People looking for help with their voice regularly ask me “tips and tricks” so they can try to DIY fix a specific issue or to improve their voice. But here’s the money shot up-front:
Without having worked with someone’s voice, there are no tips or tricks one can give that can guarantee improvement
This is a key reason we can’t learn to sing from a book. There are of course helpful things that can be written down, and when a person is going through the process of training their voice, we can discuss more complex topics verbally/in the written word. But the specific set of technical issues that obstruct one singer are typically completely different from singer to singer. Trying to assess that via the written word or just on the say-so of the singer themselves is tantamount to impossible.
Let me give you some examples the kinds of emails I get looking for written advice to help their voice:
A: “I can reach high notes easily, but I sing high notes more chorally and I’m not able to belt them like in my chest voice. Are able to give me any tips as to how I might achieve this?”
B: “My range up high is good but my lower notes tend to get quite wispy and weak. Do you have any tricks I can use to solve this?
C: “My voice sounds OK down low but when I sing higher it sounds strained and often cracks. Can you tell me some quick fixes on how to solve this?”
These are all generalised variations on genuine requests I’ve received over the years. While I totally understand the desire ask for suggestions to fix one’s voice, the belief that one’s voice can be unlocked just by some string of magic words on a slip of paper/on a screen, is enormously unhelpful. Let’s explain why, starting with the problem of the diagnosis:
Diagnosis: Is their diagnosis accurate?
In the specific examples above, one appears to struggle with the bottom end of their range, another appears to struggle with the top, and still one more appears to struggle with moving between the top and bottom. Assuming each has given an accurate picture of what their issue is, then I have specific exercises that would make sense.
But, if I give the wrong exercise to a given singer, the results can be further harm to the voice. It can even make the issue worse, if the treatment is dished out without an accurate diagnosis to base it on.
As such, if I’ve never heard each singer, the inevitable problem I have with any self-assessment by a singer is simple: how do I know that what they have told me is correct?
The answer? I can’t be certain in any way, so the appropriate treatment cannot be prescribed.
More diagnosis issues
While each singer professes to have a different set of symptoms, different symptoms often stem from the same functional issue. Likewise, similar symptoms can often stem from totally different issues.
In fact, there are also many situations in which any two or all three of these singers could need EXACTLY the same approach… or they could need something similar, or something completely different.
This involves greater nuance and testing/diagnosis needed to correctly prescribe appropriate exercises to remedy what ails them.
Treatment: How does their voice respond to exercises?
In reality, I would need to be able to hear their voice as it is, and see how it responds to a couple of specific exercises to be able to make an accurate diagnosis. How their voice responds would not only confirm a diagnosis, it would inform me as to which exercises would be most effective for their specific instrument.
On top of this, they could then be shown how to use the tool/vocal exercise properly to elicit the desired change in their voice. People don’t just require an exercise, they need to be shown how to use the tool properly, so whilst they are practicing they can be sure it is delivering the right result.
Self-treatment: The final issue
Even if I HAVE worked with someone’s voice before, I have no idea how someone will take an instruction when they take it away with them and do it by themselves – with no sense-check or professional feedback, (amplified all the more if the instruction is just a written tip/trick). I learned this the hard way in my first year of teaching.
I once had a student ask me how often they should practice. I naively told them regularly, just don’t go nuts. When they asked what would be too much, I replied “oh, just don’t go crazy, like practicing 6 hours a day“. They called me a week later with an exhausted and wrecked voice. What had happened? They’d gone and practiced for FIVE hours every day.
Needless to say, I’ve become far more precise with my language since that experience. This was not an unintelligent person, but their sense-check for their own practice wasn’t quite in place.
Different people can interpret things very differently. As such, the safest and the most direct route to helping people understand what their voice should/shouldn’t be doing, is to walk their voice through appropriate exercises together. No tips; no tricks.
Conclusion: Voice training cannot be generalised
My point with all of the above is that voice training MUST be 100% personalised, from assessment through to coaching. Fixing a voice is not a “spot fix”, it’s holistic, and the whole voice must be assessed to identify why even seemingly small issues are presenting themselves.
As such, there really are no definitive or general “tips and tricks” that I can give to singers without having worked with them personally, whether one on one, or in a workshop/clinic. The only definitive advice I can give is for people to come and have an initial consultation/assessment and be given something bespoke for their voice. There really is no substitute for this.
If you’d like to experience this for yourself…
If you’ve been wondering “why on earth does this issue keep happening?” whether that’s tonal issues, range or connection problems, voice loss or discomfort, etc, stop trying to DIY it. The best course of action to get you to experience this first hand would be to book in for an initial consultation and progress from there. In the meantime, I’d suggest reading more about our approach in our prospectus, which you can grab by leaving your email in the signup form in the footer of this page.
Learn More: Related Articles
If you’d like to read more along these lines, you may enjoy these related articles:
Dunning-Kruger: A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing
Shouting Masquerading As Singing: Reasons why so many singers are just yelling
The Difference Between Amateurs and Pros
Vocal Pedagogy: Why we need to look to the past to progress into the future
Style vs Hyper-style: An analysis of Modern Vocal Style