Got Vocal Trouble? Get Some Help!
Posted on January 1, 2012 with 2 comments
John Mayer.
Adele.
Keith Urban.
Julie Andrews.
Celine Dion.
Junko.
What do these people all have in common besides the fact that they are world-class (ahem, all but one) vocalists? They've all had vocal trouble. The first four on the list have gone under the knife for vocal surgery. The first three have only done so recently so we don't quite know the outcome yet, but we do know that unfortunately for one of them -- Julie Andrews -- the surgery was unsuccessful and she never did recover after getting her polyps removed from her vocal cords. Both Celine and I (isn't it rather audacious of me to mention myself in the same breath as Celine?) were fortunate to recover after some rest, but we are some of the very fortunate ones. Fortunate in that we realized before the problem got worse that we needed help! And not just medical help--we're talking proper singing technique.
I read the press releases from the artists who are going off the road due to vocal trouble, and I notice that they try their best to make light of the situation so as to not bring undue concern to their fans. Often, they make the vocal surgery sound like it is a minor procedure when in fact it is anything but. Their very livelihood is on the line, as one little extra nick by the surgeon could ruin their voice forever. It is such a scary thought! It also affects their entire crew and their families, for they depend on the artists for their employment. Throat surgery could indeed be very, very costly!
Many of these vocally troubled artists also stress that these problems just sort of "happened" to them. Yes, it is grueling to be on the road, and yes, it is hard on the voice to sing night after night. But nodules and polyps don't just happen over night, and there is no denying it: vocal trouble is most surely caused by poor vocal technique.
Although I had taken some voice lessons over the years, I strayed from the technique when I was busy touring in the late 90's. I was flying to Japan, Hawaii, Brazil, Australia, all the fun places just to go sing. Life was good! But then one day I got the flu and got sick. I still had to sing, so I did the best I could at one concert, but I completely lost my voice the next day. It took me a few days to recover (I was younger then!), but I had to snap out of it by the next weekend to sing again. I had to strain to get the notes out, but I somehow managed. I rested during the week only to strain again over the following weekend, and I got into a cycle which lasted months of me thrashing the voice over the weekend and losing my voice by Monday then trying desperately to heal by Friday. I wasn't sick anymore, but the voice got into that straining cycle, and I didn't know how to get out of it. It was a scary time, but one day I realized that I had to get help before it got any worse. That's when I limped into my voice teacher Guy Babusek's studio.
After determining that I hadn't yet developed nodules (he could tell by the sound), he taught me to relax my larynx when I sing so that I wouldn't strain it further. That was my ER procedure just so that I could make it through the following few weekends. Then, over the course of the next few months, he taught me ways to generate a whole lot more sound without pulling up my chest voice to an unhealthy level or trying to belt it by...screaming. Imagine being able to sound like I'm belting when in fact I'm only using the tiniest part of my vocal cords to generate that sound. It was easier than whispering! (As an aside, I also learned that whispering is actually bad for your voice.) The amazing thing was that as my vocal technique improved so that I was no longer putting undue pressure on my voice, my tone actually got better too! Imagine that -- two benefits for the price of one!
Yes, I do realize that there is a price -- often a steep one -- for vocal training. But if you consider what it would cost if you ruined your voice, then I think it's worth the investment. After going to Guy every other week for the first few years, he got my voice in good enough shape so that I now go only a few times a year for my "tune up." Oh, I still definitely stray from proper technique from time to time, so I really appreciate going back to Guy every few months to get re-calibrated!
I don't see the need for voice lessons to be a sign of weakness. In fact, I think it is a reminder that we are all frail and in need of help. Who of us can claim that we have it all together, especially in our singing? After all, the fist step in any recovery program is admitting that we need help. And I, for one, definitely needed help and will continue to need help as long as I sing.
I believe so much in voice training and, in particular, the method which Guy uses called "Speech Level Singing" which was developed by master voice teacher Seth Riggs, that I have signed up to begin the certification process to become a voice instructor with the SLS method. I filled out the forms, paid my dues, and am just embarking on a new adventure with the hopes that even when I am no longer on the road, I can continue helping the next generation of road warriors who will surely come upon vocal trouble at some point in their careers. This whole certification takes many, many years to complete, and that's part of the appeal. I like that it takes a lot of time and effort to understand the voice, and any other program which tells you otherwise is questionable, in my book.
I hope that by this time next year I will have achieved my Level 1 certification as Speech Level Singing voice instructor. Until then, I'll be learning how to teach, which I'm sure is an art in itself. I have just a few select students (er, guinea pigs) for the time being. I'm not ready to advertise my voice lessons quite yet, but I do hope to get there soon.
Here's the link to Speech Level Singing: http://www.speechlevelsinging.com/ Here's some information on Seth Riggs: http://www.sethriggs.com/ ...and one more for my voice teacher Guy Babusek: http://www.voice-lessons.com/
So, that's one of the new things I'll be doing in 2012. I hope and pray that your new year will bring you lots of exciting things in your life, too!
