Hey thank you so much for your feedback. It matters. I wasn’t sure there was any point to posting them here since they’re not video, but I’ll keep ‘em coming. Episodes come out every Monday. Make sure you subscribe and share with a friend you share with a friend ‘cause sharing is caring! Musically, Monique

Ps, I’ll have to thank my stylist for the earrings. She sold them to me!

@@MoniqueBThomas that's what friends do! ♡

Well Hi Corine. I hope you enjoyed this episode!

@@MoniqueBThomas i do. I do listen now. I always learn things, with you. 😘

Hi there, yes of course I give lessons. Please send and email to info@moniquebthomas so we can discuss how I can help you.

Thank you. Sorry about the keys. I am not tech savvy so I did my best!

Hello there. Please send me an email to [email protected] and I'll be more than happy to give you more details. Have a beautiful day. Monique🎤

Hello there. Please send me an email to [email protected] and I'll be more than happy to give you more details. Have a beautiful day. Monique🎤

Hey you’re welcome!

Hey Matthew, thank you for watching the video and taking the time to comment! Your question is a good one. In order to answer it, I must bring to your attention the improvisational nature of music stemming from the entire African diaspora. You’ll notice that rhythm is always front and center. It’s full of changing rhythms abd polyrhythms. I think that is what makes blues hard for some who tend to focus only on the melodic aspects which are in their most basic form rather simple. So to answer your question, no the lyrics do not always come on the first beat. I hope that makes sense. In fact here’s a wonderful challenge exercise : Take a blues lyric you know well and start on the and of 4 before the first measure and see how that makes you shift your rhythm. You could also do the same thing on the and of beat one of measure one. Play around with starting in different places will yield some surprising results. Go play with that and let me know how it goes! Musically, Monique Oh, one more thing pay close attention to how different the music feels when you start on the beat Vs on the up beat!🎵🎶

@@MoniqueBThomas Thank you so much. That is incredibly helpful. I'm a white guy in love with the earliest blues styles and early American music. I play finger style acoustic. I typically play very loose, but sometimes play with a friend who is really into Chicago style blues. I sing when we play together, but he insists that the vocals have to come in right on the change while the lead guy hits the root note of the chord. I was hoping and praying that it really doesn't always need to be that way. My heroes are guys like Lightnin' Hopkins. Blind Willie Johnson's Dark Was the Night Cold Was the Ground is one of the most powerful pieces of music ever created and none of it seems to be that rigid in form which is good for me since I'm not great at keeping time and counting bars. I typically play alone so I just play by feel so there is nobody to follow my changes but me and it work out just fine. I can play a strict and steady twelve bar blues if I have to, but it seems to lose a lot feeling. It's so amazing that something so beautiful came out of the horrific tragedy of slavery and systemic racism. The blues is an incredible gift to the world created by a people group that had the strength and courage to persevere through incredible suffering. Thank you so much for these lessons helping folks understand the fundamentals of what blues is. You're amazing.

@matthewshipp3949 you’re very welcome. I think that two things are important. Time is everything and must be practiced. You’ll have to practice alone for some time because having your internal time is key to great musicianship. The second thing is music is a team sport. You have to play with other musicians. That is how you grow. But they won’t want to play with you if your time isn’t stable. Is it possible that that is why your friend asked you to sing on beat 1, because it’s stabilizing and easy to find. It is however a bit square if that is all you do. The notion of swing comes from accentuating the upbeats, not the down beats. Trust me, having great rhythm will not make you lose your soul! Good luck!

Yep, I counted it out and I naturally come in on the and of the first beat. I keep a steady bass going with my thumb on the lower stings and my index finger comes up on the and. That's when my vocals typically come ome in. I'll have to experiment with coming in right on the 1 or early on the 4. Thanks for the awesome tips. There is always so much more to explore. Also I've heard those early blues guitar players that played their whole lives alone with their guitar were impossible to play with because they changed when they felt like it which made it impossible to collaborate with. So for sure that stuff is crucial for playing with others. Fortunately, I mostly play alone and my wife doesn't seem to care when I change or where I start my vocals 🙂

ah merciiiiii❤️

You are absolutely welcome!

Hi there. I’m not sure I understand the nature of your question. I will however say that anytime you you make a sound with you vocal cords, you are using air. Using the correct amounts of air can only be determined in a voice lesson. I hope that helps.

@@MoniqueBThomas my question is on this song here call peace and joy do i need more air flow in my voice

Hey thank you for clarifying your response. As a general rule I don’t “diagnose” a voice in the comments when I haven’t heard the singing. It would be like the Dr telling you what’s wrong with you without having a visit. If you want precise feedback on your singing, head over to my website to sign up for a voice lesson. We could discuss your musical projects, any roadblocks you might be encountering and find some solutions. Www.moniquebthomas.com have a beautiful day!

Bonne Année également, mais tres en retard !

Thank you Corine🥰

Hey Miss Laura, I can't wait to publish our episode!❤️ "HEALING"

thank you!

I appreciate it!

They could use a bit more mix😂

I'm glad to know that you have joined a gospel choir. What a great way to learn musicianship! It is important to note that if you want to make real progress, private voice lessons is the way to go. The truth is that no great singers learned how to sing from KZbin videos.

