Hear which songs Mandy Bryant and Simone Niles like and why.

Mandy Bryant

Voice Teacher | Choir Director

Simone Niles

Vocalist | Transformational Coach

This week’s Tips from the Team are all about our favorite styles of music! What do our instructors listen to? Today, we hear from voice teacher and choir director, Mandy Bryant on her favorite song; and Singdaptive instructor and transformational vocal coach, Simone Niles on what music she listens to when sad.

Mandy Bryant on Getting Psyched Up for Your Performance

Tips from the Team Transcript: Ah, this is one of the hardest questions that anyone ever poses to me because I can never give a solid answer. There are just too many amazing songs out there. And when it comes to singing, I just love anything that is going to challenge me and anything that’s going to help me connect. So oftentimes, musical theater songs are my favorite because I can just find some sort of connection to the character. I can find myself in that character. One of the other things that I love is just really sultry, chill, jazz music that sits in the voice really well. An example might be Cry Me a River. Something that just kind of sits there, right? And is just easy and nice to sing. And it’s almost like bathing your vocal cords in warm water. I just love singing jazz tunes like that.

What is Your Favorite Song & Why?

Simon Niles on What She Listens to When She’s Feeling Down

Tips from The Team Transcript: I wouldn’t say that I have a particular style of music per se that I go to if I’m feeling down or low, but what I would say is, and this comes a lot from the work that I do in sound healing, is that when we’re feeling any emotion, whether it’s happy or sad or whatever it might be, it is really represented in our body through how the energy is moving. So, often if I’m feeling down or low, I listen to whatever music is around me that helps me to shift the way I’m feeling in my body.

It might be that it’s something uptempo, but generally I will say we gravitate towards chords that are brighter, happier and arpeggiated, and we look for sounds that lift the energy within us. Sometimes it is just simply finding something that’s going to get you to move your body, something that’s just going to shift the state that you’re in, but I wouldn’t say a particular style as such. I think it could be across many different genres. For me, it’s just more about how do I quickly shift my state by listening to something that feels uplifting in the moment. So, play around with a variety of styles. I think you’ll find that you don’t necessarily stick to one, but whatever feels like it’s shifting, that’s the right place to start.

What Style of Music Do You Listen to When Your Sad?