I have had many singers come to me wondering if it was possible to get their voices back after not singing much... sometimes not performing for years. In short... unless you have some organic damage or disease, and most of the time even then... you can indeed recover your voice. Whether it's been a few weeks, months or even years, with proper training you could end up with more vocal ability than you ever had!

CASE STUDIES (these are some of my actual experiences with clients)

• A young country artist abused his voice terribly until he lost it... and his career. He didn't perform hardly at all for four years, then felt the renewed passion to see if it was possible. After some intensive re-training, he's now back on the road with a great new- and vocally incredible- album. 

The focus in his lessons was to concentrate on relaxing his deeply tenacious tension in his body and his vocal apparatus. We also worked on his mental state, getting fear, dread and counterproductive striving under control. As befitting Power, Path & Performance training, he regained his breath support and control, opened his throat and was able to get his performance concentrated back on his audience through his songs, rather than on how hard it would be to hit his high notes.

• A veteran gospel singer and recording artist had stopped singing due to such vocal strain that one of her vocal cords had a degree of paralysis. After re-training, she joyfully sings whenever she wants, both in live performance and in studio, and now teaches others what she has learned. 

What we did was to work on transferring the tension she held in her throat, neck and shoulders to her pelvic floor, where she learned to power from. This freed her throat, and also eventually freed her mind from fear.

• An actress and singer came to me after being told that she was too old to sing well anymore. After one Power, Path & Performance lesson, she was hitting her highest notes with as much ease as she ever had!

What I did was to convince her (by helping her accomplish those notes) that it was indeed not true that her age affected her vocal ability. Actually, the reverse can be true... as long as you are otherwise healthy, I find that the hardening of the various cartilages comprising the voice box allows even more sonorous tones... much like well-cared for older guitars and pianos can outplay the shiny new ones. In her new confidence she took on a body language that enabled better breath support/control, an open throat channel and a focused ability to engage her audience with her songs.

• A middle aged rock singer came to me with a tight, thin, uncontrolled screaming voice that didn't make his throat feel very good and wasn't pleasant to hear. He has now successfully recorded several songs, is regularly playing out and has an incredible, controlled and emotionally compelling vocal delivery.

I started changing his posture right away. He had been working hard in another profession requiring him to bend over a lot, but his heart needed to sing, and sing rock. We enlisted an Alexander technique practitioner to scope out the subtle sources of tension he tended to hold in his neck and shoulders, and then we explored how to make those rock sounds without vocal strain. He is having a ball and gaining a following!

• And the last case study is about my own voice. I don't perform live regularly, though I teach and sing in the studio all the time. I find that I have to do the following things to be in my best voice for live concert. (Recording artists resting between tours or needing to get back into the studio... take special note) --

   **** Pay special attention to health! 
I up my hydration, nutrition, sleep and exercise, and try to limit stress... sometimes limiting my work schedule.   
   **** Do my own vocal exercises!
Even when demonstrate vocal exercises for my students, they do most of the vocalizing. My own voice needs to do full sets of various scales and exercises. Sometimes I find I need to exercise longer if the pollen count is high or if I'm feeling a bit sluggish or notice any thickness in my cords.
   **** Sing full voice! I find it imperative to sing at full volume at least as long as my gig... preferably twice as long. I do this every day at least 4 days and preferably two weeks before my gig.

Fyi, you can, of course, take Power, Path & Performance vocal lessons in person with me. You can also train with my vocal training courses, which are highly effective and are a way you can train your voice every day.

Now I'd love to hear from you... what experiences have you had with regaining your vocal ability after time off? What makes you think you may have "lost it"?

Labels: "judy rodman", "Power Path and Performance", recovering voice, regaining voice