This blog is dedicated to the Absolute Joy of Singing!And it is dedicated to the hope that we can all, in some way, touch that joy of singing, of vocalizing, of experiencing a voice that is free to play and express.
For me, that hope is becoming a reality. It is this beautiful, rich technique called Speech Level Singing that is taking me, one gentle but powerful step at a time, towards my hope and dream of allowing my voice to play and express through song.
My Vocal Story
I want to share a little more of my own personal vocal story. A number of my blog entries have been "vocally inspired" -- that is to say many have references to Vocal Healings, Vocal Power, Sounding, Singing, etc. And I really feel the need right now to "sing the praises" of Speech Level Singing. I have been working with this technique and with a very skilled teacher of this technique (http://www.3rdvoice.com/) for the past two years and every now and then I seem to drop into a deeper level of experiencing and understanding the real essence and power of this method. My previous vocal repression was extreme and I've explored many ways and methods of overcoming that repression. Speech Level Singing is the one thing that has worked for me in a way that is lasting and solid. For me, it has been, and continues to be, a very safe step by step process that is building a powerful foundation for my voice. And I know that vocal foundation that I (with a lot of help from my teacher) am building is offering me much greater vocal confidence and ability for vocalizing in various ways and for singing the songs that mean so much to me.
Up until I was well into my 57th year on this planet, I never sang. Well, maybe I sang a little bit -- when I was alone and certain that no one would hear me! And I have a feeling that there may be others who have been, or maybe still are, travelling in this "non singing" boat. I firmly believe now that it is not right and it is not natural to live without singing.
A few years prior to age 57, I did attend various vocal workshops -- mainly based on Sounding (allowing the voice to flow freely from one's depths) and in rare moments, my voice would burst out in big loud sounds -- only to close down even more afterwards. Often, my throat would literally constrict, for no apparent reason, leaving me with a choking sensation at its worst or with a continual feeling of frogginess and need to constantly clear my throat (by the way, constant throat clearing is not good for the vocal cords).
Finally, one evening I found myself in a small group of people -- it was a cricle that generally used writing as the Creative and Transformative tool that it can be. I was really comfortable with writing and so I was generally pretty comfortable in this group. Imagine my dismay and distress when, instead of our usual writing exercises, a decision was made to share songs. Not only could I not open my mouth to share a song, I could not even open my mouth to join in the songs that were being shared. There were some excellent singers in the group -- which only served to make me feel totally inadequate and miserable.
That was the vocal turning point for me.
Within a week and a half after that group I found myself standing in front of a microphone in the small studio space of a teacher who taught Karaoke type singing. Remarkably, he did get me singing by the third lesson. My very first song was Love Me Tender. That was a hugely exciting moment for me. I still have the recording of myself singing my very first song and it still brings tears to my eyes to listen to it! A whole new world began to burst open for me. I was very excited to start really listening to some of my favorite songs and I started trying to sing those songs with my favorite singers (Anne Murray songs were high on my list in those days).
But frustration began to quickly set in. The harder I tried to sing those songs, the more my voice would "crack". My throat would start to close down and I would get that "froggy" need to continually clear my throat as I approached the Karaoke teacher's studio. En route to my lesson, I would pray to the Angels of Singing to help me open my throat enough to get through my lesson. That didn't always work.
Hooked On Singing
The good news was that by then, I was hooked on wanting to sing! By then I understood the need for a really good vocal technique and a teacher who could work with the kinds of vocal challenges I was facing. I went searching. This time the Angels of Singing were guiding me and I found Speech Level Singing. And I found 3rd voice studio. And I found Brandon Brophy-- a very skilled SLS teacher. I have to add here that not only is Brandon very skilled at teaching the method itself, he is (in my viewpoint) remarkably skilled at gently easing through the "vocal baggage" that I suspect we all carry in one way or another. For me, part of that bagagge was that old fashioned notion that women's singing voices should sound "pretty". Speech Level Singing really emphasizes Chest Voice Developement and connection. It is the Chest Voice that creates the foundation for the voice and without a connection to the Chest Voice, the voice will never sound full or rich and from what I understand, singing without that important Chest Voice connection is damaging to the vocal cords. To me, connecting with the depths of the Chest Voice is like connecting to the Roots of the Voice. When I first started SLS, I was not even speaking from my Chest voice. I was speaking, and trying to sing, from a disconnected head voice. With my voice having no connection to its roots, just rying to sing, or even trying to speak up, were literally straining my voice. Initially I kind of rebelled against some of the deep chest sounds that Brandon encouraged me to sing because they didn't sound "pretty". But I came to realize that they (deep chest sounds) sounded pretty powerful and felt absolutely wonderful. And with every lesson, I started to feel more and more "grounded" or connected deep inside my body. It is a truly wonderful feeling when the voice can flow right from the depths of our being.
"May we all sing our own special songs in our own special ways."
Got to go practice my scales now!
Barbara
