Speaker 1: Pushkin. I had asked you which was your favorite vocal exercises,
Speaker 1: and you said the roller coasters up and down. Can
Speaker 1: you give an example of that so people know what
Speaker 1: you were talking about? Oh, okay, aim high on the
Speaker 1: low note, very quiet, he well, perfect, much better, much better,
Speaker 1: much better. I needed to stretch it out. That was
Speaker 1: Ariana Grande singing. She may be world famous for her
Speaker 1: spectacular voice, but that's really just one part of who
Speaker 1: she is. She's also one of the sweetest and most
Speaker 1: caring people I know. So when I asked her if
Speaker 1: she'd be down to demonstrate how a voice lesson works,
Speaker 1: she said, sure, let's do which is a good Yet,
Speaker 1: Let's try this on a wee wee wee wee wee wee.
Speaker 1: Then I might say, give it a little more support
Speaker 1: on the high note. Wee wee wee wee wee. Now
Speaker 1: just to loosen up your shoulders. Wee wee wee wee wee. More,
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, we we wee wee wee wee. You're
Speaker 1: probably more familiar with hearing her singing songs than exercises.
Speaker 1: Songs like positions dangerous woman, thank you, next, God is
Speaker 1: a woman, you know? There's a lot of hits in there,
Speaker 1: so I won't keep going with that. You might have
Speaker 1: grown up with her on Nickelodeon, where she played the
Speaker 1: adorable book shall we say, very dimwitted Cat Valentine on
Speaker 1: the show Victorious, or you might have actually seen her
Speaker 1: on Broadway, where she first got her start in the
Speaker 1: musical thirteen Yesterday. Identified thought, well, she sounded a little
Speaker 1: not you, because you don't ever get stiff. But let's
Speaker 1: say something was feeling stiff or whatever, I'd say, hey,
Speaker 1: move around, loosen up your body a little bit. I'm
Speaker 1: so stubborn when you ask me to move, I'm always like,
Speaker 1: I don't want to flail around. He I'm waving my
Speaker 1: arms now, just so everyone can visualize. Yeah, it's not
Speaker 1: just stubborn on that. Hey, there's been times when I've
Speaker 1: given you an exercise and you I told someone this
Speaker 1: one time. I said, yeah, there's times I'll say I'll
Speaker 1: play in it and you'll go I'm literally like Eric,
Speaker 1: that's insane. It'll literally be like no, no, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: no no no, And I'm like Eric, that's seventy eight notes.
Speaker 1: I don't have time, that's a whole or I have
Speaker 1: to sing God as a woman in four minutes. I
Speaker 1: don't have this kind of time. This is backstage as
Speaker 1: I'm Eric Vitro in this podcast, I'm inviting you into
Speaker 1: my studio to hear how some of the most successful
Speaker 1: and famous singers work on their craft, the art of singing.
Speaker 1: They also happen to be students of mine, so I
Speaker 1: have to say I know them pretty well. We'll talk
Speaker 1: about everything their vocal process, their careers, how their emotional
Speaker 1: life affects their voice, and how it all intertwines with
Speaker 1: their lives. For me, being a vocal coach is all
Speaker 1: about listening and thinking on my feet. I ask a
Speaker 1: student to do a vocal exercise, and then how their
Speaker 1: voice responds determines what the next exercise should be. I
Speaker 1: have to ask myself a lot of questions along the way.
Speaker 1: How does their voice sound at that moment or how
Speaker 1: did it react to the exercise. What I hear tells
Speaker 1: me what my student needs at that moment. I'm so
Speaker 1: glad we just did that because now people can understand
Speaker 1: that's how a voice lesson works. I've learned by doing it,
Speaker 1: because you're now singing an a cappella. I think it
Speaker 1: improves people's ears because they're really hearing themselves. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: it's not fun. Yeah, and they're singing along with the
Speaker 1: piano they don't even know, like the little tiny things
Speaker 1: where it goes a little in and out. Arianna and
Speaker 1: I have been working together for over fourteen years now,
Speaker 1: well maybe even more. I think we met in two
Speaker 1: thousand and seven. We don't always spend all of our
Speaker 1: time with singing lessons, though, I mean, we've had some
Speaker 1: great conversations and we've spent some really fun holidays together. Guys,
Speaker 1: we painted each other mugg Are we okay? Yeah? I
Speaker 1: think we are okay because it was really fun, no surprise.
Speaker 1: The one she painted was gorgeous and amazing and creative,
Speaker 1: and mine was okay. But let's rewind. Let's go back
Speaker 1: to the beginning, because of course her journey started before hours,
Speaker 1: did Now, didn't your grandmother take you to your first audition? Yeah,
Speaker 1: so Nona took me to audition to sing the national
Speaker 1: anthem at the Panthers game. That was a really cool moment.
