What started from a simple passion for teaching young choir kids in his town, voice coach Jojo Acosta has come a long way with his journey, from handling different genres of music, from classical to rock. Coach Jojo has curated personalized voice lessons for his students. 

During an exclusive interview with Coach Jojo at the Prowess Supremacy Productions office in Quezon City on Oct. 13, he shared some tips on singing correctly. 

"Singing the right way para sa akin is even you have the best voice, but you don't know the message bale wala yun. Walang content, walang context, walang emotions na lalabas, you have to check the reminiscing factor," Coach Jojo said. 

(Singing the right way for me is, even if you have the best voice, but you don't know the message, that doesn't matter. No content, context, or emotions will appear; you must check the reminiscing factor.) 

He also added that conveying emotions and body language while performing helps the singer adjust their voice while singing. 

"If you don't know the message and can't convey the emotions, how can you deliver the body language? Kaya sound is movement pero wag lang masyadong marami para hindi magmukang boring or flat or yung usual na yun na lang ng yun, he added. 

 (If you don't know the message and can't convey the emotions, how can you deliver the body language? So sound is movement, but don't do it too much so it doesn't look boring or flat or just the usual.) 

With 41 years of experience on the vocal coach scene, Coach Jojo has run down three essential things regarding singing: message, emotions, and body language. 

"So ayun tatlong yun, message, emotions and body language and at the same time the capability to carrying a tune kasi kung magaling ka dun sa tatlo but you can't carry a tune aayaw ang tao sa'yo," he added. 

(So there are those three: message, emotions, and body language, and at the same time, the capability to carry a tune because if you are good at those three but you can't carry a tune, people will not like you.) 

Passion for teaching 

At 16, Coach Jojo found his love in teaching when he volunteered to help the students of Kamuning High School to practice for their annual songfest. 

"There was a time na I heard these kids singing 'Silent Night,' it's a normal song, simple lang kaya lang hindi maganda talaga. That time ako na nag recommenda sa sarili ko, sabi ko tuturuan ko sila. Dun nag-umpisa yung eto talaga yung gusto ko and after that napanalo ko sila," he shared. 

(There was a time when I heard these kids singing 'Silent Night,' it's a normal song; it's just so simple, but they are not singing it so well. That time, I recommended myself and said I would teach them. That was when I realized I wanted to teach, and after helping them, they won.) 

 It became clear to Coach Jojo that helping his students to shine and use their talent in singing would be his lifetime commitment after taking music courses from different Universities.    

He became an instant celebrity coach when he started to teach Jan Nieto for the Philippine Idol in 2006 and Gwyneth Dorado, a finalist from Asia's Got Talent Season 1 in 2015 . From then on, he has handled other artists, including Rivermaya, 6cyclemind, Max Collins, Lovi Poe, and more. 

Creating a home for his students at Singerstudios, Coach Jojo is living the dream of teaching and collaborating with different artists across the globe. He recently had a collaboration with Sony Music Japan. 

“Isa sa mga hindi ko akalain na makikipag deal sa akin ay ang Sony Music Japan, hanggang ngayon hindi pa rin ako makapaniwala,” Coach Jojo said. 

(One of the ones I never thought would sign a deal with me was Sony Music Japan, I still can't believe it

Aside from his recent collaboration, he is also the voice coach of Cydel Gabutero, who won the during The Voice Teens season 2 in 2020. Cydel is currently an artist under the label of Republic Records.