The Right to Sing

In my adventures in voice teaching, and as a singer myself, I have to recognize the role that the singer's thoughts and beliefs about themselves affects their singing.
The most common type of student to come to me are those who are actually decent singers, but when they introduce themselves, say something like "I love to sing, but I don't know if I'm any good," or "I'm a terrible singer, but I really love to sing, so I hope you can help me!"
I have heard some terrible singers, but in my experience, there are more decent, just uncertain, singers than any other kind out there!

In some ways, what separates the decent, uncertain singer from someone whom others recognize as a singer often appears to be just confidence. But even that might be too simplistic. In my journey with my own performance nerves and my perfectionism as an artist, I came across a book called "The Right to Speak", by Patsy Rodenburg, which explores the different things that can inhibit or free our voices as actors or singers. Now, we can easily see a physical manifestation of a personal belief demonstrated by a tall person who unconsciously hunches to seem shorter, or someone who habitually clenches or grinds their teeth when angry or stressed. So it would make sense that other things would also show up in vocalizing. And this is what Rodenburg talks about in her book.
One part in particular resonated with me, because it so strongly relates to my own journey as a singer, and to so many of my students who come to me already having judged their own voices.

She says " We all harbour a fundamental fear about our voices, we are all racked by severe self-judgements. That fear is bound up with the way we think we sound to others. This self-judgement can and does prevent us from communicating fully to the world. This obstruction is so strong it will often create permanent vocal habits that physically and spiritually constrict our voices. It can actually turn some of us into vocal cripples. Once coaxed into life these habits, or what I earlier called self-imposed gags, become afflictions that most of us are barely even aware of....They become part of every speech transaction we make.
"Each day I confront people who are handicapped with self-judgements of all kinds. My task is to help them break what is usually a lifetime of habits, or simply one bothersome tendency. Again and again I find myself saying: "You have the right to speak. You have the right to breathe. Take your time. You have the right to be yourself." And I always remember the simple straightforward message of that gospel singer (spoken of earlier in the chapter): "Oh my dear... God doesn't mind a bum note!""

In our pop-star saturated society, it seems very clear. This person is a singer, this person is not. And to a lot of people, this translates to: This person is a singer, therefore, they have the right to sing. Because I don't sound like them, (or can't do the things they can do vocally), I don't (or I'm afraid to try).

But really, everyone has the right, but not everyone has the belief that that right is theirs. A horrible singer, or a mediocre singer has the same right as everyone else to vocalize... and it's up to the listeners if they want to listen and how they want to react.

I remember exercising that right both in vocal practice and in performance. I had spent a lot of my time as a singer studying the styles of singers that I liked and trying to imitate them, and had heard a lot of advice from different sources about what style of music my voice was suited to, what kind of music I should be singing, and been told so many different opinions that it left me hopelessly confused. It also robbed me of my freedom in singing, because I was trying so hard to make my voice and style into what I thought it should be, that I couldn't be spontaneous or free, or even natural in singing. I started to hate singing because every time I would start, my muscles would tense up and I would judge the sound that would come out of my mouth... and it never sounded like I believed it should, which only tensed me up more, which choked my voice even more, which made me sound even less like I wanted to sound.

Through my own reading and spiritual journey I finally came to a place of realizing that I have the right to sing whatever and however I want to sing. The listener's reaction was not my responsibility, but to save my love of singing, I had to be free to sing how I felt was natural to me. During practice, I would feel myself trying to force a certain sound or style, and I would tell myself "No, I have the right to be myself. I have the right to sound how I sound. I have the right to sing in my own style." And I would feel my muscles release, and my voice and breathing would free up. When performing, even after hearing other singers who I would normally measure and compare myself to, I would tell myself, "whether or not they are better than me, whether or not this crowd appreciates or even likes me, I have the right to sing and I have the right to be heard." And I found that my voice was more powerful, true, and resonant and that I was able to more fully invest emotionally into my performance.

Not just for vocal students, but for people from all walks of life who feel constrained, whether as a singer who can't seem to find the confidence to release and sing out, as an actor, artist, dancer, or in other areas of life where they feel like a round peg in a world of square holes. You have the right to be yourself with your own style. In fact, that is what you were created to do.... and you have the right to share it with the world.