Speaker 1: I remember singing on the ice and being freezing cold,
Speaker 1: and it was like my first real gig, and I
Speaker 1: sang the national anthem for the Panthers, my hometown, Florida's
Speaker 1: hockey team. Oh say, can you see Biemesy At this point,
Speaker 1: she's only eight years old, but if you could see her,
Speaker 1: watch her when she sings this. She has this beautiful
Speaker 1: look in her eyes, and she's already connected with the audience.
Speaker 1: You can really predict she's going to go somewhere with
Speaker 1: this singing thing. And it was so fun because I
Speaker 1: used to go to the games all the time anyway
Speaker 1: as a kid. My parents would take me, and I
Speaker 1: had really bad luck. I was hit by the puck
Speaker 1: like twice, and so I got to ride the zam
Speaker 1: bony like because they felt bad because my wrist was
Speaker 1: like broken and mangled, and I was like sad. So
Speaker 1: I was already a huge Panthers fan growing up, so
Speaker 1: getting to sing and having that be my first like
Speaker 1: real gig kind of was so sweet and so special
Speaker 1: and so yeah, it was really cool. And I remember
Speaker 1: finishing and being like, I want to do it again,
Speaker 1: only you would get hit it. That is my total luck.
Speaker 1: That really set the pace here. It sure did. But really,
Speaker 1: Ariana says the bar high with everything she does. I mean,
Speaker 1: have you heard this girl saying I Have Nothing by
Speaker 1: Whitney Houston. It's one of the hardest pop songs there is. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I love that song. That's always one of my favorites.
Speaker 1: That was one of our first songs that we did
Speaker 1: together when we had our one of our first lessons, right, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1: I remember I always think of you with that song
Speaker 1: and how great it was, and I think it's one
Speaker 1: of the best songs ever written. I love that song
Speaker 1: so much. And then when David Foster came and played
Speaker 1: the piano for you that night, I remember it. For
Speaker 1: anyone who doesn't know, David Foster is a hugely successful
Speaker 1: songwriter and producer. His really long long list of collaborations
Speaker 1: includes artists like Slean, diond Whitney Houston, Michael Boblet. The
Speaker 1: list is endless. That was so insane. I remember being
Speaker 1: like so in awe and just so shook that that happened.
Speaker 1: This was obviously a way later for those listening who
Speaker 1: don't know the context. This was after thirteen and after
Speaker 1: I met Eric and he had introduced me to David
Speaker 1: and I got to sing it with him, and that
Speaker 1: was a really cool thing that was at the Forum.
Speaker 1: But She's also saying it at my house at parties.
Speaker 1: The only parties, just for context, that I've ever been
Speaker 1: to in my entire life, have all been Eric Vitro parties.
Speaker 1: Just so everyone knows, I have been to four parties
Speaker 1: in my life and they've all been Eric Vitro parties.
Speaker 1: It's not true, it is, I promise they were the best.
Speaker 1: It's so much fun. There's always so much music and
Speaker 1: so much singing and great company. So I gotta tell you,
Speaker 1: there's something really so special about seeing Ariana sing in
Speaker 1: an intimate setting, you know, in a house or in
Speaker 1: a backyard at a small party. Of course, not all
Speaker 1: of the parties we had were small and cozy. For
Speaker 1: one of them that her mom, Joan and I threw together,
Speaker 1: we actually crammed about three hundred people in a gigantic
Speaker 1: tent we put up covering my tennis court. We brought
Speaker 1: in all white sofas and chairs. We placed a gorgeous
Speaker 1: grand piano right in the center behind the pool, and
Speaker 1: the pool was filled with floating white candles. So it
Speaker 1: was pretty magical. But whether she's at a stadium with
Speaker 1: fifty thousand people or in a tent, anytime that Ariana
Speaker 1: is singing. She brings her all even when she's doing
Speaker 1: karaoke with friends. Oh my god, that was the best
Speaker 1: night of my life. That was so much fun, and
Speaker 1: I remembered I was mesmerized because well, first of all,
Speaker 1: you knew every song, every melody, every lyric, and you
Speaker 1: could improvise on them, which was amazing. But also, I
Speaker 1: don't know if I've ever seen you look more joyous.
