Carpenter was initially nervous about performing in public, but said she "was too involved in the music to worry about it". She graduated from Downey High School in the spring of 1967, receiving the John Philip Sousa Band Award, and enrolled as a music major at Long Beach State where she performed in the college choir with Richard. The choir's director, Frank Pooler, said that Karen had a good voice that was particularly suited to pop and gave her lessons in order for her to develop a three-octave range.