The brain has an amazing way of trying anything to help you avoid embarrassment.  And when it comes to singing difficult notes (that would be the ones you are not ‘mixing’ or vocally balancing on) your brain will pull out all the stops.

The Yank and Pull

Sometimes our brain will convince us that if we just pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and take a good running start we’ll eventually hit that note.  And it works sometimes.  but it also engages muscles that aren’t meant for singing that can cause anywhere from vocal strain to outright vocal damage requiring surgery if you do this over time.  That’s no good.

The Slide

Similar to the ‘running start’ train of thought, sometimes your brain will tell you to slide up to the note.  This is actually a smarter move  (thanks, brain!) but depending on how your voice is balancing on the notes in the slide, it can be unreliable at best; sometimes resulting in a flat top note or a sharp one.  Close, but no cigar.

Picture Courtesy of Snooperz

The Air Blast

God bless our brains.  They mean well.  Sometimes they want so desperately for us to hit that hard note that they’ll just ask us to airlift ourselves right on top of it.  You’ll know if you’re doing this is every hard word/note has a little…or big ‘H’ at the front of it and/or it feels a bit gutless. 

Can this get you there?  Again, sometimes it can.  But the problem is that without a balanced mixed voice

1. you won’t be able to go anywhere with that note dynamically
2. it will be incredibly hard to hold out for any impact and,
3. sandblasting your tiny vocal folds (cords – same thing) has actually proven medically to be more damaging to your voice that screaming like a rocker. 

So…..back to square one.

The Answer

So how DO we get to the hard-to-sing notes without killing ourselves or our voices?  The answer is with a balanced, mixed voice.

A healthy balanced voice that mixes proportions of both chest voice and head voice allows you to easily navigate through the vocal bridges (‘passagios’ for my jargon happy friends). 

That means that you’ll sail by those notes that felt high or impossible as easy as a sailboat with a good breeze. 

It really can happen – in ANY voice!  Does it take time?  Yes.  How much?  As much time as it takes you to learn anything; time to untrain the things you’ve believed that don’t work, time to build the muscle coordination to balance the voice and time to test drive it until it feels like your new normal.  And that all just depends on two things, 1) good instruction, and 2) you!

If you’re ready to make the hard notes easy, click here.

Already working on it?  In the next post, I’m going to give you some great tips on some very practical things you can do to make those hard notes easier as you’re developing your mix voice.

Ready to take your voice to the next level? Check out online training at The Voice Club Academy

Can You Learn to Sing Better on Your Own?

YES:

Practice and experience WILL develop the voice you have

DO IT:

If you have some good direction and you don’t have a need for immediate improvement

NO:

If you’re singing with bad vocal technique or in any way that causes pain, strain or discomfort of any kind

DON’T DIY:

If you want to see results fast

If you need to correct vocal problems

How to Know if DIY is Right for Your Voice

Do you just want to lose a few pounds to fit into your skinny jeans? (I’m just singing at home for fun)

Do you need to lose 20 pounds for a special event coming soon? (I want to or am singing in public)

Do you want to see defined muscles and look lean in a bikini?  (I want to or am singing solo in public)

Are you training for a Triathlon? (singing competitions, musical theater performers, indie artists, aspiring solo artists)

Warning Signs for Singing DIYers

If you’re a singing DIY’er testing out different things you hear, watch for these signs that you may need some additional help:

• You’re feeling pain or strain when you sing
• All your notes sound or feel airy
• You experience fatigue after you sing
• You don’t see marked improvement in a year
• You find you have more questions than answers

DIY Singing Quick Start Tip

An essential vocal exercise for the DIYer [see audio]

Have you worked on your voice on your own?  What worked?  What didn’t?  Tell us your story below.

Ready to take your voice to the next level? Check out online training at The Voice Club Academy

Acid Reflux Erosion in the Esophagus (not mine)

Hidden in the depths of my blog is my personal journey of vocal damage from acid reflux.  In the past three years I’ve gone from being fine to being told my voice was going to disappear forever to having surgery, almost dieing and surviving organ damage only to have them damage my right vocal cord. 