Speaker 1: Here's the other thing, more at peace. You looked so peaceful,
Speaker 1: like ah, I wondered if you wanted to talk about
Speaker 1: it a little bit. How has that developed your voice
Speaker 1: and taste? I think the theater music gives me so
Speaker 1: much joy. That was the most fun night. It was
Speaker 1: like such a precious thing. Theater babies. It's just a
Speaker 1: different kind of nostalgia. Listening to musical theater is a
Speaker 1: different kind of fulfilling car ride, you know, like if
Speaker 1: you throw on some avenue que or wicked in the car,
Speaker 1: like you're just guaranteed to feel comforted. Most Broadway songs
Speaker 1: have longer sustained notes than pop songs. Do you can
Speaker 1: hear it here where Arianna sings the theme song from
Speaker 1: Beauty and the Beast to it can be and so
Speaker 1: in order to sing them well, people have to develop
Speaker 1: their lung capacity on their breadth support so they can
Speaker 1: hold those longer notes. Also, broadway songs usually have wider
Speaker 1: pitch ranges, so singers need to do vocal exercises and
Speaker 1: learn techniques that will increase their range. These are a
Speaker 1: few of the reasons singing these songs are so helpful
Speaker 1: and developing someone's voice. However, there is a really big
Speaker 1: difference in the way you use your voice when singing
Speaker 1: pop as opposed to Broadway. There's a humongous difference. Of course,
Speaker 1: you use a totally different part of your voice for
Speaker 1: each And of course I don't you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: Like I would never sing a Broadway song with my
Speaker 1: pop placement, but you know, I grew up singing theater,
Speaker 1: so of course that's where my heart is. I wish
Speaker 1: I got to do more of it. I wish I
Speaker 1: could go beyond Broadway. I wish I could go sing
Speaker 1: more musical songs. That's like the easiest, most fun most soaring, freeing,
Speaker 1: beautiful feeling. Ever as singing show tunes. That to me,
Speaker 1: it's like my heaven. But of course, like you can't
Speaker 1: use that placement on a pop song either you know
Speaker 1: what I mean, Like you can't sing like been here
Speaker 1: all night, like you can't like been here all day
Speaker 1: by got me a walk inside to side. Well I'm
Speaker 1: trying to hide it. I forgot the words and I
Speaker 1: wrote them, So there you go. You could do it.
Speaker 1: I just don't think it would be standing over here
Speaker 1: with your body. I don't know. Thank you. Next, Yes,
Speaker 1: d up with sean body wasn't a much you or
Speaker 1: break up with your boyfriend? Can you imagine that? And
Speaker 1: as soprano you got me some type of way. I
Speaker 1: don't know. That's not funny. I'm just a feeling this way. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: no no no, say no no, no, no, no no.
Speaker 1: This is backstage Pass with Eric Vitro and we'll be
Speaker 1: right back. Thanks for listening to backstage Pass. Let's get
Speaker 1: back to chatting with Ariana Grande, getting back to voice lessons.
Speaker 1: Remember what I said earlier, A voice teacher has to
Speaker 1: really listen to where a singer is at in the moment.
Speaker 1: They might be physically tired, or they might have oversung
Speaker 1: the day before, or they might have been doing interviews
Speaker 1: and talking for hours before their lesson. All of these
Speaker 1: factors determine what the warm up needs to look like.
Speaker 1: Sometimes a singer will tell me what's going on, but
Speaker 1: usually I can hear it in their speaking voice when
Speaker 1: they come in, and I know what we need to
Speaker 1: do that day. It could be that they're stressed, which
Speaker 1: creates a tight, constricted tone, so I'll use techniques that
Speaker 1: help them loosen up so they can sing more freely
Speaker 1: and feel more flexible. Or they might be singing too
Speaker 1: heavy in their lower range, which makes it impossible to
Speaker 1: make a smooth transition into their higher notes. There are
Speaker 1: days when I just go, all right, this is going
Speaker 1: to take a little longer. It's going to be a
Speaker 1: little bit more of a process to warm up their voice,
Speaker 1: but I always know we're going to get there. A
Speaker 1: lot of people really don't like those wide range exercises
Speaker 1: starting really low and going really high, but you do. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I like the big stretches. I like can't wait. I
Speaker 1: always want to go really really really high, and You're
Speaker 1: always like, we have to warm up your low range.
Speaker 1: You're like, we have to exercise the whole thing. Relax,
Speaker 1: And I'm always like ready to go, and she always is.
Speaker 1: She's always ready to go. But she's also a perfectionist,
Speaker 1: and that means she can be really hard on herself.
