The Embodied Voice Workshop

An opportunity to care for the voice, as opposed to always "using the voice" or "pushing the voice out there" in the many ways that we do (speaking, singing, sounding, communicating, cheering, comforting...). The voice, and the vibrations and sounds and words that emanate from it, can be great healers, but sometimes the voice needs attention and healing and strengthening as well. 

This work is helpful for anyone who uses their voice a great deal and also for anyone who feels shy or inhibited about allowing their voice to be heard. And it's just fun to connect with, and experience the voice in new ways.


We'll work with a variety of exercises and sounds that will help to open the throat, relax the larynx, develop the vocal cords and create more stability in the voice. We'll tune in and experience Voice from a deeper, more internal place. We will also explore the possibility of allowing the voice to settle into each of the Seven Major Chakras. As the voice settles more deeply into the body and into the Chakras, the vocal range and expressiveness of the voice will likely change and expand.

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                         The Centering Space
                                   59 Cambridge Ave.
                     (just east of Broadview and Danforth)
                                  Sat. March 2, 2013
                                  10:15 am--12:15 pm        

Cost: $25.00

To Register: Contact Barbara Sauvé  barbarassong@gmail.com

                  

My Vocal Journey

Yes it's true. I DO love my voice!!

It's hard to believe now, but only five short years ago I wouldn't even consider opening my mouth to try and sing in front of anybody. Ever!! If anyone ever shoved a karaoke microphone in front of me, I was gone! Out of there --as fast as possible.

 Even trying to speak up loudly enough to be heard was often challenging and stressful for me. Partly that was due to a weak, underused voice and partly it was extreme shyness. Amazingly enough, I did manage to lead workshops and to give talks in the past, but always with the big fear that my voice wouldn't hold up. And in those days I had to really push my voice just to get it heard. Giving a talk or leading a workshop, or even having to socialize in noisy surroundings meant pushing my voice out  in a way that did not feel good or natural and actually left me (and my voice) feeling somewhat traumatized and not wanting to speak at all at least for a day or two afterwards.

The Turning Point

Now, I had, in the past, tried various ways and vocal workshops and healing modalities to  remedy this blocked Throat Chakra and trapped voice of mine. Mostly my vocal chords weren't even strong enough to be able to do the recommended vocal exercises without strain. And in those times when I did manage to open my throat enough to push my voice out with some volume, I would find that, afterwards, something in me would close down even more. Somehow, even hearing my own voice projected out there was scary enough to stop me from wanting to try again. I have to admit to getting discouraged and giving up fairly easily -- until one evening about four and a half years ago. This would have been August of 2008.

I was attending a Peace Circle which I had attended many times before. I loved this Circle and felt quite comfortable and safe in this group -- primarily because the main activity in this group was writing. And I feel really confident and comfortable and "at home"when it comes to writing (I actually do seem to have a lot to say -- and I can usually"say it" freely through writing). This one particular evening, only a few of us showed up for the Circle and it was decided (not by me!!!) that instead of our usual writing exercise, we would share songs. I just froze -- totally lost my voice. I couldn't sing, even to follow the songs that were being offered. My voice, as it always did whenever I felt threatened or uncomfortable, just retreated to a deep, inaccessible place inside of me. Even to try to say anything was painful and took a huge effort. This was a familiar experience and response, but being in this small group, it felt even more intensified. I felt mortified and miserable -- while everyone else was having a great time singing and dancing! 

Yes, I CAN Sing!

   Within 10 days after this miserable experience, I found myself in a singing studio in front of a microphone and singing teacher. I was determined -- I could not live with that kind of vocal repression any longer! This time, I was determined, and fortunate to also have a therapist to help me through the challenges of embarking on this vocal journey. The first singing teacher did get me singing and I will be eternally grateful to him for that. However, he wasn't able to help me with the weakness and fear that were lodged in my voice. My voice would unexpectedly crack or I would get a really  "froggy" throat that no amount of throat clearing would help. So I went searching for a technique that might help me strengthen my voice. By Feb. 2009, I found an amazing technique** for the voice and a really wonderful vocal coach who has helped me immeasurably in strengthening my voice and  freeing the power in it. The vocal work has taken some time, but for me, the step by step way that my vocal coach worked and trained my voice felt safe and manageable. I'm now singing in front of friends and small groups. I'm doing storytelling. I'm leading small vocal workshops, combining voice with the Chakra work that has been so dear to my heart for many years. I have no fears now that my voice won't hold up -- it always does hold up now.  I even have a few private clients that I am helping with their vocal issues and fears.  

**The technique I refer to was originally Speech Level Singing. Now it has morphed in "Vocology in Practice". For info, check out the 3rd Voice link to the right of this blog. Or check out The Singers Instinct by Brandon Brophy -- available on Amazon.

