Latest / Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond / Singing Secrets of the Stars with Backstage Pass

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Singing Secrets of the Stars with Backstage Pass · Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond

0:15
Speaker 1: Pushkin. Hey, y'all, it's justin Richmond. I wanted to share
0:26
Speaker 1: something special with you this week. Eric Vitro was the
0:29
Speaker 1: voice coach to the stars from Ariana Grande, DeShawn Mendez
0:34
Speaker 1: to John Legend. Eric has been by the sides of
0:37
Speaker 1: your favorite singers for some of the most iconic moments
0:40
Speaker 1: in their careers. He's the person they call in the
0:44
Speaker 1: middle of the night that they want backstage at every concert.
0:48
Speaker 1: Given all that, I had to talk to him about
0:51
Speaker 1: his new podcast, Backstage Pass. On the show, you'll hear
0:56
Speaker 1: intimate conversations with Eric's most famous students about their singing process,
1:00
Speaker 1: their careers, and how it all intertwines with their lives,
1:05
Speaker 1: like Chloe Bailey's transformation from singing that summer camp to
1:08
Speaker 1: sing with Beyonce's label, or Rosaliyah on her work ethic
1:13
Speaker 1: and how perfectionism and persistence made her career. They'll demonstrate
1:18
Speaker 1: favorite vocal exercises, and you'll get tips to improve your
1:22
Speaker 1: own singing through all the challenges these stars have experienced.
1:27
Speaker 1: I was amazed by the central role Eric Vitro has
1:30
Speaker 1: played through it all. Shaw Mendez said it himself. Eric's
1:34
Speaker 1: part therapist, part life coach. You can listen to Backstage
1:39
Speaker 1: Pass wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, here's my conversation
1:43
Speaker 1: with Eric. Can you tell me how did you get
1:46
Speaker 1: into the Sign of work? Well, it's so bizarre. When
1:50
Speaker 1: I was very young, like in the third or fourth grade,
1:52
Speaker 1: every morning we would sing as a class America, the
1:55
Speaker 1: Beautiful Star Spangled Banner, the usual, and the teacher was
1:59
Speaker 1: a horrible pianist, like it would bet. It was just terrible.
2:05
Speaker 1: And I was not a ballsy kid. I didn't have
2:07
Speaker 1: that kind of bold personnelity. But I couldn't take it.
2:10
Speaker 1: And I went up to her one day and I said,
2:12
Speaker 1: you know, I can play those songs if you want.
2:15
Speaker 1: I can play them really well and then you won't
2:17
Speaker 1: have to And so she said, well, let me hear you.
2:19
Speaker 1: And I played them and she was thrilled. She was
2:22
Speaker 1: like great, and she made an announcement the next day
2:23
Speaker 1: from now on, Eric Viacho's playing, you know, all of
2:26
Speaker 1: our songs. And so that's when it started. I started
2:29
Speaker 1: playing for the class and then she would say, oh,
2:31
Speaker 1: so and so is having trouble singing this song. Could
2:35
Speaker 1: you spend a few minutes with them, like during the
2:37
Speaker 1: recess time, so I would I'd start teaching kids songs,
2:40
Speaker 1: and then I started bringing them home with me and
2:44
Speaker 1: I would work on them if they had a little
2:45
Speaker 1: audition for the school musical. And by musical I mean
2:48
Speaker 1: you know, a five minute skit and class. So literally,
2:52
Speaker 1: I have done nothing else my entire life but this.
2:55
Speaker 1: You found your calling early, you've stuck to it, you've
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Speaker 1: become incredible at it. But now you do have a
3:00
Speaker 1: new job, you're a podcaster. Have you learned anything new
3:04
Speaker 1: from that or how's that experience been, Like, well, I
3:08
Speaker 1: really don't get to myself a my podcaster or yet
3:12
Speaker 1: that's kind of hard, and I'm talking to my students,
3:14
Speaker 1: so I talked to every day, so it's not really
3:16
Speaker 1: a huge change there a big leap. I've learned that
3:21
Speaker 1: it's a lot harder than I ever would have imagined
3:25
Speaker 1: it to me. Not the interviews. The interviews are great,
3:28
Speaker 1: but you know, you're editing. If you've got two hours
3:31
Speaker 1: worth of talking to someone and you get kind of
3:34
Speaker 1: excited or married to some of the material and you've
3:36
Speaker 1: got to cut it down because they're going, now, I
3:38
Speaker 1: got to cut it down to thirty minutes or whatever.
3:40
Speaker 1: That is really hard for me. Every fiber of my
3:44
Speaker 1: being resists listening. Well, first of all, because I don't
3:47
Speaker 1: like the way I sound. I don't enjoy my own
3:50
Speaker 1: It's not even just my voice, it's just me talking.
3:53
Speaker 1: I go, why can't you be more sophisticated? Now, oh
3:57
Speaker 1: so when we do this exercise. But I'm just not
3:59
Speaker 1: that person. I just can't be that person. But that
4:02
Speaker 1: being said, a couple of the people have said things
4:04
Speaker 1: that I didn't even know. As well as I know
4:06
Speaker 1: these people. I mean I know some of them so well.
4:09
Speaker 1: I've worked with you know, Ariana over twelve years, or
4:12
Speaker 1: Shawn Mendez for years, Camilla, so many of the people,
4:16
Speaker 1: and they have said sing that surprised me, like even
4:18
Speaker 1: what's your favorite exercise? And they'll tell me, Like in
4:21
Speaker 1: my head, I'm like, really, I have no idea that
4:24
Speaker 1: was your favorite exercise. You've never really said that was
4:27
Speaker 1: your favorite exercise. So I am actually learning about these people.
4:31
Speaker 1: And I'm also learning about some of them about their
4:34
Speaker 1: very early days because I never knew what their childhood
4:38
Speaker 1: was like. I know them from when I started with them.
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Speaker 1: They might have told me if they took lessons or
4:42
Speaker 1: saying in school, but they didn't say, you know, oh
4:46
Speaker 1: my father played drums on the side or blah blah blah.
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Speaker 1: Most of that doesn't really come up in our voice lessons.
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Speaker 1: So I'm learning a bit about them, which has really
4:55
Speaker 1: been great. All I've ever done is work with people
4:58
Speaker 1: and they're singing. I mean, I truthfully have enjoyed it
5:02
Speaker 1: more in increments with every single passing year. Like right now,
5:06
Speaker 1: If you asked me when is the best time you've
5:08
Speaker 1: ever had doing I would say right now, this month.
5:12
Speaker 1: You know, right now, How do you feel that you
5:14
Speaker 1: were a better vocal coach now than you were even
5:17
Speaker 1: two years ago. Well, first of all, I hear where
5:20
Speaker 1: someone is starting from and where they get to. So
5:24
Speaker 1: you know, if I hear that constant improvement, if I
5:27
Speaker 1: hear their voice mature and sound better and better, if
5:30
Speaker 1: I see their range get wider, they start singing higher notes,
5:33
Speaker 1: or you know, the lucky ones get up into that
5:36
Speaker 1: whistle register, or they sing lower notes deeper and stronger.
5:40
Speaker 1: To me, that is the exciting part. I love that. Now.
