Hiya, I hope everyone is having a comfy weekend (:
Today I’d love to read people’s perspective on their vocal training. I’m barely a day in, finding numerous exercises and opinions and coaches from various backgrounds. And of course practicing for myself.
My question right now is per the title, how important are the technical aspects of finding the right voice, versus simply practicing and re-training your vocal muscles? My femme voice is too breathy and it sounds forced and I have to stop myself elongating words to hold the higher pitch.
I’m wondering how you find the difference between actually doing something wrong (or falling in to beginner’s traps), and just needing to speak that way more frequently and for longer periods.
I’d really appreciate any tips, on this or in general, or even questions from other people! As I don’t see a vocal related thread posted here recently.
I’ve done voice training for the last 6 years on and off. Consistency is really hard to manage. I find myself very often falling back into… masculine voice? I don’t really know what to refer to it as lol. I work over the phone, and people really give you a hard time if your voice sounds off or weird to them. My struggle is finding a consistent configuration of vocal muscles that reliably produces an acceptable outcome. I’m personally going to be pursuing surgical options in the near future.
If you can see an actual trained vocal therapist, they can help a lot. They can give you on the fly specific feedback and may be covered by your insurance. They can also tailor advice specifically to you and guide you in making changes. I had my best results in vocal therapy. As in the case with my job, keep in mind how you use your voice. Like the different circumstances in which you regularly use it, the different tones you regularly use it in, and try and develop a habit of manually adjusting your muscles. You’ll unconsciously relax them when you’re not speaking. Helps to have some kind of reminder to adjust them again. Like before I answer the phone at work, I take a moment to adjust my vocal weight and practice my opening just so I can adjust a bit before speaking with someone.
Practice and experimentation are key. You have to get familiar with manipulating the different muscles of the throat, mouth, and larynx. Give yourself time and don’t be discouraged if things aren’t perfect the first time.