Speaker 1: Oh I am so I'm so so so brutal with that,
Speaker 1: you know you I am. I Yeah, No, I'm very
Speaker 1: I can't stand it. Yeah, But anyway, you have that
Speaker 1: incredible ear that's like ridiculous, thank you, ridiculous. It makes
Speaker 1: it very annoying to work with me. When you have
Speaker 1: a great sense of pitch, it can drive you crazy
Speaker 1: if you hear the slightest note off. I always had
Speaker 1: a very very very like picky sensitive ear, and it's
Speaker 1: kind of made me into a perfectionist and kind of
Speaker 1: this neurotic control freak. And when it comes to camping
Speaker 1: my own vocals and vocal production and arranging and producing
Speaker 1: and stuff like that, if the EQ changes even a
Speaker 1: little bit, I'll be able to tell Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 1: It's always been something that I've noticed in a big way,
Speaker 1: and I think that's been a great thing to kind
Speaker 1: of grow into having all the control over in my life.
Speaker 1: I've just been I've learned, you know, how to do
Speaker 1: it myself throughout the years and kind of like that's
Speaker 1: been really cool. My MD Johnny, he said that my
Speaker 1: ears are like a telescope, and I can analyze the
Speaker 1: surface of Mars. But it's a blassing and a curse,
Speaker 1: because like, it's wonderful to be able to articulate what
Speaker 1: I want and how exactly I want my voice to
Speaker 1: be mixed. And you know, of course, that's how you
Speaker 1: create a sound, and that's how you can control your
Speaker 1: tone and have that be a part of your sound.
Speaker 1: But I wish I could just relax. I think it
Speaker 1: can be easy for fans to forget how much work
Speaker 1: goes into being a professional singer. There's constant interviews, writing
Speaker 1: and recording sessions, rehearsals, and being on tour. Touring is
Speaker 1: really hard, and that's why so often I do FaceTime
Speaker 1: warm ups with my students on their performance days, usually
Speaker 1: in their dressing rooms before the sound checks or the shows.
Speaker 1: The schedules and traveling can be grueling. Plus think about
Speaker 1: it being around all those people. It can lead to
Speaker 1: a lot of colds and flues. Ariana does shows all
Speaker 1: the time when she's sick. To her and most singers
Speaker 1: I know, canceling a show is devastating. You don't want
Speaker 1: to disappoint yours and you know how much work everyone
Speaker 1: is put in, from the dancers, the musicians, the crew,
Speaker 1: the makeup people, the hair people, everybody. Everyone is working
Speaker 1: behind the scenes for every single show, and you don't
Speaker 1: want to let them down by not getting on the stage.
Speaker 1: But when your ear nose and throat doctor tells you
Speaker 1: that not canceling could lead to you canceling an entire tour,
Speaker 1: or could even result in permanently harming your voice, you
Speaker 1: have to cancel. You just have to. I've unfortunately had
Speaker 1: to cancel a couple of shows in the past, of course,
Speaker 1: like six years, because I think that it is physically
Speaker 1: so demanding and so strenuous to do hundreds of shows
Speaker 1: around the world, and it's incredible, but it's also physically
Speaker 1: very tasking, and between the traveling and the flying and
Speaker 1: the bus and everything, and it's like your body kind
Speaker 1: of becomes very run down. And I know for me personally,
Speaker 1: I was sick for like four out of ten months
Speaker 1: on the Sweetener tour, and thankfully I had to cancel
Speaker 1: like one show, I think or two, but one of
Speaker 1: them was because I had a tomato allergy. But thankfully
Speaker 1: the rest of it I was either healthy or able
Speaker 1: to sing around the conditions I was dealing with, which
Speaker 1: was like bronchitis for most of it. I think the
Speaker 1: reason why I was able to get through so many
Speaker 1: shows as I was when I was sick was due
Speaker 1: to our work together and our warm ups. Like I
Speaker 1: would wake up with just air coming out, and just
Speaker 1: like no sound would be able to come out, and
Speaker 1: I would I would go to my sink to brush
Speaker 1: my teeth and like start waking up my body and
Speaker 1: I would go and sometimes air would come out, and
Speaker 1: sometimes it wouldn't, and sometimes sound would come out, and
Speaker 1: sometimes it wouldn't, and I'd say, okay. I would stay
Speaker 1: silent for two more hours until I ate breakfast and
Speaker 1: I did my routine, and then I would do a
Speaker 1: little more like then it would come back a little
Speaker 1: more and then I would rest again, and then by
Speaker 1: the time it was ready for warm up time, I
Speaker 1: could get out the sounds that I was that I
Speaker 1: needed to get out. And by the end of our
Speaker 1: work together, like we would do our warm up and
Speaker 1: then we would take our little five minute breaks and
Speaker 1: I'd be silent for five minutes, and then we do
Speaker 1: another fifteen minutes and I'd be silent for another five minutes.
