Finding a Solution to Voice Problems

The importance of up to date information on the singing and speaking voice

The solution to any problem experienced in the voice is too often prevented by the belief that good voices are 'God-given'. If you can accept that there is no perfectly tuned, perfectly functioning voice that performs each vocal task just as and when you imagine it should, it will open two important doors to voice management.

• You will always work towards maintaining stability of the instrument which, like the rest of you, benefits from exercise, encouragement, respect and a lot of fun. This regular attention will eventually give you a central 'core' of vocal pitch, resonance, quality and flexibility which will respond as you expect. This is the vocal stability that you can extend to discover the exciting limits of your voice that you are always working towards. "Man's aim must exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?" Robert Browning.
• You will not become paranoid when the voice does not respond as you expect. Instead you will behave in the same way as when anything else goes wrong. You will check your voice maintenance system to make sure you are doing what you think you are doing. Then you will check for postural alignment and if necesssary consult a clinincian who knows about voice (see links page).

These two principles generally provide the key to the problem, but they are dependant upon whether you can identify whether the problem is one of  playing the instrument (voice and body mechanics) or is to do with with the material (performance related).

While all other instrumentalists understand that the instrument and the material you play can be separated, singers who believe in the 'God-given' voice find the concept difficult. You also have an instrument, in this case the voice, upon which you can play all manner of material in speech and singing. The instrument itself must operate efficiently, as must a clarinet or a cello. That instrument can be compromised by the way you learn the material, or by ways in which you may alter mechanics in the erroneous belief that you are merely adapting to particular styles of speech or singing.

Voice problems beyond your own knowledge and understanding and what to do

Posture, dentition and voice and intelligence develop interdependantly in early childhood and go on affecting each other throughout life, so work at the Voice and Body Centre crosses the barriers of many different disciplines. Voice Gym has introduced many singers and other musicians, actors, teachers and other voice users to the dangers of ignoring functional anatomy, dentistry and skeletal alignment in their professional advancement. By exploring the muscle systems required for efficient breathing and voice function it is possible to also expose those which have been developed to compensate for skeletal and dental misalignment, for example a bite problem or a skeletal shift in body posture.

A network of clinicians experienced in voice problems

Through her membership of research groups and the study of voice stress, Angela Caine has established a multidisciplinary network. This involves dentists, orthodontists, chiropractors, osteopaths, physiotherapists and sports therapists, who are experienced in treating voice problems in musicians, singers and other professional voice users.

Interdisciplinary work among clinicians is relatively new and links between dentition, structural misalignment and voice problems are only just beginning to be established. It is still not considered necessary, for instance, for a student in any field of Performing Arts, to be checked either dentally or skeletally to ensure that voice and movement are not compromised by structural misalignment before embarking on a professional career.

Early in her professional singing career Angela suffered recurring voice problems. Various voice specialists failed to solve them. She subsequently discovered that the voice problems were a symptom of other more serious structural problems. These were eventually corrected by collaboration between a cranial chiropractor and a dentist/orthodontist, but the muscle systems still required specific reprogramming exercises before the voice problems went away. Because these problems were not detected early in her training the journey back to performance, via rigorous daily exercise has been a very hard one. Many performers prefer to just give up, not able to cope with peer pressure and a profession geared only to success. See 'The Devil Within', Voice Gym's latest publication.

It is Angela's experience that professional musicians with problems of muscle tension and loss of confidence are usually directed to consultants within the medical establishment, supplemented by work from teachers of the Alexander Technique, speech therapists, or occasionally, an osteopath. These clinicians do not usually work in collaboration with other disciplines. links with other clinical disciplines.  The Voice Gym can offer information about a variety of alternative clinicians who all work at the 'sharp end' of current research into performance and, more importantly, who are prepared to work together. This cooperation between disciplines is important in accurately diagnosing the underlying cause of a problem

Angela taught voice for five years at the Highgate Alexander School in London (Directors-Paul Collins and Elizabeth Rajna) as part of their teacher training course. She subsequently studied The Alexander Technique on a full time course with Don Burton in Fellside Alexander School, Kendal. She now applies the principles of good use, as promoted by Alexander himself, but only within a more interactive system of training based on up-to-date information about functional mechanics.

Angela is a member of Cranio Group, and a member of the Society for the Study of Cranio-Mandubular Disorders, international organisations of dentists and other clinicians who promote the understanding, function and management of the whole body. Angela is the first voice teacher to have written a chapter on voice in a dental text book, "Complementary Therapies in Dental Practice", published by Butterworth-Heinemann in 1999.

All work at the Voice Gym begins with an introductory consultation and planning session of at least one hour, where anywhere solution of problems through referral can be dicussed

Book a consultation session by calling or emailing the Voice Gym.