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Speaker 1: Pushkin m M good Now from hide Loe. Just say

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Speaker 1: ohoo woo woo woo. Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa

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Speaker 1: whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa. That's me with John Legend, singer, songwriter, actor,

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Speaker 1: record producer and film producer too and rolling your head

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Speaker 1: to keep your neck relax. Who rolling your shoulders? Who

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Speaker 1: moving your arms? This is backstage passed with me Eric Vitro,

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Speaker 1: And I have to say I really love my job.

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Speaker 1: I'm a vocal coach to some pretty famous singers and

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Speaker 1: on this show, I'll talk to them about their lives,

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Speaker 1: their craft and what it takes to make it really big.

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Speaker 1: So we met backstage in the green room of one

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Speaker 1: of Arianna Grande's concerts in La and I love meeting

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Speaker 1: people who I think are talented and accomplished self. Of course,

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Speaker 1: I was really excited to meet you. I was calmer

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Speaker 1: than I would have been, only because it all happened

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Speaker 1: so fast. I didn't have time to go, oh my god,

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Speaker 1: I'm meeting John Lynchend and the amazing Aaron Rosenberg, our

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Speaker 1: lawyer mutual friend introduced us. And you were so easy

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Speaker 1: to talk to, so I was thrilled when you actually

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Speaker 1: called lessons. Well, I was so impressed with Ariana's show,

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Speaker 1: and I had been thinking about as I was finishing

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Speaker 1: my bigger love album and thinking about touring and what

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Speaker 1: we were going to do for the next album. I

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Speaker 1: hadn't been coached vocally for quite a while, and I

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Speaker 1: thought it was time to brush up on my skills

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Speaker 1: and get better at preserving my voice, placing things correctly

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Speaker 1: in my voice, and just thinking about longevity for it. Right. Well,

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Speaker 1: you just answered my question because I was going to

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Speaker 1: say a lot of people would say, why in the

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Speaker 1: world would he go to a coach at this stage

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Speaker 1: of the game. Well, I had very little coaching in

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Speaker 1: my life, to be clear. So I grew up singing

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Speaker 1: in church and everything was kind of self taught in

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Speaker 1: so many ways, and you just went out there and

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Speaker 1: did it. And I thought I was really good at singing,

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Speaker 1: but I wasn't singing in a way that was healthy,

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Speaker 1: and it wasn't built for the long haul the way

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Speaker 1: I was singing back then. And so I did take

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Speaker 1: some lessons in New York early on in my career

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Speaker 1: because I was getting beat up. I was trying to

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Speaker 1: do everything to get seen and heard, and my voice

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Speaker 1: just could not handle it. So I started getting some

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Speaker 1: coaching in New York, but it was kind of in

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Speaker 1: an emergency situation, like, Oh, I need to do this

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Speaker 1: right now because I'm beating up my voice right now.

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Speaker 1: And every other time I had done coaching since then

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Speaker 1: had still been in kind of like, oh, things are

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Speaker 1: going badly or I need some emergency help. And so

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Speaker 1: for the first time with you, I wanted to do

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Speaker 1: it ahead of time, before the tour so that I

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Speaker 1: could start doing better practices and have more longevity and

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Speaker 1: just be more healthy on tour. Yeah. I think if

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Speaker 1: people have not ever done any voice lessons, they don't

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Speaker 1: realize the value in the warming up process. Absolutely, you

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Speaker 1: just learned so much. And I was just not breathing correctly.

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Speaker 1: I was not projecting correctly, and it sounded fine, but

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Speaker 1: it wasn't healthy in a way that would be sustainable.

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Speaker 1: Right well, now it's gonna be yes. John's world famous

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Speaker 1: for his songs all of Me, Love Me, Now, Ordinary People,

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Speaker 1: and many more. Do you sit down at the piano

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Speaker 1: when you're writing a song? Is to always begin at

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Speaker 1: the piano? Not every song. All of Me began at

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Speaker 1: the piano. But ordinary people another piano ballot did not

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Speaker 1: begin at the piano. It started with will I am

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Speaker 1: playing me a beat that he had made, and the

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Speaker 1: beat had an instrumental with the same chord progression as

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Speaker 1: ordinary people ended up having, and so I started singing

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Speaker 1: to the chord progression. So either way, I'm usually singing

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Speaker 1: to a chord progression, whether I'm playing it myself on

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Speaker 1: the piano or I'm playing with a guitarist, maybe sitting

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Speaker 1: down with the guitarist. I don't play guitar, but I

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Speaker 1: work with the songwriters who do, and so sometimes they'll

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Speaker 1: start strumming some chords that'll inspire me to sing a melody.

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Speaker 1: I'm usually more of the top line guy, as we

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Speaker 1: call it in our business. So the top line is

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Speaker 1: the vocal melody and the lyric. So with ordinary people

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Speaker 1: women molodin mad, I start mumbling, we' been, momlin baton bone, we'

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Speaker 1: been though, So I start scatting melodies, and those melodies

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Speaker 1: containing them rhythms, and they contain kind of a cadence

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Speaker 1: for what the lyric might sound like, but they don't

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Speaker 1: make any sense, and so eventually I go from that

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Speaker 1: mumble track to a lyric. Once I figure out what

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Speaker 1: story I want to tell, how I want to approach

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Speaker 1: the story. That melody in your voice goes so perfectly together.

