc - The first session will be nearly an hour because we need to talk first, no additional charge.
What is your typical process for working with a new customer?
We start by talking about breathing, because without breath support there is no singing. I offer a new visualization technique for breathing that (believe it or not) I was taught is "proven to increase lung capacity by 30%" IMMEDIATELY" - and after a few physical warm-ups we start matching pitch to the piano in a variety of ways, each with an end-goal achievement attached, and once you are well warmed I test your range both high end and low in 2 different ways the first few sessions in a manner that is foolproof to not damage your vocal chords no matter how far we stretch them. We can continue stretching and lengthening your vocal chords as long as your heart desires if increasing your range is one of your goals. Identifying your range also helps selecting songs that will give you skills you need to get where you want to be. For instance, with adult men with bass voices aspiring for hip-hop, R&B, or church choir goals the first song I set them to work on is usually something by Nat King Cole, for quite a number of reasons, with excellent cross-over techniques to other styles, good clean "classic" neutral warm tone. I DO NOT GIVE SINGING LESSONS! I am a vocal mechanics coach. What I have to offer you I used to present as a 3 hour college seminar, and I am constantly still gleaning the industry online seeking new material to further hone my craft and improve the presentation I have for working with you. When you have a good working knowledge of everything I have to offer - I will let you know and send you on your way - happily. I do NOT wrap students up "for life". If you are ALREADY performing live shows you may only need 3-8 coaching sessions to polish up what you already have so it shimmers and shines (maybe 1-3 coaching sessions if you're already enamored with the sound of yourselves - tools for your toolbox, not rules to live by). I also am willing to utilize 10 minutes of your lesson for "ear interval training" if you would like, as well as crash courses in music theory (see below for greater details on this), or the "history of" which bypasses what took me about 8 years of struggling with by the book, the answers I somehow came up with make sense, follow the rules, and are based in facts, but for some dumb reason nobody else has heard of doing it MY WAY but I have confirmed it with at least 8 college music professors and almost everybody I explain it to puts their hand over their eyes and shakes their head laughing saying "are you kidding me??? I spent 4 or 6 or 8 years learning that by rote, and THAT'S why??? and it's ALWAYS true??? Arghhhh!!!!" my daughters taught their Girl Scout Troop last year in 15 minutes what it took me over 6 years to learn by rote. Always glad to pass on the history blip that changed the world, literally. Makes jazz become a cinch even...
What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
It's SO IMPORTANT to listen as much as you sing. I've really lucked out and literally been "in the right place at the right time" and worked my butt off every step of the way. I tried to enroll in the former college Music Tech in Minneapolis and instead of giving me a class schedule they hired me to conduct every other Saturday "Artist In Industry" seminars about a wide variety of topics but I can fill an entire 3 hour seminar on vocal mechanics alone. After they closed their doors I continued giving seminars at McNally Smith College of Music in Saint Paul Minnesota until they closed their doors as well. I had a speech impediment as a young child and had 3 years of speech therapy lessons. This got me paying attention to the specific mechanics of how to manipulate isolated muscles to alter sound. My oldest daughter who is now 17 has only been able to hear well for about 10 years total of her life. She was significantly hearing impaired, had surgery at age 5, then a year and a half later ruptured her eardrum going back to 80% hearing loss so I have been working closely with speech therapists at University of Minnesota Fairview in Minneapolis, LifeTrack Resources, and Gillette Children's in Saint Paul over the years. She became First Chair of the soprano section for the choir ComMusication (3rd to 8th graders, they have toured to Duluth and Madison and Omaha already) and she was in the choir performing "America The Beautiful" with Leslie Odem Jr at Super Bowl 52 right before Pink sang the national anthem. Their whole choir couldn't perform, NFL required everyone to be at least 12 years old, she made the cut by 8 weeks. She is now 17 and I love nothing more than encouraging her to put her blue tooth head band on and sing along with her favorite songs while the rest of us in the room can't hear the song playing at all, just her voice. I remember my uncle criticizing me telling me not to do that right after Sarah McLachlan's debut album "Fumbling Towards Ecstacy" had just been released and I just couldn't get enough of it. I can sing every song on that album a capella. I sang the song "Hold On" at my best friend Josh's funeral service he was killed in a tragic car wreck July 18th 2004. I can sing every song on Tori Amos "Little Earthquakes" album too, and Indigo Girls self titled debut album, "Best of Janis Joplin", Portishead "Dummy", as these were released as I was graduating from high school (excluding Janis of course) these are my Generation X flagships of the music industry, Nine Inch Nails debut album was my 9th grade year, then Nirvana spearheaded a revolution in pop music bringing a new sound out of Seattle with a new genre labeled "alternative" and a fashion sense known as Grunge. Both of these concepts offended me holistically to my core. I was a very classically trained musician whose patron genre where I found my solace and my soul was soothed was known as "speed metal" genius wrapped