Holistic Voice Coach

I took voice lessons from Karen many years ago for 3 years. I enjoyed her enthusiasm, creativity, thoughtful approach to reaching my goals. My voice had never been stronger than when I was working with Karen.

After a couple of rounds of bronchitis and laryngitis recently, I decided to reach out to her again to see if she could help me strengthen my speaking and singing voice, as well as dealing with the effects of a nagging cough. 2 months in and I can get through a day of client calls and still have enough voice left to sing in the evenings! And less strain on my vocal chords. Looking forward to more improvement in the near future. She is just have creative and focused on my goals as ever! More...

I am a relatively new student with Karen , having had four lessons so far. I was immediately struck by the kind and positive way that Karen had of interacting with her students. I felt like she was truly excited about getting to know me and work with me. She is highly creative and motivational. I am 69 years old taking lessons for the first time in my life, and Karen was able to quickly discern what I needed with great sensitivity to my personal limitations. She made me believe , right away, that she saw potential for me to grow and improve in my singing. I look forward to each lesson and always have fun! Karen is innovative and intuitive that creativity of hers is evident in her techniques. I would highly recommend her to anyone. More...

I really enjoy learning from Karen Lyu. Karen's imagination, creativity, and ingenuity keep everything I am learning fresh and exciting.

With her vast experience, she intuitively knows how to get the best results from your voice., whatever your goals are.

With Karen, I am truly accessing my feelings while improving my voice, my pace, and my acting.

I have learned to be patient and positive, as I continue to practice and to keep moving forward.

I am so grateful that I found Karen. She is a teacher with kindness and the passion to teach.

It feels so wonderful!! More...

My name is Carol Nicodemi, professional singer, songwriter and vocal coach. I first met Karen Lyu some years ago through a Songwriting Group that she facilitated. Her musical insights and leadership qualities are impeccable. Karen takes on a situation- and she owns it. A dynamic, warm and compassionate person, Karen's private voice students have flourished through her teaching. I should know. I attended one of her keynote concerts. Every person she works with, no matter the level of expertise, can benefit from her skill. She's inspired me to take on complicated, famous jazz instrumentals...and sing them! Something I haven't done for years! I'm having a blast:) Her original songs, singing and speaking skills draw you in immediately. Authentic and reliable, Karen Lyu turns everything, and everyone in her path- to gold. More...

I really love the knowledge Karen brings to her coaching. I have learned so much from her. Her exercises are surprising and immediately helpful. I can recommend Karen Lyu to those who want to add holistic ideas to their practice. Karen has a keen ear and recognizes areas that need improvement very quickly.

Recently I woke up sick. I wasn't sure if I could make it to a gig. I had been exposed to 4 hours of refrigeration at a grocery store the day before and it affected me having crummy voice when I woke up. I had a short coaching session which effectively helped me, my voice, my placement and power. Karen is so amazing guiding me to the promise of being able to sing later that evening. I can't thank Karen enough for being there right when I needed her. More...

Karen is a great voice coach. She is very good at motivating students who are beginners, in a holistic way. I would recommend her to any student or any institution who is looking to train future singers. Any organization would be lucky to have her as a coach. More...

Karen is a fantastic voice coach. I've know her for 10+years and she truly cares her students. People just loves her as a coach and as person. If you are thinking of getting to the next level, I highly encourage you to reach out to Karen. You will be amazed. More...

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Reply from Holistic Voice Coach

Thanks, Phong Cao!

It’s such a pleasure to be working a beautiful spirit as Karen! She has definitely help me pull out my voice that I didn’t even know was there! I look forward to continue working and with her guidance there is no limitations!! More...

She’s so nice and understanding and helps you get results I’ve been working with her for almost two months and have received results highly recommend thank you Karen💕💕

Knows what she’s doing and how to pinpoint what you need to work on.

Karen was magical! I literally went to her with damaged vocals. She taught me how to use my voice safely and beautifully. My experience with her coaching over the years has had me sending vocalists to her for coaching as well. She’s simply magical! ♥️

I have been working with Karen for the past couple of months to improve my singing ability. During this time, she has offered a ton of helpful feedback and shared everything from quick tips and tricks to advice on long-term changes in lifestyle to get the most out of my voice. She keeps up to date with and delivers best practices with highly personalized coaching. She is the real deal.

I spent 4 years in choir in high school and took private voice lessons throughout, and I now have 7 years of professional experience in voice acting, so when I first signed up with Karen I wasn't really expecting any quick wins. I was wrong. Instead, I find that I walk away from each lesson with Karen having learned something new or made some noticeable improvement. As far as I am concerned, that is no small feat and is a credit to Karen's experience and expertise.

