What should I eat and drink? – Its a common topic for singing teachers and their students. For some vocalists they swear that the foods they eat and what they drink make a drastic difference to their voice and vocal ability. For others they believe that it has no affect on them. For me personally I do sometimes find certain foods or drinks may aggravate my voice whilst others do not. I do think its a very individual thing, One thing I do know is that nothing touches your vocal folds directly, we have a little flap of cartilage which closes when we eat and drink to protect the airway, which sits above the vocal folds. So unless ‘things go down the wrong way’ what we eat or drink should not be able to touch the vocal folds. 

I do believe some food and drinks can affect your voice; some can aggravate the mouth and throat, and some can hinder your vocal performance through creating excess mucous which can coat the folds. As always everyone reacts differently, and you will need to find what affects you personally. Some recommend that the following be avoided when you will be singing, remember its not a life changing every day rule and cutting out the following may or may not help you. But it may be worth cutting these out on days when important performances, or when your voice is feeling poorly. As always though I recommend doing a little research on how the following affects you!

Dairy & Chocolate

We’ve all heard that dairy and chocolate are to be avoided before singing – its believed that dairy creates excess mucous in the throat, clogging and increasing the need to ‘clear’ the throat – something that causes the folds to slam together which can lead to an unhappy or stressed voice. The build up in the throat and on the folds can limit range, closure and all in all is an unpleasant experience when trying to sing! Other foods such as potatoes and baked beans or creamy foods have also been known to have the same effect.

Spicey Foods / Mints / Chewing Gum

Spicey Foods and mint can also cause irritation to the pharynx and vocal folds which can result in (yes again) coughing which can aggravate and potentially harm your throat, again we all have different tolerances to spice and mints so this may or may not affect you.

Cough Sweets

When you are ill and have a cough or sore throat you are likely to have some form of soother, it is recommended that you reduce your vocal load during this period and refrain from unnecessary voice use, but if this is not possible and if you intend on singing it is important that you check the ingredients of the cough sweet. You must ensure that the medicine you are taking does not include an Anesthetic, this is an active ingredient that numbs your throat and so dulls your perception of pressure and the amount of strain and pain you are inflicting on yourself. It is best to stick to a general cough/sore throat sweet that contains an Antiseptic which helps to destroy the bacteria in your throat and mouth. Ive been asked time and time again about certain branded vocal recovery pastilles which are designed for singers – im sure you know which ones im talking about – I never use these personally as anything that numbs or changes the feeling in the throat is only going to have detrimental effects in the long run. Menthol and eucalyptus can also cause drying so its best to keep away from these ingredients,

Remember – (Anesthetic – BAD), (Antiseptic – Good)

Alcohol

Alcohol increases the blood flow to the vocal folds. This may case them to become slightly swollen. This in its self can make it more susceptible to damage, let alone the fact alcohol numbs the bodies senses, leaving the singer unable to notice how much pressure they are subjecting their voice to, or unfortunately they may not be able to tell if they are in pain or not. Bundle that with the likelihood of how much you are likely to sing when tipsy and how you obviously wont be too concerned about technique – it’s a good bet your likely to wake up the next morning with a husky voice!

Fruit Juices

Fruit juices can also be very acidic to the voice. If you are planning to sing or have a sore throat its may be beneficial to avoid fruits juices and cordials as they can irritate the throat. I know some teachers recommend pineapple juice to sooth sore throats but again its something to see for yourself. A quick search online brings quite a few articles on how pineapple juice can benefit you especially with a cough, its said pineapples contain bromelain which is an enzyme with apparent anti-inflammatory properties. It is believed to help fight infections and kill bacteria and may help to suppress coughs. However I do sometimes find it quite acidic and it sometimes can make the back of my throat uncomfortable before singing, if it aggravates you its probably wise to avoid it before singing.