Bad enough for a singer; Devastating for a voice teacher, professional singer and voice talent.

So many of you have asked me to update you on where I’m at with my medical condition and tell you if I was able to sing again after all of my surgeries. 

I’ve also heard from so many of you going through similar situations and I hope you know it breaks my heart to know you’re there too.

So let’s get through this together!  Here’s what’s happened with my voice in the last year:

Did I Sing Again?

 I did!  I have to tell you I can’t even count the number of times I myself thought it was going to be impossible given not only my severe acid problems but the barrage of medical mistakes and damage to my body and larynx. 

But I CAN sing again.  And I see it completely differently than I used to.  I no longer hear people sing and compare voices.  I find that I marvel at them.  I’m more inspired and much less critical.  I see potential faster than I see problems.  That’s been a good change.

But I also have to admit a ting of jealousy for those with a real joy of singing.  I remember joy being the only feeling I had when I sang before this.  Now that is much more hidden underneath the pain and limitations I feel in my voice, even if people can’t hear them.  That’s sad for me.

Did I Sing at the Same Level?

No.  I sang at an INCREASED level after my medical junk than before.  I added another half octave to my range!  

I didn’t see THAT coming.   

I trained my voice to recover.  I’ve trained other vocalists to recover from vocal damage.  I’ve watched them surpass where they were vocally before the damage, so it shouldn’t have surprised me.  

But it’s just different when it’s you.  It is harder to hope when you’re the one feeling the pain and frustration.  Being your own coach when you’re depressed about your voice is not the best thing.  I did reach out to a couple of instructor friends for unbiased input.  I wish I had done that more so I would’ve been less discouraged.

Yet, it happened.  And way sooner than I would’ve ever imagined. I knew that what I teach WORKS and it worked for me too.  I still laugh when I think about all of the speech therapists who begged for more information on what I teach when they saw the super fast repair of my voice. 

I believed in what I taught before all of this.  Now, I honestly can’t help but be a charismatic evangelist.  I’ve watched what I do impact other singers voices for years, but I never expected that I would need it so desperately myself.  I am so grateful.

What Made the Difference?

The healthy balanced voice technique I teach was created with vocal surgeons.  It was the result of years of study on how the voice works and what goes wrong when it doesn’t.  That’s why it’s used by thousands of Grammy award winners and Metropolitan Opera and Broadway stars who can’t afford to be without a strong, healthy voice.

Stuff happens to your voice; bad technique causes vocal damage or in my case, and so many others, a medical condition threatens to take it all away.  All the fancy scales and butt pinching in the world won’t help you then.  I’m a really good butt pincher, so I know it’s true!

Little did I know when I spent those years seeking to learn a vocal technique to open up new potential in my range and power that it would literally save my voice.

Where is My Medical Situation Now?

 My surgery was supposed to permanently stop the flow of acid up my esophagus.  But as later specialists predicted, it didn’t last. My new medical team of specialists says I’m back at square one.  The only difference is that I have lasting damage from the other surgeries to contend with.

I will go through all of the procedures and tests all over again to see how bad it is.  I will be tested for Barrett’s which is a pre-curser to esophageal cancer.  I doubt I have it but I’ll have to be checked every year because of the extent of the damage in my esophagus.  

They believe I may be at the end of possible treatment options. That means I may never see any improvement in the pain.  That’s really frustrating.  But when I remember the prognosis was that I would never sing or speak at the same level again AND have permanent pain, I feel better about it.

What’s the Next Step?

I sing…because I can.  And I do everything I can to let those of you who are struggling with anything that holds your voice back that you CAN sing.  It doesn’t always mean other medical conditions won’t get in the way, but there is really very little that can completely silence a developed healthy voice.  I’m proof of that.

Have you gone through something that’s held your voice back?  Share your story below.  You’re not in this alone.