Be aware: Her time is not cheap and you do need to know what you want to get out of her to make the most of it. But if you come in with a goal, an open mind, and a readiness to learn, and if you put in the work she asks you to, she is going to help get you there. More...

In just 20 minutes, Karen helped me find the magic in my voice! She was clear, fun, and so knows about immense amount about the voice and techniques to utilize it beautifully.

Karen is clearly a professional singer who knows what she’s doing. She taught me a lot of new techniques in only one hour, such as using my mask, avoiding the ‘H’ sound when I sing to prevent breathiness, narrowing the width of my mouth to hit higher notes, and switching between five genres of music by changing the shape of my vocal resonators. I also became better informed on how to take care of my vocal instrument: I suffer from post-nasal drip, and the mucus in my nose and throat affects my ability to sing on a day to day basis. Some days, my voice sounds better; other days, it’s worse. Karen recommended Neti pots and sinus rinses that have the potential to help clear my instrument and improve my singing. More...

I had the pleasure of studying with Karen for 3 years. She took me from an off-key somewhat muffled singer to a person who often gets compliments singing Karaoke and am active in two choirs.

Karen created custom singing and physical exercises based on my weaknesses. She demonstrated and exuded enthusiasm in my success and was a terrific mentor. Given that I stuck with her for 3 years indicates how much I appreciated her approach. More...

Karen is an absolutely outstanding vocal teacher! My first interaction with her was through one of her previous vocal health workshops for voice actors. It was extremely informative, and her tips have been incredibly helpful to me in my career. I've returned for singing lessons, and I appreciate her unique, compassionate approach. Her methods are fast, effective, and FUN! I haven't sang in years, and Karen is helping me bring my voice back. I've made a dramatic improvement - even after just one lesson! More...

She is very thoughtful and her course is very thorough when it comes to improving your performance as soon as possible. She is a go-to voice coach!

Learning from a trust worthy vocal coach is an amazing experience!! Karen is very caring and makes you feel like a friend even tho she a teacher she lets you be you and help you understand where you need to be for singing. The lessons feel like an enjoyable hobby or activity without any worries. She lets you know where you're going wrong and find ways to make it simple for you to get better at singing. I really am grateful to find an amazing coach like her and I hope you guys can give her a check up and let you experience the great times of learning from this vocal coach!!! More...

I really enjoy working with Karen. She has helped me a lot in so many ways. She is ernest in her coaching and very compassionate as well. She can find weaknesses and strengths in a voice easily. I felt comforatable righ away with Karen and I trust her. I feel I have learned a lot and can improve within moments from her clear direction. Learning to use my voice is really a whole body experience and she has the knowledge to get me where I need to go! More...

Karen Lyu helped me to think about my body alignment, my mouth and facial movement and really getting the most out of my instrument, my voice.

She’s an inspiration because I know she herself really worked hard and studiously to learn her singing craft and become the accomplished singer and vocal teacher she is.

I am grateful for her teachings and would recommend her to anybody who is serious and passionate about signing.

Sincerely,

Benjamin More...

It was an absolute joy to work with Karen, her detailed teaching style and apparent years of experience truly helped me truly engage my true vocal skills and allowed me to take care of my voice in a much more healthy way. My Reason for searching her out was for my first major musical theatre production that I was auditioning for. I truly believed that if I hadn’t gotten into contact with Karen I wouldn’t have gotten into the production let alone the part that I got. More...

Facing doing a substantial part in a big musical, I was searching for a teacher to help revive my voice after years of idleness away from the stage. When I found Bark, Karen Lyu's approach resonated with me immediately. Her holistic outlook incorporates the body as well as working on placement of the voice. She is knowledgeable, experienced, and fun to work with, and I have improved so much in just three lessons. If you are looking for teaching beyond just vocal coaching, you'll likely find your way back to the voice you once had or even discover one you didn't know you had! I highly recommend Karen Lyu. More...

She's very knowledgeable about vocal health and helped me learn more about caring for my voice. As a voice actor, vocal health is a priority.

Best at helping many vocals evolve to something better

I only coached with Karen for about two months, but the time I spent with her was incredibly effective and efficient! Karen fixed some postural issues hampering my singing that my past voice teachers somehow missed. She also introduced a neat way to vary the beats in my performances by using a color wheel. In the short time I spent with Karen, she equipped me with the tools I needed. More...

I’ve gotten to know Karen as a very passionate and professional educator. It’s inspiring to learn from someone with the amount of experience that she has, and I recommend her classes wholeheartedly!

Let me first say that I came to Karen for voice acting and not singing and she was still able to teach me so many techniques! She has many unique teaching methods that help you understand singing/voice techniques easily, even for a beginner like me.

From her I learned breathing technique, how to warm up properly, my range, vocal placement, and much more. By the time I finished my lessons with her I was able to go learn some character voices I thought I never had and even expand my range in my lower register, which is something I really wanted out of these lessons.

