I've taken lessons with a good one up here in VT, and know that my favorrite advice from her was that a singer had to have "the posture of a dancer, the mind of a poet, and the face of an idiot," all having to do with relaxing the body for breathing purposes, using the facial bones to amplify the sound while relaxing the face so that the breathing doesn't get screwed up, and thinking about how you are going to sing something, the phrasing, interprtation and such. All of this stuff is helpful to me whether singing Lush Life, Bach, ballads or sea chantys. If you can find a teacher who will encourage you in all three of these, you'll be on the right track. If you find someone in the DC area, could you pm me, as I may give my sister-in-law some lessons as a present.

Susan