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Speaker 1: Maybe it's just because I know it so well, but

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Speaker 1: really it's so beautiful and thank you so perfect. So

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Speaker 1: has there ever been a piano riff that you came

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Speaker 1: up with that ended up then going into a song

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Speaker 1: because you know, I like this drip, I'm gonna wow

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Speaker 1: so with all of me. It's interesting because we started

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Speaker 1: out with the pattern being like this on the intro,

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Speaker 1: but we ended up deciding that it would sound better

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Speaker 1: starting clean and a little straighter and less busy, and

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Speaker 1: we ended up going with why would I do without

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Speaker 1: your smarting Mountain? And it felt better and then it

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Speaker 1: felt like it drove the song in the right way.

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Speaker 1: And then we finally went to their appeggio for the chorus,

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Speaker 1: Who's all of Me loves all of you, love y'all

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Speaker 1: curves and all your edges. You know, Yeah, when that

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Speaker 1: opens up into that car, it's just amazing. So that's

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Speaker 1: with a friend of mine, Toby gad You, and partly

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Speaker 1: getting in his studio house studio and sitting on the

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Speaker 1: piano and trying to figure it out. And it's funny.

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Speaker 1: My manager said, you should write a song to Chrissy

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Speaker 1: that's kind of like She's always a woman, the classic

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Speaker 1: Billy Joel song. And this was my take on that prompt. Amazing.

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Speaker 1: How cool that that one suggestion to write a song

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Speaker 1: about your wife created such an iconic song now, I

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Speaker 1: know partly because Toby's told me that song has a

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Speaker 1: lot of distinctions and awards, right, Oh, I mean, it's

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Speaker 1: one of the biggest songs in the history of music.

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Speaker 1: Tell us the statistics. I think there's only a few

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Speaker 1: songs in the world that have gone thirteen times platinum,

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Speaker 1: and it's one of them. And that's huge and of

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Speaker 1: course the biggest song in my career, but it would

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Speaker 1: be the biggest song for anybody because they're pretty much

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Speaker 1: and it was my first number one. I didn't know

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Speaker 1: that first and only so far. Well, we've still got

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Speaker 1: plenty of time. It's such a beautiful, beautiful song. Thank you.

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Speaker 1: And let's not forget John has a ton of awards already.

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Speaker 1: I mean he's an egot, which means he has an

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Speaker 1: Emmy and oscar a Tony and twelve Grammys, but no

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Speaker 1: big surprise. I mean, he has incredible talent, an amazing

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Speaker 1: work ethic, and he's always juggling a million things. I

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Speaker 1: know more than anybody else. How busy you are. Every

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Speaker 1: single time we do a lesson, you are on your

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Speaker 1: way to something. Yeah, I stay pretty busy. I stay

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Speaker 1: booked like constantly. So obviously your piano skills have been

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Speaker 1: a huge part of your career, right, it goes with

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Speaker 1: your singing and your songwriting. Sure, so tell me a

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Speaker 1: little bit about your training. Well, my training I started

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Speaker 1: very young. We had a piano in our home, and

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Speaker 1: then I was at church all the time. My grandmother

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Speaker 1: was the church organist, my mother was the choir director,

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Speaker 1: my father played the drums for the choir and sang

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Speaker 1: with the choir, and then my grandfather was the pastor.

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Speaker 1: So I would be at church all the time. We

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Speaker 1: were there for Sunday morning service, Sunday evening service, Bible study, choir, rehearsal,

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Speaker 1: prayer meeting, revival service. Whenever there was something at the church.

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Speaker 1: Our family was running the service and doing something. And

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Speaker 1: so I just grew up around a bunch of people

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Speaker 1: who made music all the time, and most of it

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Speaker 1: was gospel music. But also I started taking piano lessons,

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Speaker 1: I learned the basics of music theory, and parallel, I

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Speaker 1: was learning gospel music from my grandmother. And in the

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Speaker 1: Menecostal church you do still use the hymno and read

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Speaker 1: some but a lot of it is by ear, and

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Speaker 1: you could be playing in any key and someone could

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Speaker 1: randomly start a song, and so you'd have to have

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Speaker 1: some improvisational skills and the ability to just pick up

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Speaker 1: what's going on, hear it and start playing along. And

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Speaker 1: so I really learned how to do that in the church,

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Speaker 1: and my grandmother was my main mentor and teacher for that. Wow. Well,

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Speaker 1: you know that explains a lot about why you are

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Speaker 1: so comfortable and so good and to be able to

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Speaker 1: change the keys. Yeah, I'm better at some keys than others.

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Speaker 1: But yeah, we had to be flexible and dynamic, and

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Speaker 1: the services could take many directions, and so we had

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Speaker 1: to be able to roll with it, and so I

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Speaker 1: developed a lot of my musical skills in that space.

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Speaker 1: Do you remember any of the first hymns that you

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Speaker 1: played all those years ago? Oh? Sure, well, of course,

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Speaker 1: the classic Beautiful. That was beautiful, That was great, and

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Speaker 1: it had its own John legend and the church and

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Speaker 1: there had a little bit of everything. And that makes

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Speaker 1: sense because, like John said, he was raised with gospel

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Speaker 1: music and his grandmother. One time she wasn't going to

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Speaker 1: be able to be at service, and the woman that

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Speaker 1: was her backup wasn't going to be able to be there,

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Speaker 1: and she taught me a couple of songs that I

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Speaker 1: had to learn for that specific service for the choir.