Caffeine

Tea, coffee or any caffeinated products are diuretics; A diuretic ultimately causes you to flush water from your system which may in turn dehydrate you. This means it could dry your throat and mouth and may make it uncomfortable or tickly to sing. When your vocal folds aren’t hydrated they are more susceptible to damage – remember to keep drinking 2-3 litres of water a day and steam regularly. For more information on the importance of  hydration click here

Ice

Icey drinks may cause your vocal folds to contract. Making them less flexible and perhaps more suceptible to trauma. It is thought to be best to drink water at room temperature in order to avoid shocking your vocal folds. I remember a news story about Mariah Carey throwing a diva strop about iced water being given in her dressing room instead of room temperature water – people thought she was being ridiculous at the time but from a vocal performance point of view – maybe she was just being professional? Albeit in a ‘Diva’ way!

Honey and Lemon

Honey and lemon is a tricky one – for some teachers they recommend it without question, for others they see the lemon as an acid and a cause for concern. For sore throats honey and hot water can be soothing but after all lemon is an acid, if your vocal folds or the back of the mouth / pharynx are already fragile you may want to avoid this. I personally always always stick to the honey and hot water if I feel I need it, although to this day I still cannot be sure I feel it makes a difference to me! Remember: nothing coats your vocal folds! 

Steaming is best

Steaming really is a fantastic thing, it is the only true way to help re-hydrate your folds directly and immediately. If you have a sore throat or ongoing vocal problems it is recommended to steam two or three times a day with either a handheld steamer or electric steam inhaler. You may find it beneficial to steam regularly even when your voice is healthy.

Some singing teachers recommend complete vocal rest if your voice becomes strained and this means from both singing and talking, however those who are experienced in vocal injuries and rehab and recovery avoid complete vocal rest unless you have done yourself serious damage and haemorrhaged your vocal folds!

A vocal surgeon once told me that gentle singing and humming to ensure your vocal cords stay flexible is very important when you are feeling poorly, sometimes when your voice is croaky or husky it needs a good gentle stretch to help it recover. 

Eat Well!!

Make sure you eat well at all meal times and drink plenty of water, try to eat a few hours before a performance and nothing to heavy – you don’t want to feel bloated when you are trying sing! It is important that your body has the fuel it needs in order to perform. If you do not have the energy your your body needs how can you expect your voice to do what you want it to!

Finally 

Do a little experimentation – As I have already said, everyone is different. What affects one singer may make no difference to another, its finding what does and doesnt work for you. I do believe though, if your voice is suffering – whats the harm in cutting out some of the above to see if it helps you?

For most singers sometimes the last thing we think about is our vocal health, we’re usually more concerned about the next gig or performance or hitting those high notes to take the time to worry about what’s really going on. We see a slightly tired or sore throat after regular singing as nothing out of the ordinary and just part of using our voice more than the average person.

The truth is there are so many warning signs that we ignore, warning signs that could help you prevent serious damage if you take the steps to change things now!

The main thing to remember is anyone can damage their voice, whether you’re a singing professional, someone who has been trained for years or a singing teacher yourself. Just having a ‘nice’ or ‘good’ voice does not mean you are singing with good technique or that you most importantly have a healthy technique.

The problem with a lot of singers when I first start working with them is that they have just become so used to the pain and strains when they sing that they do not recognise it anymore. This whole no pain no gain thing is definitely not true when it comes to singing, if there’s pain – there’s something wrong!

This is why in my lessons we focus on what it feels like as well as what it sounds like, is it tight? too much pressure? Scratchy? These are all things that can lead to further problems down the line. If you know what a good and healthy sound feels like you stand more chance of avoiding vocal damage in the future.

Working with damaged voices there is one thing I can say – there would have been little signs along the way to tell you something isn’t quite right. But as singers like I said before, we dismiss, we don’t have time to worry about that – we may have deadlines for recording/exams/performances that need us to keep on going, to maybe just get through this gig and then I can have a few days rest!

It’s scary to think just how many singers /vocal coaches / singing teachers I have worked with that do see voice problems just a part of everyday life – it’s something that we need to just get through and I’ll be fine tomorrow!