5:44
Speaker 1: Icing on the cake would be that they get good reviews,
5:47
Speaker 1: or people stop and tell me, hey, so and so
5:50
Speaker 1: is sounding so great, or I saw them on such
5:52
Speaker 1: and such a show or the awards show. I heard
5:54
Speaker 1: him on the Grammys. They sounded amazing, so of course
5:56
Speaker 1: that is thrilling to me. And if they win awards
6:01
Speaker 1: for their singing, then of course that's also thrilling. But
6:03
Speaker 1: that's all I seen on the cake because, like I said,
6:07
Speaker 1: I'm the only one who knows how far they've come,
6:09
Speaker 1: the only one who knows the obstacles that they've overcome,
6:13
Speaker 1: that they've broken through. Some people have, you know, mental
6:16
Speaker 1: barriers that stop them from doing their best. They might
6:19
Speaker 1: sound great in a lesson and then freeze in front
6:22
Speaker 1: of an audience or freeze in front of a camera.
6:25
Speaker 1: So if I can get them over the humps so
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Speaker 1: that they are set free and they are able to
6:29
Speaker 1: sing their best when it's really important in front of
6:32
Speaker 1: an audience, then that to me is really thrilling. I wonder,
6:36
Speaker 1: what said some part a great singer from from you
6:39
Speaker 1: know average singer? Well, you know, that's a tricky question
6:43
Speaker 1: because different singers and singers who are singing in different styles,
6:50
Speaker 1: you know, have different goals, I suppose, but I would
6:53
Speaker 1: say I try to focus on everything, all of it,
6:56
Speaker 1: so always starting with the technical. How can we make
6:59
Speaker 1: this sound it's very best, and how can we make
7:02
Speaker 1: it the easiest so it's going to be sustainable for
7:06
Speaker 1: them to sing live. A lot of times they'll record
7:09
Speaker 1: a song and then I go, Okay, my job is
7:11
Speaker 1: now to get you to sound as good live as
7:14
Speaker 1: you do on the recording and be able to do
7:16
Speaker 1: it night after night, and not just night after night,
7:19
Speaker 1: but after a full day of interviews, talk shows, meet
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Speaker 1: and greets, all sorts of things that they have to do, photoshoots,
7:27
Speaker 1: you know, and then get on stage and do it.
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Speaker 1: So but I try to focus on everything, so it's
7:31
Speaker 1: the technical first, getting it to sound as good as
7:34
Speaker 1: it can, making it as easy as possible that you know,
7:38
Speaker 1: A big part of technique is for someone to understand
7:41
Speaker 1: where do I place it, how do I support it,
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Speaker 1: where do I place it so I can get to
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Speaker 1: that sweet spot so it sounds really good, so that
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Speaker 1: they can access that immediately even when they're nervous or
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Speaker 1: they're distracted. That's really important. That's what technique is all about.
7:55
Speaker 1: And then once they do that, then I really try
7:59
Speaker 1: to work on how can you really get to the
8:01
Speaker 1: heart of the song, because even if you've written it yourself,
8:04
Speaker 1: you sing it, you know, in front of people, sometimes
8:07
Speaker 1: a lot of the emotion goes out the window because
8:10
Speaker 1: you're nervous. You're looking out at the front row and
8:12
Speaker 1: you're seeing all these famous people like in an award show,
8:15
Speaker 1: you know, people you might really look up to, people
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Speaker 1: who you've idolized, and that's nerve wracking. So I always say,
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Speaker 1: let's really try to get to the heart of it.
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Speaker 1: What are these lyrics saying? What were you thinking when
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Speaker 1: you did write them, or if you didn't write them,
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Speaker 1: How can you make this so you really feel like
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Speaker 1: you did even though so and so rodem these really
8:34
Speaker 1: belong to me? Now? Is there an episode of the
8:37
Speaker 1: podcast where you talk about breakthrough moments? Yeah? Yeah, there's
8:42
Speaker 1: a couple, you know, I mean, it's interesting each one.
8:46
Speaker 1: We talk about some similar things and then some different things,
8:49
Speaker 1: you know, like Camila Cabello actually gives an example of
8:53
Speaker 1: there was a line in a song that she just
8:55
Speaker 1: couldn't hit the note. She would really tense up, get
8:57
Speaker 1: really tight, and then she talks about how the things
9:00
Speaker 1: we talked about, the techniques we use to relax her
9:02
Speaker 1: so that then she could hit the note freely and easily. So, yeah,
9:07
Speaker 1: We do talk about those things because you know, some
9:10
Speaker 1: of it's mental, some of it's physical. You know, some
9:12
Speaker 1: of it's just getting better breadth support, some of it
9:15
Speaker 1: is realigning your posture, and some of it is just mentally.
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Speaker 1: What is going to help you? What can you think
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Speaker 1: that's going to help you hit this note? Can you
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Speaker 1: pretty quickly tell where a person needs the most help? Usually, yes,
9:32
Speaker 1: very quickly. However, sometimes it reveals itself a little more slowly.
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Speaker 1: You know, once I start to get to know someone,
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Speaker 1: then I start getting into you know, their world and
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Speaker 1: what it is, what makes them nervous, what makes them happy,
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Speaker 1: what makes them feel free, what doesn't. So I would
9:51
Speaker 1: say usually I can get it pretty quickly, but then
9:54
Speaker 1: as time goes on, I get to those deeper levels.
9:57
Speaker 1: Got it. I'm amazed how much you talk about the
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Speaker 1: emotional and mental work of singing. You know, well, I
10:03
Speaker 1: think it's just a huge part of it. You know,
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Speaker 1: our emotions really affect our voice. Just think about it.
10:08
Speaker 1: If you're telling someone, let's say you're going to break
10:11
Speaker 1: up with someone and it's really gonna be hard because
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Speaker 1: you really care about that person, but it's just not
10:15
Speaker 1: working out. You know, they really love you. They don't
10:18
Speaker 1: want to break up. This is going to come as
10:20
Speaker 1: a real shock and just devastate them. So you might
10:25
Speaker 1: start talking and you get choked up. You can't even talk,
10:27
Speaker 1: you know. Well, that is just one example of how
10:31
Speaker 1: our emotions affect our voice. So you can imagine someone
10:34
Speaker 1: really nervous, everything might constrict and get tight and their
10:37
Speaker 1: voice might not come out, you know, and or someone
10:41
Speaker 1: I've seen the opposite where someone is so relaxed and
10:44
Speaker 1: feel so confident, but once again, it's devoid of that urgency.
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Speaker 1: It's devoid. Like John Legend on my podcast talked about
10:52
Speaker 1: the difference between you know, having a great voice, but
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Speaker 1: singing with urgency and singing with sincerity and really making
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Speaker 1: it an emotional moment as opposed to just oh it's
11:05
Speaker 1: a beautiful moment. That's a beautiful voice. That's interesting. I
11:08
Speaker 1: feel like if I think about John Legend's career, I
11:10
Speaker 1: do feel like he sings with a bit more urgency
11:13
Speaker 1: than and I love his early work as well. I
11:15
Speaker 1: love all of it. That first album he did it
11:20
Speaker 1: was very like, I mean, you're like, man, this guy
11:22
Speaker 1: is comfortable, you know, like he is well, yeah, I
11:25
Speaker 1: think he's an example of someone who is cool and
11:29
Speaker 1: confident and yet does have a really big heart, and
11:33
Speaker 1: so that comes through and when he sings those all
11:36
Speaker 1: of me. You know, of course he wrote it for
11:38
Speaker 1: his wife, so that's a big part of it that
11:40
Speaker 1: he's thinking of her. But you know, when I hear
11:43
Speaker 1: that song, I just melt. I just think it's so beautiful.
11:46
Speaker 1: And it's not just because his voice sounds beautiful, but
11:49
Speaker 1: it's you can tell he really means it. He really
11:52
Speaker 1: means all of those words. And I think when people
11:55
Speaker 1: can really get into that space, they almost lose themselves
11:59
Speaker 1: that it's almost not for the audience anymore. They're just
12:02
Speaker 1: living it at that moment. They're living in that moment
12:07
Speaker 1: when someone like John Legend, Indoor, Ariana Grande or Mariah
12:11
Speaker 1: Carey might come through your doors looking to work on something.