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Speaker 1: And that was the first time I ever was just

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Speaker 1: thrust out there in front of the whole church and

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Speaker 1: asked to play when it really mattered, and that was

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Speaker 1: pretty cool. Were you nervous, yes, but you did a

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Speaker 1: good job. I did, okay. Did you get a lot

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Speaker 1: of praise? Yes? And I was young, so I think

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Speaker 1: they would have been happy with whatever I did. I

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Speaker 1: was like, ey, well, because you know, it's my observation

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Speaker 1: that people who have done really well successful in their

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Speaker 1: life seem to always have a moment or an incident

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Speaker 1: in their life where they're praised when they're pretty young.

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Speaker 1: Oh yeah, and that sort of becomes the engine for

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Speaker 1: their whole life. I think that's a big part of

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Speaker 1: why you start to develop a love for performing, because

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Speaker 1: you get all this affirmation and when people tell you

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Speaker 1: they love it and they cheer for you and they

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Speaker 1: support you, and they make you feel like you did

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Speaker 1: something great, it makes you, you know, want more of that.

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Speaker 1: I definitely think that's a big part of why I

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Speaker 1: enjoy performing. It isn't just for the art of creating

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Speaker 1: the song. It's for that feeling of joy I get

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Speaker 1: when I bring other people joy and they give it

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Speaker 1: back to me. Right, So, would you say that church

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Speaker 1: moment was probably more inspiring to than even the piano recital, Like, yeah,

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Speaker 1: it's more fuel And when you did it at church,

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Speaker 1: it felt like you were doing it for people whose

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Speaker 1: judgment you trusted and you wanted to impress them. And

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Speaker 1: so whenever I would get affirmation in that setting, it

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Speaker 1: felt special. Music is so important to our services that

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Speaker 1: when you do it right and you feel like you

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Speaker 1: did it right and the audience affirms that, it feels

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Speaker 1: like you wont you want a battle there? Wow? I've

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Speaker 1: never heard anybody say it like that. So if the

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Speaker 1: church was clearly your biggest influence when you were young,

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Speaker 1: who were your influences as you got older? Well, Stevie wonder,

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Speaker 1: I mean it's almost too obvious, but growing up. He

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Speaker 1: was such an iconic R and B singer songwriter who

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Speaker 1: had written such beautiful songs of every type, you know,

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Speaker 1: whether it was you know, classic ballads or beautiful up

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Speaker 1: tempo songs like you know, Superstition, or just the full range.

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Speaker 1: One of the great solo artists of all time, and

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Speaker 1: in my estimation, possibly the greatest. Prince is right up there,

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Speaker 1: and there's a few others, but there's very few solo

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Speaker 1: artists that have had the longevity and the awesomeness that

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Speaker 1: Stevie's had over his career. And as a singer songwriter

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Speaker 1: of you know, the same genre and with a lot

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Speaker 1: of the same influences, he's been such a big influence

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Speaker 1: to me. I also was very influenced by Nat King Cole.

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Speaker 1: I I love that crooning, that phrasing, that style that

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Speaker 1: he brought to the songs that he performed. And I've

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Speaker 1: been listening to him since I was a teenager, and

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Speaker 1: you know, even when that wasn't really in vogue for

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Speaker 1: someone my age to like him. I was more of

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Speaker 1: an old soul and I loved that style and you

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Speaker 1: can hear that influence in John songs. This is Nat

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Speaker 1: King Cole singing unforgettable, that's what you you are, and

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Speaker 1: you hear some of his phrasing in the way I

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Speaker 1: will phrase certain things, especially with this one, the Christmas

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Speaker 1: song ches nice roasting on an open fire. But even

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Speaker 1: in pop music and R and B music that I

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Speaker 1: make mainly for a living, I'll still incorporate some of

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Speaker 1: that phrasing into genres that you wouldn't associate it with

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Speaker 1: as much. So he was an influence. Marvin Gay is

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Speaker 1: a big influence for me, both as a vocalist, as

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Speaker 1: a creative and trying to find ways to speak to

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Speaker 1: the moment that we all live in. He's just iconic

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Speaker 1: to me as a as a soul singer. A good

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Speaker 1: example is Marvin Gay's What's going on and pick it

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Speaker 1: sidish with rough touch, and then you can hear the

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Speaker 1: inspiration with John song Glory. When the war is wa

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Speaker 1: we will be Shane. We will be Shane who. I

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Speaker 1: like him as a singer better than I like Stevie.

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Speaker 1: I think Stevie had a more robust and prolific career

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Speaker 1: over a longer period of time, of course, but as

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Speaker 1: a vocalist I like Marvin a little more. And then

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Speaker 1: another vocalist I love is Nina Simone. I love her tone,

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Speaker 1: her expressiveness, her creativity as a pianist. She's just like stunning.

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Speaker 1: I mean, just listen to the piano and Nina Simones

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Speaker 1: I put a spell on you. I put a smell

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Speaker 1: on you cause your man and your daughter is named Yes.

