Getting Funky 'n Fun with Kim Chandler - The Vocal Advancement Podcast - #020

Different music patterns offer different flavors for performers to sample. But few musicians enjoy indulging in as many flavors of music as Kim Chandler.

Originally planning on being a high school music teacher, Kim spent her early career as a jazz singer and orchestral flautist. Then she founded a heavy metal rock band and learned she was comfortable performing in both leather and frilly blouses. From there, she built a career as a session singer and offered her vocals to Barry Manilow recordings, Romanian commercial jingles, and Kung Fu Panda 3 soundtrack.  

All these experiences helped shape Kim’s perspective on music, showing her the complexity of pop songs and the value of exposure to new musical patterns. She realized that singers could train their voices like musical instruments and began using this philosophy to help her students expand the number of melodies and scales they felt comfortable singing.

Today, Kim is one of the UK’s top vocal coaches. She’s pioneered a revolutionary vocal training series, “Funky ‘n Fun,” that’s helped countless singers develop better breath control, tone production, pitch, accuracy, range, and flexibility through exercises that relate to real-world singing.

Join us as Kim shares how her eclectic background helped many young students learn how to become professional performers. Discover the growing respect that pop music is earning in the academic world. And learn the important roles speed and accuracy have in developing true musical fluency.

In this episode, we’ll reveal:

1. How Kim went from being a music instrumentalist to a multi-talented singer 9:34
2. Kim’s insights into what it takes to make it in the busy world of session singing 15:44
3. How having an eclectic music background helped Kim train music students to become professional performers 19:24
4. Why the vocal pedagogical world is gradually developing more respect for pop music 22:04
5. How Kim applied what she knew about playing a musical instrument to voice training and helped singers view their voice as a musical instrument 25:42
6. How introducing artists to new musical patterns helps expand their creative expression 29:31
7. Why Kim would like to see vocal exercises cover a wider spectrum of scales and notes 32:50
8. How Kim’s vocal training series “Funky ‘n Fun” engages and challenges students by going beyond classical music patterns 33:56
9. How vocalists who don’t come from a music instrument background can benefit from improving their musicianship knowledge 40:49
10. Why Kim feels that vocal exercises need to relate more to real songs 42:53 
11. Why training singers to get comfortable with fast lessons is so important to develop true music fluency 44:29

Learn more about Kim’s career and voice coaching services at her website and follow her on Instagram at @KimChandlerSinger.

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