Rachel Whatley
Hi, I’m Rachel! I’m a pianist who works primarily with singers here at OCU. I started and completed a master’s in piano performance here, and halfway through the program, I decided I wanted to work with singers for a living and went on to get a master’s in vocal coaching here as well! I have done professional work at Lyric Theatre, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Opera in the Ozarks, and participated in young artist programs in Italy and Germany. This will be my seventh year to play voice lessons at OCU, so I come across all sorts of musical theatre (and classical) repertoire every day!
Working one-on-one with singers and helping them succeed and reach their goals brings me so much joy and I would love to do that with you. I am not a voice teacher or technician; I think of myself more as your second set of eyes and ears to provide an outside perspective and to help you achieve your desired results.
Diction/style:
One of the amazing things about musical theatre is the many styles within the genre! For example, a golden age musical theatre song requires a different sound than something contemporary or something that calls for a dialect. I am also trained in foreign language diction in Spanish, Latin, French, Italian, and German.
Vowel modification:
Sometimes in singing, we don’t always sing the exact vowel on the page. If something feels difficult to sing or we want a different sound, we can apply a different vowel to maximize efficiency.
Audition prep / cuts:
Auditions can be stressful and I am here to help you feel prepared and at your best! I can show you how to mark your music and what to say to a pianist in the audition room. We can also find your ideal cut together that shows you off and tells a story.
Ensemble:
The benefit of working with a live pianist is being able to see and hear how our parts work together! I can do things like speed up on a long note if I feel like you need it or bring out certain textures so you can feel more secure.
Tracks:
If you learn by ear, I am happy to make you a track of your vocal line! I can also make tracks of the piano part for you to sing along with and get used to just the piano.
Notes / rhythms / pitches:
During the learning process, it’s ok to need a little reinforcement of your vocal line. I can play your part and some of the bass in the piano so you can get an idea of what the big picture will sound like! If your song has tricky rhythms, we can sort those out together.
Performance practice:
Living in an age of recordings has given us a wealth of tradition (even though musical theatre is still a relatively new art form). Recordings can tell us when and if to make choices in the music such as optioning up, or inform us of things that have become standard practice even though they’re not always written in the score.
Phrasing:
I can’t tell you how to breathe, but I can tell you where to breathe and make the phrases work for you. As we explore the text we can find the important words to bring out to nuance each phrase.
My Specialties Include:
Pricing
Option 1:
I teach through the Performing Arts Academy which is billed through your student account. There is a flat rate of $600/semester for 15 lessons and there are options for refunds if I cancel or if OCU cancels due to bad weather.
Option 2:
You pay me directly for $30/half hour. This is a week-to-week option because life happens and I’m not always able to give makeup lessons.
Option 3:
One-off coachings if you don’t want to meet every week; for example, if you have an audition coming up and would like some feedback, I can do that for you.
Availability
Right now I’m open 5-6 on Mondays, 5:30-6 on Thursdays, and 3-4 on Fridays
Contact
Email: rwhatley@okcu.edu
Phone: 405-496-2573