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Speaker 1: And my daughter's named Luna Simone, and I named her

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Speaker 1: with Nina in mind. And then Aretha Franklin is a

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Speaker 1: big influence to me. My grandmother actually, her playing style

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Speaker 1: reminded me of Aretha's playing style. They both grew up

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Speaker 1: in the Midwest. My grandmother was from both Michigan and Ohio.

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Speaker 1: She grew up as a daughter of a preacher, a pastor,

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Speaker 1: just like Aretha did, and stylistically they had a lot

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Speaker 1: in common. So you will hear some of the flourishes

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Speaker 1: that I would do that are reminiscent of my grandmother,

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Speaker 1: but also similar to some things that Aretha would do

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Speaker 1: on the piano because of that similar background. Can you

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Speaker 1: give an example of what I mean, Even the way

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Speaker 1: I played Amazing Grace in some ways that was like

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Speaker 1: reminiscent of that, but just kind of that kind of thing.

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Speaker 1: It's kind of like a little honky tonk, a little gospel,

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Speaker 1: but it's got kind of that old school flavor to it.

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Speaker 1: Listen to Aretha Singer version of Amazing Grace, Amazing Grace,

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Speaker 1: the the Shine, and I still carry a lot of

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Speaker 1: that with me in the way that I played the piano.

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Speaker 1: What about because we've talked about falsetto that the difference

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Speaker 1: between Marvin Gaye's falsetto Curtis Mayfield. Yes, can you talk

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Speaker 1: a little bit about that, because I found that really

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Speaker 1: interesting you listened so closely that one has a little

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Speaker 1: more vibrato, Yes, like Curtiss is a little thinner and

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Speaker 1: more vibrato, so talking or something with the moon shining

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Speaker 1: by name bound, you know, it's like it's a little

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Speaker 1: softer and a little more gentle like when Curtis Mayfield

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Speaker 1: sings super Fly, And then I think Marvin could wail

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Speaker 1: a little more with his falsetto. Oh it's rounder yea yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 1: you know that kind of vibe. You can hear it

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Speaker 1: when Marvin gay sings Gotta Give It Up. And then

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Speaker 1: some of the other great falsetto singers. I think Prince

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Speaker 1: is obviously one of them, and his is a little

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Speaker 1: like more funky. He would do a little more cry

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Speaker 1: in his voice and like a little more like shriek,

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Speaker 1: and it's a little more like dangerous sounding. I just

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Speaker 1: won't you. Oh it's the time, yo. I think Marvin

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Speaker 1: Gay kind of that was one of the first singers

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Speaker 1: I think where I used that expression, telling you that

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Speaker 1: yawn sensation. And Nina, yes, yeah, you know, Nina Simone

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Speaker 1: had that as well. And Smokey was more like Curtis.

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Speaker 1: I think Smokey Robinson more kind of whispery, a ready sound,

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Speaker 1: a little thinner, kind of a gentle vibrato baby. So

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Speaker 1: those are some of the icons I think of singing

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Speaker 1: in falsetto. And I gotta say, as obvious as it is,

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Speaker 1: it needs to be said with that falsetto. John is

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Speaker 1: on that list too. When we come back, he and

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Speaker 1: I will talk about our voice lessons together and his

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Speaker 1: work on the voice as a vocal coach. All right

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Speaker 1: here on backstage Pass with Eric Vitro, and now more

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Speaker 1: of my conversation with John Legend here on backstage Pass

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Speaker 1: with Eric Vietrow. So let me ask you this. Since

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Speaker 1: we've been working together, have there been any surprises? Are

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Speaker 1: there things that maybe you didn't expect to learn. Durner

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Speaker 1: Voice Lessons, Well, I was doing things a little bit

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Speaker 1: wrong the whole time, you know, going into our learning.

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Speaker 1: And I won't blame it on past teachers, because I

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Speaker 1: think I just forgot a lot of what they taught me.

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Speaker 1: But I feel like I'm singing with better technique than

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Speaker 1: I ever did. I've spent more time and energy and

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Speaker 1: during downtime. I think it's important because when I was

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Speaker 1: doing it, like in the middle of a tour, when

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Speaker 1: I'm already stressed and tired, like that wasn't the right

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Speaker 1: time to do it. The fact that I've been doing

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Speaker 1: it during times when I haven't been stressed and the

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Speaker 1: pressure hasn't been high, I think it made me really

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Speaker 1: focus on it more and learn more from it and

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Speaker 1: be able to work it into my performance is better

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Speaker 1: for people listening. Do you have any rituals before the shows?

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Speaker 1: I mean, obviously now the warm up, the vocal warm up. Else,

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Speaker 1: I drink a lot of water and tea and try

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Speaker 1: to steam up or humidify or whatever we can do.

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Speaker 1: And then I like to have a little food right

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Speaker 1: before my show too. I don't know if that's advised

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Speaker 1: by the Eric Vitro school of But I like to

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Speaker 1: have like hot food because it makes me feel like

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Speaker 1: less dry. Huh. I would say, just as long as

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Speaker 1: you're not over eating to your stuff, do you don't

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Speaker 1: want to be stuff, because then you can be tired.

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Speaker 1: I like to eat like a little roasted chicken, like

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Speaker 1: a little something with a little uh perfect, a little

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Speaker 1: a little grease, but not too much, and like it

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Speaker 1: just kind of warms me up. Yeah, no, that's perfect.

