4-PART SINGING INTENSIVE, Hit the Money Notes! with KATIE RIGGS On-Demand Only; Next Live Session TBA!

Considered one of LA’s finest Vocal Technique and Vocal Therapy coaches, Katie Riggs has been teaching voice for over twenty years. She brings a wealth of experience to this 4-Part Singing Intensive to help you learn a healthy, effective, expressive technique and explore your true artistry. Class meets Saturdays, 2-4pm Pacific, next session TBA full videos, handouts, and audio exercises available on-demand to train daily Born and raised in Los Angeles, Katie grew up at the knee of arguably the most distinguished and successful voice teacher in the business, her father Seth Riggs. This singing method has worked for many of the world’s best singers. It’s been studied by over 200 Grammy winners, including Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Cher, Tina Turner, Josh Groban, Barbara Streisand, Ray Charles, Diana Ross, Julio Iglesias, Kelly Clarkson, Luther Vandross and Madonna. Katie has had her own success with teaching such clients as Dua Lipa, Ozzy Osbourne, Midland, Madison Beer, Amber Riley, Vampire Weekend, Brian Wilson, Saweetie, Heavenly Joy Jenkins and many many up and comers on the scene, including members of The Songwriting School community. Working side-by-side with her father has earned Katie a lifetime of training. It’s given her extraordinary vocal insight, extensive knowledge and instincts second to none. Now Katie is passing this information along with The Songwriting School of Los Angeles to offer and share this knowledge but at a low cost.  As Katie notes, "It’s an honor and a privilege to hold this class here. This course is very experiential and each class builds upon the last. I encourage anyone that wants a better understanding about the fundamentals of voice and the application of these tools to sign up and get busy learning the craft of your voice." FULL CURRICULUM BELOW. Want to take only a single class meeting? You may select the individual class you like for $125. Email to info at thesongwritingschool dot com to set this up. WATCH KATIE RIGGS IN THIS OPEN WORKSHOP, from December 2020:   Katie Riggs describes the course curriculum: Part 1: VOCAL TECHNIQUE + INTRO TO BREATHING Whether you’re a novice or a seasoned singer this class is for you. No matter your experience level, this class is sure to build upon and or/ enhance your vocal technique. This 2-hour class will delve deep into your understanding of topics such as; chest voice, head voice, mixed voice, vibrato and any questions you have about voice. We will discuss the bridging process and start to grasp what it takes to build sustainable range. Learn how, why and what to practice to dramatically increase your range or recover lost parts of it. We will talk vowels, consonants, and vowel modifications. I will discuss the do’s and don’ts for vocal health. All of these elements together encompass the rules of the technical and physical aspect of singing. You must learn the rules before you break them. You must do this to protect your instrument from exhaustion and fatigue—now and for the long haul of your singing career. Part 2: WARM-UPS + BREATH WORK CONT. This 2-hour class expands on Part 1 and includes hands-on group participation. I will be teaching you how to navigate that “break” or “yell” that may be happening in your voice when you move from your low to high register. I will teach you how to navigate your chest voice with stability and then how to smoothly access and strengthen your middle register. The objective for this class is for your voice to operate as one clean connected sound from bot- tom to top— without the quality changing at all. I will give pitch and vibrato building exercises. These specific scales will allow you to control your vibrato so that it feels free and consistent. And if you don’t have vibrato I’ll teach you how to get it. We will also tackle common singer concerns, such as; How do I breathe? Where am I sup- pose to breathe from? What should my posture be? What is breath support and how do I properly use it when singing and doing my vocal warm-ups? How do I sustain a long note or phrase on one breath without losing quality or pitch? I will be answering all of these questions and giving you breathe exercises that will support and protect your voice. You need a conscious connection to your breath when you’re singing. In this class we will do just that. Together we will learn and practice exercises so that you can leave this class with a vocal warm up you can get started on working with every day. Part 3: SONG APPLICATION WORK + RIFFS & RUNS Now, let’s sing! Once you have a better understanding about the mechanics of singing, I will teach you how to access that same strength, quality and flexibility into our actual singing. Time and time again there has been a disconnect between being able to successfully warm up and then applying that same technique into actual songs. But in this class you will learn how to master exactly that. If you commonly ask yourself; How come you can reach certain notes in scales but you can’t feel as free as you do when you open up to sing? Then this class is for you! I will teach you here, how to sing what you sing with your scales. Your scales need to transmit that same connection into your songs. I will show you how to do just that. We don’t want to have to think about how we will sing each note, and passage of a song. We want to be able to express whatever notes we desire and not feel trapped by our bodies/ vocal instrument. That’s where the real fun begins and continues. Part 4: SONG APPLICATION + RIFFS & RUNS CONT. TAKE THE THOUGHT OUT OF IT AND MAKE YOUR VOICE INSTINCTIVE THROUGH PRACTICE. It is only when we are vocally freed up, that we are we able to totally let go and feel free to sing notes that reflect what we’re feeling. In this final culminating class (whose length will be dictated by the size of the group), I give you the space to sing! This is your exciting chance to get one-on-one instruction with me, on your actual songs. It could be a capella, with a guitar or piano accompaniment. This is a safe space to bring that verse, chorus or bridge that’s giving you any grief. If you don’t want to sing you don’t have to, but it’s strongly encouraged. We can learn here on our feet by experiencing it in real time. Choose your song and let’s sing! No one comes out of the womb riffing and running. We learn them. If you want to learn how to add riffs to your melodies or covers this is the class. The good news is you can learn how to riff and run. The bad news is that IT TAKES time, practice and patience. In this class we will be doing rounds of call and respond riffs and runs, and dissecting some of pops greatest hits. We will break down vocal runs --some easier and some more advanced. Learn how to throw away notes, sustain and add accents to personalize your songs and bring them to life. Slowly but surely we can learn how to add in riffs and runs into our songs. It requires a skill of flexibly and agility that we will explore and practice in this class. Harnessing this skill will add magic and decoration and personal character to any song you choose. This four-part vocal technique series is meant to be taken consecutively. However, each class is structured so that it can be taken alone. Whichever way you build your class(es), your voice and artistic spirit will thank you for it. Let’s start singing!