Ready to take your voice to the next level? Check out online training at The Voice Club Academy

The Kinds of Singing Pain That Signals Trouble Ahead

We are about halfway through the summer and I just completed a long road trip. Did you notice that everyone in the world seems to be doing construction during the holiday? Everything is closed down from three lanes to one and you have those great cones directing you and thousands of other vehicles, including the huge semi- trucks into one tiny lane for, I don’t know, three States. That was pretty much what my two day drive there and back was like. Sometimes when I’m passing through the cone zones, I will count how many times people have smashed into cones because secretly I want to run through them and go to the open lane where no one is clearly working. But the truth is that the cones are there for our protection. Let’s say there is legitimately construction up ahead, if you hit one cone it’s like, “Whoop, I better get in my lane.” Hit two cones and you’re like, “Yeah we are getting off the right track here”. Hit three cones, “Disaster Ahead”. Not to mention that fines double in construction zones.

Well that’s what different kinds of pain and discomfort are for your voice. There like warning cones. You feel pain one time when you sing and it should peak your interest like, “Huh why do I feel that pain?” Feel that pain again, ‘Huh, I really need to get some help for this.” Feel that pain again, “Disaster Ahead! Get Help now.”

Pain, Discomfort and What it Really Means

First of all, not all singers that have problems with their voice say, “I have pain when I sing.” Sometimes they will say, “It’s more like soreness in my throat when I sing or sometimes after I sing. Sometimes it just feels like my voice is really exhausted and tired.” Have you ever felt the “scratchy voice” and you feel like you have a catch in your throat afterwards? Sometimes it gets to the level of hoarseness or loss of voice, usually this is the day after. You get up the next morning after you have been singing and you sound like you have laryngitis. Sometimes it just really hurts to talk so you decide you better not talk and it’s probably a good idea. But many times its just plain pain. Your throat hurts. Your voice hurts, during singing, after singing, sometimes two or three days after singing. Too many cones my friend. So why does it hurt to sing. Well to answer that we have to answer a more important question, does it feel that way when you talk?

Why it Hurts

    It all goes back to the way the voice works. Your vocal cords live inside a little box called the Larynx. If you were to run your finger down your chin, down your throat, you would feel a little bump. Guys it’s really easy for you, it’s your Adams apple. Girls ours is tucked away in there a little bit, you can feel it if you run your finger down there. If you put your finger on it you will want to move it side to side, if you put your hand on it you can feel the vibration when you talk. That’s because your Larynx is the Chamber of your Chords. Making sound doesn’t have so much to do with the Larynx, because the Larynx is more of the house for the vocal cords, but it has to do with the vocal cords closing and resisting the air flow coming from your lungs. It’s kind of like barn doors closing. They will close and a big wind storm will come and go “Whooooooooooo!” That’s a simplistic way of explaining how it makes sound. The wind comes up, the barn doors, or the vocal cords, close against them and resist the air flow, a little bit of air gets through “Whoooooo!”  If the barn doors are too open they go “woo”.

Your Voice Already Knows What to Do

To make different pitches, the vocal cords zip up like a zipper. It’s kind of like a rubber band. Have you ever made your own DIY guitar with rubber bands? The big fat ones that are loose are low sounding and the really tiny ones and you pull tight are very high sounding, it’s the same thing. Your cords actually get really thick at the bottom when they’re open, and then they zip up and they thin out like pulling a rubber band at the top. So there’s zipping up and zipping down and thinning out at the top and getting  thick at the bottom all while resisting the air.
How do they do that? Well there are several groups of muscles that work together kind of like a finely tuned engine, shifting gears.  They are handing off and deciding who needs to close which part and who’s in control of thinning out the cords. So all of these muscles are working together to make the vocal cords zip up and down and come together to do what they need to do. When all those muscles do what they are supposed to do seamlessly, it’s like a sports car shifting gears.

That happens in speech. That’s why when you’re talking to your friend’s you don’t go “Oh my goodness I just really couldn’t possibly speak that loud about anything” and you also don’t say, “Oh my goodness, I could never speak that high because I just don’t think that I have those notes in me.” You don’t even think about it you just do it. Why do you do it? Because the muscles know what to do, they trade off, they shift and they get the cords zipping up and thinning out and doing what they need to do to resist the air flow and bang there you go. You are a conversationalist. No training needed. Your voice just does it naturally.