The truth is there should never be pain when we sing, effort yes – but effort is another thing entirely. Any pain is the bodies warning signs that it is being used in a way that is not healthy.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a classical singer or a rock singer – style doesn’t mean that you will have to suffer with vocal damage through your career, it’s a personal choice which comes down to discipline, study and taking the right actions when you need too.

I lost my voice when I was younger, I was gigging regularly, studying music performance at college, I’d started working for my vocal group and all in all I must have been singing pretty much all day every day, and suddenly my voice couldn’t handle it anymore.

Unfortunately I was in a position where my teachers weren’t teaching me about vocal health and recovery, no one told me it was a bad idea to sing that much!! I was warned to stay away from caffeine and chocolate when I sang and that was about it.

I went and studied with a fantastic teacher who helped me to rebuild my voice and set myself onto a path of protecting my voice against vocal problems in the future, and I am so happy that happened then – I am a full time vocal technique tutor, if my voice is poorly then I don’t work – It’s just not an option for me, so now when I notice the warning signs I know how to recover and quickly.

That’s why I hope the following warning signs will help you to identify any underlying symptoms that can be fixed to help prevent vocal injuries from affecting your music.

There are a lot of signs that can creep into your singing voice that you need to be aware of, this is just a list of the most common issues singers may find – it’s not something to scare you with, sometimes we do just over sing and have a sore throat for the rest of the day and are fine after we’ve slept – but we recognise what’s caused it and try to stop that from happening again. What needs our attention is if it’s a repetitive occurrence, that’s when we need to take action.

So the warning signs?

• Tight or strained feeling around the throat
• A hoarse or husky sound (both singing and speaking)
• Any general change in the speaking or singing voice for prolonged periods of time
• A breathy voice (where the vocal folds cant reach a good closure)
• Scratchy, squeaky sounds (when the voice slips or voice is unresponsive)
• A lower sounding voice (are those low notes suddenly easier to reach?)
• Changes in the range (the higher notes or mid range suddenly becomes harder to reach or not there at all)
• Pitching issues
• Trouble singing quietly or in mid range, can usually get a louder sound out
• Sore/painful throat either at rest or singing
• Dry throats – feeling tickly, needing to cough or keep drinking water
• A feeling of a “lump” in the throat
• Build up of gunk (phlegm) on the cords – feeling the need to clear before during and after singing
• The obvious one – No Voice at all

If you are noticing any of the above for more than a few days I’d suggest speaking to your teacher or if you don’t have one approach a technique tutor who understands vocal health. These signs shouldn’t be ignored as slight changes now can prevent serious issues later! Working with a teacher will help you to identify habits which may be causing these problems and together you can ensure that those bad habits don’t get you into trouble down the line.

Remember just going on vocal rest isn’t the answer – yes it may help you to recover at first, but without the understanding of why the warning signs keep cropping up, I can guarantee you without fail you will be back to the same position in just a matter of time. A few years back I attended a conference on working with injured voices, a well-respected vocal surgeon (who was also a trained singer himself) gave me the best bit of advice on poorly voices – he said never to completely stop singing, keep the voice moving gently with slides and controlled exercises. I followed his advice the next time my voice started to feel over used and within days I was back to my old self. It was the inspiration behind my TLC disc in my vocal programme, sometimes you do need to go back to basics and re-align the voice.

So now you’ve identified some of the vocal health warning signs – what do you do now? Head over to the second of my vocal health blogs here

So it’s been a while since I’ve been able to sit down and actually post anything. But one thing that’s different from last time – it’s definitely got colder!

Working one to one with students of all ages, from 5 year olds to 50 + I find myself saying the same thing to all of them, This is the time of year when we need to really start looking after ourselves!The cold is a killer for singers. With it comes runny noses, sore throats, chesty coughs so many cold like symptoms that can make singing that much more difficult.

So my advice?

• Wrap up warm, my teachers used to tell me off if I ever turned up to their lessons without a scarf on!

• If your starting to come down with something – make sure you rest and don’t just “power on through” it will all catch up with you eventually!

• If your voice is starting to go – take it easy, rest now – means that you will recover quicker and will be back to your old self in no time.