I’m glad it’s helpful for you! Happy practicing!

@@MoniqueBThomas it is helpful. I can’t even express the confidence your training gives. So grateful!!!!!

@@sisterjjd Thanks so much, that is what I aim to do, empower people to use their own voice. Singing is for everybody!🥰

Remember, nothing beats a failure but a try! You’ve got this! It’s not going to be perfect right away. In fact, give yourself grace (lots of it) cause you’re gonna mess up a lot before you get it right! Good luck😍

Great!

Check this out, if you are doing what singers do, then you can consider yourself a singer! So what do singers do??? They sing everyday, they study the craft, they listen to and learn from other great singers. You’re level has very little to do with it but this mindset change can go a long way. There is no magic number of hours of practice that mandates that you have become a singer, but rather the singer habits you build that make it so! So you ARE a singer because you sing regularly. Next would be becoming a better singer then becoming a great singer. I hope that helps!

@@MoniqueBThomas today one of my sisters asked me why I don’t follow my dream. I told her I had none. She reminded me the little girl me dreamt of being an opera singer. So today I have decided I will practice towards that little girls dream. Thank you for your page that gave me courage to pursue further.

Hey Joyce, those are the practice tracks. Simply go through parts 1-4 and use those tracks for practice. Good luck!

Great, this exercise seems simple but it’s a great way to train the voice. Do it everyday and you should see some progress. Keep up the good work!

@@MoniqueBThomas ❤️💕❤️

Hey, Joyce my channel is specifically made to help those who want to improve their singing, no matter what your level of experience. If you have questions, please don’t wait a year to ask. Ask me now. Who knows, I might even make a video out of your question!

@@MoniqueBThomas AWESOME!!! I will.

@@MoniqueBThomas Do you do CashApp? I would like to send you a small gift to show my appreciation for what you do. Or Let Song know how I can send you something. It's important to me to invest into what I want to do.

Hey Swathi, i got sidetracked but I’m coming back. Any topics you’d like to know about? Thanks for your support!

@@MoniqueBThomas Would love something on Vibrato please and any exercises to increase the volume of the voice.

@@swathibekkera6535 ok I’ll make sure that goes on my list. Please don’t hesitate if you or your singer friends have other topics you’d like me to discuss. Drop them in the comments!

Ok stick around!

I’m glad to hear it Duvan, thank you. Please stick around. I’ll be back in September 🤗

Thank you Sandy, that’s very sweet. I’m touring in Africa at the moment but when I get back, it’s on!!!!🤗

Why “So long”? I’m not leaving KZbin. I’m just explaining why I’ve been absent!❤️ another video is coming shortly!🤗

Quick tips, e.g. on scatting, improvising, warm-ups, etc.

Thanks Corine 🤗

I try...

I appreciate that you love Dimash. I do too, but this channel focuses more on vocal education rather than vocal entertainment. However, if you have questions about your own singing or vocal artistry I'd be more than happy to try to address them in a future video.

Hey Laura, I’m glad this helped. Over the years I’ve noticed people getting frustrated with this exercise but I know everyone can do it and I know it’s such a beneficial exercise! Great job for keeping at it!🤗

Dated blues is better than no blues at all. It’s like a fine wine that gets better with age!🤗

I’m glad you liked it. Let me know if there is anything else I can help you with!

@@MoniqueBThomas As for now, this is enough for me to exercise. :D It's not that easy to avoid that increase of loudness and hence the voice crack. Singing is like a tenth hobby of mine (playing synth is one of the main ones), however, imagining myself being able to sing or murmur without voice cracks throughout my whole scale is attractive to me and inspires my curiosity. :) Actually, this one example in your video alone has already inspired my curiosity. This to me is a sign of a good teaching. Congrats on this! :)

Well thank you CJ. The last thing I wanna do is scare people away! As for the voice crack and the singing louder, it’s very probable that the voice crack is cause by you singing louder in that one area. See what happens if you start at a moderate volume and keep it the same throughout the scale. Also you could try slowly bending over at the start of the scale and wheh you finish the scale you should be upright. Give that a try and let me know if that helps!

Remember, if you want to watch with Spanish subtitles first click “CC”, then go into settings and change subtitle language to Spanish. The translations aren’t perfect, but they are better than nothing.🤗

Let me know how it goes!

@@MoniqueBThomas ok, so long 😚

all your tips are very helpful, thanks Monique. I love watching them

Gracias Soledad! 🤗

Oh that is a game changer, especially if you can't accompany yourself on piano or guitar. It's also great for finding the right keys to sing in!

@@MoniqueBThomas i know, i remember your lessons on line, but will need your help to use it. See u on thursday !

Hey Rahul, that is definitely going on my list of videos to make. Make sure you subscribe and get notifications so you don’t miss it. Have a beautiful day 🤗

Hey @Swathi Bekkera. I will put that on my list of things to address. That is a slightly complex one, because there are multiple causes for a nonexistent or unstable vibrato. Thanks for the request 🤗

@@MoniqueBThomas sure, Thankyou !! ❤️🙏

You’re welcome!

Hey I’m so happy that the explanations make things clear for you. This is a great exercise for every voice!

I’m glad you love it. Hope it helps. Happy singing!