12:14
Speaker 1: I mean, like these are like world class singers, like
12:19
Speaker 1: they can sing. You know, what do you work on
12:23
Speaker 1: with people? Well, let me ask you. Have you ever
12:25
Speaker 1: watched a boxing match ever? And you're like, Okay, have
12:28
Speaker 1: you ever said what is the trainer doing there in
12:31
Speaker 1: the corner? What's he whispering in his ear? The bottom
12:33
Speaker 1: line is, look, these people a lot of these people
12:36
Speaker 1: and these people you've mentioned that I work with it's
12:38
Speaker 1: Ariana John Whatever. They're great, There's no question about it.
12:42
Speaker 1: They're not great because of me. They're great. However, when
12:45
Speaker 1: you have a coach, it's too how can I best
12:48
Speaker 1: maintain my instrument? How can I work on my instrument?
12:52
Speaker 1: So it's better than ever, So it's highly tuned. I mean,
12:55
Speaker 1: you can get the most expensive car on the planet,
12:57
Speaker 1: you still got to get a tune up. You know,
12:59
Speaker 1: you still got to rotate those tires. So that's what
13:02
Speaker 1: I'm doing. I'm tuning up, I'm rotating the tires, I'm
13:05
Speaker 1: keeping it in shape. I'm helping them. Sometimes it's just
13:09
Speaker 1: remember the things to do because they might forget they
13:12
Speaker 1: have a lot going on. Or I try to inspire
13:16
Speaker 1: them with different exercises, new and different ones so they're
13:19
Speaker 1: not doing the same one, so they're working their voice
13:21
Speaker 1: in a different way. That usually really excites people. But
13:25
Speaker 1: like I said, no one ever thinks twice about a
13:27
Speaker 1: sports coach being around. So I think everybody needs an
13:32
Speaker 1: outside ear and an outside eye that they can trust
13:36
Speaker 1: that says, oh that's great, do it like that? You know,
13:39
Speaker 1: I think that could be a little bit better. Ladies
13:41
Speaker 1: and gentlemen, the world's best vocal coach. Thank you for
13:46
Speaker 1: know the one of not the justin. This has been
13:51
Speaker 1: so great. I've really enjoyed it. Take care, Thanks man bye.
13:55
Speaker 1: Thanks so much to Eric for coming on Broken Record
13:57
Speaker 1: to talk about his new show. Now, I want to
14:00
Speaker 1: give you a sample of Backstage Pass. In this episode,
14:03
Speaker 1: Ariana grond It talks to Eric about her vocal range,
14:06
Speaker 1: how Broadway influences her music touring, and the struggles of
14:11
Speaker 1: perfect pitch and how can be both a blessing and
14:14
Speaker 1: a curse. You can hear more Backstage Pass episodes wherever
14:18
Speaker 1: you get your podcasts. Here's the episode. I had asked
14:22
Speaker 1: you which was your favorite vocal exercises, and you said
14:24
Speaker 1: the roller coasters up and down. Can you give an
14:27
Speaker 1: example of that so people know what you were talking about. Oh, okay,
14:34
Speaker 1: aim high on the low note, very quiet? He well, perfect,
14:43
Speaker 1: much better, much better better. I needed to stretch it out.
14:47
Speaker 1: That was Ariana Grande singing. She may be world famous
14:51
Speaker 1: for her spectacular voice, but that's really just one part
14:54
Speaker 1: of who she is. She's also one of the sweetest
14:57
Speaker 1: and most caring people I know. So when I asked
14:59
Speaker 1: her if she'd be down to demonstrate how a voice
15:01
Speaker 1: lesson works. She said, sure, which is a good. Whatever
15:08
Speaker 1: you want there, Let's try this on a wee wee
15:14
Speaker 1: wee wee wee wee. Then I might say, give it
15:18
Speaker 1: a little more support on the high note. Wee wee
15:21
Speaker 1: wee wee wee. Now just to loosen up your shoulders.
15:27
Speaker 1: Wee wee wee wee wee more, Oh my gosh, we
15:34
Speaker 1: we wee wee wee. You're probably more familiar with hearing
15:41
Speaker 1: her singing songs than exercises songs like positions dangerous woman,
15:46
Speaker 1: thank you, next, God is a woman? You know. There's
15:48
Speaker 1: a lot of hits in there, so I won't keep
15:50
Speaker 1: going with that. You might have grown up with her
15:53
Speaker 1: on Nickelodeon, where she played the adorable book shall we say,
15:57
Speaker 1: very dimwitted Cat Valentine on the show Victorious, or you
16:01
Speaker 1: might have actually seen her on Broadway, where she first
16:03
Speaker 1: got her start in the musical Thirteen Day. And then
16:10
Speaker 1: if I thought, well, she's sounded a little not you,
16:13
Speaker 1: because you don't ever get stiff. But let's say something
16:15
Speaker 1: was feeling stiff or whatever, I'd say, hey, move around
16:19
Speaker 1: loosen up your body a little bit. I'm so stubborn
16:23
Speaker 1: when you ask me to move, I'm always like, I
16:25
Speaker 1: don't want to flail around. He I'm waving my arms now,
16:31
Speaker 1: just so everyone can visualize. Yeah, it's not just stubborn
16:34
Speaker 1: on that. Hey, There's been times when I've given you
16:41
Speaker 1: an exercise and you I told someone this one time.
16:43
Speaker 1: I said, Yeah. There's times I'll say I'll play in
16:46
Speaker 1: it and you'll go I'm literally like, Eric, that's insane.
16:50
Speaker 1: It'll literally be like no, no, no, no, no, no no,
16:57
Speaker 1: And I'm like, Eric, that's seventy eight notes. I don't
17:00
Speaker 1: have time that's a whole or have to sing God
17:03
Speaker 1: as a woman in four minutes. I don't have this
17:05
Speaker 1: kind of time, babe. This is backstage pass. I'm Eric Vitro.
17:16
Speaker 1: In this podcast, I'm inviting you into my studio to
17:19
Speaker 1: hear how some of the most successful and famous singers
17:22
Speaker 1: work on their craft, the art of singing. They also
17:25
Speaker 1: happen to be students of mine, so I have to
17:27
Speaker 1: say I know them pretty well. We'll talk about everything
17:30
Speaker 1: their vocal process, their careers, how their emotional life affects
17:34
Speaker 1: their voice, and how it all intertwines with their lives.
17:39
Speaker 1: For me, being a vocal coach is all about listening
17:42
Speaker 1: and thinking on my feet. I ask a student to
17:45
Speaker 1: do a vocal exercise, and then how their voice responds
17:48
Speaker 1: determines what the next exercise should be. I have to
17:52
Speaker 1: ask myself a lot of questions along the way. How
17:54
Speaker 1: does their voice sound at that moment, or how did
17:57
Speaker 1: it react to the exercise. What I hear tells me
18:00
Speaker 1: what my student needs at that moment. I'm so glad
18:03
Speaker 1: we just did that because now people can understand that's
18:06
Speaker 1: how a voice lesson works. I've learned by doing it,
18:10
Speaker 1: because you're now singing an a cappella. I think it
18:12
Speaker 1: improves people's ears because they're really hearing themselves. Oh yeah,
18:16
Speaker 1: it's not fun. Yeah, and they're singing along with the
18:18
Speaker 1: piano they don't even know, like the little tiny things
18:22
Speaker 1: where it goes a little in and out. Arianna and
18:24
Speaker 1: I have been working together for over fourteen years now,
18:27
Speaker 1: well maybe even more. I think we met in two
18:30
Speaker 1: thousand and seven. We don't always spend all of our
18:33
Speaker 1: time with singing lessons, though, I mean we've had some
18:35
Speaker 1: great conversations and we've spent some really fun holidays together. Guys,
18:40
Speaker 1: we painted each other mugg Are we okay? Yeah? I
18:47
Speaker 1: think we are okay because it was really fun, no surprise.
