Minneapolis, MN Speaking Voice Lessons

nals coupled with academic studies rebuilt my perception of how I was generating sound and their training gave me back MY VOICE, for which I am forever grateful. I combine knowledge from these studies and my own vocal exploration to re-build my voice in exercises that I share with students of voice.

I CAN HELP YOU REACH YOUR GOALS: My cross-training in dance, yoga, Tai Chi, commercial & improvisational acting provides a well-rounded platform from which to deliver information, guide vocal explorers and also help develop talent.

EXPERIENCE:
* 20 years teaching experience
* 12 years living & working in Los Angeles
* A lifetime of performing experience
* 12 years personal private vocal studies master teachers of bel canto & contemporary singing techniques.

LIFE SKILLS: No matter the subject, my focus is also teach skills that can be extrapolated into any area of your life. Life Skills focuses on eradicating negative self-talk and expanding communication skills that help develop confidence, enhancing daily life.

Between performing and my own artistic studies, I have been taking the occasional private voice student since 1997, mostly via referrals from friends and other students. While living in California, one of my voice teachers requested me as her regular substitute at Culver City and Santa Monica Music Schools from 2008-2012, which I felt deeply honored. She said she trusted me with their voices, which encouraged me into full-time voice teaching practice. In June 2012, I returned to Minneapolis and began teaching in my home studio through music services like Take Lessons. Past projects include producing a vocal showcase at The Ritz Theater, musical direction & choreography for a school's 2016 production of the Wizard of Oz; assisting students to prepare for local & national auditions like La Banda, The Voice & American Idol; prepping singers for studio recordings and congratulating a new student who's stepped out of the chorus to land her first lead role!

I am forever grateful to all of my teachers, past and present, for their valuable gifts of knowledge, skill, grace and compassion.

ENJOY LIFE MORE! Singing & dancing improves our quality of life.

*** STUDIO POLICIES ***

Always know that any personal data shared will be held in strict confidence.

STUDIO HOURS: EDEN PRAIRIE Central Standard Time
Mon-Thurs 10:00am-8:00pm
Fri 10:00am-5:00pm
Sat 10:00am-2:00pm
Sun 4:00pm-7:00pm

TRAVEL
Cost for travel is $1 per minute.

CANCELLATIONS
Mutual 24-hour advance notice agreement states both parties will respect the difficulty of planning schedules by providing 24-hour notice to change a reserved lesson time.

* Cancellations within 24-hours of lesson require a phone call or text
- Lessons not cancelled w/24-hour notice are the responsibility of the cancelling party to makeup

*** STUDIO EQUIPMENT ***

EDEN PRAIRIE: Lessons in separate "studio" room, electric piano, mirror, music stands, table for your water, chair. Parents/loved ones can lounge in the large comfortable lobby area, drink free coffee/hot chocolate, read, use the free Wi-Fi, or watch TV [see photos below].

first two albums with composer Yves Vincent of San Diego, California in genre-stretching new-age/classical style.

After relocating to Tucson, Arizona, as music director for his church, he encouraged a variety of styles and genres to be used by the musicians and choirs of each of five weekend Masses.
Later, in Illinois, he directed another 60 voice parish choir that frequently performed with orchestras from Illinois State & Wesleyan Universities. His voice students in all these locations have been encouraged to explore and develop their own unique expression of their favorite music, while building on a solid foundation of technique, vocal strength and musicianship.

Now that Patrick has relocated one more time to Los Angeles, CA, he is working on a 3rd and 4th CD and once again accepting students. He enjoys the opportunity to expose young & older talent to the power and passion of classical music while also helping them create ways to make it new and exciting by reinterpreting it with their own favorite genres.

Lessons

Patrick's passion for teaching comes from his philosophy of music:
"Music is humanity's most evolved form of expression and communication. Music includes language, our physical senses, and our sense of meaning. With music, ordinary language is ultimately transcended. Words communicate from mind to mind; music communicates to the depth of the soul."