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Speaker 1: Roasted chicken, roasted vegetables. Yes, I do that. Yeah, things

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Speaker 1: like that I think are really helpful. It helps me

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Speaker 1: feel a little warmer. And also not to get too graphic,

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Speaker 1: but when you have a little food in your stomach,

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Speaker 1: you do not to keep running to the bathroom. Yeah, exactly,

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Speaker 1: Yeah that no, I mean that is a huge key

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Speaker 1: for people. You're drinking all this water and if you

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Speaker 1: don't have any food to absorb it, it's like, oh

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Speaker 1: I gotta go yep every twenty minutes. Yeah, And I

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Speaker 1: know people say, oh my got it ruined my show

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Speaker 1: because that's all I thought about. Yeah, you know, do

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Speaker 1: you think is there anything you would say? The word

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Speaker 1: sacrifice is too strong? But you know, sacrifice things that

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Speaker 1: you've done to take care of your voice or your hands. Well,

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Speaker 1: part of it's not talking a lot during the tour,

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Speaker 1: and it's frustrating to everybody around you, your significant other,

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Speaker 1: your kids. I just talk way less and try to

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Speaker 1: preserve the health of my voice. I don't drink when

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Speaker 1: I'm on tour alcohol. I try to manage my asset reflux,

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Speaker 1: all those things that could get in the way of

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Speaker 1: you putting on a great performance. So you know, I'm

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Speaker 1: I'm much more strict with myself. Yeah, I would say

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Speaker 1: that this tour you probably can talk a little bit

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Speaker 1: more than maybe you have in the past, as long

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Speaker 1: as you keep the placement upfront, right, we've talked about

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Speaker 1: and even more up your speaking voice in the morning

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Speaker 1: if you have to do an interview, right, so you're ready.

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Speaker 1: You start supporting your speaking voice, just like you're supporting

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Speaker 1: your singing voice. Right. So if you do those things

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Speaker 1: during the day when you do talk, what will happen

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Speaker 1: is you'll start feeling like you're actually warming up your

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Speaker 1: singing voice. What if I don't want to talk, well,

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Speaker 1: then let me rephrase that. You know what, John, If

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Speaker 1: I were you, if your wife is listening, you should

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Speaker 1: not be talking at all silent. I'm kidding. I love

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Speaker 1: working with John and our Voice lessons, but I also

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Speaker 1: love watching him on the singing competition show The Voice,

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Speaker 1: where he's a vocal coach himself. Have our lessons influence

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Speaker 1: in anyway? Yeah? Absolutely. I can hear what people are

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Speaker 1: doing wrong and try to give them better advice to

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Speaker 1: help them do better. And frankly, I'm around some of

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Speaker 1: your students as well, including Ariana Grande and my guest

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Speaker 1: mentor on this season is Camila Cabello, who's another student

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Speaker 1: of yours, and I hear your advice through them too.

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Speaker 1: Your influential my friend. Oh John, thank you for saying that. Wow,

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Speaker 1: that means so much to me. I really appreciate that

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Speaker 1: coming from you. But let me ask you something. Did

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Speaker 1: you ever want to be on a show like The

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Speaker 1: Voice when you were young? When I was seven eight,

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Speaker 1: I would watch Star Search from Hollywood be entertainment capital

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Speaker 1: of the world. I would watch the Grammys and see

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Speaker 1: artists on television doing what I wanted to do, and

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Speaker 1: I envisioned it for myself. I even submitted a Star

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Speaker 1: Search audition tape when I was like fourteen fifteen. I

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Speaker 1: really wanted to be discovered in any way that I

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Speaker 1: could figure out how they didn't take, And they didn't take,

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Speaker 1: Oh well, I bet they're suffering now. I won the

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Speaker 1: Local Like competition. It was at our new mall. They

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Speaker 1: thought one of their promotions could be to have like

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Speaker 1: a local star search. I won the Low Cool competition.

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Speaker 1: It got me five hundred dollars worth of a gift

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Speaker 1: certificate to the mall, and so I bought like back

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Speaker 1: to school clothes there and the tape from that performance

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Speaker 1: was submitted to the national television show and I didn't

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Speaker 1: make it. Oh well, it's worked out. I'm doing just fine.

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Speaker 1: But you know, I know what it's like to be

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Speaker 1: that young artist like waiting for that break, and you

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Speaker 1: want to find it wherever you can get it. And

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Speaker 1: talent shows may not be the best path for everyone,

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Speaker 1: but it's a path. And I love working with artists

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Speaker 1: that come my way on the voice. That's why you're

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Speaker 1: so empathetic to them. Then, absolutely, and I think most

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Speaker 1: of the coaches are. We all know what it's like

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Speaker 1: to have this kind of dream, and we know how

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Speaker 1: fortunate we feel to be able to do what we

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Speaker 1: love to do for a living and do it on

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Speaker 1: such a big stage, and also be able to use

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Speaker 1: what we've learned to help somebody else. What's the most

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Speaker 1: rewarding part of the coaching experience for you? It's firing

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Speaker 1: working with these young artists one seeing their excitement to

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Speaker 1: thinking about their career as not them. You know, it

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Speaker 1: helps me kind of stand back and look at my

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Speaker 1: own career because we have to pick songs for them.

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Speaker 1: So it's an A and R function to an extent.

