1-on-1 Vocal Coaching · Salt Lake City + Online
They Said You Couldn't Sing. They Were Wrong.
"Be quiet."
"You're flat."
"Just mouth the words."
You don't have to keep believing it.
"Be quiet."
"You're flat."
"Just mouth the words."
You don't have to keep believing it.
It wasn't really the comment itself. It was what the comment did.
Your brain quietly added "singing" to the list of things that aren't safe, and your voice has been working around that belief ever since.
Voice cracks, off-key notes, or running out of breath aren't flaws. They're like check-engine lights.
It's easy to think "I sound bad" and want to give up on singing. But if your car's check engine light came on, you wouldn't ditch it on the side of the road and walk away. You'd take it to someone who could find out what's actually going on under the hood.
You don't need more criticism or to hear "just relax" one more time. What you really need is someone who understands how the voice works, can spot what's really causing your vocal problems, and help you solve them for good.
The things that are actually blocking your voice are tucked into places you wouldn't think to check, and are more fixable than you've been led to believe.
Greg is awesome and his expertise is worth the investment. Within our first consultation, Greg was able to do an in-depth analysis of the problems I was having with my voice, and lessons have been nothing short of amazing ever since.
Sam S.You've probably heard at least one. Most singers I work with have heard all six. None of them are true.
Not out of malice. Out of (over-)protection.
Your brain is built for survival, not performance. At some point it decided singing was risky and started covering for you a little too well.
The throat constricts because the swallow reflex is trying to "win" your song.
The jaw, like a nosy neighbor, clamps shut because it doesn't trust your tongue to handle things.
The breath gets shallow because your nervous system is on high alert. Bracing for impact, not singing.
These aren't really "vocal problems." They're protective reflexes that used to keep you safe and now just won't take the hint that the threat is over.
Trying harder isn't the fix. The fix is convincing your brain that the bouncer can clock out, the parking brake can ease off, and nobody is auditioning you for survival anymore.
The advice you've heard is almost certainly right. Breath support, posture, and resonance are real parts of singing. But the real goal is efficiency: doing just what's needed, when it's needed, and with the right amount of effort. This is where most teaching approaches look in the wrong direction: they keep trying to add new techniques, when subtraction (releasing the tension patterns) works better.
Your body is excellent at finding creative ways to hit high notes. Imagine an office where one coworker does the bare minimum, leaving others to pick up the slack. The work still gets done, clients are happy, and management never notices who is doing what. But the same people end up carrying extra weight every week, and over time, they get tired and frustrated. The same thing happens in your throat when your brain is forced to freestyle a path to a high note. The muscle meant for the job slacks off, the others step in to help, the note still comes out, and your brain never realizes that anything needs to change.
If you can't feel it,
you can't fix it.
Lainey began lessons to prepare for the talent portion of a beauty pageant. She struggled with her throat tightening on high notes. We worked on balancing her vocal registers and improving her posture, but the real change happened when I checked the nerves in her face using a tuning fork and gently vibrated both sides. One side felt muted. That made her recall an old chipped cheekbone injury. We tried having her sing while holding an electric toothbrush to that cheek. Her throat relaxed, and singing became easier.
"Before we figured out the cheekbone connection, I felt like everything was sitting in my throat. I would get super tense, especially on higher notes, and it felt like I had to push to be heard. I also couldn't really hear myself clearly, so I never felt fully in control of my voice.
Now it feels completely different. My voice feels way more open and placed correctly, and I don't feel like I'm forcing as much anymore. As I'm getting ready for the pageant, I feel a lot more confident because I actually trust my voice now, instead of hoping it'll cooperate.
I would tell a singer who feels stuck that sometimes it's not about trying harder, it's about finding the right placement. I was doing everything I thought I was supposed to, but once we made that small adjustment, everything changed. So don't get discouraged, because the breakthrough might be way simpler than you think."
Lainey B.
When the brain loses clear sensation in a part of the body, it tends to tense up that area. This is what happens when the brain's map of the body gets blurry. For years, Lainey's brain had been tensing the area around her chipped cheekbone without her realizing it. The nerve in your face developed alongside the muscles used for biting and chewing, which makes it sensitive to threats. When the facial nerve fires, it pulls the laryngeal nerve along with it. Each time she tried to hit a higher note, the vibrations from singing set off an old warning signal in her face, and her throat tightened up to protect her airway.
The vibration from the toothbrush gave her brain clear sensation from the cheekbone again. That input told the nervous system the area was safe and the old warning signal could stand down. Once the brain could feel the area clearly, the tension in her throat released. Her voice opened. More resonance, less effort.
