Singing

We all have the instrument: we just have to learn how to play it

The voice is the most neglected part of our personal development. There is no policy in education to ensure that the general population have good voices, or that good voices are for life. Having singing as a means of expression or as a musical talent is completely hit or miss for most people. Those who have singing in their lives have been encouraged to sing when they were little and have been to schools where singing was encouraged.

So what about people who think they cannot sing, or sing out of tune?

Some people have been positively cut off from singing. This includes those who sing out of tune, those who believe they cannot sing, those who believe they are too old too sing, those who have no support from family or friends for this thing they love to do because it sounds terrible, and those who have never been given the opportunity to develop singing in their lives. Don't feel isolated - you make up the majority of the population of the Western World!

All of these beliefs are tragic because they are untrue and usually inflicted on children by people who know nothing about voice development. Once someone has told you you can't sing it is unlikely that you will try, but the nonsinger coming to VoiceGym actually has advantages. You begin with a clean sheet, picking up the threads of a voice and body system with the enthusiasm of discovering a long awaited opportunity. Voice Gym provides an opportunity for 'back to basics' and non-singers and singers alike both benefit from this fresh look at things about voice they may never have understood.

Even now, in the 21st Century, the training of singers, from graded examinations to advanced work in Colleges of Music, has no courses in functional anatomy or physiology, no physical fitness training, no requirement to study or understand the evolution and development of the voice and no supportive problem solving policy - you are not supposed to have problems. As long as the instrument already works, it is assumed that it will go on working. Voice Gym courses address all these gaps in voice training.

The fundamental aim of the VoiceGym course is to put you in control of your own voice through knowledge and understanding of how the voice works. This is absolutely vital for the professional singer and would begin a regeneration in the teaching of singing.

Consultancy for Professional Singers

Professional voices - already working in performance - can be introduced to networks of other disciplines working across the barriers of performance-related problems. The common approach in the UK for training a professional singer is to develop the voice by means of scales, vocal exercises, graded examinations and what is considered to be a helpful 'training repertoire'. No account is taken in this system for physical development, except on a purely cosmetic level. If the singer looks attractive while singing, moves well and passes all musical and singing tests with flying colours, it is generally assumed that the transition from amateur student to professional musician is a matter of presentation and publicity. Thus it is often only when a singer takes on a professional work load that the extra physical demand of this life commitment is realised.

Singing requires the balance and co-ordination of an Olympic ice skater if it is to be successful as a career. Like all athletic systems voices require voice and body exercise maintenance. Many singers begin to sing an extended repertoire without building the muscle systems to provide strength for this extra power or the staying power for running a life of marketing oneself, rehearsals and performance in parallel with home and family. Ideally anyone considering a professional musical career should be assessed for physical, musical and vocal integrity and efficiency before committing to an advanced course in performance, but this rarely happens.