Building a Better, Younger Voice



Vocal exercises can create a younger
sounding voice 

Some people want to not only look younger, but sound younger, too. 

An increasing number of older adults are putting more pep into their speaking with voice therapy.  "Research has shown they can sound younger than their chronological age" through proper techniques says Nandhu Radhakrishnan, a University of Missouri specialist in voice science and therapy. 

Vocal exercises improve loudness and strengthen the tone and endurance of muscles that have lost elasticity, says Ellen Markus, a speech pathologist at the Universty of North Carolina Voice Center.

Breathing and vocal exercises twice a day along with relaxation techniques greatly improve raspy voices.

Adapted from AARP Bulletin, July-August 2012, Vol. 53, No. 6

The Toddler's Voice

Sing like a toddler

Have you ever heard toddlers when they're unhappy, tired, or just want attention? The voices could break glass! When I'm teaching voice, I often say, "How would a two year old sing this?'  The answer: They just LET THEIR VOICES OUT. They don't TRY to do anything with their voices; just natural, released voices that have incredible volume. Most of the time my students get it in their heads that when they sing, they have to control, cajole, or 'project' their sound. All that does is lead to constriction, pushing, and too much compression on the vocal cords. I can't stress enough that to sing correctly, you must release, never push the voice. There's a huge difference. You'll get so much warmth and volume when you use the body as a resonating chamber rather than pushing the voice or forcing volume by trying to 'project'. If you feel like you're pushing too much, 'sing like a two year old'!

Why Take Voice Lessons?

One excellent reason for taking voice lessons is simply to get the vocal skills that will become second nature to you.  As you begin singing better, without thought or stress, then what happens?  You stop thinking about your voice, and start focusing on your story.

Your story is what underlies the lyric and is your means to inspire, instruct, or touch your audience.  Never forget that you are a storyteller, first and foremost.  Being a technically good singer is just icing on the cake.  The mark of great singers is not how brilliant their techniques are, but how adept they are at eliciting emotion from their listeners.

Take voice lessons to learn how to sing better and overcome your vocal challenges so that you can stop thinking about technique, and begin thinking about the character who is singing through you.

Voice lessons allow you to stop thinking about technique
 and start thinking about the story you're telling

Got Vocal Nodules? Rest Your Voice!

Vocal rest for Singer's Nodules - http://allaboutvoice.com/healthy-voice-blog.html