more-than-just-a-voice-coach

[more-than-just-a-voice-coach]

#practise

[more-than-just-a-voice-coach]

This is another great exercise to help combat tongue root tension. 😛 You may need a series of exercises to help you eliminate it altogether, that is why I have posted 2 posts with different exercises to help get you started. It's a tricky one to cure. It takes time, patience and commitment. #voicetipsforvoiceusers

[more-than-just-a-voice-coach]

This is one great exercise to help combat tongue root tension. 😛 You may need a series of exercises to help you eliminate it altogether, that is why I have posted 2 posts with different exercises to help get you started. It's a tricky one to cure. It takes time, patience and commitment. #voicetipsforvoiceusers

[more-than-just-a-voice-coach]

[more-than-just-a-voice-coach]

[more-than-just-a-voice-coach]

FEEL THE FEAR AND DO IT ANYWAY

09/07/2016

For the last four weeks my house has been filled with flowers. Lovely people saying thank you. I thought I’d share some of the images with you. I feel truly blessed to work with such amazing colleagues and clients. 

In return I want to say thank you to you! I am at very exciting transition in my life. I’m about to take the plunge into freelance work and you guys have made it possible. Thank you all for being part of my journey so far, I am very grateful to be part of yours.

Truthfully, this freelance business feels really scary. I keep telling myself, “Feel the fear and do it anyway!” It’s one of my moto’s. Therefore, I’m accepting the feeling and this incredible challenge with the belief that I am doing this because it is just what I am meant to do. It is what I have always wanted to do. I actually ran a vocal coaching business a while ago, and even though I have continued as a singing teacher, I just took a wrong path for a short time. We all learn from our mistakes, don't we? I am turning the fear into excitement, knowing I am going to continue to work with very gifted and creative people and hopefully, help as many people as I can achieve their significant goals on the way. 

#Feelthefearanddoitanyway

[more-than-just-a-voice-coach]

A beautiful animation on the art of breathing by Jessica Wolf. Enjoy :-)

[more-than-just-a-voice-coach]

[more-than-just-a-voice-coach]

Taming the Voice

(A little reminder to pay attention to your body)

20.06.2016

We all know when we are straining right? And if we don’t, we certainly know we did something wrong the day after.

For most of us, getting the voice to do what we want it to do and feel/sound effortless takes a lot of work. The work we need to put in is usually retraining bad habits.

It can be frustrating; I completely get that. You’ve got to remember it’s not just you! Even the best singers and public speakers in the world have experienced vocal fatigue at one time or other. It’s how you handle it that is the key, we need to learn from it. If it is happening over and over again, we need to STOP and do something different.

YOUR GOAL should be to develop your voice so that you can introduce various voice qualities when YOU want them. You should have complete control over your voice and the emotion you want your audience to hear and feel.

THE PROBLEM is we often over estimate out effort level. Remember, those vocal folds are only just about the length of a 5p piece (in a grown male). They are tiny! They need to come together efficiently. They also need space. It’s a Yin-Yang situation and we need to strive for balance.

We have lots of different muscles surrounding the throat. Some of these muscles are for mobility, sometimes we don’t let them do their job and they become too tight and sometimes, we overdo it and the larynx can be hypermobile. Sometimes we feel we have found that balance and then for some reason, we lose it. The major factor is realising when we have lost the control and recognising when we have regressed to habitual bad practises. Only when you are aware (or admit this to yourself) can you fix the problem.

SOLUTIONS. The secret is to find where in your vocal range you are straining. Then apply the exercises we do to that particular area to eliminate any unnecessary tension and find the right energy. You should also work on volume control. If you can’t do what you want to do really quietly, there is something fundamentally wrong and you need to work through that.

Remember to keep your practise short and work in detail. Why are you singing through a whole song and ignoring the parts that didn’t go that well? Don’t just focus on the money notes. This is bad practise and can cause awful problems.

If you are a public speaker are you remembering to apply your authenticity circles in everyday life? If not, when can you start to do this? This helps the voice stay at the right pitch, it keeps you connected – connection means less voice abuse, in fact it’s really hard to cause a problem. Use our tips to stay connected! Train yourself, set an alarm in your phone reminding you to stay connected throughout the day.

Something to bear in mind, nobody’s perfect. As most of you know, I attend regular singing/voice lessons, I don’t want to fall back into my habitual states. Disappointingly, sometimes (in fact quite recently) I just didn’t release I was doing something incorrectly, but that’s what check in lessons are for, right?

Of course good vocal health practise is a must (and I’ve written quite a lot about that) but did you need a little reminder? Is that steamer gathering dust? I appreciate it is hard in such a fast moving world to take the time to look after ourselves but if we want to be the best we can be well; you know the rest.

 Happy vocalising. Have a good week.

Pippa.

[more-than-just-a-voice-coach]

Talk about connecting with your audience! Human emotions are so strong when shared. Singing takes it to a whole other level. Incredible (but not sure I would have gone on for so long). 

[more-than-just-a-voice-coach]

You are unique, your voice is unique. It is important to find ‘your voice’ because success eludes those who don’t.

So, how do you find and express your individuality? Be true to yourself.

Don’t be afraid of failure. Have you ever heard the saying, “Learn to fail or fail to learn?” Sometimes what we call failure is what others call learning.

Don’t be afraid to experiment. It is the only way to find your authentic voice. Experimenting is really a test of your knowledge. How cool is that?

Be afraid of copying. By copying someone else, you will never find individuality and you will never find your niche. You can be influenced by someone without copying their style.

Be afraid of not connecting with your voice because you are imitating. If you don’t make that connection, how do you expect others to?

Be yourself. Everyone else is taken. - Oscar Wilde

[more-than-just-a-voice-coach]

How the voice works (1920’s style). A fabulous insight into how we breathe, swallow and make sound.

(Footage published on YouTube by Historia- Bel99TV).

[more-than-just-a-voice-coach]

Do you still purchase music in the form of c.d? I do. When I really like something, I like to look at the inlay. I like to read and digest the words (if they are in there). I like to see a dedication or where it was recorded, who worked on it etc.

I do use YouTube a lot as well. I must be a visual person because I love a good video. This is all back ‘in’. That’s probably why mobile phones are bigger, why we use tablets - so we can look at visuals. 5 - 6 years ago maybe, we didn’t really do this. It was all about the earphones and the Ipod. It might still be for you. I’ve lost mine. Funny because at the time it was a life line. Things move so fast in the music industry don’t they?

[more-than-just-a-voice-coach]

There have been so many versions of this song, why do people love it so much? I wonder which is your favourite version?

[more-than-just-a-voice-coach]

Singers, it is just as important to take care of your speaking voice as it is to take care of your singing voice.

[more-than-just-a-voice-coach]

Shakespeare400

[more-than-just-a-voice-coach]

I'm just devasted. #Prince #RIP #Legend