Speaker 1: We do another fifteen minutes, and by the time that
Speaker 1: I was ready to go on stage, my voice was
Speaker 1: making all of the sounds, like all of the notes
Speaker 1: were there. And when she's on tour, there are times
Speaker 1: when she can be thirteen or fourteen or fifteen or
Speaker 1: however many hours ahead of LA time. Eric used to
Speaker 1: wake up at crazy times when I was overseas on
Speaker 1: tour to warm me up, and it would be like
Speaker 1: the sweetest, best blessing ever. I was like, Wow, thank God,
Speaker 1: all right. Just so you understand, on the days that
Speaker 1: I did those warmups at two or three in the morning,
Speaker 1: I would actually do them from bed. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: too cold to get out of bed and go downstairs.
Speaker 1: So let me explain how I did it. I have
Speaker 1: a whole riek set up in my bedroom. I have
Speaker 1: an adjustable bed that sits me up so I'm in
Speaker 1: a good sitting position. I have a table that swings
Speaker 1: out over me with my keyboard on it and my
Speaker 1: laptop so I can see her, and we go from there.
Speaker 1: That work was really what kept me healthy for ninety
Speaker 1: nine percent of the tour, and I really am appreciative
Speaker 1: of that. I don't want to miss my opportunity to
Speaker 1: say that our work together kept me healthy and I didn't.
Speaker 1: Thank god, I've never had to cancel a tour because
Speaker 1: of a hemorrhage or been at a loss, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. So it's just been such a blessing
Speaker 1: to learn how to sing around those things with you,
Speaker 1: and to sing and have technique that has been evolving
Speaker 1: and maturing and improving over the years, and get through
Speaker 1: hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of live shows
Speaker 1: where I'm singing live for two hours at a time,
Speaker 1: and I'm very appreciative. I think a lot of that
Speaker 1: is just our work together and training to become a
Speaker 1: healthy vocalist. Thank god, I've been able to sing through
Speaker 1: things like that because it starts from the moment you
Speaker 1: wake up. You don't warm up forty five minutes before
Speaker 1: the show, and you don't you know, put it down
Speaker 1: the second you get off stage. It starts from the
Speaker 1: minute you wake up. Thank God, I think I've had
Speaker 1: pretty good luck. I thankfully you've never had to cancel
Speaker 1: massive amounts of shows or anything because of my voice.
Speaker 1: It's been such an incredible blessing, and it's been a
Speaker 1: lot of work. Yeah, it has been a lot of work,
Speaker 1: but it's been so much fun it doesn't really feel
Speaker 1: like work. And I gotta say, for better or worse,
Speaker 1: for Ariana, that spirit and drive is constantly there. I
Speaker 1: remember one night at the Forum and you did like
Speaker 1: I think it was six shows in a row, which
Speaker 1: I thought was insanity, but you were making up for
Speaker 1: one that had to be canceled, and your mother pulled
Speaker 1: me aside and said, would you please please encourage her
Speaker 1: just to rest tonight. And I went, well, of course
Speaker 1: she's gonna rest, Joan, and she went no, I don't
Speaker 1: think she is. And I said, I don't know what
Speaker 1: you're talking about. And then I went over to you
Speaker 1: and I said, now you're gonna rest your voice tight,
Speaker 1: and you looked at me and said, no, I'm going
Speaker 1: to the studio. And I was like, oh, it's one
Speaker 1: in the morning. You can't go to the studio, and
Speaker 1: you went, no, I'm going to I'm very inspired and
Speaker 1: i want to record. Yeah, you're very upset with me
Speaker 1: that night. See that's the thing. There's like it's like
Speaker 1: once it's on autopilot, like once the chords are like,
Speaker 1: oh I got it. Whatever show schmow we can do
Speaker 1: this sweeteners show whatever. Like once it's in autopilot and
Speaker 1: your body's like not recovering from bronchitis, you're just kind
Speaker 1: of like, oh, yeah, the notes are there, they'll come out.
Speaker 1: Let's go to the studio after whatever. So it's like, yeah,
Speaker 1: you're not pleased with me that night. I think I
Speaker 1: was scarred from that night though, because I just know
Speaker 1: you weren't going to go home, even though in my
Speaker 1: mind I was thinking, I can go home and rest,
Speaker 1: rest that voice. And I'm always trying to send out
Speaker 1: that mental telepathy, that vocal juju. Come on, drink a
Speaker 1: lot of water, get some rest, get twelve hours sleep tonight.
