Phone: 417-833-9800
Text: 417-893-0220
Vocal Life Singing Studio
Singing Workshops
Dulcimer Workshops
Folk Music Workshops
Music Theory Workshops
Skills
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Our
Story
Carolyn Smith
M.S. Music and Drama
B.M., Vocal Music Education
Helping people expand their musical capabilities in order to better express themselves is Carolyn’s specialty. The joy that making music brings can be life-transforming. Because music making is so personal, she finds it imperative to be patient, caring, and supportive and to encourage joy and expression. She recognizes people’s need to feel confident and make music effectively to connect with other people.
Carolyn Smith is a former public school music educator and now a private teacher living in the Ozarks (Springfield, Missouri). Raised in east Texas, her early musical influences included church hymns and classic folk and country music, which shaped a lifelong commitment to folk traditions. She holds a bachelor’s degree in vocal music education and a master’s degree in interdisciplinary music and drama.
Throughout her career as an elementary music teacher, Carolyn centered her instruction on folk music, using it to teach American history and celebrate the musical traditions of diverse cultures. She wrote and arranged folk-based musicals and instrumental works for her students. Her discovery of the mountain dulcimer at a Texas music educators’ conference proved pivotal; she quickly incorporated it into her classroom, church music, and personal performance, and continues to play decades later.
Carolyn began teaching singing privately after she studied vocal technique as part of her masters degree and taught singing skills as an assistant professor of music education in Hamilton, New Zealand, where she developed an appreciation for Māori folk music. In her private studio, Vocal Life Singing Studio, she works with singers and instrumentalists across folk, country, popular, and classical styles, and has taught beginning dulcimer players since 2000. She has also led singing-with-dulcimer workshops for the QuaranTune Virtual Dulcimer Festival.
Carolyn is a 20-year member of the Springfield Dulcimer Club and a charter member of the First National Dulcimer Orchestra.
Testimonials
Results!
“Even after one half-hour lesson I can tell a difference in the quality of the sound I'm producing.”
“...enabled me to see immediate improvements.”
Joy!
“Every lesson I had was a wonderful experience. I took something away that I didn’t know before, every single time.”
Individualized Learning!
“She is so patient with each individual’s way of learning and explains it in a way that you leave feeling confident.”
Communication!
“Carolyn explains everything very thoroughly and is excited about music and teaching it.”
“Clear and enabled me to see immediate improvements.”