Patrick teaches and encourages young beginners as well as coaching and challenging seasoned professionals. He has even taught a hearing-impaired student to use physical sensation rather than sound to sing on pitch! He focuses on fundamentals of breath, technique and strength to help singers take care of their irreplaceable instrument. (Patrick's own vocal coach, Edward Kingins, continues to perform and move audiences in Detroit well in to his 70s!) Along with helping students build a strong foundation, he nurtures a love and commitment to music by working with students in the style and genre they enjoy most, from rock to pop, jazz or country.

Patrick also has unique insight into the entertainment industry, both in Los Angeles and across the country. Over the years, he has been associated with and close friends with musicians and actors such as John Denver and Richard Hatch as well as sought-after speakers Tom Crum and W Mitchell. Since locating to L.A., he has worked in independent movies with Damian Chapa and David Carradine as an actor and production assistant and coordinator. This experience, coupled with his own success on stage and as a recording artist helps him guide and advise serious young talent to maneuver the crazy environment of Hollywood and avoid the scams and pitfalls of the entertainment industry.

Subjects Taught

Singing, Acting (stage Presentation)

*** Lesson Details ***
Beginning Lesson Outline

My Basic lesson outline is to determine where we are starting with each student and custom make lessons designed to fit the needs for that student. We will also work on meditation and visualization techniques for performance. The idea is for you to feel the words and sing with passion or so your audience believes your song.

Unlike other instruments, your voice cannot be replaced if it is damaged. I take the time needed through each step of the process so your voice is strengthened and developed properly. It is up to the student to practice and apply what is learned and build a trained, strong instrument that will be useable for your whole life.

You will learn:

Proper breathing techniques and practice.
Properly warming up the voice.
Working on music theory (reading music, etc.)
Ear training and pitch.
Expression, phrasing and performing.
Applying techniques learned to music suitable for student's capabilities.
Learning to have fun and enjoy the music experience.
Confidence and self-esteem

Depending on student's progress, specific lesson components above will be emphasized so that the student's goals will be achieved.
My goal is to prepare you to the best of my ability for you to achieve your dreams.

*** Studio Equipment ***
Keyboard & Recording Studio

*** Travel Equipment ***
CDs, recorded lessons, vocalization practice material. Student should have a CD/tape player. Keyboard is helpful, but not required.

*** Specialties ***
Vocal: Classical, jazz

has an experience unique to themselves. I am strict about meeting the goals developed by each student. However, the learning process is highly individual. You will learn at a pace and with a curriculum we develop to best suit your learning style, musical preference, and goals.

*** Travel Equipment ***
I expect students will have a keyboard or piano.

*** Specialties ***
Trained 10 years in classical voice and piano.
Undergrad in contemporary voice.
12 years of theatre experience

he University of Minnesota, Harmon Place Players, and the Rhombus Theater Company.

*** Lesson Details ***
Students can expect lessons to be structured while being tailored to their desires and goals. Mark likes to focus on what students want to learn while pushing them to challenge themselves. His goal is to “bring out the artist” in his students but he also understands lessons should be fun.

*** Travel Equipment ***
I will suggest necessary teaching materials/books. Students need their own instruments.

*** Specialties ***
Rock, Jazz, Funk, Blues, Pop, etc

nd confidence to achieve their goals. I empathize deeply with the challenges students may face when pursuing a life in the creative and performing arts, having worked professionally in those areas for most of my adult life. I believe, it is the teacher's job to respect each student's individual process of learning.
My students have gone on to become recording artists, Broadway performers, movie actors, Blues and cabaret artists, and published writers.