So Why Isn’t It Doing It?

What is getting in the way of that just doing what it does when you sing and causing you pain? Have you ever felt yourself reaching for a note? Sometime you feel like you have to scream to get it and then you feel like you’re tired after that. A lot of times we aim at a note because we don’t think we can reach it and we are just taking a stab on how to get to it. Sometimes we have heard other people sing something and we say “I want to sound like that” so we copy what we do and it results in this forced kind of feeling when we are aiming for those high notes.

Copying may even get you to the note that you are heading to but here is the problem with it. When you aim for a note that way, what happens in your body is that it’s engaging the swallowing muscles. The Larynx, the house that your vocal cords are in, yanks up. When that happens it sets a whole chain of events in motion that are like a whole mile of cones.

The Proof

Try something here for a minute. Say ABC. Now swallow. Now do them both at the same time. Doesn’t work does it?
It doesn’t work because what happens when the Larynx goes up is it closes the epiglottis. There is this little flap that goes between the food pipe and the wind pipe, it’s there to protect you from basically shooting food down your wind pipe and choking yourself to death. It just works automatically, as soon as the Larynx goes up the body says, “Oh it’s time to close the wind pipe.”

The problem with that is your vocal cords are in the wind pipe that’s how you’re trying to get your sound out. So while you are trying to get that note out there your Larynx is going up and its choking off the windpipe and it’s trying to shut it. That’s why you feel that strain, that’s why you feel that pain, and that’s why it can cause vocal damage.

You have a fight going on inside. Another name for yanking the larynx up, which closes the windpipe, which causes all sorts of problems, is pulling chest voice. Basically because “Chest Voice” is the name given to the very very bottom of the notes in your register, speaking or otherwise, they reverberate most in the chest, so that’s why we call it chest voice.  It’s the very bottom notes. So when you pull up or yank your chest voice way beyond where it’s supposed to go in speech, the larynx goes up, the epiglottis tries to close and you’re in a battle for your life, or at least your note.

How to Reach Notes without Discomfort

We have identified what’s going wrong, that’s causing you the pain, so how do we fix it?  Somewhere along the line you have learned to yank up your chest voice to aim at notes. So, basically, you have to unlearn the bad habit that is pulling your chest voice and you have to learn to sing the way you speak.  A key to that is that you have to remind your voice what it feels like to have your larynx down to be really at a speech level.

Along with getting our larynx to relax, which it does automatically in speech, we need to learn to let the muscles shift and work together like that finely tuned sports car in singing. When it does that in speech it’s called mixing. It mixes a little bit of chest voice and a little bit of head voice, which is the name for the top part of your register. Everything in between has to be a mixture of those two and when that happens no pain, all gain. The answer is always the mix.

Alright you’re saying, “Sign me up teach me that, give me a couple of exercises and I’ll get that sucker down and we’ll be just fine.” Well think about how long it took you to learn to sing the way that you do. It could have been months but more than likely it’s been years, maybe decades. The truth is once you have learned a habit of totally not mixing in singing. 

It takes a trained instructor that understands the mix to definitively get you there.  A good instructor will help you from creating new bad habits that can cause damage while you get a feel for what mixing in the singing voice feels like. 

How Long Will This Take?

So how long would it take you to learn to mix, keep your larynx down, not yank those notes, and not to have pain when you sing? I have to be honest; it just depends on the quality of your instructor, how bad your non-mixing habits are and how willing you are to do the work it takes and to learn how to sing the way that you speak.

But there are two things that you can start doing today to start heading the right way. [SEE AUDIO FOR QUICK START TIP]

Get Started

If you are looking for some professional help for your voice we do provide one on one online lessons via Skype at The Voice Club.  If you just want to find a qualified instructor in your own area I’m happy to refer you to someone who really knows their stuff. 

If you have a singing question that you want answered by a pro, email me at Podcast@TheVoiceClub.com .  I’d love to hear from you!

Ready to take your voice to the next level? Check out online training at The Voice Club Academy

You don’t need a vocal coach to tell you what’s wrong with these sad attempts, but give ‘em a listen and let’s look at how they could have all been avoided.

