Information About Beccy - Chippenham teacher

Personal Description:

Beccy grew up just outside the Scottish borders and enjoyed a childhood of dance and musical theatre classes (they allowed her to take her Baby Bronze at the age of 4 dressed as little Miss Muffat, because she cried when the principle explained she was a bit too young!) As well as playing ‘cello in various orchestras including Cumbria Youth Orchestra she also performed alongside professional companies as a chorus kid.

At 14 she started her vocal studies with Bel Canto Tutor Marylin Smith MBE before being taken under the wing of renowned Glasgow vocal coach Maggie Cotter (Sharleen Spiteri/ Marti Pellow/Rod Stewart) whilst studying towards A-Levels in Music, Theatre Studies and English. A move to London then saw the start of her career as a session singer.


#She has since been incredibly lucky to have worked consistently throughout the UK and Germany recording vocals in an array of genres, Studio, TV and and Radio sessions for companies, producers and artists alike. A mix of Credits include: BBC, The Disney Channel, Belinda Carlisle, Jimmy Nail, Steps, Haysi Fantayzee, Royal Astrologer Russel Grant and extensively for Sony BMG. Career highlights include providing female vocals for the European Rock Of Ages red carpet premier in Leicester Square with Tom Cruise and Mary J Blige.

Tutoring Experience:

I have been teaching privately (home and school) for over ten years.
I currently take students of varying abilities who are professional and semi professional singers as well as teaching children who are studying grades as well as some who learn for fun.
I provide music therapy sessions also.

Tutoring Approach:

I believe far too much thinking and not nearly enough feeling goes on in 'singing lessons' today. I also believe I don't teach people to sing - I coach them in developing an understanding of the mind, the body and the voice. Therefore I prefer the terminology 'vocal coach' over 'singing teacher'.

Stating that too much thinking goes on creates a double standard with my mantra ''70% mindset!'' … or does it? Maybe it's the wrong thinking that's the problem. Maybe we are 'doing' too much now that we're all about science and we're forgetting the art? I don't believe Ella Fitzgerald really cared for her Cricothyroid muscle … yet what an incredible instrument she was!

I coach with a more modern, relaxed and holistic approach to the fundamentals (which lay very much in the traditional Italian and Swedish approaches , I believe) and I can't stress enough that singing is the most natural intuitive thing in the world.
As singers we can forget we are both a musical instrument and an actor. Singing is expression and a singing voice is as unique as a speaking voice.

I state continually nothing should ever come before expression and emotion in singing - and this actually forms a large part of technique believe it or not. Individuality is encouraged no matter which genre you are enjoying.

Often we are the only thing getting in between what we can do and what we want to do. I repeat:
70% mindset, 30% practice (because we have to put the work in to get the result out) and that's another short fall and sadly symptomatic of todays world; everyone wants a quick fix and an overnight cure.
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Technical aspects of learning how to (but most importantly how not to) use your voice are only truly learned through song. I've witnessed so much improvement from a singer allowing rather than doing during song
Breathe and feel with the whole body… trust yourself.
Let's go back to basics.