Releasing A Childhood Vocal Trauma

  I'm getting a little ahead of my story here. Going back to Feb. 2009, almost as soon as I began working with my current vocal coach, some really interesting memories and sensations started to show up -- as well as a deeper understanding of why my voice had been so thoroughly shut down in the first place. I was a painfully shy child, so afraid to open my mouth, even with close relatives. As an adult, my voice was still very quiet and constricted and high pitched. One of the first things my vocal coach did, in terms of training my voice, was to help me drop the resonance and vibration of my voice into my chest. Immediately when I started vocalizing from my chest voice, I started to feel some power and strength come through in my voice that I had never experienced before. One particular sound -- NA NA NA -- I had to do  like a "bratty kid" with my tongue sticking out. I loved it! Never got to make those kinds of sounds when I was a kid. And never really got to be "bratty". What a delicious freedom for this nice, quiet, polite girl to be nasty and bratty and to make these wonderful LOUD sounds. 

   As I was doing the NA NA NA scale, I suddenly had this amazing vision that appeared in front of me. I saw myself as I was in about grade 2 or 3. The music teacher we had then also appeared in front of me -- so vividly that I felt like I could reach out and touch her. She was a large, imposing woman, especially to a small child like I was. She had come into our classroom this one day to "test us" to see if we could be in the school choir. The test was having to stand up, all alone, in front of the class and sing DO RE  ME .... Even remembering myself as that shy, withdrawn little girl waiting, terrified, for her turn to come, ties my belly up in knots! When it came to my turn, I don't know what kind of sound, if any, came out of my mouth. Clearly it was not a "good" sound, because I was not allowed to sing in the children's school choir. A few of us got left behind in the classroom while the majority of the class got to go to the gym and sing. It was humiliating and devastating to that little girl that I was, to be told that my voice was no good for singing.  Through this whole vision, I was still standing there in front of my vocal coach singing NA NA NA with my tongue sticking out. As he encouraged me to make it sound even "nastier and brattier" I suddenly felt this surge of power, feeling like I was actually sticking my tongue out and, very brattily saying "NA NA NA" to that music teacher who had so totally traumatized me and stopped me from singing as a little girl. In that moment I felt like I was that little girl again but this time I was saying (loudly) "I'll show you. I can so sing and you are not going to stop me -- ever again!"

In the meantime, my vocal coach was saying to me, "Wow. You are really getting that sound out. You are really in your chest voice. That's great". Little did he know the entire drama that had just unfolded in front of my eyes! That was an incredibly cathartic moment! It helped to release a lifelong  constriction that had been around my throat holding my voice back. And that NA NA exercise is amazing for developing the strength in the vocal chords. My chest voice is very strong and powerful now thanks to those bratty NA NAs and many other fun sounds that my teacher taught me.

I've had many incredible and cathartic moments throughout the past few years since I have been working with my vocal coach and learning this beautiful technique. And, a real added benefit, I'm having a wonderful time re-discovering the music of my teen-age years -- Buddy Holly, Beatles, Rolling Stones and of course, our great Canadian songbird  -- Anne Murray. Their music means even more to me now that I am learning to sing it. I've always loved and admired these musicians and singers but previously I had no idea of what it takes to create these songs, to sing in time and on pitch, to develop vibrato in the voice etc. etc. Now I REALLY admire these singers and musicians. 


The Embodied Voice

Another real added benefit to having this stronger, more stable and expressive voice  is that now I'm able to explore various ways of connecting the voice more deeply with the Heart and Soul, and with the Chakras (energy centres). I'm still exploring and experimenting with ways to more deeply "embody" my voice, to allow it to flow out of my core or my centre. My focus is on allowing the voice to be deeply connected with all parts of ourselves, to be embodied as part of our Wholeness (as opposed to something we just "use" and take for granted). And how to allow our Voices to speak the truth of our Heart and Soul. I think it is vitally important and healing for people to "find their voice and speak their truth". 

VOICE is such an incredible gift. I believe that we do ourselves a big favour by honouring the voice, loving it, caring for it and allowing it to express. As much as I love learning to sing songs (and believe me these songs feel really important to me) , I also feel an equally deep need to sometimes just allow my voice to express in whatever way it needs and wants to. 

It is so important to listen deeply to the needs of the Voice, rather than just pushing it to do our bidding. 

Here's to Vocal Power! May all beings be allowed to sing and to express through the beauty and power of their own unique voice. 

Barbara

PS  On Sat. March 2, from 10:15 am --12:15 pm I am offering The Embodied Voice workshop -- more details to come soon.

The Rolling Stones -- Then and Now

1965

So this is going to be my final (for now anyway!) Rolling Stones post. I am soon going to get back to offering some good vocal information and explore ways of caring for the voice and developing the voice in ways that are safe, healthy and effective.


A Strong and Vibrant Voice

Mick more recently. 