Adele.
Keith Urban.
Julie Andrews.
Celine Dion.
Junko.
What do these people all have in common besides the fact that they are world-class (ahem, all but one) vocalists? They've all had vocal trouble. The first four on the list have gone under the knife for vocal surgery. The first three have only done so recently so we don't quite know the outcome yet, but we do know that unfortunately for one of them -- Julie Andrews -- the surgery was unsuccessful and she never did recover after getting her polyps removed from her vocal cords. Both Celine and I (isn't it rather audacious of me to mention myself in the same breath as Celine?) were fortunate to recover after some rest, but we are some of the very fortunate ones. Fortunate in that we realized before the problem got worse that we needed help! And not just medical help--we're talking proper singing technique.
I read the press releases from the artists who are going off the road due to vocal trouble, and I notice that they try their best to make light of the situation so as to not bring undue concern to their fans. Often, they make the vocal surgery sound like it is a minor procedure when in fact it is anything but. Their very livelihood is on the line, as one little extra nick by the surgeon could ruin their voice forever. It is such a scary thought! It also affects their entire crew and their families, for they depend on the artists for their employment. Throat surgery could indeed be very, very costly!
Many of these vocally troubled artists also stress that these problems just sort of "happened" to them. Yes, it is grueling to be on the road, and yes, it is hard on the voice to sing night after night. But nodules and polyps don't just happen over night, and there is no denying it: vocal trouble is most surely caused by poor vocal technique.
Although I had taken some voice lessons over the years, I strayed from the technique when I was busy touring in the late 90's. I was flying to Japan, Hawaii, Brazil, Australia, all the fun places just to go sing. Life was good! But then one day I got the flu and got sick. I still had to sing, so I did the best I could at one concert, but I completely lost my voice the next day. It took me a few days to recover (I was younger then!), but I had to snap out of it by the next weekend to sing again. I had to strain to get the notes out, but I somehow managed. I rested during the week only to strain again over the following weekend, and I got into a cycle which lasted months of me thrashing the voice over the weekend and losing my voice by Monday then trying desperately to heal by Friday. I wasn't sick anymore, but the voice got into that straining cycle, and I didn't know how to get out of it. It was a scary time, but one day I realized that I had to get help before it got any worse. That's when I limped into my voice teacher Guy Babusek's studio.
After determining that I hadn't yet developed nodules (he could tell by the sound), he taught me to relax my larynx when I sing so that I wouldn't strain it further. That was my ER procedure just so that I could make it through the following few weekends. Then, over the course of the next few months, he taught me ways to generate a whole lot more sound without pulling up my chest voice to an unhealthy level or trying to belt it by...screaming. Imagine being able to sound like I'm belting when in fact I'm only using the tiniest part of my vocal cords to generate that sound. It was easier than whispering! (As an aside, I also learned that whispering is actually bad for your voice.) The amazing thing was that as my vocal technique improved so that I was no longer putting undue pressure on my voice, my tone actually got better too! Imagine that -- two benefits for the price of one!
Yes, I do realize that there is a price -- often a steep one -- for vocal training. But if you consider what it would cost if you ruined your voice, then I think it's worth the investment. After going to Guy every other week for the first few years, he got my voice in good enough shape so that I now go only a few times a year for my "tune up." Oh, I still definitely stray from proper technique from time to time, so I really appreciate going back to Guy every few months to get re-calibrated!
I don't see the need for voice lessons to be a sign of weakness. In fact, I think it is a reminder that we are all frail and in need of help. Who of us can claim that we have it all together, especially in our singing? After all, the fist step in any recovery program is admitting that we need help. And I, for one, definitely needed help and will continue to need help as long as I sing.
I believe so much in voice training and, in particular, the method which Guy uses called "Speech Level Singing" which was developed by master voice teacher Seth Riggs, that I have signed up to begin the certification process to become a voice instructor with the SLS method. I filled out the forms, paid my dues, and am just embarking on a new adventure with the hopes that even when I am no longer on the road, I can continue helping the next generation of road warriors who will surely come upon vocal trouble at some point in their careers. This whole certification takes many, many years to complete, and that's part of the appeal. I like that it takes a lot of time and effort to understand the voice, and any other program which tells you otherwise is questionable, in my book.
I hope that by this time next year I will have achieved my Level 1 certification as Speech Level Singing voice instructor. Until then, I'll be learning how to teach, which I'm sure is an art in itself. I have just a few select students (er, guinea pigs) for the time being. I'm not ready to advertise my voice lessons quite yet, but I do hope to get there soon.
Here's the link to Speech Level Singing: http://www.speechlevelsinging.com/ Here's some information on Seth Riggs: http://www.sethriggs.com/ ...and one more for my voice teacher Guy Babusek: http://www.voice-lessons.com/
So, that's one of the new things I'll be doing in 2012. I hope and pray that your new year will bring you lots of exciting things in your life, too!