So how can you avoid getting your performance on this list?

Top 5 Mistakes Made in the National Anthem

1. NOT KNOWING THE WORDS It’s the flippin’ National Anthem.  I understand forgetting a word or two when the nerves get to you but many people wing it and never take the time to learn the actual words.  Incorrect lyrics are all over the internet.  Get the right ones here. I have Canadian students who know every word of our anthem so I think the rest of us can do the same – consider it your patriotic duty.
2. OVER STYLING There can be a fine line between adding your own personal style to a song and adding so many vocal trills that you can hardly recognize the melody.  Honestly most people don’t understand what styling is and how to incorporate it.  So when they’re not sure they just pull out the whole bag of tricks.  The melody is there for a reason; it’s the face of the song.  Over styling is like putting on so much makeup that you can’t recognize the face anymore.  Real styling complements the integrity of the song.
3. CHANGING THE MELODY This is way more noticeable in a song like the National Anthem where people have a patriotic attachment to the basic melody but it’s an important lesson for all songs: the melody should only be changed after it is established and should not be changed so dramatically that it sounds like you’ve launched into another song.  This is styling 101.  Unfortunately, many stars who are surrounded by yes men are not required to take that class.  Consider yourself one step up.
4. STARTING IN THE WRONG KEY The National Anthem reaches just short of two octaves of the vocal range.  For a non-mixing singer, that’s probably 4-8 notes less than you can comfortably reach which is why this song terrifies us.  For a student who’s learned to mix you’ve got another octave or two on top of that.  Either way, starting in the right key will give you the best use of what you’ve got.  How do you pick a key?  Sing the first line quietly and choose a key where the 2nd word (“say”) falls on one your lowest notes possible.  That’s your key.  Obviously you can determine this ahead of time and use a pitch pipe or similar note reference but I’m a big fan of going freestyle because I’ve found it trains the ear better.  If you don’t use a pitch device and you start where the brain will tell you to (closer to the middle of your range) you are…toast.
5. SCREAMING Incorrect ‘belting’ is just screaming near or on a note.  It happens when a singer doesn’t know how to narrow their mix to transition to their higher notes.  When they try to add volume to power through the result is….well, Christine Aquilera’s big note.  Scream singing yanks up the larynx (the box your vocal cords are in) and literally puts your anatomy in place to choke yourself.  That’s why it sounds (and feels) like you’re being strangled.  How do you sing with power without screaming? THE MIX.  Mixing allows you to use the power of the chest voice and mix it with the higher resonance of your head voice to reach high notes with balance.  It prevents the vocal damage scream singing brings and it sounds way better!

Singing the National Anthem is an honor and one I think ever singer should seek.  It’s well worth it to learn this song.  When you’re ready to sing it just record it acapella on a CD or mp3 and contact your local sports venues to see who to send it to.  You’d be surprised how easy it can be to get in to sing the National Anthem even at a major sports venue.  Why?  Because this a tough song and not many people are in line to try their own luck at getting You Tube’d for their less than lackluster performance.

None of us are perfect and live performances with no music to hide behind are the toughest of all.  But if you’re up the challenge, singing the National Anthem is incredibly rewarding.  It feels good to do what few singers can.  Do it!  Then tell us your experience.  And don’t forget to check back in July to hear our students compete in our National Anthem contest!

Ready to take your voice to the next level? Check out online training at The Voice Club Academy

Good vocal technique builds a healthy, balanced voice and a strong mix.  And as you’re developing healthy voice habits and a strong mix, you’ll be amazed what your cords will do for you even when the rest of your body is screaming to disappear under a cloud of blankets never to return again. 

If you’ve developed unhealthy physical or vocal habits like smoking, scream singing, straining the voice in performance, singing breathy all the time, etc., your voice will quit on you much faster once you catch that dreaded cold because it’s already been compromised.  It’ll also take longer to return to the point it was at before. So if you take on any gigs any time during the year that you’d rather not have to cancel, private instruction with instructors like the ones I’ve mentioned are well worth the investment to prevent having to sacrifice all the work and networking you’ve done to get a gig, only to have to cancel because you’re sick.

