Guess How Much I Spent on Voice Lessons

My quest to find the solutions to my singing challenges began when I was a teenager. Mom and Dad got me voice lessons and I rarely took a break from studying for the next many years.

Then in 2005 long after I left my teens behind, I realized that I had spent over $100,000 on voice lessons over the years. And even after spending that much money studying with “top” voice teachers in NYC, I still did not have the answers to my singing needs.

#1 I knew my voice was still trapped inside my body. I could feel it. I knew it was there but I could not figure out how to let it go and the voice teachers I was relying on for help didn’t know how to set it free either.

#2 My singing was still unreliable and inconsistent. When I opened my mouth to sing I never knew what was going to come out. My stage fright became almost unbearable from this lack of consistency.

#3 I still feel disengaged from the audience. The only time I felt like I was really connecting with the audience was when I was joking around and talking to them. I wanted to connect with my audience through the music because that’s what real artists do.

$100,000+ later and these 3 major challenges still plagued my singing. Yikes!

I developed Sing Like You Speak™ to solve these issues for my students and myself. The Sing Like You Speak™ techniques continue to prove highly effective in solving most vocal challenges and provide answers to many other questions of technique for singers.

Let’s take a look at singing challenge #1 and how to begin setting your voice free. When I gave my Sing Like You Speak™ workshop at SXSW, many singers said a trapped voice was a frustrating problem for them too.

How about you? Have you ever felt that your voice was trapped inside your body? To me it felt like a lump in my throat that had traveled to my chest. When I tried to get the sound out it seemed to lock itself in there. My heart felt shut down too. How does it feel to you?

Now switch that around. How would it feel to set your singing voice free? Luxurious, fantastic, joyful! The question is HOW? How do you set your voice free?

Sing Like You Speak™ is all about answering that question.

Setting your voice free requires…

• A clear and open path through your instrument for breath and sound to flow
• The right techniques to open your instrument
• Awareness of any holding, pushing, straining
• The strength and willingness to stay open as you sing

Consider that your instrument is from your bottom to the top of your head – your torso. Straighten your torso by opening along your spine like opening a book. Then…

1. Your inhale serves to open your instrument – it’s not about lots of breath.
2. Unhinge the jaw and feel as though you are opening all the way to your bottom.
3. Exhale saying an FFFF, letting the breath float up into your nasal passages and sinus cavities – your resonators.
4. Pay attention to the moment you switch from inhale to exhale. Do you feel any holding, pushing, straining?
5. If yes, then repeat the opening inhale and do your best to gently release the holding, pushing, straining from the process. Repeat.
6. Unhinge the jaw and feel as though you are opening all the way to your bottom. Then as you exhale saying an FFFF, think of keeping your heart space open. Feel your breath releasing.
7. Use the same process and speak the lyrics to your song.
8. Use the same process and sing a song being aware of releasing, constantly release the breath and sound, keep your heart space open.

Congratulations you have begun to set your voice free! Continue to practice the above process every day – several times a day. This isn’t a one-and-done deal. It requires daily practice.

Every moment you put into your practice will get you closer and closer to that luxurious feeling and amazing sound of vocal freedom!

Have fun. For answers to other singing challenges, visit https://SingLikeYouSpeak.com

P.S. I had a very interesting experience while writing this article. I took a break to sing for a bit and I noticed that my voice was ever freer than usual. Reading the article might work the same magic for you!

BIO
Sally Morgan, NYC voice teacher, wrote the book on contemporary vocal technique — literally. Sing Like You Speak™ is specifically designed to restore the effortless vocal production that is natural to the human instrument making your singing powerful, joyful and free. Sally has been successfully teaching people how to sing for more than 35 years.

You can see and hear some of Sally’s clients on Broadway stages, Off-Broadway, in Musical Theater – Regional, on Major Label Recordings, the Conan O’Brian show, A Prairie Home Companion and in Federal Courts, the PA House of Representatives, and the U.S. Senate.

Sally teaches singing voice lessons in NYC and worldwide on ZOOM.

Contact Sally

Online voice lessons http://SingLikeYouSpeak.com/onlinelessons