A Voice Apart

More and more, we are hearing about well-known artists losing their voices, cancelling their shows and tours and undergoing vocal surgeries. Nevertheless, the amateur singers lose their voices in an everyday basis as well, we just don’t hear about it as much. And lastly speakers: They are caught completely by surprise when their speaking voice seizes on them “out of the blue” or, at least, they think so. In reality, the voice loss is always premeditated. The worse it is for speakers, as they’re completely not expecting anything like that and the lost voice is getting them, the least to say, in shock. The fact is that they do not realize that the voice is a vulnerable organ and could break very easily. Singers are, by far, more aware about it and those who proceed with caution, so to speak, are able to keep their voice healthy and lengthy for the rest of their lives. So what about those who don’t know about voice preservation? We have the answer for th...

Working with voice repair clients for over 4 decades, I have determined that any voice disorder requires at least 30 hours of intense and tedious instruction and natural herbal and, in some cases, homeopathic treatment. The voice repair sufferer should understand that not only their speaking and/or singing voices have to be fixed, but it also requires the adaptation of the new modality of the completely new behavior with respect of using speaking, and especially, singing voice. Moreover, after the voice is fixed and the new vocal behavior has been established, the, so to speak, “screws” have to be tightened to confirm the new adapted habits. The intellectual understanding of the very intelligent method of visualization has to be interconnected with the motor skills and the kinesthetic feel. It also requires an establishment of the muscle memory such as facial muscles adapting the sound, and upper and lower abdominal muscles which require to work...

Should you continue singing the same way you have always been singing?  Should you ignore the unusual symptoms like hoarseness and dryness of the voice, loss of range, change of tone, etc.? These are your answers; You are a singer and have been for a long time. Your voice has never let you down for some time now, but, as musicians like to say, there is no gig lasts forever! Now you are not just getting mature, but you are also getting older and have had a lot of shows under your belt. Suddenly, you started noticing that you cannot reach the same high notes which you never had a problem with in the past, your tone of the voice is not the same and at times, you are even experiencing pitch problems, which you never had a problem with in the past. After the show, your voice and nevertheless, yourself, feeling exhausted and your voice sounds raspy and hoarse.  Those are very unfamiliar symptoms to you and now you are puzzled, concerned and even in panic. Your livelih...