So back to the question;  how sick IS too sick to sing?  If your voice is weak, the answer is any level of sickness that compromises your voice.  If you get hoarse or raspy and have not built solid vocal technique, you’re more likely to damage your voice.  If you have developed a strong mix and a healthy voice you’ll find that your voice can still perform through most illnesses; far beyond the point where the rest of you just wants to climb in bed.  That’s the beauty of having a strong, healthy voice; you get to make the decisions instead of your voice deciding for you.

But there is ONE time that ANY vocalist should not be singing if at all possible; when you have a fever.  A fever is your body’s way of taking a serious step to fight something nasty.  Once you have a fever your whole body is engaged in the battle which means your tender vocal cords are at increased risk of damage.  A fever is the line in the sand showing you when it’s time to pull the plug and go home if at all possible.  Do people sing through fevers?  Sure they do.  But they also ride motorcycles without helmets.  It’s not smart, but they do it.  A fever is the clear sign that your voice is at risk. Don’t go there.

If you don’t have a fever and and are trying to sing through seasonal illnesses, here are a few things that should help:

• Throat Coat Tea (available online and at Walmart and most drug and grocery stores)  Throat coats has slippery elm and licorice root which are natural products that help that gunk in the back of your throat thin out and get out of your way.  Tastes much better than it sounds!  Drink cold or hot, but be aware that tea bags disintegrate faster than most.
• Thayers Throat Lozenges These also include slippery elm, licorice root and other natural products proven to sooth sore or swollen throats and help loosen gunky phlegm.
• WATER!  Getting and staying hydrated when you don’t feel well is a special challenge, but if you do it, you’ll enjoy much less gunk in the throat when those colds hit.  Green and herbal teas, like Throat Coat, count too!

Ready to take your voice to the next level? Check out online training at The Voice Club Academy

My fellow voice instructors agree it’s time to get a real pro to weigh in on the vocal pain I’ve been having.  And I couldn’t ask for a bigger pro than the doctor Nassari who has helped a multitude of million dollar voices.  And after all of the surgery I’ve had this year, I really appreciate a surgeon who would rather not cut.

I’m really hoping it’s something simple, not a cyst or a node.  As a voice teacher and working voice talent, I can’t imagine how I’m going to get by if I get the news that I can’t phonate (make noise) for weeks while I heal.   They say it could be the result of the severe acid reflux that required my first surgery to prevent more damage to my vocal cords. Either way, I’m relieved to be in very capable hands, knowing I’ll finally have an answer in just a few weeks. 

Leave a comment with your vocal questions.  I’ll ask the doctor for you!

AUDIO:Hear Dr. Nasseri’s own description of the vocal problems he sees in professional singers all the time and get his great tips for a healthier voice.

ARTICLES:

Dr. Nasseri helps ZZ Top Singer

Dr. Nasseri treats Gossip Girl Star

Ready to take your voice to the next level? Check out online training at The Voice Club Academy

If you’ve ever had vocal damage, this story is probably a little familiar to you.  I’m really frustrated with my damaged voice.  In fact, many times (a day) I want to quit altogether… a little hard since I’m a vocal coach and I make my living as a vocalist and voice talent, but lately I really really want to.

It’s been a frustrating journey.  First discovering that acid reflux was burning my vocal cords and hearing it change my voice.  Then surviving the emergency surgery that left me too weak to talk for several weeks and trying to get my whole body strong enough so my voice could produce quality sound again.  I hadn’t even gotten there when they nicked my vocal cords during the last surgery and caused the swelling and what they think is a node or a cyst on my right cord.

Now that I’ve been medically cleared to start rehabilitating my voice (see the video Q&A for what I do that’s different) I find myself in the same place I’ve seen some of my students who I’ve trained through vocal damage: so ready to give up.  It’s amazing how much you take your voice for granted; love it or hate it, you know what you can expect from it.  But for those who have gone through major illness or vocal damage, you no longer have any idea what you can expect from your voice.  It’s weak or notes just disappear without warning.  Years of training those ‘unusually robust’ vocal cords my doctor says I have are reduced to a tug of war between what I want my voice to do and what it will actually comply with; and it ain’t much right now.