18:51
Speaker 1: The one she painted was gorgeous and amazing and creative,
18:55
Speaker 1: and mine was okay. But let's rewind. Let's go back
18:58
Speaker 1: to the beginning, because of course her journey started before hours,
19:02
Speaker 1: did Now, didn't your grandmother take you to your first audition? Yeah?
19:07
Speaker 1: So Nona took me to audition to sing the national
19:10
Speaker 1: anthem at the Panthers game. That was a really cool moment.
19:14
Speaker 1: I remember singing on the ice and being freezing cold,
19:19
Speaker 1: and it was like my first real gig. And I
19:22
Speaker 1: sang the national anthem for the Panthers, my hometown, Florida's
19:28
Speaker 1: hockey team. Oh say, can you see Bye Thesy At
19:44
Speaker 1: this point, she's only eight years old, but if you
19:46
Speaker 1: could see her, watch her when she sings this. She
19:49
Speaker 1: has this beautiful look in her eyes, and she's already
19:52
Speaker 1: connected with the audience. You can really predict she's going
19:55
Speaker 1: to go somewhere with this singing thing. And it was
19:58
Speaker 1: so fun because I used to go to the games
20:00
Speaker 1: all the time anyway as a kid. My parents would
20:03
Speaker 1: take me and I had really bad luck. I was
20:06
Speaker 1: hit by the puck like twice, and so I got
20:09
Speaker 1: to ride the zamboni like because they felt bad because
20:14
Speaker 1: my wrist was like broken and mangled, and I was
20:16
Speaker 1: like sad. So I was already a huge Panthers fan
20:21
Speaker 1: growing up, so getting to sing and having that be
20:24
Speaker 1: my first like real gig kind of was so sweet
20:26
Speaker 1: and so special and so yeah, it was really cool.
20:29
Speaker 1: And I remember finishing and being like, I want to
20:31
Speaker 1: do it again, only you would get hit to. No,
20:35
Speaker 1: that is my total luck. That really set the pace here.
20:39
Speaker 1: It sure did. But really, Arianna says the bar high
20:43
Speaker 1: with everything she does. I mean, have you heard this
20:46
Speaker 1: girl saying I Have Nothing? By Whitney Houston. It's one
20:49
Speaker 1: of the hardest pop songs there is. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
20:52
Speaker 1: I love that song. That's always one of my favorites.
20:56
Speaker 1: That was one of our first songs that we did
20:58
Speaker 1: together when we had our one of our first lessons, right,
21:00
Speaker 1: yeah exactly. I remember I always think of you with
21:04
Speaker 1: that song and how great it was. I think it's
21:06
Speaker 1: one of the best songs ever written. I love that
21:08
Speaker 1: song so much. And then when David Foster came and
21:10
Speaker 1: played the piano for you that night. I remember it.
21:14
Speaker 1: For anyone who doesn't know, David Foster is a hugely
21:17
Speaker 1: successful songwriter and producer. His really long, long list of
21:22
Speaker 1: collaborations includes artists like Slean, diond Whitney, Houston, Michael Boblet.
21:26
Speaker 1: The list is endless. That was so insane. I remember
21:29
Speaker 1: being like so in awe and just so shook that
21:33
Speaker 1: that happened. This was obviously a way later for those
21:35
Speaker 1: listening who don't know the context. This was after thirteen
21:39
Speaker 1: and after I met Eric and he had introduced me
21:41
Speaker 1: to David and I got to sing it with him,
21:43
Speaker 1: and that was a really cool thing. That was at
21:49
Speaker 1: the Forum. But you're also saying it at my house
21:51
Speaker 1: at parties. The only parties, just for context, that I've
21:55
Speaker 1: ever been to in my entire life, have all been
21:57
Speaker 1: Eric Vitro parties. That's just so everyone knows. I have
22:01
Speaker 1: been to four parties in my life and they've all
22:04
Speaker 1: been Eric Vitro parties. Not true, it is. I promise
22:08
Speaker 1: they were the best. It's so much fun. There's always
22:10
Speaker 1: so much music and so much singing and great company.
22:13
Speaker 1: So I gotta tell you, there's something really so special
22:17
Speaker 1: about seeing Ariana sing in an intimate setting, you know,
22:20
Speaker 1: in a house or in a backyard at a small party.
22:23
Speaker 1: Of course, not all of the parties we had were
22:25
Speaker 1: small and cozy. For one of them that her mom,
22:27
Speaker 1: Joan and I threw together, we actually crammed about three
22:31
Speaker 1: hundred people in a gigantic tent we put up covering
22:33
Speaker 1: my tennis court. We brought in all white sofas and chairs.
22:37
Speaker 1: We placed a gorgeous grand piano right in the center
22:40
Speaker 1: behind the pool, and the pool was filled with floating
22:43
Speaker 1: white candles. So it was pretty magical. But whether she's
22:47
Speaker 1: at a stadium with fifty thousand people or in a tent,
22:50
Speaker 1: anytime that Ariana is singing, she brings her all, even
22:54
Speaker 1: when she's doing karaoke with friends. Oh my god, that
23:07
Speaker 1: was the best night of my life. That was so
23:10
Speaker 1: much fun, and I remembered I was mesmerized because well,
23:14
Speaker 1: first of all, you knew every song, every melody, every lyric,
23:17
Speaker 1: and you could improvise on them, which was amazing. But also,
23:21
Speaker 1: I don't know if I've ever seen you look more joyous.
23:24
Speaker 1: Here's the other thing, more at peace. You looked so peaceful,
23:27
Speaker 1: like ah. I wondered if you wanted to talk about
23:32
Speaker 1: it a little bit. How has that developed your voice
23:34
Speaker 1: and taste? I think the theater music gives me so
23:38
Speaker 1: much joy. That was the most fun night. It was
23:41
Speaker 1: like such a precious thing. Theater babies. It's just a
23:44
Speaker 1: different kind of nostalgia. Listening to musical theater is a
23:48
Speaker 1: different kind of fulfilling car ride, you know, like if
23:53
Speaker 1: you throw on some avenue que or wicked in the car,
23:57
Speaker 1: like you're just guaranteed to feel comforted. Most broadway songs
24:02
Speaker 1: have longer sustained notes than pop songs. Do You can
24:05
Speaker 1: hear it here where Arianna sings the theme song from
24:08
Speaker 1: Beauty and the Beast hisic and be and so. In
24:14
Speaker 1: order to sing them well, people have to develop their
24:17
Speaker 1: lung capacity on their breadth support so they can hold
24:20
Speaker 1: those longer notes. Also, broadway songs usually have wider pitch ranges,
24:25
Speaker 1: so singers need to do vocal exercises and learn techniques
24:28
Speaker 1: that will increase their range. These are a few of
24:31
Speaker 1: the reasons singing these songs are so helpful and developing
24:34
Speaker 1: someone's voice. However, there is a really big difference in
24:38
Speaker 1: the way you use your voice when singing pop as
24:41
Speaker 1: opposed to Broadway. There's a humongous difference. Of course, you
24:45
Speaker 1: use a totally different part of your voice for each
24:48
Speaker 1: And of course I don't you know what I mean,
24:50
Speaker 1: Like I would never sing a Broadway song with my
24:52
Speaker 1: pop placement, but you know, I grew up singing theater,
24:56
Speaker 1: so of course that's where my heart is. I wish
24:58
Speaker 1: I got to do more of it. I wish I
24:59
Speaker 1: could go beyond Broadway. I wish I could go sing
25:01
Speaker 1: more musical songs. That's like the easiest, most fun, most soaring, freeing,
25:07
Speaker 1: beautiful feeling ever is singing show tunes That to me
25:11
Speaker 1: is like my heaven. But of course, like you can't
25:15
Speaker 1: use that placement on a pop song either, you know
25:17
Speaker 1: what I mean, Like you can't sing like been here
25:20
Speaker 1: all night, Like you can't like been here all day
25:25
Speaker 1: and by got me a walk inside to side. Well
25:33
Speaker 1: I'm trying to hide it. I forgot the words and
25:35
Speaker 1: I wrote them, So there you go. You could do it.