*** Lesson Details ***
Voice
I am an empathetic teacher, sensitive to the student's individual process of learning. My singing lessons usually start with breathing and relaxation exercises. Vocal technique exercises come next. When the student is fully warmed up, we will begin to work on songs. It is important that students be a part of the process of picking material since the more personally they respond to the material the more apt they are to become engaged in their lessons. After three to six months beginning students will have gained an understanding of the fundamentals of breathing, relaxation, and basic performance skills. With more advanced students the focus will be on range extension and the on-going development of vocal style through song interpretation and performance related exercises.
Acting
As an acting teacher and coach, I tailor my classes to the needs of each student. I utilize improvisatory and sensory techniques to help unleash spontaneity. I also encourage the students to use their personal experiences as a way to access a full range of emotions. I enjoy working with the student on script analysis, so as to discover the underlying motivations of the character the student is working on.
Creative and Lyric Writing
I use prompts as a way to get the student writing. Often, I will ask the student to write for stretches of time without editing themselves. It is important to unleash imagination before beginning the process of editing. Many times it is the unexpected that is the most compelling.

*** Studio Equipment ***
home- 10 minutes away from Manhattan with piano, seating for parents
-practice studio seating for parents

*** Travel Equipment ***
I provide a piano, cd/mp3 player and an large library of songbooks to work from. The student should bring sheet music of songs they want to work on and a recording device.

*** Specialties ***
I specialize in teaching how to sing rock, pop, musical theater, jazz, and blues without hurting the voice as well as method acting instruction.

work with many schedules and work loads, but I expect my students to put at least half the effort into their lessons that I do!

. Jeff prides himself on customizing every student's lessons based on their particular preferences, goals and skill level. "It's a very personalized kind of instruction, as I never take a cookie-cutter
approach to teaching…".
Jeff's 3 promises to all students is to give them personalized lessons, be attentive to their needs and goals. and to make them feel like every lesson is worth their investment of time and money. As long as students practice regularly, they can expect to dramatically increase their clarity of playing, their chord "inventory", their musical ear and awareness and play the songs they've always wanted to learn.

After honing his craft as a songwriter and performer, Jeff created and taught music classes at colleges, universities, and music schools throughout the country for many years, including UCLA Extension, Santa Monica College, Pasadena City College and The Harrison School Of Music. Jeff is currently teaching ukulele classes and songwriting classes at Tacoma Community College and Pierce College, both in Washington state.

When asked to summarize his views on teaching and music: "Teaching and playing music always puts a smile on my face; especially when I see that the student is having fun, learning what they want to learn and feeling the passion about music that motivated me to pursue my own musical career".

As a working singer/songwriter/guitarist, Jeff is known for his memorable melodies, intelligently crafted lyrics and heartfelt vocals. His compositions have earned him over 50 awards from various national and international songwriting contests and he's a former staff songwriter for the long-standing New York City-based publisher, Bourne Music. He has also won best music video awards at 3 international film festivals.

Some of the artists that Jeff has been compared to as a guitarist and vocalist include Keb' Mo', James Taylor, Kenny Loggins, Ry Cooder, John Mayer, Bill Withers, Jim Croce, and Don Henley.

Jeff is a NJ native, but lived and performed in Los Angeles for many years, where he worked in the studio or shared the stage with well-known artists such as Dave Koz, Norman Brown, John Daversa, Hiroshima, Little Richard and N'Dea Davenport.

Jeff catalog of over 450 songs and compositions spans virtually every genre, but many of his tunes are amalgams of pop, blues, jazz, R&B, country and rock. Quite a number of Jeff's songs
have appeared in film and TV. One that Jeff is particularly proud of, is the dynamic pop ballad, "Journey Of The Heart" (co-written by Jeanne Smith), which was licensed by the N.C.A.A. (National
Collegiate Athletic Association), who deemed it "the official anthem" of their NCAA Hall Of Champions facility in Indianapolis.