Speaker 1: But no matter how much I do it, and no
Speaker 1: matter how many times I tell someone, rest your voice,
Speaker 1: go home, don't go to that party. After party, what
Speaker 1: a bore. But you know, sometimes they don't always listen,
Speaker 1: but I do. I'm always listening, And because I listen,
Speaker 1: I'm pretty aware of how my students voices are constantly changing,
Speaker 1: hopefully for the better, hopefully improving. I was curious, though,
Speaker 1: what Ariana thought about her vocal evolution, so I asked her,
Speaker 1: how would you say your voice has changed over the years.
Speaker 1: Oh that's a good question. It's funny because I listened
Speaker 1: back to like my first album and I sound like
Speaker 1: a baby. But I don't know when when it kind
Speaker 1: of grew up. I guess even listening to old talking
Speaker 1: voice was really kind of I think tired, which my
Speaker 1: whole body was, to be fair, but I think I, yeah,
Speaker 1: I hadn't found the balance yet with my schedule and
Speaker 1: doing all that promo in the beginning, and doing all
Speaker 1: that in the first few years of the music stuff.
Speaker 1: I think my speaking voice and my singing voice were
Speaker 1: they sounded so different because I think they also were tired.
Speaker 1: I think that also strengthened my voice in a way
Speaker 1: where like now, it really takes a lot, lot, lot,
Speaker 1: lot lot more abuse to get me to that whispery,
Speaker 1: raspy point, you know. But I don't know my voice
Speaker 1: is healthier now through the years of touring and needing
Speaker 1: to push through the shows and learning healthy placement and
Speaker 1: kind of you know, having to make tain that. I
Speaker 1: think it's just been experience in years of learning and
Speaker 1: singing all these songs so many times, you know. Yeah, Well,
Speaker 1: I think I think for people listening it's a lesson
Speaker 1: in that I think, first of all, you were so
Speaker 1: young when you were doing so much, and I think
Speaker 1: that when you're young like that, your your vocal chords
Speaker 1: aren't fully developed, so they're not not reach maturity. And
Speaker 1: also when you're young, it's hard to always remind yourself,
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I should be supporting my speaking voice as
Speaker 1: well as my singing voice, and I should take some
Speaker 1: vocal rest tonight, and I should go to sleep. So
Speaker 1: I think it's hard to remember those things. So I
Speaker 1: think the combination of you learning, learning technique, your voice maturing,
Speaker 1: and like you said, you had to sing through it
Speaker 1: and get through it, and I think that also made
Speaker 1: you stronger. Yeah, that's how I look at it. And
Speaker 1: also all of our lessons and being able to work
Speaker 1: through the exhaustion together and somehow always find a way
Speaker 1: to make it all come out and feel beautiful and
Speaker 1: healthy doing it. Like I don't remember many times where
Speaker 1: I have like sunk through something and been like, oh,
Speaker 1: thank god it happened and we got through it, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. Like, I feel like we've always
Speaker 1: put in the work to make sure that even at
Speaker 1: my most exhausted points, the vocals are the least of
Speaker 1: our issues, I would agree with that that's never been
Speaker 1: an issue for us. If anything, well Ariana really had
Speaker 1: to deal with was her shift from Nickelodeon start to
Speaker 1: growing into what she wanted to be as a recording artist. Yeah,
Speaker 1: in the way beginning, like putting out the Way was
Speaker 1: really freeing and terrifying for me because I was so
Speaker 1: convinced that I had to be one thing, because people
Speaker 1: knew me from my show that I was doing from Nickelodeon,
Speaker 1: and I was playing a character that a lot of
Speaker 1: people knew me as, and I was kind of terrified
Speaker 1: to do what I actually wanted and make the music
Speaker 1: that I actually wanted to make, can have my brown
Speaker 1: hair and be you know where thigh high boots and
Speaker 1: what I wanted to be. I think that was also
Speaker 1: a really big moment for me. It was putting out
Speaker 1: my first single that like was on my first album
Speaker 1: and taking that risk, like from the way beginning too.
Speaker 1: You know. I think obviously as time went on, you
Speaker 1: got to know more and more and more of me
Speaker 1: as I lived in as the music became more and
Speaker 1: more personal. But I think even just from the very
Speaker 1: first single like that was a huge risk, you know,
Speaker 1: It was a really incredible turning point for me. It
Speaker 1: certainly worked out really well because The Way went triple
Speaker 1: platinum at the age of nineteen. Our next guest is
Speaker 1: the star of the Nickelodeon show Sam and Kat, and
Speaker 1: she already has a top ten hit. Here to make
Speaker 1: her television debut performing The Way. Please welcome Ariana Grande
Speaker 1: featuring Mac Miller. One of my favorite pictures of us
Speaker 1: is at Ellen underneath the show, and you had just
Speaker 1: done The Way, and you looked so happy when we
Speaker 1: were in the dressing room during her vocal warm up.