25:37
Speaker 1: I just don't think it would be standing over here
25:40
Speaker 1: with your body. I don't know, thank you next, Yes, fun,
25:47
Speaker 1: I'd end up with sean body wasn't a much or
25:53
Speaker 1: break up with your boyfriend can you imagine that and
25:55
Speaker 1: it's soprano. You got me some type of way. I
26:01
Speaker 1: don't know, that's not funny. I'm just a feeling this way.
26:05
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, no, no, no, say no no. This is
26:11
Speaker 1: backstage pass with Eric Vitro and we'll be right back.
26:18
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to backstage Pass. Let's get back to
26:21
Speaker 1: chatting with Ariana Grande getting back to voice lessons. Remember
26:25
Speaker 1: what I said earlier. A voice teacher has to really
26:28
Speaker 1: listen to where a singer is at in the moment.
26:31
Speaker 1: They might be physically tired, or they might have oversung
26:34
Speaker 1: the day before, or they might have been doing interviews
26:36
Speaker 1: and talking for hours before their lesson. All of these
26:40
Speaker 1: factors determine what the warm up needs to look like.
26:43
Speaker 1: Sometimes a singer will tell me what's going on, but
26:46
Speaker 1: usually I can hear it in their speaking voice when
26:48
Speaker 1: they come in and I know what we need to
26:50
Speaker 1: do that day. It could be that they're stressed, which
26:53
Speaker 1: creates a tight, constricted tone, so I'll use techniques that
26:56
Speaker 1: help them loosen up so they can sing more freely
26:59
Speaker 1: and feel more flexible. Or they might be singing too
27:02
Speaker 1: heavy in their lower range, which makes it impossible to
27:05
Speaker 1: make a smooth transition into their higher notes. There are
27:08
Speaker 1: day when I just go, all right, this is going
27:11
Speaker 1: to take a little longer. It's going to be a
27:12
Speaker 1: little bit more of a process to warm up their voice.
27:15
Speaker 1: But I always know we're going to get there. A
27:18
Speaker 1: lot of people really don't like those wide range exercises
27:21
Speaker 1: starting really low and going really high, but you do. Yeah.
27:23
Speaker 1: I like the big stretches. I like, can't wait. I
27:27
Speaker 1: always want to go really really really high, and You're
27:29
Speaker 1: always like, we have to warm up your low range.
27:31
Speaker 1: You're like, we have to exercise the whole thing. Relax,
27:34
Speaker 1: And I'm always like ready to go, and she always is.
27:37
Speaker 1: She's always ready to go. But she's also a perfectionist,
27:41
Speaker 1: and that means she can be really hard on herself.
27:45
Speaker 1: Oh I am so I'm so so so brutal with that,
27:51
Speaker 1: you know you I am. I yeah, No, I'm very
27:56
Speaker 1: I can't stand it. Yeah. But anyway, you have that
27:59
Speaker 1: incredible ear that's like ridiculous, thank you, ridiculous. It makes
28:02
Speaker 1: it very annoying to work with me. When you have
28:06
Speaker 1: a great sense of pitch, it can drive you crazy
28:09
Speaker 1: if you hear the slightest note off. I always had
28:12
Speaker 1: a very very very like picky sensitive ear and it's
28:18
Speaker 1: kind of made me into a perfectionist and kind of
28:21
Speaker 1: this neurotic control freak. And when it comes to camping
28:26
Speaker 1: my own vocals and vocal production and arranging and producing
28:31
Speaker 1: and stuff like that, if the EQ changes even a
28:34
Speaker 1: little bit, I'll be able to tell Yeah, I don't know.
28:37
Speaker 1: It's always been something that I've noticed in a big way,
28:42
Speaker 1: and I think that's been a great thing to kind
28:46
Speaker 1: of grow into having all the control over in my life.
28:49
Speaker 1: I've just been I've learned, you know, how to do
28:51
Speaker 1: it myself throughout the years, and kind of like that's
28:54
Speaker 1: been really cool. My MD Johnny he said that my
28:59
Speaker 1: ears are like a telescope and I can analyze the
29:03
Speaker 1: surface of Mars. But it's a blessing and a curse,
29:05
Speaker 1: because like it's wonderful to be able to articulate what
29:08
Speaker 1: I want, how exactly I want my voice to be mixed.
29:11
Speaker 1: And you know, of course, that's how you create a sound,
29:16
Speaker 1: and that's how you can control your tone and have
29:19
Speaker 1: that be a part of your sound. But I wish
29:22
Speaker 1: I could just relax. I think it can be easy
29:26
Speaker 1: for fans to forget how much work goes into being
29:28
Speaker 1: a professional singer. There's constant interviews, writing and recording sessions, rehearsals,
29:34
Speaker 1: and being on tour. Touring is really hard, and that's
29:37
Speaker 1: why so often I do FaceTime warm ups with my
29:40
Speaker 1: students on their performance days, usually in their dressing rooms
29:43
Speaker 1: before the sound checks or the shows. The schedules and
29:47
Speaker 1: traveling can be grueling. Plus think about it being around
29:51
Speaker 1: all those people, It can lead to a lot of
29:53
Speaker 1: colds and flues. Ariana does shows all the time when
29:57
Speaker 1: she's sick. To her and most singers I know, canceling
30:00
Speaker 1: a show is devastating. You don't want to disappoint your fans,
30:04
Speaker 1: and you know how much work everyone is put in,
30:07
Speaker 1: from the dancers, the musician, the crew, the makeup people,
30:10
Speaker 1: the hair people, everybody. Everyone is working behind the scenes
30:14
Speaker 1: for every single show, and you don't want to let
30:16
Speaker 1: them down by not getting on the stage. But when
30:19
Speaker 1: your ear nose and throat doctor tells you that not
30:21
Speaker 1: canceling could lead to you canceling an entire tour or
30:25
Speaker 1: could even result in permanently harming your voice, you have
30:28
Speaker 1: to cancel. You just have to. I've unfortunately had to
30:32
Speaker 1: cancel a couple of shows in the past, of course,
30:35
Speaker 1: like six years, because I think that it is physically
30:39
Speaker 1: so demanding and so strenuous to do hundreds of shows
30:44
Speaker 1: around the world and it's incredible, but it's also physically
30:49
Speaker 1: very tasking, and between the traveling and the flying and
30:52
Speaker 1: the bus and everything, and it's like your body kind
30:55
Speaker 1: of becomes very run down. And I know for me personally,
30:59
Speaker 1: I was sick for like four out of ten months
31:02
Speaker 1: on the Sweetener tour, and thankfully I only had to
31:05
Speaker 1: cancel like one show I think or two, but one
31:08
Speaker 1: of them was because I had a tomato allergy. But
31:11
Speaker 1: thankfully the rest of it, I was either healthy or
31:16
Speaker 1: able to sing around the conditions I was dealing with,
31:19
Speaker 1: which was like bronchitis for most of it. I think
31:26
Speaker 1: the reason why I was able to get through so
31:30
Speaker 1: many shows as I was when I was sick was
31:34
Speaker 1: due to our work together and our warmups. Like I
31:37
Speaker 1: would wake up with just air coming out and just
31:43
Speaker 1: like no sound would be able to come out, and
31:45
Speaker 1: I would I would go to my sink to brush
31:48
Speaker 1: my teeth and like start waking up my body and
31:50
Speaker 1: I would go and sometimes air would come out, and
31:53
Speaker 1: sometimes it wouldn't, and sometimes sound would come out, and
31:55
Speaker 1: sometimes it wouldn't, and I'd say, okay. I would stay
31:58
Speaker 1: silent for two more hours until I ate breakfast and
32:02
Speaker 1: I did my routine, and then I would do a
32:04
Speaker 1: little more like then it would come back a little more,
32:07
Speaker 1: and then I would rest again, and by the time
32:09
Speaker 1: it was ready for warm up time, I could get
32:13
Speaker 1: out the sounds that I was that I needed to
32:16
Speaker 1: get out. And by the end of our work together,
32:19
Speaker 1: like we would do our warm up and then we
32:21
Speaker 1: would take our little five minute breaks and I'd be
32:23
Speaker 1: silent for five minutes, and then we do another fifteen minutes,
32:25
Speaker 1: and I'd be silent for another five minutes. We do
32:27
Speaker 1: another fifteen minutes, and by the time that I was
32:29
Speaker 1: ready to go on stage, my voice was making all
32:34
Speaker 1: of the sounds, like all of the notes were there.