So I’ve decided to give myself a challenge that will force me to do the right thing by my voice; I’ve committed to doing a Christmas album.  The instructor in me knows that if I set a concrete goal with a plan of action to achieve it, the frustrated singer in me will go along until I achieve the real goal; a healthier voice.  I don’t know what it will sound like in the end, and for the first time the final product is not my major concern.  But I know that it will force me to do the training I need to do for my voice and ultimately, will help me get closer to being able to sing with a strong voice, which I haven’t been able to do for almost a year now.

If you’re going through something similar; whether it’s due to damage or insecurity with how your voice sounds, let’s do this together.  Make a vocal goal.  Commit to what it will take to get there.  And when you get to the end you will have so much more than reaching the goal to be proud of.  We’ll get there together.

Let me know your journey.  Comment on this post for the benefit of everyone.

Ready to take your voice to the next level? Check out online training at The Voice Club Academy

As the doctor and I were talking, I told the doctor about the vocal technique I teach and it’s effectiveness to repair vocal damage.  I explained that we don’t work with anyone with a diagnosed medical problem until a doctor clears them for therapy and that I was waiting to be cleared so I could begin training to reverse the damage.  She asked me what specifically I would do if a student came to me with the problem I have so I explained where I would start and why.

At the end of our appointment as she was outlining the standard course of action for my vocal problem (a biopsy and probably surgery), I asked her what she would do if she were me.  She turned and said, “If I were you, I wouldn’t get the biospy.  I’d do what YOU do.”

I’ve had students with vocal damage who have had surgery with great results.  When a singers voice is at risk, the course of treatment is a very personal decision that really has to be made between the singer and their physicians.  But I’m so glad to have found the technique I teach; one that has been proven to actually reverse nodes, swelling and many other vocal issues for those of us who decide not to go under the knife, or the laser.

For me, there was no question that I was going to avoid surgery at all costs.  My whole ordeal started from trying to prevent damage to my voice (see previous posts) and ended with way more surgery than I ever bargained for.  No chance I’m going to let them get at my cords again! (Instead of ‘remember the alamo’, my mantra has been ‘remember Julie Andrews’!)

So now that I’ve been cleared by my physicians, I’m going to begin the road to vocal recovery using the method I’ve used to help other singers.  I’m going to enlist the help of other instructors who teach the same method and journal my progress here to remind those of you who have been there, or are there right now, that there is hope for a damaged voice.  And I’m so ready to have a little hope.

Ready to take your voice to the next level? Check out online training at The Voice Club Academy

Unfortunately, the ‘simple laproscopic surgery’ that was prescribed didn’t go as planned.  A section of my stomach was burned during the procedure and after I got home, my stomach burst.  After an ambulance ride, an emergency surgery to save my life and spending almost a month in the hospital, I didn’t have to worry about my voice anymore.  The acid could no longer reach my cords.  But due to the sepsis, I sustained organ damage and a very long excruciating recovery that I’m still drudging through eight months later.  I’ve had a total of four surgeries this year to repair damage from the emergency.  But at least my voice was fixed.  Well, maybe.

After my latest surgery in June I noticed pain in the right side of my throat and that I was missing almost a half an octave from my range.  It became painful to speak.  A throat specialist did a nasal scope and discovered a bump on my right vocal cord that we think resulted from my vocal cord being nicked by the breathing tube during my last surgery.  After all of this, my vocal cords are more damaged than ever!

It wasn’t clear if it was a vocal node, a cyst or something else, but when the specialist started talking about booking emergency O.R. time, I was devastated.   I have worked with several students to repair their vocal damage, but for the first time I understood that for a singer, the thought of surgery on your voice is like an athlete facing a possible amputation of a limb.  And, as an instructor, I knew I couldn’t work on my own voice until I was medically cleared to.  I was put on vocal rest until a video laryngoscope could be done to identify the next step.  That’s another story for another post….

Ready to take your voice to the next level? Check out online training at The Voice Club Academy