Jeff has commercially released 4 CD's of his original material: The most recent of these is his 2013 release, "Blujanova" (a merging of blues, jazz and bossa nova), which was praised by platinum selling and Grammy-nominated jazz star, Dave Koz: "Jeff's voice is so clean and pure...the production is lovely...warm and inviting...I love the interesting and surprising takes on some classics too, especially 'I Feel Good'…that brought a smile to my face!".
The other CD's stretch into other genres. "Truthteller" (bluesy pop/rock and singer/songwriter material) "Me, Myself, and I" (acoustic) and "The Spin" (pop, rock, and country-tinged singer/songwriter material). All of Jeff's albums are on his label, Relevant Records. The late great John Braheny, author of the best-selling "The Craft And Business Of Songwriting (Writer's Digest Books), gave high praise to Jeff's CD, "The Spin", calling it "honest, crafty, melodic and the songs are all exceptional". Patch called Jeff "a consummate songwriter".

*** Lesson Details ***
At the first lesson, I will ask you to tell me what songs you want to play and artists you want to play like and I will set the table for that by providing the chords you'll need, chord and scales and exercises to enable you to play them and guidelines and tricks on how to make it happen as quickly as possible. I know a wide variety of songs in all styles and styles, including current hit songs as well as pop, rock, blues, jazz, country songs. if you have a song or artist that I don't know already, I will learn it (often on the spot) and if not right then, at the next lesson. I have taught my students to play songs by artists as varied as Taylor Swift, U2, Jason Mraz, Adele, Eric Clapton, Django Reinhardt, Doc Watson. And that's just naming a few.

I always make it clear to my students at the first lesson: "There is no such thing as a stupid question". I want you to feel comfortable to stop me at any time to clarify what I am teaching you, ESPECIALLY if it is too difficult or vague. I pride myself on always being organized for your lesson and making sure that you grasp whatever it is I am teaching you. The goal is to get you to be able to play what you want as quickly as possible. This will take practice and dedication on your part, but I will do everything in my power to help you get there.

I never force anything on any of my students. but I feel it would be beneficial for you to learn to read music OR read tablature and chord diagrams. You tell me which one and we'll go in that direction. If you'd like to read music, then we can decide on a book for you. I have used Hal Leonard instructional books (with CD's! this way you can play with a backing track and get a sense of rhythm, which is very important), but I'm open to other method books you might have or like.

After 3 to 6 months, you will feel you are significantly more skilled on the guitar than you were before we started lessons. You will know more chords (and move from chord to chord), be able to do at least some basic fingerpicking and be able to read some music or tablature.

*** Specialties ***
Acoustic fingerstyle guitar (a la James Taylor, John Mayer, Eric Clapton, Keb' Mo', Jason Mraz, John Martyn, Jim Croce, etc.

Blues guitar a la Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Keb' Mo', Jorma Kaukonen, Ry Cooder, etc.

Bossa nova guitar

Songwriting (any aspect and any level; musically, lyrically, structurally, etc.)

the songs of Taylor Swift---quite a few of my younger students want to play her material, so I have about 15 songs ready to teach you and always learning more (by popular demand)

Adapting songs that are keyboard-based and creating arrangements of them for acoustic guitar. Examples include songs by Adele, songs by Elton John, Irina Menzel's huge hit song from "Frozen", John Legend's "All Of Me", Coldplay's "Viva La Vida", etc.

Recording on Garageband.
I became so skilled with Garageband that I was asked to give seminars at Apple Store locations, showcasing my recordings and how to use the program.

Voice-overs; performance, recording, etc.

. I also train business owners, salespeople and those who are simply terrified to present themselves in the art of public speaking.

This is NOT your average coaching session! This is for those who are ready to finally overcome the world’s #1 fear: PUBLIC PERFORMANCE.
Get ready to present yourself, business, product or service with confidence, personality and effectiveness.

My lighthearted and humorous approach to seemingly stressful situations, especially in the public performance sector, have made me a highly sought-after coach for one-on-one and group training.

My approach is designed to train and condition the entire body as an instrument, not just the oral portion of the voice. My 5-octave vocal range allows me to easily instruct my students in developing their whistle register (see special pricing for whistle training). I have been trained in (and teach) Classical, Appoggio, jazz/improv, Seth Riggs' speech-level singing and other methodologies of singing and speaking.