32:36
Speaker 1: And when she's on tour, there are times when she
32:38
Speaker 1: can be thirteen or fourteen or fifteen or however many
32:41
Speaker 1: hours ahead of LA time. Eric used to wake up
32:45
Speaker 1: at crazy times when I was overseas on tour to
32:48
Speaker 1: warm me up, and it would be like the sweetest
32:51
Speaker 1: best blessing ever. I was like, Wow, thank God, all right,
32:55
Speaker 1: just so you understand, on the days that I did
32:58
Speaker 1: those warmups at two or three in the morning, I
33:00
Speaker 1: would actually do them from bed. I mean, it's too
33:02
Speaker 1: cold to get out of bed and go downstairs. So
33:05
Speaker 1: let me explain how I did it. I have a
33:07
Speaker 1: whole reek set up in my bedroom. I have an
33:09
Speaker 1: adjustable bed that sits me up so I'm in a
33:11
Speaker 1: good sitting position. I have a table that swings out
33:14
Speaker 1: over me with my keyboard on it and my laptop
33:17
Speaker 1: so I can see her, and we go from there.
33:21
Speaker 1: That work was really what kept me healthy for ninety
33:26
Speaker 1: nine percent of the tour, and I really am appreciative
33:29
Speaker 1: of that. I don't want to miss my opportunity to
33:30
Speaker 1: say that our work together kept me healthy and I didn't.
33:34
Speaker 1: Thank God, I've never had to cancel a tour because
33:37
Speaker 1: of a hemorrhage or been at a loss, you know
33:40
Speaker 1: what I mean. So it's just been such a blessing
33:42
Speaker 1: to learn how to sing around those things with you,
33:45
Speaker 1: and to sing and have technique that has been evolving
33:52
Speaker 1: and maturing and improving over the years, and get through
33:57
Speaker 1: hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of live shows
34:01
Speaker 1: where I'm singing live for two hours at a time,
34:05
Speaker 1: and I'm very appreciative. I think a lot of that
34:08
Speaker 1: is just our work together and training to become a
34:11
Speaker 1: healthy vocalist. Thank god, I've been able to sing through
34:15
Speaker 1: things like that, because it starts from the moment you
34:18
Speaker 1: wake up. You don't warm up forty five minutes before
34:21
Speaker 1: the show, and you don't you know, put it down
34:24
Speaker 1: the second you get off stage. It starts from the
34:26
Speaker 1: minute you wake up. Thank God, I think I had
34:28
Speaker 1: pretty good luck. I thankfully you've never had to cancel
34:31
Speaker 1: massive amounts of shows or anything because of my voice.
34:35
Speaker 1: It's been such an incredible blessing. And it's been a
34:39
Speaker 1: lot of work. Yeah, it has been a lot of work,
34:42
Speaker 1: but it's been so much fun. It doesn't really feel
34:45
Speaker 1: like work. And I gotta say, for better or worse,
34:48
Speaker 1: for Ariana, that spirit and drive is constantly there. I
34:53
Speaker 1: remember one night at the Forum and you did, like
34:57
Speaker 1: I think it was six shows in a row, which
34:59
Speaker 1: I thought was insanity, but you were making up the
35:02
Speaker 1: one that had to be canceled, and your mother pulled
35:04
Speaker 1: me aside and said, would you please please encourage your
35:08
Speaker 1: just to rest to night? And I want well, of course,
35:10
Speaker 1: she's gonna rest Joan, and she went no, I don't
35:13
Speaker 1: think she is. And I said, I don't know what
35:14
Speaker 1: you're talking about. And then I went over to you
35:16
Speaker 1: and I said, now you're gonna rest your voice night,
35:18
Speaker 1: and you looked at me and said, no, I'm going
35:19
Speaker 1: to the studio. And I was like, oh, it's one
35:21
Speaker 1: in the morning. You can't go to the studio, and
35:24
Speaker 1: you went, no, I'm going to. I'm very inspired and
35:26
Speaker 1: I want to record. Yeah, you're very upset with me
35:30
Speaker 1: that night. See that's the thing. There's like it's like
35:34
Speaker 1: once it's on autopilot, like once the chords are like,
35:37
Speaker 1: oh I got it, whatever, show schmow, we can do
35:40
Speaker 1: this sweeteners show whatever. Like once it's in autopilot and
35:46
Speaker 1: your body's like not recovering from bronchitis, you're just kind
35:49
Speaker 1: of like, oh, yeah, the notes are there, they'll come out.
35:52
Speaker 1: Let's go to the studio after whatever. So it's like, yeah,
35:56
Speaker 1: you're not pleased with me that night. I think I
35:58
Speaker 1: was scarred from that night though, because I just know
36:01
Speaker 1: you weren't going to go home, even though in my
36:02
Speaker 1: mind I was thinking, go home, go home and rest
36:05
Speaker 1: rest that voice and I'm always trying to send out
36:09
Speaker 1: that mental telepathy, that vocal juju. Come on, drink a
36:13
Speaker 1: lot of water, get some rest, get twelve hours sleep tonight.
36:16
Speaker 1: But no matter how much I do it, and no
36:18
Speaker 1: matter how many times I tell someone, rest your voice,
36:21
Speaker 1: go home, don't go to that party after party, what
36:24
Speaker 1: a bore. But you know, sometimes they don't always listen,
36:28
Speaker 1: but I do. I'm always listening, And because I listen,
36:31
Speaker 1: I'm pretty aware of how my students' voices are constantly changing,
36:34
Speaker 1: hopefully for the better, hopefully improving. I was curious, though,
36:38
Speaker 1: what Ariana thought about her vocal evolution, so I asked her,
36:43
Speaker 1: how would you say your voice has changed over the years. Oh,
36:47
Speaker 1: that's a good question. It's funny because I listened back
36:51
Speaker 1: to like my first album, and I sound like a baby.