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Speaker 1: A and R stands for artists in repertoire. It's the

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Speaker 1: division of a record label that does talent scouting and

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Speaker 1: signs artists. And once an artist is signed, an A

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Speaker 1: and R REP will guide the artist's career, helping to

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Speaker 1: pick which songs would be best to make it onto

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Speaker 1: their albums. And we think about what's going to be

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Speaker 1: the most effective vehicle for their voice. And so when

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Speaker 1: I think about the songs that are pitched to me,

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00:27:50,716 --> 00:27:52,436
Speaker 1: you know, because I write a lot of my songs,

428
00:27:52,676 --> 00:27:55,836
Speaker 1: most of my songs or co write them, but sometimes

429
00:27:55,836 --> 00:27:58,636
Speaker 1: I take songs that are outside songs. Sometimes I'll take

430
00:27:58,676 --> 00:28:02,276
Speaker 1: them and rewrite them, but still they originated somewhere else.

431
00:28:02,596 --> 00:28:04,596
Speaker 1: And so I think I have a better A and

432
00:28:04,756 --> 00:28:07,956
Speaker 1: R ear than I had before because I'm in the

433
00:28:07,996 --> 00:28:11,876
Speaker 1: business of helping these artists pick the best songs for

434
00:28:11,956 --> 00:28:15,676
Speaker 1: them to perform in these high pressure moments. Right wow,

435
00:28:15,956 --> 00:28:17,796
Speaker 1: I was going to ask you what you would learn

436
00:28:17,876 --> 00:28:20,796
Speaker 1: from these kids, but that's partly right there too. That's

437
00:28:20,836 --> 00:28:23,396
Speaker 1: a big one. And then if you think about what

438
00:28:24,036 --> 00:28:31,116
Speaker 1: makes artists go from good voices, good singers to compelling artists,

439
00:28:31,636 --> 00:28:34,516
Speaker 1: you also see what works and what doesn't work, you know,

440
00:28:35,356 --> 00:28:38,436
Speaker 1: because there are plenty people that can sing, But how

441
00:28:38,676 --> 00:28:42,156
Speaker 1: do you stand out? How do you make yourself interesting

442
00:28:42,196 --> 00:28:46,236
Speaker 1: and make yourself connect with people, both as a writer,

443
00:28:46,316 --> 00:28:48,516
Speaker 1: as a creative, but also as someone who knows how

444
00:28:48,556 --> 00:28:51,876
Speaker 1: to touch the zeitgeist and figure out what people want

445
00:28:51,876 --> 00:28:53,836
Speaker 1: to hear and how they want to hear it, and

446
00:28:53,876 --> 00:28:56,516
Speaker 1: how to get that to them. Do you have a

447
00:28:56,556 --> 00:28:59,876
Speaker 1: piece of advice that some other artists when you were

448
00:28:59,956 --> 00:29:02,996
Speaker 1: just coming up gave you. That was great advice, Quincy

449
00:29:03,076 --> 00:29:08,076
Speaker 1: Jones said, still from the best, which means that there's

450
00:29:08,116 --> 00:29:11,236
Speaker 1: nothing new under the sun. We've heard all these other songs.

451
00:29:11,956 --> 00:29:14,676
Speaker 1: There's only so many notes on the piano. There's twelve

452
00:29:15,076 --> 00:29:18,596
Speaker 1: in my time, and only so many chord patterns, And

453
00:29:18,676 --> 00:29:22,276
Speaker 1: so when you're creating something, you do want it to

454
00:29:22,316 --> 00:29:24,276
Speaker 1: sound fresh and new, but you're always going to be

455
00:29:24,276 --> 00:29:26,956
Speaker 1: relying on things that already existed, and there's going to

456
00:29:26,996 --> 00:29:30,156
Speaker 1: be things that are familiar about them. And it's okay

457
00:29:30,156 --> 00:29:34,036
Speaker 1: to have influences that when you begin your career copy

458
00:29:34,116 --> 00:29:36,716
Speaker 1: you know you're going to learn from these people, learn

459
00:29:36,756 --> 00:29:40,236
Speaker 1: from their music, and then hopefully develop something new that's

460
00:29:40,276 --> 00:29:44,956
Speaker 1: a unique combination of all those experiences and influences that

461
00:29:44,996 --> 00:29:48,876
Speaker 1: you have. Right right well, Quincy Jones, I would take

462
00:29:48,916 --> 00:29:51,716
Speaker 1: anything he had to say, absolutely. I love Quincy Jones.

463
00:29:52,276 --> 00:29:55,036
Speaker 1: If you had just one piece of advice to give

464
00:29:55,436 --> 00:29:58,396
Speaker 1: these kids, what would that be. I think the biggest

465
00:29:58,396 --> 00:30:00,436
Speaker 1: thing is to know who you are and who you

466
00:30:00,476 --> 00:30:02,636
Speaker 1: want to be to the world, and why what you're

467
00:30:02,676 --> 00:30:06,396
Speaker 1: offering is urgent to the world. Because being a good

468
00:30:06,396 --> 00:30:09,116
Speaker 1: singer is not urgent. You need to have something else

469
00:30:09,236 --> 00:30:12,156
Speaker 1: that you're offering to the world that's urgent. I think

470
00:30:12,196 --> 00:30:14,636
Speaker 1: you could hear it in both John's words and his voice.