My method of assessing and meeting the needs of each student enables me to assist them in bringing out the very best in their capabilities. If you desire quality, effectiveness and noticeable improvement in your singing, writing, public speaking or overall performance, I am the coach for you!
Whether you are a beginner or professional, I make sure that you are comfortable and have a great time while learning. I am flexible with your needs so feel free to let me know what you want from your lessons and we can work towards your goal to your satisfaction.

Not only am I a coach, I’m a professional singer and public speaker, so I utilize and perfect my own techniques on a regular basis. I have the privilege of being a classically-trained pianist and vocalist, having studied at Sherwood Conservatory of Music, Vandercook College of Music, The Second City, University of Chicago, ETA Performing Arts Center and many other fine institutions.

Children love working with me because I make learning fun and they have a high retention rate of the techniques that I teach them. I am easygoing, funny and offer a minimalist, casual and relaxed environment for everyone. My adult students have a blast because our lessons feel more like a friendly visit with lighthearted humor.

*** Specialties ***
Pitch Correction
Whistle Register Development
Vocal Physiology
Overcoming Performance Anxiety
Accent Reduction
Repertoire Selection
Concert and Competition Preparation
Public Speaking
Physical Maintenance of the Vocal Instrument
Overcoming Speech Impediments
Stage Movement
Studio Recording Techniques
Songwriting
Image Development
Vocal Range Enhancement
Post-surgical re-immersion
Students with autism, down syndrome and speech impediments

Group classes are also available.

*** Lesson Details ***
Each lesson is tailor-made to suit the student's individual needs. Custom action plan will be given to each student on a case-by-case basis. No instruments are used in my lessons, as I train the voice to be a standalone instrument. However, if you would like to accompany yourself with a guitar, piano or percussion instrument, you are very welcome to do so.

I am available 24 hours a day for online coaching and as early as 6:00 am CST for in-person sessions.

*Please note that 15-minute sessions are ONLY available online. In-person sessions must be a minimum of 30 minutes. 31 and 61-minute sessions are ONLY for whistle register training.

Online Disclaimer:
When choosing online lessons, please make sure that your system is functioning properly, that you know how to use the platform, that you have a good internet connection and that you are logged in on time, as no concessions will be made for time used due to technical difficulties.

Timing Disclaimer:
Our time together is very valuable. If you are not on time for your session, the missed portion will not be made up at the end of the session. If I am not on time, I will make up the missed portion at the end of the session or alternate agreed-upon time. No exceptions or make-up sessions will be made for illness, weather, transportation issues (including car trouble), or any other short-notice reason. Rescheduled lessons must be made a minimum of 48 hours in advance and must be made up within the calendar week of the original lesson. If it is not made up within that week, it will still count as a paid session and cannot be made up at a later time.

the Twin Cities area. Having earned his B.F.A. in Theater and Voice from the University of Kansas in Lawrence, KS, Dr. Felix based his singing career in New York City for twelve years, received his M.M. in voice performance from the Manhattan School of Music in New York, was on the Voice Faculty of Texas A & M University, Kingsville where he ran the opera department for two years, and then returned to Lawrence, KS to get his D.M.A. in Voice Performance. He then taught as Assistant Professor at Emporia State University in Emporia, KS for five years.

ool and working Opera singer, I have had the great fortune of training and performing with some of the best in the business.

With performances at Carnegie Hall and with major orchestras such as the Toronto, Vancouver and Seattle Symphonies and around the world, I feel this gives me a unique perspective on the challenges and successes that are possible with a fun, yet focused and healthy technique based approach. Whether a beginners, intermediate or advanced singers looking to hone your skills in musical theatre classical, jazz and even pop voice.

My goal is a well rounded, relaxed yet supported vocal tone with a focus on breath, and feeling rather than by ear. This ensures that no matter what the repertoire, the situation, or the acoustics of the room, you are always focused on healthy, articulate and projected singing.