36:56
Speaker 1: But I don't know when when it kind of grew up.
37:00
Speaker 1: I guess even listening to old talking, my voice was
37:04
Speaker 1: really kind of I think tie, which my whole body was,
37:12
Speaker 1: to be fair, but I think I yeah, I hadn't
37:16
Speaker 1: found the balance yet with my schedule and doing all
37:20
Speaker 1: that promo in the beginning, and doing all that in
37:23
Speaker 1: the first few years of the music stuff, I think
37:25
Speaker 1: my speaking voice and my singing voice were they sounded
37:29
Speaker 1: so different because I think they also were tired. I
37:32
Speaker 1: think that also strengthened my voice in a way where
37:36
Speaker 1: like now it really takes a lot, lot, lot, lot
37:40
Speaker 1: lot more abuse to get me to that whispery raspy point,
37:43
Speaker 1: you know. But I don't know my voice is healthier
37:50
Speaker 1: now through the years of touring and needing to push
37:56
Speaker 1: through the shows and learning healthy placement and kind of
38:03
Speaker 1: you know, having to maintain that. I think it's just
38:05
Speaker 1: been experience in years of learning and singing all these
38:10
Speaker 1: songs so many times, you know. Yeah, Well, I think
38:15
Speaker 1: I think for people listening it's a lesson in that
38:18
Speaker 1: I think, first of all, you were so young when
38:20
Speaker 1: you were doing so much, And I think that when
38:23
Speaker 1: you're young like that, your vocal chords aren't fully developed,
38:27
Speaker 1: so they're not reached maturity. And also when you're young,
38:31
Speaker 1: it's hard to always remind yourself, oh yeah, I should
38:33
Speaker 1: be supporting my speaking voice as well as my singing voice,
38:37
Speaker 1: and I should take some vocal rest tonight, and I
38:39
Speaker 1: should go to sleep. So I think it's hard to
38:42
Speaker 1: remember those things. So I think the combination of you learning,
38:45
Speaker 1: learning technique, your voice maturing, and like you said, you
38:49
Speaker 1: had to sing through it and get through it, and
38:51
Speaker 1: I think that also made you stronger. Yeah, that's how
38:54
Speaker 1: I look at it, and also all of our lessons
38:58
Speaker 1: and being able to work through the exhaustion together and
39:01
Speaker 1: somehow always find a way to make it all come
39:05
Speaker 1: out and feel beautiful and healthy doing it. Like I
39:08
Speaker 1: don't remember remember many times where I have like sunk
39:12
Speaker 1: through something and been like, oh, thank god it happened
39:15
Speaker 1: and we got through it, you know what I mean. Like,
39:16
Speaker 1: I feel like we've always put in the work to
39:18
Speaker 1: make sure that even at my most exhausted points, the
39:22
Speaker 1: vocals are the least of our issues. I would agree
39:25
Speaker 1: with that that's never been an issue for us. If anything,
39:28
Speaker 1: well Ariana really had to deal with was her shift
39:31
Speaker 1: from Nickelodeon start to growing into what she wanted to
39:33
Speaker 1: be as a recording artist. Yeah, in the way beginning,
39:38
Speaker 1: like putting out the way was really freeing and terrifying
39:42
Speaker 1: for me because I was so convinced that I had
39:48
Speaker 1: to be one thing because people knew me from my
39:52
Speaker 1: show that I was doing from Nickelodeon, and I was
39:54
Speaker 1: playing a character that a lot of people knew me
39:57
Speaker 1: as and I was kind of terrified to do what
40:00
Speaker 1: I actually wanted and make the music that I actually
40:03
Speaker 1: wanted to make, and have my brown hair and be
40:07
Speaker 1: you know where by high boots and what I wanted
40:10
Speaker 1: to be. I think that was also a really big
40:14
Speaker 1: moment for me, was putting out my first single that
40:17
Speaker 1: like was on my first album and taking that risk
40:21
Speaker 1: from the Way beginning too, you know. I think obviously
40:24
Speaker 1: as time went on, you got to know more and
40:25
Speaker 1: more and more of me as I lived in as
40:27
Speaker 1: the music became more and more personal. But I think
40:30
Speaker 1: even just from the very first single like that was
40:32
Speaker 1: a huge risk. You know, it was a really incredible
40:37
Speaker 1: turning point for me. It certainly worked out really well
40:41
Speaker 1: because The Way went triple platinum at the age of nineteen.
40:44
Speaker 1: Our next guest is the star of the Nickelodeon show
40:46
Speaker 1: Sam and Kat, and she already has a top ten hit.
40:49
Speaker 1: Here to make her television debut performing The Way. Please
40:52
Speaker 1: welcome Ariana Grande featuring Mac Miller. One of my favorite
41:00
Speaker 1: pictures of us is at Ellen underneath the Ellen Show,
41:04
Speaker 1: and you had just done The Way, and you looked
41:07
Speaker 1: so happy when we were in the dressing room during
41:10
Speaker 1: her vocal warm up. I just knew this was going
41:13
Speaker 1: to be the beginning of a huge career. Of course,
41:16
Speaker 1: I wasn't the only one. Everybody could see it, her fans,
41:19
Speaker 1: her friends, her family, and a few minutes after it aired,
41:22
Speaker 1: Katy Perry actually texted me and said, that girl is
41:26
Speaker 1: totally awesome. I think she has the best voice in
41:28
Speaker 1: pop music. Do you remember the first year you came
41:32
Speaker 1: to LA we spent Thanksgiving together and we had it
41:35
Speaker 1: here at my house. Your mom organized the entire thing.
41:39
Speaker 1: That was when I learned Grande's an adjective. It's not
41:42
Speaker 1: just a name, it's a model to live by. Your
41:44
Speaker 1: grandparents flew out and we were in the living room
41:47
Speaker 1: like a bunch of us after dinner, and you saying
41:49
Speaker 1: I have nothing. I played it and then I got
41:52
Speaker 1: up and your grandfather was standing in the doorway. He
41:56
Speaker 1: hadn't come in, he was just standing in the doorway
41:58
Speaker 1: observing everything. And I said to him, you must be
42:02
Speaker 1: so proud of Arianna, and he just nodded, said anyone,
42:07
Speaker 1: she's got it. And I remember that was so touching
42:10
Speaker 1: to me, and so I wanted to say to you
42:12
Speaker 1: you've got it. We've had some really beautiful special memories together.
42:18
Speaker 1: And yeah, you and I have had like the best
42:21
Speaker 1: and most special and most challenging and most beautiful times together,
42:26
Speaker 1: and we've sung through it all. And it's been such
42:29
Speaker 1: a journey. You know, it has been, that's for sure.
42:32
Speaker 1: That's a beautiful journey. It feels like it's still the
42:37
Speaker 1: beginning in a weird, funny way, you know. And I
42:40
Speaker 1: do know because this is just the beginning of a
42:43
Speaker 1: long and beautiful career. I tell my students all the time,
42:50
Speaker 1: just being talented isn't enough to guarantee success. It's the
42:54
Speaker 1: commitment to your craft, your work ethic, your willingness to
42:58
Speaker 1: learn and grow and to practice and by practice I
43:01
Speaker 1: mean practice a lot. Aside from her obvious vocal gifts,
43:04
Speaker 1: it's connecting to her passion and working hard that helped
43:07
Speaker 1: Ariana build such a fantastic a career. That's what creates
43:11
Speaker 1: the magic. That's what creates a true star. And isn't
43:14
Speaker 1: that true for all professions? For me, experience in our friendship,
43:20
Speaker 1: growing evolve, that's been the best part of the relationship.