• Steam regularly – Invest in a steam inhaler and then actually use it! i forgot how much these actually help you until recently – I was full of cold – I had all but lost my voice, thought I was fine until i found myself having a coughing fit in one of my lessons – silly dry throat! I popped on the kettle and used the steamer for a few minutes and I was fine, I survived another 2 lessons that night after that!

The rest is common sense, but for my regular giggers please have a thought for your voices when you’re walking in and out of hot venues out into the cold. Waiting for late comers that your holding tickets for, nipping out for a breath of fresh air can be a shock to the vocal cords that you can’t afford to have just before your about to go on stage! If you have to leave a warm venue, wrap up! just because your body doesn’t feel the cold immediately doesn’t mean your vocal cords cant!

Spare a thought guys – If singing is important to you – you can’t afford to let your voice down this winter!

It’s not all just about good and healthy technique . . . . This post looks at vocal technique and how your performance can be hindered by letting yourself get caught up in the worries of a technically good vocal performance. So Technique Vs Love of Music, where does your voice sit?

Rui Brito of Saints of Sin

So after years of trailing around in and out of music venues for the best part of my teenage and adult life whether it be for college / my gigs / friends gigs / signed band gigs / my students gigs, I can safely say I’ve seen too many singers performances to mention. Some with great stage presence, some without, some with great technique, quite a few without. Then there’s this little rarity that seems to pop up that makes you want to stop and stare, those who have both a great technique and an amazing stage presence.

Now I fully admit to being a bit of a singing snob and hard to please, I don’t think I’ve been able to watch a gig since I started teaching without thinking about how I could work with the singer on stage, or what I would advise. Mainly because there are a few singers that are pushing themselves too far and once their voice starts to go onstage it can be quite uncomfortable to listen to for both the audience and other singers alike.

So anyway when I was out doing photos this week at The Saints of Sin Gig at the Joiners in Southampton (I’m a live performance photographer on the side- Check Out Silent Mannequin Photography)

I found myself taking shots of a guy that pretty much was bringing the whole package. I don’t know for sure whether he was trained or just one of these lucky people who are just annoyingly naturally talented and working with a good technique.

To be honest it was a little bit of a mad experience the last time I’d seen this band there hadn’t been much of a crowd at the venue so I hadn’t seen them to their full potential, but here they were a month or so later in their home town with quite a few of their fan base in tow.

So standing around waiting I overheard so many of their fans going on about how excited they were to see them, I’d never seen this reaction to a local band before, but I was soon to see the reason why.

They walked up through the crowd playing their opening song – everyone going wild, ( a nice little touch I have to say) from start to finish they had an amazing energy and was fully committed to their performance. Over all the band had a great look and gave a very professional set. Especially seeing as I’d heard rumours they’d only been together for a few months.

So this singer, his performance had everything that I would implore my students to aim to achieve. His voice was strong, as was his stage presence and he had something about him that made you want to stop and stare. He seemed secure in his voice and his performance and didn’t hold back with either.

Now some say that singing isn’t the most important aspect of a performance – engaging with the crowd is and he even had the whole room bouncing at a command.

Now I have never written a review, or actually felt the need to comment in writing about a singer I had seen on stage – but it did get me thinking about something that I constantly find myself trying to get through to my students. You have to find the common ground between technique and emotion to deliver great vocal performance.

So yes I’m saying It’s not all just about good and healthy technique . . . .

It’s very easy to get caught up in focusing on the downsides of singing – especially when I spend most my time talking about vocal damage, and how serious it can be.

The most important thing that I find myself needing to remind students is that good technique is not the be all and end all of a good singer.

In fact it’s far from it. Yes after studying hard to achieve a good technique you might “technically” to a teacher sound good. But to the audience that can easily sound ridged.