471
00:30:14,956 --> 00:30:18,876
Speaker 1: He's articulate and smart and talented, but he's also really

472
00:30:18,996 --> 00:30:22,436
Speaker 1: humble and really grounded and that's what makes him such

473
00:30:22,476 --> 00:30:24,796
Speaker 1: a pleasure to be around and to work with. And

474
00:30:24,876 --> 00:30:26,996
Speaker 1: I think what he said about needing to know who

475
00:30:27,036 --> 00:30:28,876
Speaker 1: you are and who you want to be in the

476
00:30:28,916 --> 00:30:32,276
Speaker 1: world is great advice. That's something that we all have

477
00:30:32,396 --> 00:30:36,756
Speaker 1: to work on, especially an artist. His advice was perfect,

478
00:30:37,116 --> 00:30:39,076
Speaker 1: know who you are and who you want to be.

479
00:30:46,476 --> 00:30:49,516
Speaker 1: Don't go anywhere backstage. Pass will be right back with

480
00:30:49,596 --> 00:30:51,796
Speaker 1: the vocal tip of the week and even more from

481
00:30:51,876 --> 00:30:59,116
Speaker 1: John Legend. Stay tuned, and now it's time for this

482
00:30:59,156 --> 00:31:08,796
Speaker 1: week's vocal tip. I think that almost all vocal exercises

483
00:31:08,836 --> 00:31:12,036
Speaker 1: can be beneficial as long as they're done correctly. The

484
00:31:12,196 --> 00:31:15,276
Speaker 1: same exercise can help your voice or hurt your voice,

485
00:31:15,516 --> 00:31:18,436
Speaker 1: depending on the way you sing it. The number one

486
00:31:18,516 --> 00:31:22,476
Speaker 1: thing to remember is that all vocal exercises should always

487
00:31:22,516 --> 00:31:26,076
Speaker 1: feel comfortable. I can't stress that enough. They should never

488
00:31:26,156 --> 00:31:29,836
Speaker 1: feel tight or strained or constricted in your throat. You

489
00:31:29,956 --> 00:31:32,476
Speaker 1: heard me and John Legend warming up with this melody.

490
00:31:40,516 --> 00:31:43,036
Speaker 1: It's a great melody to create a nice flow, But

491
00:31:43,156 --> 00:31:45,636
Speaker 1: the real magic comes in when you start moving your

492
00:31:45,676 --> 00:31:48,596
Speaker 1: body and ways to free it from any tension. Try

493
00:31:48,716 --> 00:31:51,316
Speaker 1: rolling your shoulders all the way around when practicing to

494
00:31:51,396 --> 00:31:55,116
Speaker 1: keep them relaxed or moving your arms around freely. There

495
00:31:55,196 --> 00:31:56,876
Speaker 1: is no right or wrong way of doing it. Just

496
00:31:56,956 --> 00:32:00,476
Speaker 1: keep them loose. Try wiggling your entire body around as

497
00:32:00,516 --> 00:32:04,116
Speaker 1: you sing. Also, try lifting your arms in the air

498
00:32:04,436 --> 00:32:06,996
Speaker 1: and then dropping them as you sing your highest note

499
00:32:07,116 --> 00:32:09,956
Speaker 1: on an exercise or on a song. Do this with

500
00:32:10,036 --> 00:32:14,956
Speaker 1: a sigh ah, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Right there, drop

501
00:32:14,996 --> 00:32:17,996
Speaker 1: your arms on the high note, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,

502
00:32:18,076 --> 00:32:20,996
Speaker 1: whoa whoa, like you're sighing, like you're just letting go.

503
00:32:21,596 --> 00:32:23,996
Speaker 1: That will help you develop a muscle memory of letting

504
00:32:24,036 --> 00:32:26,996
Speaker 1: go when you sing the high notes. Try all of

505
00:32:26,996 --> 00:32:31,556
Speaker 1: these moves when singing your favorite vocal exercises. Now, you

506
00:32:31,676 --> 00:32:40,836
Speaker 1: also heard John and I warming up his falsetto. He

507
00:32:41,036 --> 00:32:43,916
Speaker 1: obviously has mastered that part of his range and uses

508
00:32:43,916 --> 00:32:46,836
Speaker 1: it all the time in his music. I always have

509
00:32:46,956 --> 00:32:49,716
Speaker 1: my students practice singing in that voice during every session.

510
00:32:50,276 --> 00:32:52,836
Speaker 1: Even if you don't use it now, I just know

511
00:32:52,916 --> 00:32:55,276
Speaker 1: there's going to be a time when the only way

512
00:32:55,316 --> 00:32:58,116
Speaker 1: you can get that special or unique sound or vibe

513
00:32:58,436 --> 00:33:01,316
Speaker 1: is singing in your falsetto voice. If that range is

514
00:33:01,316 --> 00:33:04,396
Speaker 1: difficult for you, try doing some short slides up and

515
00:33:04,436 --> 00:33:07,516
Speaker 1: down in that range. For example, for me, it would

516
00:33:07,556 --> 00:33:14,036
Speaker 1: be here, who try it on he or who ho

517
00:33:14,756 --> 00:33:18,236
Speaker 1: ha or hay, and see which vowel feels the easiest

518
00:33:18,316 --> 00:33:21,236
Speaker 1: and start with that one. I'm using the h before

519
00:33:21,276 --> 00:33:25,076
Speaker 1: each vowel to get the air flowing forward. Little by little,

520
00:33:25,156 --> 00:33:29,276
Speaker 1: start stretching higher and then lower each time. Do this

521
00:33:29,436 --> 00:33:33,276
Speaker 1: every single day. Once you're comfortable doing the slides, it's

522
00:33:33,316 --> 00:33:36,156
Speaker 1: time for you to start doing some falsetto exercises on

523
00:33:36,316 --> 00:33:39,956
Speaker 1: actual notes. This is a really simple pattern you could do.