43:23
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm aware she's a superstar in the eyes
43:26
Speaker 1: of the world. But when we're alone, just the two
43:28
Speaker 1: of us in my music room, nothing has changed from
43:32
Speaker 1: our first days together. I hope hearing about Arianna's vocal
43:35
Speaker 1: journey has inspired you. Knowing her has definitely inspired me.
43:46
Speaker 1: Each week, I'll be sharing a vocal tip, something I
43:49
Speaker 1: do with my students that you can try at home,
43:51
Speaker 1: and this week's tip is influenced by Ariana Grande herself.
44:01
Speaker 1: I'm so glad Arianna talked about her warming up process,
44:04
Speaker 1: because it doesn't matter how great your talent is, whether
44:08
Speaker 1: you're a singer or answer an actor, if you play
44:11
Speaker 1: an instrument or play a sport. To get your best performance,
44:14
Speaker 1: you need to warm up. I always like to do
44:16
Speaker 1: breathing exercises at the top of every class. There's a
44:20
Speaker 1: million of them, but I'm going to show you one
44:21
Speaker 1: that's pretty simple and basic and easy to foul. Try
44:25
Speaker 1: this at home. Put one hand on your chest and
44:28
Speaker 1: that's just to remind you to keep your chest up,
44:30
Speaker 1: your ribs expanded. Then put one hand on your abdominal
44:33
Speaker 1: muscles right around your belly button. Take in a deep
44:37
Speaker 1: breath so you're going to inhale, and as you inhale,
44:40
Speaker 1: allow your abdominal muscles to slightly expand, and then when
44:44
Speaker 1: you exhale, I want you to pull your abdominal muscles in,
44:49
Speaker 1: pushing the air out, and as you're pushing the air out,
44:52
Speaker 1: you're going to make a hissing sound. So try that
44:57
Speaker 1: one more time. Take a deep breath in, allowing your
45:01
Speaker 1: abdominal muscles to expand, and then pull them in as
45:05
Speaker 1: you push the air out, making the hissing sound. When
45:13
Speaker 1: you do this, count in your head and see how
45:15
Speaker 1: long you can count for. The goal is to just
45:18
Speaker 1: keep elongating that so that you take in deeper and
45:21
Speaker 1: deeper breaths. You really fill your lungs to capacity. Start
45:25
Speaker 1: stretching them so you can take in more air every time.
45:28
Speaker 1: This way, you can hold notes and songs longer or
45:30
Speaker 1: sing longer lines without having to take a breath in
45:33
Speaker 1: the middle. Now that you're connected to your breathing muscles,
45:37
Speaker 1: let's try doing some of those roller coaster slides Ariana
45:40
Speaker 1: talked about. Some people like to call them sirens. I
45:42
Speaker 1: like to do them after the breathing exercises, So let's
45:46
Speaker 1: try these at home. We're going to start on an
45:48
Speaker 1: evowel because that's really the easiest one to keep forward,
45:52
Speaker 1: right up front on the roof of your mouth. So
45:54
Speaker 1: what I want you to do is, first take a
45:56
Speaker 1: deep breath in and say he, focusing all the vibrations
46:02
Speaker 1: of that E vowel right up front on the roof
46:04
Speaker 1: of your mouth. Try that. Then take a deep breath,
46:12
Speaker 1: and this time we're going to slide up and down,
46:14
Speaker 1: just a short slide. He, So try to keep those
46:23
Speaker 1: vibrations right up front on the roof of your mouth,
46:25
Speaker 1: keep your mouth relaxed, and don't make it too loud,
46:28
Speaker 1: keep it nice and easy. These should feel very, very
46:31
Speaker 1: comfortable to do. Now, do a medium slide where you
46:36
Speaker 1: go a little bit higher. He. Next, let's do a
46:45
Speaker 1: really long one, as high as you can comfortably, never straining,
46:49
Speaker 1: but stretching almost to the very top of your range. Good.
47:03
Speaker 1: They should feel very easy, very relaxed. You can wiggle
47:07
Speaker 1: your body around as you do them. You could wiggle
47:09
Speaker 1: your jaw just to keep everything loose and relaxed. Once
47:13
Speaker 1: you feel like you've really gotten it and mastered it
47:15
Speaker 1: on the E vowel and it feels comfortable, try other
47:18
Speaker 1: vowels like ooh oh ah or a. Now I'm a
47:23
Speaker 1: confirmed multitasker myself, so during my morning routine, I always
47:27
Speaker 1: try to do a few other things so I'm not
47:29
Speaker 1: wasting any time. What I do is I start my
47:32
Speaker 1: day with a little warm tea and then I toss
47:35
Speaker 1: a Yukah shower bomb under the hot water to open
47:37
Speaker 1: up my breathing passages. I sing the roller Coaster slides
47:40
Speaker 1: in the shower, because let's face it, when you're in
47:43
Speaker 1: a hot, steamy shower, you can't help but feel relaxed
47:46
Speaker 1: as you slowly warm up your voice. This process is
47:49
Speaker 1: a great step towards developing the muscle memory of singing
47:52
Speaker 1: freely without tension. If you want to try out the
47:55
Speaker 1: vocal tips from this episode, I'd love to hear you.
47:58
Speaker 1: Use the hashtag Backstage Pass pod on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok,
48:03
Speaker 1: or wherever you like to post. I can't wait to
48:06
Speaker 1: hear your voices. Let me know how it goes. Backstage
48:21
Speaker 1: Pass with Eric Vitro is written and hosted by me
48:24
Speaker 1: Eric Vitro and produced by Morgan Jaffee Katherine Giardo as
48:28
Speaker 1: our managing producer. Emily Rosstech is our associate producer. Mixed
48:33
Speaker 1: and mastered by Ben Holliday, additional engineering help from Jacob Gorski.
48:38
Speaker 1: Mia Lobel is our VP of Content, Director of Development
48:42
Speaker 1: Justine Lange helped create the show. Thanks also to Jacob Weisberg,
48:46
Speaker 1: Heather Faine, John Schnars, Carli Migliori, Christina Sullivan, Eric Sandler,
48:51
Speaker 1: Maggie Taylor, Nicole Morano, Daniello Lacan and Royston Baser. Original
48:56
Speaker 1: theme music by Jacob and Sita Steele for Premiere Music Group.
49:00
Speaker 1: We record at Resonate Studios. Fred Taloson does our videography
49:03
Speaker 1: and the photography is by Ken Sawyer. Special thanks to
49:07
Speaker 1: Michael Lewis for inspiration and the best guidance anybody could
49:10
Speaker 1: ask for, and for this episode, thanks to Peter Stengard
49:14
Speaker 1: for mixing and mastering to LuSE Grande Backstage Pass with
49:18
Speaker 1: Eric Vitro as a production of Pushkin Industries. If you
49:21
Speaker 1: like the show, please remember to share, rate, and review.
49:24
Speaker 1: I mean that really. To find more Pushkin podcasts, listen
49:28
Speaker 1: to the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen
49:32
Speaker 1: to podcasts. Okay, and by the way, only you would
49:38
Speaker 1: have a dog that can actually sing and sing in tune. Yeah,
49:42
Speaker 1: it's like really bizarre. He sounds like he has auto
49:45
Speaker 1: tuned on, but he's learned from the best. He listened
49:47
Speaker 1: to all the vocal exercises and to Luca's found to
49:50
Speaker 1: his voice