Speaker 1: I just knew this was going to be the beginning
Speaker 1: of a huge career. Of course, I wasn't the only one.
Speaker 1: Everybody could see it, her fans, her friends, her family,
Speaker 1: and a few minutes after it aired, Katy Perry actually
Speaker 1: texted me and said, that girl is totally awesome. I
Speaker 1: think she's the best voice in pop music. Do you
Speaker 1: remember the first year you came to LA we spent
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving together and we had it here at my house.
Speaker 1: Your mom organized the entire thing. That was when I
Speaker 1: learned Grand's an adjective. It's not just a name, it's
Speaker 1: a model to live by. Your grandparents flew out, and
Speaker 1: we were in the living room like a bunch of
Speaker 1: us after dinner, and you saying I have nothing. I
Speaker 1: played it and then I got up and your grandfather
Speaker 1: was standing in the doorway. He hadn't come in, he
Speaker 1: was just standing in the doorway observing everything. And I
Speaker 1: said to him, you must be so proud of Arianna,
Speaker 1: and he just nodded, said anyone, she's got it. And
Speaker 1: I remember that was so touching to me, and so
Speaker 1: I wanted to say to you, you've got it. We've
Speaker 1: had some really beautiful special memories together. And yeah, you
Speaker 1: and I have had like the best and most special
Speaker 1: and most challenging and most beautiful times together, and we've
Speaker 1: sung through it all. And it's been such a journey,
Speaker 1: you know, it has been, that's for sure. That's a
Speaker 1: beautiful journey. It feels like it's still the beginning in
Speaker 1: a weird, funny way, you know. And I do know,
Speaker 1: because this is just the beginning of a long and
Speaker 1: beautiful career. I tell my students all the time, just
Speaker 1: being talented isn't enough to guarantee success. It's the commitment
Speaker 1: to your craft, your work ethic, your willingness to learn
Speaker 1: and grow and to practice, and by practice I mean
Speaker 1: practice a lot. Aside from her obvious Volk gifts, it's
Speaker 1: connecting to her passion and working hard that helped Ariana
Speaker 1: build such a fantastic career. That's what creates the magic.
Speaker 1: That's what creates a true star, and isn't that true
Speaker 1: for all professions? For me, experience in our friendship growing evolved,
Speaker 1: that's been the best part of the relationship. I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm aware she's a superstar in the eyes of the world,
Speaker 1: but when we're alone, just the two of us in
Speaker 1: my music room, nothing has changed from our first days together.
Speaker 1: I hope hearing about Arianna's vocal journey has inspired you.
Speaker 1: Knowing her has definitely inspired me. Each week I'll be
Speaker 1: sharing a vocal tip, something I do with my students
Speaker 1: that you can try at home, and this week's tip
Speaker 1: is influenced by Ariana Grande herself. Stick around after the
Speaker 1: break for this week's vocal tip and more from Ariana Grande.
Speaker 1: And now for this week's vocal tip. I'm so glad
Speaker 1: Arianna talked about her warming up process because it doesn't
Speaker 1: matter how great your talent is, whether you're a singer
Speaker 1: or a dancer, an actor, if you play an instrument
Speaker 1: or play a sport. To get your best performance, you
Speaker 1: need to warm up. I always like to do breathing
Speaker 1: exercises at the top of every class. There's a million
Speaker 1: of them, but I'm going to show you one that's
Speaker 1: pretty simple and basic and easy to foul. Try this
Speaker 1: at home. Put one hand on your chest, and that's
Speaker 1: just to remind you to keep your chest up, your
Speaker 1: ribs expanded. Then put one hand on your abdominal muscles
Speaker 1: right around your belly button. Take in a deep breath,
Speaker 1: so you're going to inhale, and as you inhale, allow
Speaker 1: your abdominal muscles to slightly expand. And then when you exhale,
Speaker 1: I want you to pull your abdominal muscles in, pushing
Speaker 1: the air out. And as you're pushing the air out,
Speaker 1: you're going to make a hissing sound. So try that
Speaker 1: one more time. Take a deep breath in, allowing your
Speaker 1: abdominal muscles to expand, and then pull them in as
Speaker 1: you push the air out, making the hissing sound. When
Speaker 1: you do this, count in your head and see how
Speaker 1: long you can count for. The goal is to just
Speaker 1: keep elongating that so that you take in deeper and
Speaker 1: deeper breaths. You really fill your lungs to capacity. Start
Speaker 1: stretching them so you can take in more air every time.