Part of studying technique and applying it is learning when to throw it out the window, when we’re looking for stylistic flare in a voice and performance it’s not all about perfect placement and a highly controlled breath. It’s about emotion and the love of singing, don’t get me wrong, part of the perfect performance is a great technique, but applied with the sense of “maybe this grittier moment calls for a bit of a broken sound”

I have always specialised in rock singing, ever since an old friend came up to me after one of my singing lessons at school and said I should join his band. That was nearly 12 years ago now and after finding a love of the style, suffering vocally through it before finally understanding just how aggressive the placement can be on the voice, I found the need to support it in friends and students, but I constantly find myself teetering on the edge of raw emotion and correct technique.

Most of the time in my lessons – it’s hammering in the good technique – then trying to pull back from it.

The problem is rock and alternative vocals are one of the most aggressive styles of singing on the voice. And it’s important in this style perhaps more than any other contemporary style that a good technique is found early enough before any serious damage is done,

Unfortunately it pretty much never goes that way with rock singers, usually caught up in the forced persona of the “rock and roll” lifestyle; they shrug off pain and see it as all part of the game. But it’s not, at the end of the day, all these bands out there gigging locally are trying to get to the same place, on tour, on record, on constant media coverage. But this “rock and roll” attitude is shortening the shelf life of their career, if they do finally make it – most singers’ voices can’t hack the schedule.

This rock and roll mentality is where it also usually stops a lot of alternative singers from approaching lessons, they think their voice will become operatic, or sound to classical, and it’s true, if you work with the wrong tutors, you can become carbon copies and start to take on their sound. Of course there is a certain degree to that with all teachers, as when your mimicking vowel shapes and pronunciation you are eventually going to start sounding like them at times, but a good teacher should only enhance the voice that you already have, not rewrite it.

A lot of rock singers forget that even rock singing can be possible without damage or pain, it takes a lot to do what Axl Rose and Steve Tyler do – and even they don’t get away from the effects of prolonged voice use. Steven Tyler eventually succumbed to vocal surgery and ended up having to cancel the remainder of Aerosmith’s “Rockin’ the Joint” tour in 2006. Even Axl Rose has been heavily rumored to have had throat surgery because of the supposed change in his voice in the 90’s – early 2000’s. But there seems to be no definite truth to this anywhere on researching, some say he did (but mainly because they have seen scarring on his neck – so they presume it is to do with throat surgery – if they’re going to do a routine operation on the vocal cords they go in through your mouth and down your throat not in through the side of your neck!), some say he just started taking care of his voice, some said he starting working with a vocal tutor after Sebastian Bach recommended he did before he went back on tour. But he again is just one of many rock singers rumored to have undergone serious vocal surgery.

The moral is even the most talented and practiced rock singers in the world aren’t immune to vocal damage – and end up seeking help once it’s all gone wrong. So why leave it so late? It’s one thing being Steve Tyler and cancelling a tour – he can afford to – but can your average lead singer from a local touring band afford to keep pulling out at short notice? Your current fan base will be let down – the promoters you’re working with wont necessarily be too keen on booking you again if it’s likely you will cancel, and potential investors in you will see only unprofessionalism and a singer that can’t hack it.

Unfortunately it’s a tricky one when it comes to the right balance- If you look at artist that you love, it’s not all on great technique and perfect posture; it’s on what they do with their songs – their performance, their story. Steven Tyler and Axl Rose have fantastic voices and fantastic stage presence – they don’t revolve around perfect technique but they are amazing performers. In an ideal world you’ll find the middle ground, where you are sensible about exactly how fragile your voice can be, but you don’t let it limit you to being a mediocre performer who is too afraid to lose their breath control or good posture – If you’ve practiced well enough and understand what your voice needs to be supported – you won’t need to focus on that once you get up there on stage.

So like I said before – I don’t know if Rui Brito from the Saints of Sin has had training but he definitely didn’t come across on stage as if he was insecure in any part of his performance, even if personally he had felt he may have been. His voice sounded strong from start to finish and he never lost his energy or engagement of the audience. Something that unfortunately is becoming rarer and rarer in local bands these days.

So basically – Train hard – know your limits – don’t lose your love for singing – keep your performance up – and when you need to – seek help.

