Marianna Elise

The previous comments give excellent insight.
I have a live, open air performance coming up in GG Park with no mic.
This is challenging in that you really can’t hear yourself sing + how do you get enough projection and volume to be heard without yelling? Marianna first listened to the entire show to get a feel for what I was trying to accomplish at my rehearsal space.
Next we started to go thru the stuff at her place. Within an hour I was supplied with easy to process tips and tricks. Worked thru some of the problem material and was flabbergasted at how well my vocals started coming thru. We were hitting high notes that as a baritone I was skeptical I could pull off. No problem for her to push me past perceived limitations.
Marianna could totally relate to the material and re-​enforced my confidence that I could pull this off in spectacular fashion. Came away truly inspired. And to top it off it was so much fun the hour went by in 10 minutes.
Bottom line — your singing progress will accelerate dramatically with her depth of knowledge and coaching style.
Rock on.

Marianna is wonderful. She is really patient and encouraging. She has tons of sheet music and super fun warm ups. I love going through the warm ups and then working through a new song. I look forward to the lessons every week. She has an awesome app that allows you to keep your lessons on your phone. You can hear your progress each session and this makes it super easy to practice as well. She is just a great teacher and super nice person:)

Marianna is absolutely amazing at making you at ease — working with her was absolutely delightful. Marianna is extremely talented at what she does. The exercises are creative and structured. And she knows exactly how to customize those for your needs. I absolutely enjoyed working with her in improving all aspects related to voice. Plus it’s really a great anti-​stress as an added bonus. Unfortunately, I no longer work in SF with a recent professional move to the South Bay. I certainly miss my lessons but highly recommend Marianna as the best singing coach in town if you’re looking for one.

I was recommended by a friend to meet with Marianna and right away I knew she would be a great coach! She is extremely knowledgeable, warm and makes me feel very comfortable during our lessons. She has an excellent ear and has given me some very valuable tips to improve the sound of my voice, breathing and projection. I look forward to my lessons because they are always lots of fun and it has become a great stress reliever from those long days at the office. I highly recommend anyone who’s interested to give her a try. Her first lesson is free!

Marianna is so marvelous. I started taking singing lessons with her about 9 month ago. I absolutely thought that there was no way I could ever sing in tune, really. I figured that I should at least give it a try and looked for professional coaching. I wanted to «validate» my theory that I can’t sing, absolutely never in front on people! In my first session, Marianna was so gentle, encouraging and she made me feel so at ease that I realized I had nothing to lose than to try it and see if there was any hope. I’m not a native English speaker, which at times makes me feel uncomfortable when people don’t fully understand me. Marianna told me she would definitely help me with that as well.
By now I’ve extended my vocal range. I’m way more comfortable with my voice, and believe that I can actually sing! I may not be the next American idol, but I truly feel that with practice and with the coaching from Marianna I’ll feel confident that I can sing and front of people and feel good about it.
I think Marianna is very perceptive of people’s challenges and she fully focuses what a person needs to do to improve. She is also so knowledgeable how voice cords works that she can very clearly explain how a certain technique is useful. These explanations have helped me understand it much better, and makes me much more at ease because I know understand the mistakes I make, and HOW I can improve.

I initially chose Marianna as a singing instructor because I was impressed with all the super positive recommendations on Unilocal.I have to say that agree 100% with everyone, she is really impressive and is worthy of 5 start reputation. Try coming and singing with her, you’ll right away understand why everyone loves Marianna so much.

Marianna is a fantastic voice teacher!!! She is incredibly talented, vivacious, fun, caring, helpful, and professional. She helped my daughter immensely, not only with her singing but also with her confidence, diction, and stage presence. I cannot recommend her highly enough, both for adults and younger students.

I love Marianna. I started lessons about a year and a half ago, at 29. I was able to maybe half sing, in a timid little warble, scared to make my voice heard. I had playing various musical instruments in bands, and had a frustrating time with singers, finding myself unable to relate to them, or entirely too intimidated by the competent ones.
In the time I’ve had with her, I’ve become both much more confident as a singer, but articulate as an overall musician. Her fun and thoughtful approach has improved my general sense of musicality, and I find myself singing everywhere I go, now. Her lessons and teaching methods have really boosted my confidence in my voice. She makes things safe and fun, given how self-​conscious some of us can be about our voices.
In addition, she was willing to negotiate her price with me a little. She is also communicative, articulate, and PATIENT. Everything anybody could hope for in a teacher.
Marianna truly is the best, and spending time with her is really transformative.

Marianna is a gem among gems, a boo among boos! I’m a professional musician always looking to expand my vocal repertoire and have been apprehensive, if not uncomfortable, taking vocal lessons in the past. However, Marianna made me feel totally at ease, had me laughing, singing and learning instantly.
Her teaching style is confident, compassionate, technical but fun and inspiring! Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or just looking to get in to singing I would strongly recommend Marianna. I’ve taken lessons from other instructors in the bay and she has easily been the best!

