On Stuttering

Stuttering is a brain glitch in which the right side and left side get confused. Oddly enough, it often doesn't happen when singing. I had a student who had a slight stuttering problem. So we sang his words in pitches as close to what sounded like speaking as possible. This worked!

I find in teaching that brain tricks work. When the brain associate speaking with singing, it became less intimidating and more more doable. It wasn't noticable that what was supposed to be spoken was actually being sung. We were using tones that were fractions between actual detectable notes that you would able to identify on a piano.

Speech Impediments

Most speech impediments I see are lisps. Even saying the word "lisp" or "lisps" is difficult. To reframe what seems very difficult, we place the tongue, teeth, and jaw where we want them, and slowly create a muscle memory affect. We only pick up speed when the desired correction has been made, and the brain has had time to catch up to our speech. When the two are aligned, we have more effective speech.

On Results

Over the past two years, I'm finding a common theme about people performing what they've learned. I've noticed that people are employing techniques when I tell them to. They end up with a strong sound. When it's time to do it on their own, it's as if nothing was retained. Clients get used to having to be corrected.

Combating this is a huge part of the training. There's a split second between me giving direction and the client's execution. In that time, the person forgets and goes right back to the old way. Quality of service is important, and in order to benefit from it, conscious awareness is key.

Focused attention is critical to success. This doesn't just apply to the training. Clients must use what is taught in their daily lives. Our voices are always with us. We don't have the inconvenience of carrying an instrument around, as our voices are the instruments. But not using the techniques makes the time and financial spend useless. And people stay right where they are.

A deeper level of focus is required. It's not your typical day to day paying attention type of focus. I'm now devising focus exercises to force the brain to slow down. One of the ways I'm doing this is by pattern interuption and redirection. I also use visualization techniques. The goal is to slow the brain down to fill in the split second between receiving direction and following it.

Change...that's what it's about. To achieve it, we must change permanently. What's your opinion?

On Volume

Something amazing happened a couple of weeks ago. I was singing with a friend (we critique each other), and was about to sing a high note on a Bonnie Raitt song. Where I usually had to get much louder on that note, I did not have to this time. I found that by opening my mouth wider vertically, I stretched the palate and created more room for the sound. This alone, got the high note out without having to scream!

This is one tool to be used with the other techniques together. You can't rely on volume alone to get you through, because you will hurt yourself. But opening up the mouth and face will make it easier to sing those power notes.

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What to Expect from Voice Lessons

First I'll listen to you sing or speak. Based on what I see and hear, we'll build from there. I'll be paying attention to your pitch, the way your breathe, the speed at which you sing and speak, and looking for ways you may be straining your throat. We'll devise exercises from there based on what we want to strengthen first. Then we'll move on to applying them to songs.

You'll be given direct and indirect application. Some of the exercises are meant to be sung the same way when singing songs. Others are indirect muscle building exercises.

Client Specific Training

As I said, I'm now working with a prison corrections officer. I'm also working with a client who runs a non-profit that addresses political issues in the state of NJ. I'm also coaching my mom, who's in an academic club, and has to deliver a paper on the Julio Claudian emporers of Ancient Rome.

All three have one thing in common. They need to project there voice to command different levels of interest and authority. To do this, they must achieve volume without hurting their vocal systems.

For the prison guard, he needs a deep, loud, room filling sound. He needs to achieve this sound without sounding angry. This is where this type of training extends beyond using just volume. If he uses too much volume from the wrong place and comes across as angry or emotional to get his sound, guess who's over the barrel that night.

The non-profit ladies have to hold the room's attention with a tone of voice aggressive enough to keep them focused, and gentle enough not to be aggressive if their attention wanders. My mom has the task of talking for 30 minutes without seriously hurting her vocal cords as a result of not being used to talking for such a long period without a break.

Much more goes into making an effective voice than the actual voice itself. There's eye contact, body language, fullness (as opposed to just loudness), inflections, pauses, facial expression, movement, etc.

I teach clients how to access all of this. The best way to do this is to use real life like situations with exercises and drills inside them. The non-profit ladies are working on "Good morning ladies and gentlemen" by singing it to access the proper anatomy. We go up and down the keyboard. They then say it with the same technique, only this time they are speaking it in the way most true to their real life situation.

Prison guard guy is using commands he uses in his day to day and making exercises out of them. These phrases and commands use different vowel/consonant formations. We do "lock in/lock out", "left/right/left/right", "lights out", "chow's up" (for meal times), and more.

My mom uses the new "I am a bull-horn" phrase. We're trying to access her voice deep within to take the stress out of her vocal cords, and allow her to achieve high volumes by sounding deep, in control, and not like she's yelling. Bullhorns don't product a yelling sound, they simply provide a louder sound. That's what we want from our voices.

I teach my clients how to access all of this with their diaphragms, abdominal muscles, facial muscles, and throat muscles.

Types of Students

I've had a wide variety of types of students over the years. I had a corporate client who literally wanted to put a song and dance together. I had a prison psychologist. I had a woman who sang in a church chior who wanted lessons because the director was ready to kick her off the worship team. Most recently, I will be taking on a 22 year old male corrections officer who wants to command respect from the inmates using his voice.

I'm finding that the longer I do this, the wider the range of student types I get. Trust me, there's something for everyone.

On Regressing

A former public speaking student called me today wanting to come back. Yay for me, but I wish she was coming back for the simple enjoyment of it, rather than because she's regressed.

Regression is a part of any skill. We don't always stay on top of things. A perfect example would be diet and exercise. I could hear in her speaking voice on the phone, exactly what she meant. She had that croaky sound back in her throat. She told me she really wasn't thinking about it in her day to day. Of course that didn't please me.

In case there is any doubt, if you don't practice, you lose parts of your skill. The same would hold true for stopping a diet or exercise program. If you don't use it, you lose it. It's nice to have a client back from a business perspective, but not so much when it's simply a matter of the person just didn't apply what they learned for the long term. She wouldn't have felt the need to come back for another round if it had become a part of her. In order to have success with training, it must become part of you PERMANENTLY!

On Stuttering

Stuttering is kind of a brain fart. I have a client who has a little bit of a stuttering issue, but it only happens when speaking, not with singing. So we change the brain's association to what we're doing. We pretend we're singing, because pitch is pitch, whether you're singing or speaking. If you say "uh", you can many times match it to a pitch on the piano. Not always, because some tones are between tones and difficult for the brain to pick up on. So don't actually start singing while you're speaking, but allow part of your mind to believe you are.

You can also do the stutter part in your head. Breath deeply, slow down the wheel in your brain, say your "uh"s in your head, and speak when you're confident that they will be reduced. You don't want to wait too long, because then you'll never actually speak. You want the time between the "uh"s in your mind and the time you start speaking to decrease. This is how the brain gets reconditioned.

What do you think?