Vocal health isn’t about singing “properly”: it’s the foundation of vocal freedom
Vocal health isn’t about singing “properly”: it’s the foundation of vocal freedom
When singers hear the words vocal health, they sometimes imagine being told to sing more carefully.
Perhaps a vocal coach will identify everything they’re doing “wrong”. Maybe they’ll be discouraged from singing loudly, experimenting with rougher sounds or using the qualities that make their voice sound distinctive.
But it doesn’t need to be this way.
As a young singer, I had the impression that health-focused vocal coaching was about making every voice sound clean, polite or technically perfect. That it was essentially a set of rules about which sounds singers were and weren’t allowed to make. In my head, it was all about making my singing teacher happy in sessions by singing “properly”.
Twenty years later, I am a health-focused vocal coach and qualified Vocal Habilitation Professional, and I see things very differently. I now believe that vocal health is about nurturing and preserving the things that allow us as singers to make creative choices, while taking account of the unique body, voice and circumstances that we are each working with.
Autonomy over our own sound and our own body is at the heart of vocal health. Gaining the approval of a teacher or coach is not.
There isn’t one singular correct way to sing
One of the things I love best about singing is how varied it can be. It can be clear, breathy, powerful, gentle, bright, dark, smooth, raw or deliberately distorted. Different songs and styles ask different things of the voice, and all of these qualities move us in different ways. None is morally superior to another. They are simply different sounds available to us.
A sound doesn’t have to be conventionally beautiful to have a musical impact. In fact, some of the sounds we find most compelling are interesting precisely because they contain a texture, intensity or vulnerability that we relate to on a human level.
With this in mind, the aim of health-focused vocal coaching isn’t to “correct” the way you are singing or iron out your individuality. Instead, we look at your voice use through these lenses:
Can you choose the sound deliberately?
Can you reproduce it reliably?
Is it physically effortful?
Does your voice recover well from the demands you place on it?
As a Vocal Habilitation Professional, my aim is to help you do what you want to do with your voice in a way that feels good to you, can be repeated consistently and is sustainable without creating excessive fatigue. It’s about helping you understand your own voice’s patterns so that you can develop more choices within it.
Myths and misinformation
You may have heard people say things like, “Singers shouldn’t drink coffee” or “Room-temperature water is best for singers”.
There are a lot of myths and misinformation out there, and it can be really confusing. While some broad vocal-health principles apply to all of us, our individual needs can look very different.
We are all living in different bodies and navigating health needs that cannot be separated from our vocal health. Conditions such as asthma, allergies, hormonal conditions, musculoskeletal conditions and chronic illnesses can all influence the needs of our voices. Medications can also play a role.
I understand this from both a professional and personal perspective. I struggled to find the ease and consistency in my singing that so many of my peers made look easy. It wasn’t until my thirties that I found out I was both tongue-tied and hypermobile. These discoveries have been eye-opening and have given me valuable context for understanding and looking after my own voice.
This is why vocal health cannot be reduced to a universal list of things singers should and shouldn’t do. Understanding our own individual vocal-health needs provides the foundation for developing:
stamina
agility
range
volume
dynamic variation
stylistic versatility
consistency
more extreme vocal qualities
authentic creative expression
It can also help us recognise and plan for when our voice may need rest, a change in vocal load, a different approach or even an assessment from a health professional such as a laryngologist.
Vocal coaching should increase your autonomy
A health-informed approach to singing isn’t about being cautious or proper.
It absolutely shouldn’t leave you with a growing list of things you’re scared to do, or dependent on a coach to tell you whether every sound you make is acceptable.
That includes noticing when a sound feels free and easy, when your vocal effort is beginning to increase, when your voice needs a break and when you might need support from a qualified professional.
Understanding your own vocal-health needs can help you anticipate potential setbacks, respond more effectively when something changes and move forward with your singing from a place of compassion and self-knowledge.
Vocal health is the starting point, not the finished product
A healthy voice doesn’t automatically give you the sound, skill or confidence you want. There is still technique to develop, music to interpret and creative decisions to make.
Nor does vocal health mean achieving one perfect state that looks the same for everybody. It means understanding what helps you work with the needs of your own voice as they fluctuate over time.
So, if you want to sing loudly, explore unusual sounds, develop greater stamina or tackle more technically demanding material, vocal health isn’t the boring set of rules standing in your way.
It’s what helps make that exploration possible.
Work with me
I offer online vocal coaching for adult singers who want to understand their individual voice and develop it without being pushed towards one “correct” way of singing.
Our work can take account of your vocal goals, health, body and day-to-day demands, whether you want to develop greater ease and consistency, explore new vocal qualities or build the stamina and coordination needed for performance.
If your voice has become persistently tired, tense, uncomfortable or unreliable, a Vocal Health Assessment may be a more appropriate starting point. We can explore what you are experiencing, consider the wider factors that may be affecting your voice and identify the most useful next steps.
