Jodie Langel Wants You to Raise Your Ya Ya Ya
The viral vocal coach is glad to be a meme.
Jodie Langel is a Broadway actress, vocal coach and social media sensation who’s in on the joke.
Langel has played Cosette in Les Misérables and Grizabella in Cats, among other roles on Broadway. But her more than 97.5 million likes on TikTok are largely due to videos of her in-person singing lessons that she records and shares.
Langel picks from a variety of coaching tactics to help her students hit the right note — she walks them in a circle, has them breathe through a straw or, now infamously, tells them to “raise your ya ya ya.”
@jodielangel Voice cracks GONE with this trick!! #singing #singinglessons #vocalcoach #belting #fyp #voicecrack #theatrekid ♬ original sound - Jodie Langel
The technique — used to open the voice when it can be habitually restrictive — has been imitated by people around the world. Langel saw an opportunity to bring more joy to the trend by participating in it herself.
“I think you have to be part of the joke because it’s so fun,” Langel says. “How can I not jump on a trend that's sharing that much joy and love to people around the world?”
@jodielangel @vic really raised her ya ya YA!!! #singing #singinglessons #belting #vocalcoach #fyp #raiseyouryayaya #yayaya ♬ original sound - Jodie Langel
While the videos are lighthearted, there is something Langel takes seriously: changing lives through music. Vocal instruction is paramount to anything she does.
“I'm a teacher,” Langel says. “And I care about my students who I’ve been with for years. That's at heart who I am.”
Langel’s teaching style is a blend of what she’s learned over the years on Broadway and what she’s learned from her own vocal teacher, Andrew Byrne.
“I take voice lessons, just like everybody else does, because I'm performing,” Langel says. “We can't just go out there and just start singing.”
She likens singers to athletes in this way. You have to practice how to sing, and many people around the world have been thanks to Langel’s videos.
“What makes me the happiest is when people say that they've been learning from my TikToks and then learning how to sing,” Langel says.
Now, the reach of her videos is called into question as TikTok faces a potential ban in the United States. Langel says she has grown her following on Instagram and YouTube in recent years.
She’s also considering starting a podcast based on the 2004 book Making It on Broadway that she co-authored with David Wienir.
The book talks about the lives of Broadway actors, and how they can win a Tony Award one moment and work at a birthday party the next. That’s the reality for some Broadway actors, Langel says.
Langel also has collaborations planned with content creators James Charles and Anthony Gargiula.
In the meantime, keep raising your ya ya ya — Langel appreciates the videos.
“This trend is making people sing and making people happy,” Langel says. “That, to me, is paramount to anything else.”