So the other day I was flicking through the TV, and I landed on boy band – The Wanted’s Show, I only watched for five minutes and within those five minutes it showed one of the singers (who had all but lost his voice) going in to a voice specialist, who then told him he needed to go on complete vocal rest, It then showed a clip of another member of the band struggling during a performance and then being pretty much told off by the manager for his bad performance and ordered back to his vocal lessons.

On further research it turned out the first – Nathan was actually suffering from a haemorrhaging vocal cord which eventually needed surgery.

The thing is it seems more and more singers are coming down with vocal injuries, look at Adele who in 2011 had to have a polyp removed from her vocal cord after repeated damage reduced her down to a whisper, even Julie Andrews couldn’t escape the effects of singing, she developed a cyst after her extended performances on Broadway, and after her surgery to remove it went wrong she has now been left unable to sing! – So how long is it until these singers bad voice habits start to rub off on their fans?

Which brings me to a question that I often get asked – What do I see as the most common cause of damage in young voices?

The answer is that it’s not usually just one thing, but it definitely starts with lack of guidance from parents, teachers or the media, the need for a young singer to push themselves to be the next big thing without thought on the actual damage they may be causing themselves.

For starters how many times are voices marked on how high they can go?

Young singers are striving to hit the high notes of their idols who are either struggling with their voice themselves, or on the flip side sometimes vocally trained, under the guidance of a singing teacher and are usually aged 20+. So when a males voice isn’t fully developed until their early 20’s and a females voice isn’t fully developed until their mid 30’s, why do we push children’s voices to sing songs that could be damaging to them instead of developing?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for stretching vocal ranges and pushing voices to help them develop, but when you’re getting a 10 year old to sing a challenging song which is an effort for the 30 year old it was written for – how can you be encouraging that voice to grow safely and ultimately to the best of its ability?

The issue here is that a lot of people will disagree with this, they’ll probably say – she can hit the notes without straining – Well of course she can, she’s 10! The only untrained voice that’s higher than hers is a boy of the same age!

The main point is that a lot of people including singing teachers don’t necessarily understand about voice weighting, just because you can sing a note doesn’t mean that you should! If people have light floaty high notes they shouldn’t be singing dramatic heavy notes even if they are on the same pitch.

I remember being at Uni and approaching my teacher about an aria I had heard and wanted to work on for my dissertation, she told me that “I better not dare look at that song again until I was at least 45!” To which I obviously protested thinking she was being a little over protective, after all at this stage I had been studying vocal technique for 9 years, had gone through a BTEC, HND and a year of degree and thought at the time that I had a pretty steady hold on my voice.

She explained to me that just because I could reach those notes, it didn’t mean that my voice was ready to sing for a prolonged time up in that register as my voice was still young. So if at 21, with years of vocal training I wasn’t ready to sing these high notes, how would a 10 year old hold up to songs that were written for gospel trained R&B singers three times their age.

It’s one thing singing soft high notes with good support and an open throat, – (creating sounds that are usually natural to children), it’s another to sing gospel weighted high notes with no breath control or safe technique. To create a sound which is fake to the natural sound of the voice will only ever cause damage if it’s not correctly controlled or supported.

So that’s my first point that causes damage, singers practicing and performing songs which are either out of their voice type, (to high/to low/to heavy) and singers who are too young being forced to sing songs that are just too big for them.

The second comes from singing too much

This drives me crazy, in the vocal group I work with around Christmas pretty much all of our singers are coming in with tired/sore – and the scariest of all, husky and sometimes lost voices. When asked they tell me that they are rehearsing for hours upon end each day, practicing in between and all that without any guidance on how to sing these songs safely.

A voice only has so much singing in it each day, quite a few professional singers will start to show fatigue after 45mins, so half that and you probably have a better estimate on a child’s voice without training (if not less). So how is that child going to feel singing for 3 hours at a time (sometimes longer/usually with songs out of their voice type) add in the pressure of practicing at home, it’s only a matter of time before they start to suffer, Mix in the cold weather and you have probably hundreds if not thousands of young singers across the country with lost voices due to their school shows and lack of vocal safety guidance.