up in how fast they could possibly play it using modes of darkness that milked at my pain, this was modern day Mozart to me, and Kurt Cobain was ruining everything decent in music with indistinguishable lyrics that didn't even make any sense if you read them written down, I was raised in a home where musical instruments were considered members of the family, and here was this loser smashing his gear right onstage less than halfway thru the song or wrecking everything onstage only 3 or 4 songs into the performance, and all of Seattle followed this grunge thing, Alice In Chains managed to get one perfect recording to copywrite and sell but Lane Staley was almost never sober enough to hit the right notes live onstage ever again. Pearl Jam was just about as bad, managed one perfect recording they could never come close to duplicating live in concert. I was beside myself about the musical styling associated with my generation, so after my band "Dreamcorps: Army of the Dream. Making the Soundtrack for When You're Not Awake" evolved into "Rhimshodt" (note to self: always pick a band name your fans can spell) we were asked what genre of music we were I didn't know how to answer at first. Our reviews in places like the rockwatch.org website described our sound as "Stevie Nicks meets Seven Dust". Thank you very much I'll happily take that cake and eat it too. In the spot on our business cards to place what genre of music you are I filled in "{No} Alternative Rock" it just drives me insane sometimes wondering how much more incredible Kirkland Hrabik and I could have productively written together if Andy Haug had taken things seriously enough to try playing the exact same drum beat more than once or someone else had joined us behind the drumkit. I also wonder how much differently things would have transpired if Walter hadn't argued with Andy to take the 2 unopen beer bottles out of his cargo shorts pockets before getting behind the wheel of his 2 door car leaving our band manager Shantell Sumpter's house from a midnight meeting. A 2 door car meant the passenger seat had to be flipped forward so Walter could get into the back seat behind me. I had to be at my office by 8:30 sharp so I went to sleep in the passenger seat with my seat belt on almost immediately but when the impact happened as we T boned the other vehicle that was running a stop sign, we were going 40 miles per hour and we had right of way but my seat hadn't locked back into place so when the impact happened my entire seat rocked forward and my entire face hit the dashboard badly. I suffered significant head trauma and woke up the next day to discover my third nose which I quite honestly think I like even better than the original one, but the neck injury was significant. That was December 15th 2002. I tried to rehabilitate and went to physical therapy twice a week, and I was still in physical therapy when I drove to Saint Paul to pick up our PA from Good Guys Repair shop and got rear ended on my way to deliver the PA to our practice space totally exacerbating my neck injury May 15th 2003 and after 3 more months of continued physical therapy it became obvious that I wasn't getting any better, slowly but surely I was getting worse so my physiatrist ordered me down to 20 hours a week and when you're used to being "The Overtime Queen" making the adjustment to a paycheck of 20 hours a week is pretty tough to do, and I had been footing the bill for absolutely everything that had anything to do with our band, practice space rent, merch which was t shirts, stickers, buttons, CDs, plus creating promo packs for booking agents and to be sent to local radio stations when we played out of town which we did once a month, plus quarter sheet flyers to be distributed by loyal members of our amazing Street Team 42 members strong standing outside of clubs of other people's shows handing out flyers to come to our next show as everyone came out of the club and headed to their cars. We had an email subscription of just over 2000 fans, we were nearly ready to go on tour, and had a few more really great merch ideas to invest in before heading out on our tour playing all age shows at nearly every student union building on every college campus down the Mississippi River from Minneapolis Minnesota all the way to Austin Texas and back again. July 2003 a local magazine did a review article with a 2 page photo spread labeling me as "The Midwest's Reigning Queen of Hardcore Music". (I'm not sure if the Midwest has ever had one of those before, or had one since, it's a genre pretty devoid of women) Andy Haug was such a waste of my time. Plus catching West Nile Virus shortly after the 2nd car wreck and my condition spiraling slowly further downhill even though I upped the physical therapy to 3 times per week twice in the water and once on land, but it just wasn't working. I'm a perfectionist and a control freak when it comes to writing and performing my own music. I don't invest hours and hours of myself in rehearsal so that I can get up under the spotlight and wonder what will happen onstage. This is where my "distinction" lies, my specialty in visualization techniques and critiques on different ways to improve, strengthen, lengthen, manipulate, and isolate individual muscles and resonating spaces making me a vocal mechanics coach versus giving singing lessons. I can help you utilize your potential and explore your diversity. Who do you want to sound like? Axel Rose? Max Cavelera? Michael Jackson? Jonathan Davis? Lane Staley? Elvis? Jonny Cash? Frank Sinatra? Prince? Snoop? Eminem? Luther Vandross? Ledisi? Gwen Stefani? Ani DiFranco? Reba McEntire? Lauren Hill? Yolanda Adams? Roberta Flack? Mama Cass? These are the most famous "unique" multifaceted versatile singers that I tend to lean on when attempting to "stray from the norm" and challenge yourself to mimic them and help you explore and discover your own unique sound, IF that's what you're after.