Talking about caring for the voice, I have to say that I am quite impressed and fascinated by the sound of Mick Jagger's voice at age 69+ years old. The videos of the Rolling Stones recent (Nov. 2012) concerts in England portray a man (Mick) who, in my opinion,  has been taking good care of his voice. I would sure love to know who his vocal coach is. To me, Mick sounds better now than he did when he was in his fifties (although I loved listening to him then too -- and experiencing his dynamic energy).  To me, his voice seemed to be dropping into that lower, somewhat gravelly register that many older singers drop into. But now, his voice is clearer and higher pitched again and full of life and energy. He has clearly been working with it and oh how I would love to know what he has been doing in terms of vocal exercises!

Here are two great videos:  a very young Mick in 1964 singing It's All Over

It's All Over Now

And Mick now, Nov. 2012, 48 years later (!!) singing I Wanna Be Your Man (written by Lennon/McCartney)

I Wanna Be Your Man

Here is living proof that we can keep our voices strong and dynamic whatever our age!

Barbara

The Rolling Stones -- "the forbidden fruit"

I am still fascinated by this group, The Rolling Stones, who have stayed together and played together for 50 years -- since I was 11 years old! That was 1962 when they first performed together.  And what made them such "forbidden fruit" (in the eyes of our parents or other adults in authority) to many of us young pre teens?

Well -- I was really excited and fascinated and amazed by the inside story as told by Keith Richards -- The Rolling Stones guitarist.  I was fortunate to find the audio book at the Toronto Public Library (thank goodness for our libraries which continue to serve us despite our current mayor's attempts to get rid of some of them -- but that is another story!!). 

The book "LIFE" by Keith Richards is his autobiography -- told in frank, raw, brutally open and honest language. And humour. His humour is -- well -- really funny! He even manages to make getting arrested, with a car full of drugs, in the US bible belt incredibly humorous.

"LIFE" also goes into great detail about the music itself -- how the Stones created their unique and compelling sound. There is also great detail about song writing -- how he did it, how Mick did it, how they collaborated. I was also curious and fascinated to learn more about the details of some of their more controversial songs like "Sympathy for the Devil" (which I really like!).  The book has tons of inside info about the music business, life on the road, the inner workings of a drug addict, the challenges and pain of "cold turkey" withdrawal. And it was really fun to read the descriptions of his (Keith's) friendships with people like John Lennon, Etta James, Chuck Berry.... I came away feeling like I knew all of these people on a much more human level.

Check out this video of Rock and Roll Music for Etta James, Chuck Berry and Keith Richards together, at their best. I love this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6U4x9mQ5K0s


I didn't mean to make this sound like a book review, but clearly this book was really exciting to me -- and what a treat to my inner teen age self to finally be able to indulge in this "forbidden fruit" of The Rolling Stones and their music to my heart's (and possibly other parts of my anatomy's!!) content.

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards in their younger days

Mick and Keith -- a little more recently!

I highly recommend the audio version of this book. Some of it is in Keith's own words and voice. He has other readers like Johnny Dep helping out since it is very long -- over 20 hours of listening, but believe me, not a boring moment in the whole book!!

That's my tribute to The Rolling Stones for tonight! For some other great Rolling Stones videos and info, check out my previous blog.

Barbara

The Rolling Stones -- Still Together After 50 Years!!

I forgot how much I really loved the music of the Rolling Stones as a teenager. It is pretty amazing that they have just celebrated their 50th anniversary of performing together. That must be some kind of record -- I don't know of any  other groups who've performed together for so long. It got me remembering some of my favourite Rolling Stones songs: "I Can't Get No Satisfaction", "Nineteenth Nervous Breakdown", "Jumpin Jack Flash", "Ruby Tuesday". They are all very catchy tunes that make me want to move my body. And I can't deny -- I do enjoy watching Mick move and dance while he's singing! I remember when, around 1965, the Stones played on the Ed Sullivan Show and he (Ed) made them change their lyrics from "Let's Spend the Night Together" to "Let's Spend Some Time Together". I really love, in the video below, how Mick rolls his eyes when he sings "Let's Spend Some Time Together"!

I grew up in (very) small town Ontario. My mother allowed me to come to the big city of Toronto and see the Beatles, but, no matter how desperately I begged and pleaded, she would not let me come and see the Rolling Stones. She thought they were scruffy and she thought the songs they sang "weren't nice"!! Oh the joys of being a teenager in the 1960's!

So I recently checked out some early photos of the Stones, thinking I was going to find photos of these young scruffy guys (I guess her assessment stayed in my memory!) but I couldn't find any scruffy photos of them. In  fact some of them wore suits!

