talenasmith.co.uk - vocal coaching for the extreme

Talena Smith BA(hons) is a specialist providing vocalists with the techniques required for powerful & extreme vocals. From the genres of Pop & RnB to Rock & Metal, Talena will give you the skills needed to belt like a pop diva or growl like a metal king. Whether you are a beginner looking to train to enter this demanding field or are a professional wanting to improve your technique, Talena can offer tuition to suit your specific needs. Lessons cover vocal, stage and mic techniques as well as vocal stamina for touring and studio work.

Talena believes that vocalists wanting a ‘power’ voice should get the training needed for these extreme vocal styles. Currently a vocalist for Manchester-based metal band Gone Til Winter, Talena has been performing within these genres for many years and after becoming a singing teacher discovered that there are few resources for extreme vocalists.

You can now buy lesson vouchers! They entitle you (or the person of your choice) to a vocal session with Talena.

Please contact me for details!


Q: "I'm sorry to bother you just as soon as I've had my singing lesson, but I just had a question for you. I read the booklet of stuff that you gave me, and then I decided to research a bit more in to twang. When I looked it up it said that twang sounds really nasal, but then I watched the video of your band that was in one of our previous emails and you didn't sound nasal at all. Were you usuing twang there? And does twang always sound nasal or is that not true?" A: To Train "Twang" we begin with a nasal sound (do you remember I said about using extreme Twang to start off?). Once you build the strength and stamina of the muscles you can the "release" the sound, making it sound like YOU and not nasal! This technique is use by a lot of pro singers and they don't sound nasal. I use Twang all the time (do you remember the demonstration I did in the session?). To train it, we will make some silly noses and we WILL sound nasal to start, but once you can control the muscles in the right way, we release and stop sounding nasal. I hope that helps.

Q: "I'm sorry to bother you just as soon as I've had my singing lesson, but I just had a question for you. I read the booklet of stuff that you gave me, and then I decided to research a bit more in to twang. When I looked it up it said that twang sounds really nasal, but then I watched the video of your band that was in one of our previous emails and you didn't sound nasal at all. Were you usuing twang there? And does twang always sound nasal or is that not true?"

A: To Train "Twang" we begin with a nasal sound (do you remember I said about using extreme Twang to start off?). Once you build the strength and stamina of the muscles you can the "release" the sound, making it sound like YOU and not nasal! This technique is use by a lot of pro singers and they don't sound nasal. I use Twang all the time (do you remember the demonstration I did in the session?). To train it, we will make some silly noses and we WILL sound nasal to start, but once you can control the muscles in the right way, we release and stop sounding nasal. I hope that helps.

» Ask Talena a question!

Her students so far have included:

Matt Drake (Evile)
Rosie Smith (Rosa Damascena/Cradle of Filth)
David Duxbury (Last Chance To Dance)
Simon Gordon (City Of God / Xentrix / 1000 Points Of Hate/Hellfighter)
Rob Vicars (Lavondyss)
Mike Pilat (The Ocean/Heresy of Thieves)
Caroline Sterling (Ryna/The Switch)
Gaz Burrows (Blueprint To A Downfall)
Ben Davy (Mishkin)
Marcus "Jester" Alexander (Doom Valley Drivers)
Gary Harkin (Bison Hammer)
Ste Burke (Inbred Quarter)