524
00:33:40,076 --> 00:33:48,476
Speaker 1: It's just three notes up and down, starting the easiest

525
00:33:48,476 --> 00:33:51,396
Speaker 1: part of your range, and then go up by half

526
00:33:51,396 --> 00:34:10,716
Speaker 1: steps for example, and then when you feel you've gone

527
00:34:10,716 --> 00:34:13,676
Speaker 1: as high as you can without straining, start going back

528
00:34:13,716 --> 00:34:31,396
Speaker 1: down in half steps. Go as low as you can comfortably,

529
00:34:31,476 --> 00:34:34,276
Speaker 1: and then stop. Little by little you're gonna stretch a

530
00:34:34,276 --> 00:34:37,236
Speaker 1: little higher and a little bit lower and really increase

531
00:34:37,316 --> 00:34:40,716
Speaker 1: that range. If you want to share your falsetto, I'd

532
00:34:40,756 --> 00:34:42,876
Speaker 1: love to hear you, Or if you come up with

533
00:34:42,916 --> 00:34:45,156
Speaker 1: some of your own moves to loosen up your body,

534
00:34:45,276 --> 00:34:49,236
Speaker 1: you can share them too. Use the hashtag backstage pass

535
00:34:49,356 --> 00:34:53,356
Speaker 1: pod on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok or wherever you like to post.

536
00:34:53,636 --> 00:34:55,796
Speaker 1: I can't wait to see what you come up with.

537
00:34:56,196 --> 00:35:08,956
Speaker 1: Maybe baby, maybe baby, maybe maybe maybe may. Backstage Pass

538
00:35:09,156 --> 00:35:11,796
Speaker 1: with Eric Vitro is written and hosted by me Eric

539
00:35:11,956 --> 00:35:16,196
Speaker 1: Vitro and produced by Morgan Jaffee, Katherine Giardo as our

540
00:35:16,236 --> 00:35:20,196
Speaker 1: show runner, Emily Rosstek as our associate producer, Mixed and

541
00:35:20,276 --> 00:35:24,316
Speaker 1: mastered by Ben Tolliday. Additional engineering help from Jacob Gorski,

542
00:35:24,676 --> 00:35:28,436
Speaker 1: Mia LaBelle as our executive producer. Our development team Leetal

543
00:35:28,556 --> 00:35:32,156
Speaker 1: Mullad and Justine Lane helped create the show. Thanks also

544
00:35:32,276 --> 00:35:37,276
Speaker 1: to Jacob Weisberg, Heather Faine, John Schnars, Carli Migliori, Christina Sullivan,

545
00:35:37,516 --> 00:35:42,476
Speaker 1: Eric Sandler, Maggie Taylor, Nicole Morano, Daniello Lucan and Royston Bazzer.

546
00:35:42,996 --> 00:35:46,076
Speaker 1: Original theme music by Jacob and Sita Steele for Premier

547
00:35:46,196 --> 00:35:50,116
Speaker 1: Music Group. We record at Resonate Studios. Fred Talackson does

548
00:35:50,156 --> 00:35:54,036
Speaker 1: our videography and the photography is by Ken Sawyer. Special

549
00:35:54,156 --> 00:35:57,236
Speaker 1: thanks to Michael Lewis for his inspiration, his friendship, and

550
00:35:57,356 --> 00:36:00,956
Speaker 1: the best guidance anyone could ask for. Backstage Passed with

551
00:36:01,156 --> 00:36:04,356
Speaker 1: Eric Vitro as a production of Pushkin Industries, If you

552
00:36:04,516 --> 00:36:07,396
Speaker 1: like the show, please remember to share, rate, and review.

553
00:36:07,876 --> 00:36:10,556
Speaker 1: I mean that really. If you love this show and

554
00:36:10,676 --> 00:36:15,116
Speaker 1: others from Pushkin Industries, consider subscribing to Pushkin Plus. Pushkin

555
00:36:15,156 --> 00:36:18,516
Speaker 1: Plus is a podcast subscription that offers bonus content and

556
00:36:18,716 --> 00:36:21,756
Speaker 1: uninterrupted listening for four ninety nine a month. Look for

557
00:36:21,876 --> 00:36:26,636
Speaker 1: Pushkin Plus on Apple podcast subscriptions. To find more Pushkin

558
00:36:26,716 --> 00:36:30,836
Speaker 1: podcast listen to the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

559
00:36:30,996 --> 00:36:40,916
Speaker 1: you listen to podcasts, and now for your listening pleasure,

560
00:36:41,156 --> 00:37:09,676
Speaker 1: The One, the Only mister John Legend all right, could

561
00:37:09,676 --> 00:37:12,916
Speaker 1: I get a cocktail that was so relaxing