A young singer shouldn’t really be singing for more than 1-2 hours a day, preferably with breaks and plenty of water. Less than that if they’re suffering from damage – i.e sore throats/strained sounds, and not at all if they’re husky!

Another way which I have a lot of students coming to me is after having lack of access to good vocal technique training or worse, music teachers who aren’t trained in voice, or singer teachers who naturally have a good voice, but no training in technique (just because a teacher has a good voice doesn’t mean they’re a good teacher!)

I’ve had a few students who are singing at school and music teachers are trying to work with them on support, telling them to pull in their tummy’s, tighten muscles, pretty much they are telling them to put strain on their vocal mechanisms, there is a form of diaphragmatic technique which requires you to expand your diaphragm and then pull in your abdomen, (a technique I used for years) now this creates a lot of tension, is a lot of effort to keep up, and overall it does improve the average voice to a certain point. But personally I’ve found it’s not the most efficient way of breathing, I use and teach a deeper lower diaphragmatic breath, feeling the expansion into your lower abdomen/pelvic area where the only effort is breathing in and using a conscious effort to support that breath, in the same way that you would lift your arm in the air and consciously hold it there. That’s the only effort it needs. If you’re creating tension anywhere in your body it will reflect in your voice. It’s well reported that the average singer uses between 50-100% more muscles during singing than what they actually need. You don’t push and strain when speaking, so why do it when singing?

Now a lot of teachers do deliver the first method of diaphragmatic breathing and probably with great success, but after studying both ways, but I couldn’t believe how free my voice became directing my support a bit lower, so I’ll always be more biased towards the latter.

The thing is everyone has their own techniques which work best for them, my only issue comes from teachers putting too much tension into their students, and this was flagged up to me by a student, who has been singing very successfully with the lower form of breathing support which I teach, she was working on her end of year piece with a music teacher and was being told to pull in, she came to me quite distressed after finding that it really affected her voice for the worse, she found herself torn between doing as her music teacher said, pleasing her, and doing as I had taught her knowing that she felt more comfortable singing in that way. The only thing I could say, without undermining the other teacher was for her to do as she felt most comfortable, to which she chose the more relaxed breathing technique. It did make me think about how often do my students have to face the conflict of two teaching methods, I know that each teacher I studied with had a slightly different approach, and it was from all of them I merged my technique, taking from each of them what I found worked for me best, and I hope that’s what my students take forward – to find what works best for them, as long as it’s comfortable and doesn’t cause them any pain.

Another thing that’s cropping up lately which is very strange, is singers imitating computerized effects on recorded voices. I worked with one girl who actually was imitating autotune, she even had the pitch shift and tone distortion spot on to the point it was bewildering!

Unfortunately this is the after effects of that digital age people keep talking about. Young voices will always mimic their idols, this is how we learn, this is how we learnt to speak we copy what we hear, but when young voices aren’t protected and guided, this is when we start to see more and more damage. You may not notice it at first, but the sore dry throats become more often, huskiness starts to set in, the voice slips, it sounds thicker – the tone changes, until all you have is a tired voice that’s struggling each time its pushed.

You may think that it’s not likely to happen in children, but I’ve worked with 11 year olds with damage, with voices which if pushed much further were likely to develop nodules or polyps or any of the other nasty things which can ruin a career.

These are children and teenagers who dream of being stars, the majority of whom do not understand how much training goes into developing a voice fit to gig every night, the majority of which may just end up like those boys from The Wanted or Adele or worse suffering like Julie Andrews and never able to sing again.

The good thing is the majority of voices which go this way can be saved and rehabilitated, but it takes effort and commitment from the student, and at the end of the day – you get out what you put in.

The hard part is pulling back and actually taking the time to rest and be sensible – you’re not going to fix a tired or damaged voice in two or three lessons. It took me between six months to a year seeing a vocal tutor weekly before I actually felt myself again after I nearly lost my voice. But that effort is worth it, after taking the time to reassess my technique – my voice was better than ever!