What seemed like a vocal problem turned out to be a sensory one. Most are. The fix usually lives in places nobody thought to check.
Your voice exists beneath accumulated tension patterns. We release those, instead of piling on more technique.
Your brain can force its way to a high note, recruiting muscles never meant for singing. But at what cost?
We can quickly tell whether a drill is working for your voice. No throwing mud at the wall to see what sticks.
You leave with exercises your voice already responded to. Use them to retrace your steps when you practice.
I have a deeper awareness of the physicality and methodology of singing. I never considered myself a soprano, but I've discovered I can belt in a much higher register than I expected.
Rachel F.
From the very beginning he has been able to pinpoint exactly what I have been struggling with vocally and help to personalize my vocal lessons around that.
Jessy B.
He doesn't just tell me what to do, he tells me why I'm doing it. I've had "fancy" vocal coaches in the past who didn't explain anything, they just issued commands.
Ben
Hi, I'm Greg. I've been teaching since 2014 and am certified in Andrew Byrne's Singing Athlete program. Along the way I've collected a slightly absurd amount of anatomy, acoustics, and music theory. Most of which I had to learn twice, because I learned it wrong the first time. The upside for you: I already know where the wrong turns are. We can skip them and start where things actually work.
When we work together, I observe and listen as you sing, picking up the compensations your brain built years ago. They show up in head position, neck, jaw, breath, and posture. I've worked with hundreds of singers on register breaks, breath issues, balance problems, even voice troubles linked to old injuries or dental work. I know how to identify and resolve issues at the root, before we start piling on more technique.
I think of myself as a navigator, not a captain. Your voice belongs to you, and you choose the direction. I bring the map: years of teaching experience and multiple frameworks, applied to finding what your nervous system will actually respond to. Finding the right input doesn't take force. It's about knowing what your brain is ready to say yes to. When we find it, your voice opens up naturally. No anatomy textbooks required.
Singing Athlete Certified · Andrew Byrne's Program"Greg is an amazing vault of vocal knowledge. I saw progress in my own voice after just one lesson."
Brianna M."He made me feel confident and performance-ready after my first day. By far the most effective music coaching I've had in Utah."
Dan R.You bring a song you know. I find the pattern that's been in the way. We test it. You hear the result. That's it.
This is for adult singers who want honest feedback about their voice. If you are preparing for an audition, heading to your first karaoke night, or just want to sing your favorite songs with more confidence, this is for you.
In most cases, yes. True tone-deafness (amusia) is rare. Most people who think they are tone-deaf just have a gap between what they hear and what their voice does. That gap usually closes faster than you might expect.
No. Your nervous system can keep learning throughout your life. Improving your voice does not get harder as you age; it just becomes more interesting. There is no deadline, only a chance to see your voice in a new way.
No. While reading music can help in some situations, you do not need to know how to read music to start. We begin by focusing on your voice, not on reading notes.
You will sing a song you know. I will observe and listen to spot any challenges. Together, we will try a couple of changes and see what happens. There are no drills to memorize, no homework, and no judgment about your ability.
You'll usually notice a change within five seconds of your first adjustment, though not every part of your voice will shift immediately. In most sessions, there is at least one moment when you feel a new, easier sensation in your voice. This isn't the final result, but it shows we're on the right track. With regular practice, these changes will stick. You'll move forward faster by focusing on what matters most.
Yes. Many singers come with a specific audition song, an upcoming callback, or a recording goal. We work directly with your chosen material, not with generic exercises that might not fit your needs.
If past lessons handed you generic warm-ups and the word "relax," that's probably why nothing changed. Here, every exercise is a test. We try something, your voice answers in about five seconds, and we keep what worked. You leave with a short list of drills your voice already approved. Not a generic playlist.
Most students come once a week or every other week. Lessons run 45-60 minutes. I promise 45, then find a good place to stop, on a win if possible. We discuss pricing and package options at the end of your exploration session.
You can choose either option. In-person lessons are at the studio in Millcreek, Salt Lake City. Online lessons are held over video call and are open to students anywhere in the country.
Most singers never find out what their voice could have been. They quietly stop trying songs they used to love.
This free session is for singers with a specific goal in mind, and for singers who feel stuck and can't quite name why. Maybe an audition you can't risk freezing on. Lessons in your past that didn't quite take. Or just a hunch that there's more voice in you than you've gotten to. Any of that, this is for you.
Twenty minutes is enough. Bring a song you know and one thing about your voice that keeps tripping you up. I'll tell you what I'm seeing while you sing, and we'll try one small change to see how your voice answers. You decide what's next.