Vocal Coaching
“Keep singing. It uncovers the love. The love of who we truly are.” - Krishna Das
I coach people who love to sing and don’t for some reason. Sometimes this is because they fear what others will think and sometimes it’s because they don’t like the sound of their own voice.
I’m here to tell you that you can love your voice again. That you can sing with passion, joy, and ease… in front on anyone.
As my clients learn to sing and connect to their True Voice, they become more compassionate with themselves. They do more of what they love to do and doubt their intuition less. These shifts translate to their businesses as well, and helps them to earn more, work less, and have more fun. “I feel like a kid again” is a common saying amongst my clients.
My vocal coaching approach is holistic, combining practices from my study of Broadway musicals, somatic experiencing, and kirtan - an ancient yogic practice.
My best work happens with:
Business owners who don’t think they can sing but really want to sing freely!
Public figures - professional speakers, podcasters, coaches, and creatives - who use their voice professionally and want to work on their confidence by singing!
People who want to work with a singing coach for spiritual elevation.
“Michael leads his sessions with intelligence, sacred intention, and ease. I always felt supported and was able to relax into the process. This felt like a holistic and dynamic dance that could allow my voice and being to play and flow.”
I believe:
Your voice is beautiful and perfect as it is.
Singing is a devotional practice and is not about how good you sound.
Life is a musical. You are the writer, star, and director.
The voice is one of your most powerful healing tools.
Your ear has been trained since birth to sing.
Sounding “normal” is not normal, it is conditioning. Sounding bold, weird, wacky, wild, and primal is real and true.
Powerful singers allow others to see and feel their heart.
The voice opens through surrender.
There is always a song available to be sung through us.
Nature and the four elements are doorways to the True Voice.
The voice connects earth and nirvana.
Sharing your voice and heart develops leadership.
The True Voice is found by disrupting our normal voice.
Kirtan is an ecstatic expression of love.
Everyone’s voice is connected to something ancient.
“It wasn’t until I met Michael Patrick Miller that I realized I didn’t necessarily need a singing technique teacher, even though Michael teaches technique, I needed a Shaman to help me heal the area of my being (throat chakra) that was out of balance. For years I was told I couldn’t sing because I was out of tune, and so I believed it and was filled with judgment, criticism, fear and doubt about being seen creatively. What Michael Patrick Miller offers is the release of mental and emotional issues. He supports the elimination of resistance and possibly trauma around being seen, and not wanting to explore our creative expression. Once Michael broke through my walls, we were able to get into the technique of vocal coaching. Thank you Michael. Very much appreciate Shaman doing this kind of work for creatives.”
My True Voice Story
I never thought I would be helping people to fall in love with their voice. Mostly because I believed I was tone deaf until my late 20’s. I was traumatized early in life and terrified to sing in front of anyone. I buried the desire deep down and later discovered this repression was a giant part of my then lifelong depression.
Singing found it’s way back to me through love and the heart.
After I hit rock bottom, I discovered life coaching, and quickly joined a training program. Every aspect of my life changed overnight, including a bold move to New York City. In the first few months I met a Broadway musical actress and started dating. I had never seen a musical and when I saw her show, I fell in love with Broadway! (I watched 50 shows in 3 years!) This inspired me to start voice lessons with a Stacy Lee Tilton (http://www.stacyleetilton.com/), a musical theater teacher from the renowned American Musical and Dramatic Academy. With her, I reconnected to the joy of singing and live performance.
While in New York I created and performed in two off-broadway cabarets, and acted in a community theater production of West Side Story. Being on stage was exhilarating (terrifying + joyous) and fulfilled a need I didn’t even know I had.
My vocal journey continued when I discovered a non-traditional teacher, Jonathan Stancato, who I loving relate to as my “vocal shaman”. (singasecret.com/about) My understanding of the voice and life changed the moment he said, “The voice, you, and God are not separate.”
I started to relate to my voice with more compassion, courage, and devotion. This is when I started to discover what I now call the “True Voice”. As this transformation happened, I began living in a different way, surrendering to the heart. This guided me to the practice of kirtan and the Bhakti tradition. I met my teacher, Govindas, at the Bhakti Yoga Shala in Santa Monica, CA, bought a harmonium, started chanting, and have played every day since.
It is a miracle that I feel confident enough to sing in front of crowds and record albums. I am grateful to pass this love on to whoever is ready for it.
Love,
Michael
“In many shamanic societies, if you came to a medicine person complaining of being disheartened, dispirited, or depressed, they would ask one of four questions. When did you stop dancing? When did you stop singing? When did you stop being enchanted by stories? When did you stop finding comfort in the sweet territory of silence? Where we have stopped dancing, singing, being enchanted by stories, or finding comfort in silence is where we have experienced the loss of soul.” ~ Angeles Arrien
Vocal Lineage
My lineage of vocal teachers stems from both East and West.
The West comes from the legendary Alfred Wolfsohn, a German singing teacher who suffered persistent auditory hallucination of screaming soldiers, whom he had witnessed dying of wounds while serving as a stretcher bearer in the trenches of World War I. Wolfsohn was diagnosed with “Shell Shock”, but did not respond to treatment. He subsequently cured himself by vocalizing extreme sounds, bringing about what he described as a combination of catharsis and exorcism.
Roy Hart, founder of the Roy Hart Theatre in Southern France, was Alfred’s apprentice. My teacher, Jonathan Stancato, studied at this school.
The East comes from the Bhakti tradition and the great Indian saint Neem Karoli Baba, known to his devotees as Maharaji. He did not teach with words but simply awakened people through his being and actions. Ram Dass is famous for bringing Maharaji’s stories and traditions back to the West. Soon thereafter, Krishna Das brought back Kirtan - the ecstatic devotional chanting practice. I learned much about kirtan and the tradition with one of his students, Govindas.
“Michael’s gifts for freeing the voice and discovering the desires of the creative heart are unrivaled.”
Structure of Vocal Coaching:
The 4-month vocal coaching includes the following structure:
3 vocal coaching sessions per month
Weekly practices to love your voice
Content, books, tools, and resources to supplement your learning
Access to all our online classes
Special access to our classes, workshops, and retreats during the year
How sessions flow:
Your path is unlike any other. As such, we work with what is most alive for you in the moment. We simultaneously hold your perfection and allow for your potential to continuously unfold. Sessions are like a dance, where we switch between leading and following. Slowly we discover your True Voice.
Scholarship:
There are scholarships available for those in need. To apply please email assistant@michaelpatrickmiller.com
I have a commitment to make my work accessible to everyone. I have online classes and offerings to support those who aren’t ready to invest in private coaching.
“I am a life coach and I have been on the path of self development for over 20 years, and yet what I have found with Michael was the most transformative work I have been given to do in a long time (too bad I cant sing it ;-) )”
Not by Grasping
A god can do it. But tell me how
a person can flow like that through the slender lyre.
Our mind is split. At the crossroads in our heart
stands no temple for Apollo.
Song, as you teach us, is not a grasping,
not a seeking for some final consummation.
To sing is to be. Easy for a god.
But when do we simply be? When do we
become one with earth and stars?
It is not achieved, young friend, by being in love,
however vibrant that makes your voice.
Learn to forget you sang like that. It passes.
Truly to sing takes another kind of breath.
A breath in the void. A shudder in God. A wind.
-Sonnets to Orpheus I, 3 - Rainer Maria Rilke