Haruko, Mahwah

I have been living in New Jersey five years. I am Japanese.
When I was seven years old, I saw "The Sound of Music." I was so inspired by the musical, I thought I'd like to sing like Julie Andrews and started singing.
I joined a Japanese chorus group and have been singing with the other members the past 12 years. I learned and became aware of the need to overcome the tone gap between the head voice and natural, speaking voice. So I started to take lessons from Colleen. She is a wonderful teacher and I learned a lot.
I also realized that I needed to sing with correct pronunciation.
I do enjoy her lessons. I think she is good at teaching how to improve voice and sing well.
I do appreciate the wonderful experience of learning from her.

Haruko

Jake, Upper Saddle River

I have several musical goals, but the biggest one is probably just to be the best musician I can possibly be. I am about to start high school now, and I started taking singing lessons about halfway through middle school. I feel that the lessons have helped me tremendously with all sorts of things. Before,I took singing lessons, I had fears of singing in public because I didn't think that I was capable of staying in tune well and that I would end up sounding bad. Now, after almost two years of singing lessons, I have no problem singing a song on stage because I now have the capability of staying in tune. This was a huge help for me. I am willing to sing any style of music that will either help me vocally as a drill. I also love working on singing something that I enjoy listening or playing on my guitar. One thing that surprised me about my singing lessons was that I was able to increase my range. Overall, taking singing lessons is a great thing and has done nothing but help me as a musician.

Mary, Ridgewood

Colleen, you're my voice's "lucky find." It has remarkably improved since you have taken charge of it! Thank you, Colleen & I wholeheartedly recommend your generous service. -Mary

Brian, Fair Lawn

I have been taking voice lessons from Colleen for three months. I'm 37 and have been playing music for many years. I had always tried to sing, but never had any formal instruction. I had taken guitar and piano lessons for years. I had also taken a few courses on music theory. So I wasn't sure where to begin with voice. Colleen made it very easy. She teaches me proper techniques, easy practice exercises, and gives great constructive feedback. In just three months my live and recorded performances are light years ahead of where they were before. Thanks for making me a better singer!

Amy, Fair Lawn

My musical goal was to become more comfortable singing at a casual or spontaneous event. Voice lessons definitely helped me become more confident to take advantage of opportunities to sing that I would have passed up before. I was afraid to sing solo before an audience. Overcoming stage fright is a work in progress: I am no longer inhibited singing casually in front of others.
I did audition for a local amateur show in order to boost my confidence. Happily, I received positive feedback on my singing.
Typically, I worked on show tunes throughout the years when I took lessons from Colleen.
It was surprising to learn that singing involves the whole body, and depends on posture and relaxing the face muscles. Furthermore, voice lessons showed me that singing is a complex process that can be broken down into many parts, while simultaneously it is a surprisingly simple and natural human activity.

George, Haskell

Ms. Keating was a wonderful teacher in that she could recognize quickly my errors and shortcomings, and patiently didn't allow me to continue until I corrected myself. Particularly with my New Joisey accent, being heavy on the RRRs. The selection of songs to sing were mainly mine. She kept me in tune by playing piano. I learned some interesting warm-up pieces, and proper breathing technique. I already had nearly 4 years training with other singing teachers, and 2 years experience in a choir, and 8 years reading music tplaying clarinet as a kid (50 years ago), so she surprised me with the amount of, and nature of the corrections she had for me. I also learned proper phrasing, diction, I worked on rangy vocalises and had help with sight-reading. I recommend her for anyone, of any age to learn, or improve their singing.

Willie, Wayne

Hi Colleen,
I am happy to share with you that Willie got accepted to the University of the Arts in Philly. We are so proud of him. He also received the Artist Award which is for students with remarkable talent. This is a big help with the big tuition bill we will have. Willie will be back to his lessons this Wednesday. His musical is over this weekend and I really enjoyed it. I am sure he will tell you about it.

Thank you again for helping to prepare Willie. I think your guidance played a part in the college process and we are very appreciative.

Regards
Barbara

Lindsey, Park Ridge

I went to Colleen Keating for voice lessons when I was preparing for my first on-stage singing role, in the musical "Guys and Dolls," as an 8th grader. It is safe to say that I was beyond nervous to sing on stage for the first time! I contemplated, many times giving up my singing role, fearing I would embarrass myself on stage. My goal was to gain confidence from the voice lessons. Not only did I become more confident in my singing abilities; I learned how to protect my voice by warming up and singing within my range. My voice lessons with Colleen helped me to be able to get up on stage and sing. She is a patient, supportive, encouraging teacher who is easy to understand.