instruction

Why "three sparrows?"  Our free-singing, free-flying songbird friends embody such joy and ease. When I am working at my best as a teacher, I'm helping to free the natural voice of my student. Our studio offers a space that is supportive, nurturing, affirming, educational, motivating, and fun.

As a teacher, I connect with each individual student, discovering the strengths and challenges of their voice and singing experience.  Together, we work towards healthy vocal technique—resonance, vowel tuning, body alignment, vocal agility and power, free high notes and healthy belting.  I teach rep in musical theatre, pop/rock, and classical, and as well as jazz, world, and other styles.

Three Sparrows Studio for Singing  is located in the beautiful and centrally located neighborhood Land Park, in Sacramento, California.    

You're not a local? Or you just prefer online lessons? No problem. I love teaching online! The studio is fully equipped to make the online experience productive and fun. Why travel for lessons when you can sing from the comfort of your own home?! 

* Due to COVID, all lessons are currently being instructed online.    

•  Vocal instruction in the styles of Musical Theatre, Classical, Pop/Rock, Jazz, Folk, World +

•  Piano, guitar, and ukulele for beginners

•  Music theory and ear training

•  Combination of the above

Although I do work with younger kids on occasion, I specialize in teens/tweens, and adults, and enjoy teaching both professional performers and hobbyists--people who love to sing and want to feel more confident with their voice and performance abilities.  I love working with so many types of people that it's hard to describe my ideal student.  

I love teens singing musical theatre, pop/rock, and indie.  I love adults who sing in choirs or sing music theatre, jazz, country, or folk.  I love kids who are just starting to explore and develop their voices.  I love serious students who practice every day, actively perform, and are aiming for a college music program or a professional music career.  I love students who never have time to practice, but happily come to my studio each and every week for a wonderful break from their regular, stressful, busy lives.  I love singer/songwriters who are developing their voice, writing skills, and guitar/piano/ukulele skills all at once.  I love students of all ages who have trouble matching pitch, keeping the beat, hitting those high notes, or getting through an entire song without straining.  I love neurodivergent students who need a creative and patient touch to help them blossom.  I love transgender and nonbinary students who want to explore their voice and find out the incredible sounds it's capable of.

I love students who can sing the heck out of a Puccini aria or a Stephen Sondheim song or a Disney song, jam some Taylor Swift, Demi Lovato, or Sam Smith, croon some Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, or Sarah Vaughan, sail through Gregorian chant, strum the harp and sing in Gaelic, execute incredible harmonies in choral scores... if YOU love to sing it, I will love to hear you sing it.  And if you're far from rocking your rep, and mainly struggle, I will still love to hear you sing it.

I love singers who are confident with their voice and want to polish craft and hone skill.  I love singers who aren't confident with their voice and need to start from the very beginning.  I love singers who want to learn about key signatures, solfege, or an instrument.  I love singers who are crazy about vocal anatomy and alignment.  I love singers who want to explore character and expression.  I love singers who want to know more about yoga, mind/body connection, and integrative holistic practices.  I love singers who want to stick to singing and only singing.  

Essentially, I offer my studio as a safe haven for my students to express the vulnerability of their voice and feel my partnership in supporting their growth.  This process is individualized and unique to each singer as their authentic voice is revealed and strengthened.  It is my joy and honor to work with each and every student.

Finding and "freeing" a singer's voice is a process of on-going experimentation, reflection, analysis, and understanding.  My role, as a teacher, is to guide the student through this process, helping to reveal the voice in its most natural, wonderful state.  

Aspects of this journey may include: an understanding of anatomy and alignment, a fine-tuning of vocal resonators, a functional breath support system, a command of registration, exploration into expression and storytelling, mind/body integration, development of confident stage presence, and a deep dive into the artistry of vocal performance.

Lessons are comprised of vocal warm-ups, during which you will specifically work on vocal technique development, training the vocal mechanism and its components to act with educated, involuntary, muscle memory; and repertoire practice, during which you will learn and sculpt songs that have been selected uniquely for you, according to your abilities, interests, and skill level. Depending on genre and interest, lessons may also include rhythm skills, ear training, sight-singing, music theory knowledge, foreign language diction, piano, guitar, and/or ukulele development, body alignment, acting methods, and audition/performance preparation.

Singing is a comprehensive musical experience, necessitating a range of vocal, aural, visual, conceptual, and tactile abilities.  To achieve this well-rounded skill-set, I have developed a method of "Singer's Theory" that incorporates elements of music theory, ear training, and keyboard knowledge into the on-going lesson program.  Depth of theory education is determined by student interest and necessity.

Depending on student interest, skill level, genre study, and duration of vocal studies, lessons may address:

Healthy Singing Technique

Classical Vocal Training 

Supportive Breathing 

Vocal Production and Articulation 

Vocal Health Tips

Body Alignment

Alexander Technique

Space/Resonance Control

Vowel Alignment

Acting Methods

Audition and Performance Preparation

Mind/Body Principles

Yogic Principles

Rhythm Development

Solfege Training

Music Reading

Sight-Singing

Methods for Learning a Song

Vocal Exercises and Warmup Routines

Foreign Language Diction in French, Italian, German, Latin, Spanish

Repertoire Interpretation 

Repertoire Selection 

Ear Training 

Music Theory 

Piano Skills

Guitar Skills

Ukulele skills