Don’t just sing.
Be magnificent.
THE MAGNIFICENT SINGER.
For those who suspect their singing has a more interesting future.
Sing with style. Turn ideas into songs, performances and projects.
Central London · Online
✦ Make it magnificent
The world doesn’t need another singer.
But it might need your version of singing.
1:1 lessons, workshops and programmes — for singers who want a better voice, a more distinctive style and something interesting to do with it.
Do the singing you love.
Do it in the way you love.
And make people glad you decided to sing.
✦ What’s getting in the way?
Your voice can’t yet do everything you want it to.
You have plenty on the go, but none of it excites you.
It's only the shower that hears you sing.
You think you’ve left it too late.
You have ideas, but nothing to show for them.
You're waiting until you're "ready".
You’re too established to risk moving in a new direction.
You have absolutely no idea what you want to do next.
“I started out as someone who had a desire to sing but was too painfully nervous to ever perform with confidence as myself in front of a crowd. I couldn’t be further from that now, planning my own Sassy, Swinging Jazz, Cabaret Show. I now not only look forward to performing on stage but also as someone who can turn up with confidence at a last minute gig having never rehearsed with the band!”
4 ways to make your singing magnificent
✦ TECHNIQUE.
Sound like you, only better. Identikit singing is not the aim. Get the vocal control to bring out more of your voice — so you can confidently sing the songs you love.
✦ STYLE
Make people believe you when you sing. Why blend in? Find the phrasing, sound and performance charisma that make a song feel unmistakably yours.
✦ DIRECTION
A good voice is not a plan. Answer the maddening question: what should I actually do with my singing?
✦ PIANO
Put your singing in the driver’s seat. Move beyond a few random chords and pieces. Perform, write, arrange and direct rehearsals without always needing back-up.
✦ Where singing could take you
There’s more than one way to be a singer. Your imagination could take your singing somewhere magnificent, if you dare.
A late-night jazz trio inspired by 1960s spy cinema. Original songs for guitar, stompbox and voice, filmed live. A ’70s Californian soul-and-strings EP. Choral for Care — a chorus of dog devotees singing for the local community with guide dogs to sponsor. An invitation-only ’80s rock soirée for grand piano and voice.
Your plans may be modest or world-conqueringly ambitious. Either way, it all begins with one good idea. Start your art.
✦ Your best singing may still be ahead
Singing is complicated. Having lived a bit helps. It gives you taste, emotional range, an opinion or seven — and most likely a few scars gathered along the way.
All incredible material for singing. Used well, it can be the difference between perfectly ‘nice’ singing and making the room go quiet when you begin.
So take heart if you are coming to singing later in life. You are not at a disadvantage. Quite the opposite.
And if your singing is more established but you now feel strangely lost, there may be a simple reason. You’ve changed, and your singing hasn’t.
“I don’t know where I’m going from here — but I promise it won’t be boring.”
— DAVID BOWIE
✦ Design your
singing future
There is no one way to be a singer. So easy to say. Slightly trickier when you are trying to figure out your own.
The Magnificent Singer Map helps you stop borrowing everyone else’s route, get out of stuck moments and make bold, imaginative choices about what comes next. Not sure where you are on the Map? Take SING to find your next move.
Where The Magnificent Singer comes from
I grew up around choral music, reluctantly sawed my way through several cello exams, then made a last-minute swerve onto bass guitar to study jazz at music college.
It took me years to move from the formality of classical music into the creative freedom of pop, soul, funk, jazz and Latin music. Gradually, the different parts came together, and I now sing and play piano professionally.
Alongside performing, I’ve spent more than twenty five years teaching singers. The Magnificent Singer grew from the belief that singing becomes far more interesting when technique, musicianship, individuality and artistic curiosity develop together.
— Elizabeth, Founder of The Magnificent Singer
Former Head of Vocals at the London College of Creative Music. Former Visiting Lecturer at the University of Westminster. Fifteen years teaching singing at BRIT Kids, including one year as Acting Director. First-class Graduate Diploma in Jazz, Leeds College of Music. Postgraduate jazz study at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama
✦CHOOSE YOUR NEXT MOVE
✦CHOOSE YOUR NEXT MOVE
1. Take the Scorecard
Singing isn’t one-size-fits-all. Take SING from The Magnificent Singer. 10 questions to help you figure out where your singing wants to go next.
Free · 10 questions · About 5 minutes.
2. Book a 1:1
Connect your voice with the music you want to sing. Work on technique, style and song to sing with more control, colour and conviction — without being pushed through an identikit singing programme.
London · Online
3. Join The Magnifier
It’s easy to get into a muddle with singing. Sometimes we just need that one tiny idea to get motivated again. Join The Magnifier for sharper ways to think about singing, interesting singers worth hearing about, and intriguing possibilities you may not yet have considered.
Currently in London
Piano for Singers
Get beyond “I can play a few chords”.
2 singers · 2 pianos · 90 minutes · Central London
