Free the voice
Singing has been my path. I undertook this voyage not by choice at first, but destiny. I always sang. I remember learning songs by listening to an old record player at the age of 3, playing them over and over again. This voyage has been one of growing self-awareness. The voyage has had many rough moments. One rough spot in particular – an illness (which is often a catalyst of growth) – made it obvious to me that singing was not some abstract notion or a mechanical technique. “Move this. Lift that!” We are not machines that push buttons, even if you can find some proverbial “buttons to push” or muscles to lift, tighten, release and move.
It is so much more.
Our deepest “self”, what some would call the soul, reveals itself in the material world through the body and especially the voice, both spoken and sung. Body language and voice quality are its means of expression or mode of communication. We must learn to understand this language of the “self” in order to understand and free ourselves. Furthermore, by learning to read the body language of others, we can become aware of their true feelings and intentions. We recognize the meaning behind the words that each individual chooses to communicate with.
If our inner self is chained or burdened with excess tension or negative emotions, the voice becomes trapped inside the body. We will not be able to sing freely no matter how much we try to lift the soft palate or change our pattern of breathing. We have all experienced the frustration of trying to communicate our deepest feelings. We have heard someone express an opinion or thought recognizing that the tone of their voice made the words totally unconvincing. We know when someone is at ease or uncomfortable in our presence by how they hold their body. This is an innate ability we have inherited phylogenetically, but that modern day men and women often ignore. It is a gut feeling. We need to acknowledge this skill and cultivate it.
The first thing people usually ask me is what my method of teaching and working with the voice is. It is my experience that to study a style of music (such as jazz, pop or opera) without working to achieve a free voice, is at best a waste of time and at worst vocally destructive. This is why I work to free healthy vocal production and have chosen to call my website FREEING THE VOICE. Through exploring body sensations, breathing, posture, movement, vocal exercises and our emotions, we work together to discover who we are. This building of self-awareness allows the process of freeing the voice, because we sing with our entire body and with our minds. Every bone, every muscle and every thought is involved.
The necessity to follow this process is supported by modern physics and the discoveries in neurology of the last 40 years. These scientific discoveries have “put us back together”: we can no longer separate the mind from the body, as the wisdom of the ancient schools of yoga, Chinese medicine and Buddhism have professed for centuries. Art, music, dance, and sports demand total mind-body unity or awareness to achieve mastery. I admit that this process is very demanding, but the returns are high. Physical and psychological wellbeing are the rewards, and they are worth the effort.
Life is like an iceberg: It is not what it appears to be on the surface. We are so much more than what can be seen superficially. Going down into our depths we discover an immense, rich world. What one uncovers can then be shared and is well-worth the effort. Singing takes you on this voyage.
It is my belief that, if there is a Supreme being, he or she is not perfect, but constantly creating, constantly becoming, constantly renewing. Perfection is something static and therefore lifeless. Being is becoming. Singing as a life journey is this: CREATION. Creating sound…creating communication…creating beauty…and creating ourselves.
I invite you to undertake this journey with me.