Speaker 1: This way you can hold notes and songs longer or
Speaker 1: sing longer lines without having to take a breath in
Speaker 1: the middle. Now that you're connected to your breathing muscles,
Speaker 1: let's try doing some of those roller coaster slides Ariana
Speaker 1: talked about. Some people like to call them sirens. I
Speaker 1: like to do them after the breathing exercises, So let's
Speaker 1: try these at home. We're going to start on an
Speaker 1: evowel because that's really the easiest one to keep forward
Speaker 1: up front on the roof of your mouth. So what
Speaker 1: I want you to do is, first take a deep
Speaker 1: breath in and say he focusing all the vibrations of
Speaker 1: that e vowel right up front on the roof of
Speaker 1: your mouth. Try that. He Then take a deep breath,
Speaker 1: and this time we're going to slide up and down,
Speaker 1: just a short slide. He, So try to keep those
Speaker 1: vibrations right up front on the roof of your mouth,
Speaker 1: keep your mouth relaxed, and don't make it too loud.
Speaker 1: Keep it nice and easy. These should feel very very
Speaker 1: comfortable to do. Now, do a medium slide where you
Speaker 1: go a little bit higher. He Next, let's do a
Speaker 1: really long one, as high as you can comfortably, never straining,
Speaker 1: but stretching almost to the very top of your range. Good.
Speaker 1: They should feel very easy, very relaxed. You can wiggle
Speaker 1: your body around as you do them. You can wiggle
Speaker 1: your jaw just to keep everything loose and relaxed. Once
Speaker 1: you feel like you've really gotten it and mastered it
Speaker 1: on the E vowel and it feels comfortable, try other
Speaker 1: vowels like ooh, oh ah or a. Now. I'm a
Speaker 1: confirmed multitasker myself, so during my morning routine, I always
Speaker 1: try to do a few other things so I'm not
Speaker 1: wasting any time. What I do is I start my
Speaker 1: day with a little warm tea, and then I toss
Speaker 1: a Yuka shower bomb under the hot water to open
Speaker 1: up my breathing passages. I sing the roller coaster slides
Speaker 1: in the shower, because let's face it, when you're in
Speaker 1: a hot, steamy shower, you can't help but feel relaxed
Speaker 1: as you slowly warm up your voice. This process is
Speaker 1: a great step towards developing the muscle memory singing freely
Speaker 1: without tension. If you want to try out the vocal
Speaker 1: tips from this episode, I'd love to hear you. Use
Speaker 1: the hashtag Backstage Pass pod on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, or
Speaker 1: wherever you like to post. I can't wait to hear
Speaker 1: your voices. Let me know how it goes, Maybe, Ma Me,
Speaker 1: Ma Me. Backstage Pass with Eric Vitro is written and
Speaker 1: hosted by me Eric Vitro and produced by Morgan Jaffee.
Speaker 1: Katherine Giardo is our managing producer. Emily Rosstech is our
Speaker 1: associate producer. Mixed and mastered by Ben Holliday. Additional engineering
Speaker 1: help from Jacob Coorski. Mia Lobel is our VP of Content.
Speaker 1: Director of Development Justine Lange helped create the show, thanks
Speaker 1: also to Jacob Weisberg, Heather Fame, John Schnars, Carli Migliori,
Speaker 1: Christina Sullivan, Eric Sandler, Maggie Taylor, Hoole, Morano, Daniello Lacan
Speaker 1: and Royston Bazzerd. Original theme music by Jacob and Sita
Speaker 1: Steele for Premiere Music Group. We record at Resonate Studios.
Speaker 1: Fred Talisen does our videography and the photography is by
Speaker 1: Ken Sawyer. Special thanks to Michael Lewis for inspiration and
Speaker 1: the best guidance anybody could ask for, and for this episode,
Speaker 1: thanks to Peter Stengard for mixing and mastering to LuSE
Speaker 1: Grande Backstage Pass with Eric Vitro as a production of
Speaker 1: Pushkin Industries. If you like the show, please remember to share, rate,
Speaker 1: and review. I mean that really. To find more Pushkin
Speaker 1: podcast listen to the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts or wherever
Speaker 1: you listen to podcasts. Okay, and by the way, only
Speaker 1: you would have a dog that can actually sing and
Speaker 1: sing in tune. Yeah, it's like really bizarre. He sounds
Speaker 1: like he has auto tune on, but he's learned from
Speaker 1: the best. He listened to all the vocal exercises and
Speaker 1: to lus's found to his voice.