Last year my friends and I put together a trio to play some covers. I play guitar and was the main singer. The other guys each sang a song and sang backups.
We all decided to take lessons (none of us had any real experience singing).
So we found Marianna on Unilocal.We took group lessons every other week; on the alternate weeks I took lessons without the other guys.
So I’m a fairly shy guy, and have always wanted to have the confidence to sing. Marianna provides a great environment to cultivate the confidence and has the knowledge to teach the techniques as well.
Here’s what comes to mind when I look back on my lessons:
1) She’s extremely patient and encouraging
2) She answered all my newbie questions
3) She also answered music theory related questions (not related to singing)
4) At the end of every lesson I had a CD recording of the lesson that I could review (this was very helpful, I would listen to it right away on the car ride home).
5) The lessons were flexable in content; she configured lessons to meet my needs.
She had plenty of sheet music to choose from, a small PA to practice mic techniques, she plays the keyboard, provides water when you’re parched. And also has a great dog.
I still listen to the CD’s, I’m still singing with the band and having a great time. Thanks Marianna.

I have no musical background, but I had always secretly wanted to sing. A few months ago, I decided to try out singing lessons with Marianna. From the second I walked through the door, she made me feel welcome and comfortable. She also got me singing! Being in her cheerful studio with her dog Sidekick as an audience brightens my week, and I especially appreciate her genuine concern and caring for her students.

I’ve heard from a few Unilocalers that it is hard to get in touch with Marianna lately. She changed her phone number a few months ago (and has been trying to get Unilocal to change her phone number).
Here is her contact info:
Email: sing@mariannaland
Note: Marianna receives much span and many messages end up in her junk folder; however, she goes through the trash periodically and will answer your email.
Phone: 415−684−8694 (maybe better option for initial contact)

I’ve been taking group lessons from Marianna with my band — all three of us brand new to singing. Singing can be an intimidating thing for a beginner but she’s really good at putting you at ease, listening and teaching you how to get best out of your voice. Along with fun and challenging exercises she encourages us to bring in sheet music and we’ve been able to work out some of backup vocals with her. Almost like a band coach in addition to singing instructor. After a few months of lessons we really noticed quite a bit of improvement in our group just from having rich harmonies on top of the instrumental parts. Highly recommended.

I’ve been taking lessons from Marianna for a couple months now, and I can’t recommend her highly enough. I came in not even able to match pitches with my voice, and the progress with her has been great!
I’ve had many music teachers in my life and, I can say that Marianna is by far the best. She is incredibly patient and cheerful, and really seems to love to teach, which totally puts you at ease. She takes great notes and really personalizes each lesson to you. She also makes the lessons fun while making progress — I never really feel like I’m working, but I’m improving lesson to lesson. Marianna is awesome, call her now if you need voice lessons!

Marianna is a true gem. I started singing with her in November of 2008 with no formal training other than high school choir almost a decade ago. In just a matter of weeks I saw instant results! I sang in a musical that December and received compliments from audience members. I also did a karaōke bit a month after our intro lesson and my friends raved about it.
One of her greatest talents is the ability to fully understand your voice and customize exercises to target your weaknesses and strenghts. Her lessons are never monotonous and you are always learning something new.
Her nurturing, encouraging and playful personality makes lessons entertaining and easily makes you feel comfortable around her. One of the things I value most about our sessions, and probably what makes her stand out from most teachers, is that her lessons not only teach me about singing, but about life as well. She has an inspiring vision and passion for life with a strong head on her shoulders and this makes her an amazing role model to have.
I highly recommend Marianna whether you are a beginner or expert. She knows her stuff and is a master at understanding the anatomy of voice. Whether you sing pop, rock, opera, musical theatre — you name it — she can help you and you need to give her a try. Also, she has an amazing, angelic voice so if you’re not taking lessons from her, you should try and see her perform :)

Marianna is a joyful, friendly person who really helps you to feel comfortable opening up and exploring your voice. She is very intuitive, and talented in working with sound. I have only been to 2 lessons so far, but have learned so much! She even records the session onto a CD, which you get to take home and practice with. I highly recommend Marianna for anyone interested in learning to sing, or just have fun making noises.

I’ve always been a shower singer, but had never taken voice lessons before, nor was I sure that I could even match pitch or carry a tune. In three lessons, Marianna has demonstrated that I can sing. I can even match pitch (most of the time).
I’ve taken lessons on various musical instruments before, and she is a rarity — someone who is accomplished on her own instrument (and how!) but who can still understand what it is like to be a beginner, and how to help them. Looking forward to my next lesson!

Although i do have a musical background… for um, various reasons, singing in front of other people is absolutely terrifying to me.
But sweet Marianna is so very completely totally understanding of this, so much that i’ve been back to her for multiple lessons to try and get over it. That’s saying a lot! DEATHLIKE FEAR OF DEATHLY DEATH, PEOPLE! And all i can say is, sewiouswy, she gets six stars for that.
Ahem. When i am not shaking in the midst of an irrational fight-​or-​flight response, i can tell that she has an extensive background from which she can pull all kinds of knowledge from — she finds the best piece of advice to help you along.
And on that note (haha! kthxbai), she genuinely wants to help her students succeed, and it clearly makes her day when she’s able to help you out! That, and her gift for communicating the same idea in several different ways make her an excellent teacher. You can have all the knowledge in the world, but if you are incapable of passing it along, you’re not really a teacher… you’re just bein a bossy know-​it-​all.
Oh and also? She has excellent rates. ;)

I have been taking private singing lessons with Marianna since 2005 and I look forward to my singing lesson every week. Marianna is a wonderfully patient and encouraging teacher. She comes up with different exercises so each lesson is a little different. Also, she is highly qualified to teach all levels of singers, from amateur shower singers like me to professional singers. I feel lucky to have found her!