Sing Like Yourself

My husband and I were watching the new musical reality show, "The Voice", a few weeks ago. As a vocal coach, I try to avoid watching this type of show, because I spend a lot of time thinking (or saying, as others can confirm!) things like "she needs more support", or "he need to relax on the high notes"! But one thing that I found interesting was watching the different methods of vocal coaching by the celebrity judge/coaches. While some coaches worked on the performers' self-esteem and encouraged them to let go, other coaches seemed to want to "make over" their singers into carbon copies of themselves.

This is dangerous because, as singers, it takes a lot of courage, encouragement, and self-awareness to strike our own paths as artists. If you're like me (who taught myself to sing by imitating Mariah & Aretha), you find it hard not to try your best to sound like your favorite artists. That's where the trouble comes...

We are each created unique, with voices, face, bodies, talents, and minds unlike any other. So why do we ignore that gift and try to make over ourselves as someone else? Not only do we end up becoming second-rate versions of someone who has the courage to be themselves, we bypass the uniqueness that could make US first-rate.

My goal as a voice teacher, is to teach you to sing correctly, with a strong, healthy, and vibrant voice--- And to help you trust that your voice is worth hearing, just because it's YOURS!

Vocal Care - Part 1

When a guitarist, or a saxophonist, or any type of musician, is serious about his or her craft, you'll notice a certain reverence towards their instrument: tuning, re-stringing, oiling, polishing, and consciousness of protecting it from harm.

For singers, our body is our instrument, yet we don't always give our instrument the care we should. We scream at a loud concert, we smoke, we drink, we don't exercise, and we eat badly, not to mention that studies have shown that most Americans don't get enough sleep.

(For more on "Sleep Debt", check out:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/02/0224_050224_sleep.html )

Let's start with how we use our voices in day to day life: The word to remember is SUPPORT. If you're at a concert, a baseball game, or at a loud party, chances are you're yelling, screaming, or at least talking over other background noise... that's okay, provided you use breath support. Make sure you're breathing deeply, and feel your diaphragm push out the air, as opposed to your throat muscles.

Smoking... where should I start? By now we should all know the dangers of smoking, so I'm going to skip that and focus on the effects on a singer. Although some singers claim to need a smoke before a performance, the reality is that smoking can alter the quality of your voice, reduce your range, and drastically reduce your lung capacity. Less lung capacity = less air. Less air really affects singing.

Drinking alcohol dehydrates your voice, which can cause irritation and damage. Personally, I've noticed that even a glass of wine, or a beer, will affect my voice the next day, making my voice less powerful, and reducing my range.

If you want to use your voice to the best of it's potential, it may be time to honestly evaluate how your lifestyle may be negatively affecting your instrument.

Authenticity and Vocal Tension

As a vocal teacher, I have many students come to me with the complaint that their voice feels “tight”, or that their throat gets sore when they sing. Yes, it’s that old enemy, tension, but what is the cause, and what is the cure?

As a singer myself, I struggled with vocal tension for years, often feeling like I was fighting against myself to produce the sound that I knew I was capable of. I tried exercises, stretches, and different vocal placements, and while some helped, the tension remained, and more often than not, I was back where I started. Parallel to my struggle with vocal tension was my struggle to find my own voice, my own authentic sound. I loved a variety of different singers, and was struggling to find where I fit in amongst them all. But I never put these two pieces of my voice together.

Fast forward to my vocal teaching career. When I began to work with many singers with these same issues, I began to realize that many of my vocal students, male and female, had not accepted their own voices, and were constantly trying to force their voice to sound how they thought they "should" sound, as opposed to singing with their own voices.

It didn’t take me long to realize a source of their vocal tension; when you are trying to sing like you, but at the same time trying to force your voice to sound like someone else’s, you’re trying to force your voice to do something unnatural, hence a major source of tension.

Most women I teach are trying to achieve a more powerful, darker sound, without developing the diaphragmatic strength first, and using their throats to compensate, causing that tension and throat soreness. Many young men I teach try and adapt a breathy, hoarse vocal sound, which does the same thing; causes tension and limits range and flexibility. It should be noted that this problem is not the only cause of vocal tension by any means. There can be many causes, however, this is one that I have run up against enough to write about.

Working my students through this problematic habit has proven to be one of the most rewarding successes for me as a vocal teacher. Sometimes it can be scary for a vocalist to give up their habits, and work with the natural voice underneath, however there is nothing like discovering the truly beautiful voice under the tension.