I cannot recommend Karen enough! More...

"Within a few sessions Karen showed me how to expand my range, breathe correctly, and to really learn to use my instrument - my whole body not just those rusty vocal chords. Within a few months I had the confidence to sing without accompaniment, to sing with friends and family (and with a waitress at a funky coffee shop who actually knew all the words to 'My Funny Valentine"). I love to sing now!

My 19 year-old daughter was Karen's student for several weeks. She's more confident in her singing and speaking voice. She really owns the sense of competence she's developed.

We have received so many benefits from working with Karen. She's skilled, intuitive and very patient with us novices. Take a few lessons from her, you'll be amazed!" More...

I want to highlight the AMAZING Karen Lyu @holisticvoicecoach. I cannot even begin to tell you all the miraculous things that have happened since I started working with her (I'll have to make a video to share all that she has helped me with) Truly-- no one has been able to figure out what was going on with my mouth and words-- and she did! ! Brought me to tears in session. EVERY. SINGLE. #voiceoverartist and #audiobooknarrator should at least do one session with her. I'm truly... just blown away grateful for her. More...

Karen has taught me so many practical solutions for improving the quality of my voice for singing and for interpreting, especially for simultaneous interpretation. I had no idea what I was missing before training with her. Each of her techniques are so clever and make so much sense. Every lesson is like a light bulb going off in my head. She is a therapist, treating the whole body, not just the vocal cords. More...

Karen is incredibly patient and encouraging as a teacher. She's helped me understand how my past physical injuries have affected my voice, and through her instructions, I've been able to improve my singing. I highly recommend her.

Karen is an incredibly sweet person and she always works hard to tailor lessons and techniques to your individual needs. I have been working with her for about 7 months. In that time, she has helped me open up my range, smooth out my transitions between head voice, mix voice and chest voice, taught me how to use my whole body to support my voice as well as how to protect my voice in daily life. And her lessons stick in my head so that I can always remember how to use them and do them. Even after 2 weeks of sickness I was able to use all the techniques she gave me and still sound great! In addition to singing, Karen has helped me with writing multiple songs, given me tools to find inspiration and how to put together songs based on my ideas. On top of all of this, she has also worked with me on unlocking and perfecting character voices for animated characters as well as DND original characters, audiobook recording, and advertisement copy reading. She's so supportive of all of my goals and works with me to achieve anything I want to. And she's real about where and when I need work. I've thought about quitting for financial reasons, but I just couldn't give up working with Karen! She's well worth the time you get to spend with her. More...

Karen is an excellent voice coach. She'll have you learning so much about your instrument and how to fix those bad habits that you never knew - whether you've been a voice user for ages or not.

"Is Karen Lyu a good voice coach? NO! She is a FANTASTIC ONE! Where to start? Is it her personal style—creating custom goals with a reward system? Is it her simple but effective “fixes” for specific problems? Is it her friendly, but objective feedback? Maybe it’s that she has a holistic approach—the whole body, not just the vocal chords?

The answer is all of the above! I have been working with Karen for about a year and a half, and in that time, I have increased my range by a full octave. I have been more accurate with intonation, and have learned how to save my voice and not stress the vocal chords. Karen’s knowledge of vocal instruction means that she is able to spot minute changes that make a difference—things that might seem minute like moving a song up a half-step, can make huge differences—differences that my brother and wife, indeed, my livestream audience can hear. Best of all Karen’s holistic approach not only helps my voice, but helps my physical and mental health! Oh, and did I say she makes it fun while still pushing you to do your very best..."
Stanley Kusunoki - Minneapolis, MN - Retired Poeteacher/Musician More...

Karen has been awesome to work with! As a second-generation Asian-American voice actor looking to bring up my audition game now that I have agency representation, I came to Karen working on my standard American English diction. She's very straightforward and informative, and in 5 lessons, we've been able to see a lot of improvement! I also took her vocal health workshop, which is a MUST for any working voiceover artist! I look forward to continuing growing with her as one of my coaches! More...

Karen did a great job teaching me about breath control and greatly helped me in my singing. She was a great influence and friend throughout the whole process of me improving as a musician. She created individualized plans and notes that accelerated my learning. More...

Karen Lyu is awesome! I am really enjoying Zoom lessons and I can really see the progress I'm making! She is an extremely patient and compassionate teacher. ... It's obvious that her years of experience working with a wide range of students has given her a large repertoire of techniques to draw on as a voice instructor. She is flexible with scheduling as well as always quick to respond via email and text. I also appreciate that our lessons start on time and that every lesson is recorded for my use. This is why I would recommend Karen Lyu as a voice instructor to singers of all levels and musical styles. More...