The following video is from the Ed Sullivan Show 1965 or so -- some great songs!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7JEGcWGbKE&feature=player_detailpage

And just for fun, here they are performing in Brazil in 2006 -- some 42 years later. Mick's energetic performance is really something to watch

.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5W4k6vD2WY

My original idea for this blog post was to explore how the Rolling Stones managed to stay together and keep performing for so long while the Beatles performed for only a few short years and, although they continued recording together for awhile after that, from my understanding there was enough conflict between them that they did eventually split. I have my ideas about this  which I will share next blog post. It feels like enough to just enjoy some Rolling Stones music for now.

It is so great to be able to go back and remember and watch and listen to the musicians that so influenced our younger days. I'm finding that I can really appreciate their music and their lives and their personalities from a much deeper, more mature perspective. It feels very powerful, to me, to re-connect with the music that touched me so deeply in my teens and to understand how influential that music and those musicians were in developing my view and experience of the world.

Barbara

The Voice: Tuning In and Warming Up

Tuning In

I love how my body feels internally during and after a good vocal warm up or sounding exercise or even after singing a few songs. Sometimes, after really working my chest voice, I literally feel like I have been doing incline bench presses or flys (I used to be a bodybuilder -- in case you are not familiar with "gym vocabulary"!). I find that those lovely internal sensations are even more intense if  I have taken the time to "tune in" before hand. For me, that "tuning in" can be as simple as closing my eyes, placing my hands on my belly, and really feeling the journey of the breath as I draw air in through my nostrils and  allow it (the breath) to move right down into my belly. I try to become very aware of what is happening internally through the simple act of breathing. Oh yeah -- I also find it important to be conscious of my feet connecting with the Earth or the ground that I am standing on. Bringing my awareness into my breath, into my belly and into the connection of my feet with the ground helps me begin to settle more fully into my body. Once I really feel settled and grounded in my body and I am more internally focused, then I am ready to begin vocalizing. When I do begin from that centered, internal place, then every vocal sound I  make feels like a delicious internal vibration -- like an internal massage. 

There seems, to me, to be great benefit in allowing vocal vibrations to penetrate all of our deep internal organs and systems --both for our health and well being as well as for our singing or whatever else we do with our voices. All kinds of musical and vocal vibrations are being using in various healing practices these days. Sound healing is becoming increasingly more popular and is proving to be a very effective healing modality. More on that in a future blog post.

And I don't know this for a fact, but it seems logical to me, and has been my experience, that when the voice can be more deeply connected within the body, the more stability and depth it will have when singing. That can only make our vocalizing and singing richer and fuller and more exciting!

Plus, it is really fun to explore the possibility of making sounds that come from the depths of the belly, or sounds that come from the centre of the heart, or how about some nice high head voice sounds that create an actual vibration in the brain? (For more on that, check out my blog post  "The Resonant Voice" June 29, 2012). Nothing like massaging our own brain with that beautiful head voice! I do believe that the more we can allow ourselves to be "tuned into" and centered in our inner body, the more the vocal vibrations can penetrate internally. For me, that creates a stronger and more stable voice -- a voice that can then share what is in the depths of my being or in the depths of my heart, through sounding or singing. And it is very soothing and healing for our internal organs to receive that vocal vibration.

Warming Up
Once you have "tuned in", here are some great warm up exercises, explained and demonstrated by Singer/Songwriter/Vocal Coach Earl Harville. I find Earl's  explanations of the exercises extremely helpful and informative. These exercises are also really fun and super effective. Enjoy!

.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu1onlpF97M

This link will take you to the Part 1 Warm Up. Earl has also posted a Part 2,3&4 -- all equally wonderful and worth watching and following.

Happy Singing!

Barbara

Women, Breath and Singing

It seems that we women do have a slightly different instinctual way of breathing from our male counterparts.

What got me thinking about this was the fact that after doing Yoga most of my adult life (which does involve a lot of various deep breathing exercises), I was surprised (and somewhat dismayed) to find that my vocal coach had to remind me several times to breathe from my belly while vocalizing or singing. Unless I was consciously thinking about breathing, which isn't always easy to do when one is concentrating on pitch, timing, lyrics and all the other things involved in doing scales or songs, I would inevitably end up taking a shallow chest breath.

So I was quite relieved when I discovered the video from Seth Riggs (link below), well known vocal coach in Los Angeles, about breathing. In it, Seth explains that he was puzzled by the difficulty that women often experience in trying to breathe "from the belly" or in keeping the breath low. A gynaecologist  explained to Seth that women breathe instinctively into their chest. That is in keeping with female biology since the female body is designed for childbirth. In the delivery process, a woman has to breathe into her chest and then push the air down through the birth canal to aid the delivery. Whether we choose to have babies or not, that is what nature prepares our bodies for.

That got me experimenting with breath and I realized that it does feel more natural to breathe into my chest and  to then allow the breath to flow naturally down into my lower body on the exhalation. That way of breathing  feels very grounding and natural to me.

On the other hand, I still want to vocalize and sing so I also make a point of consciously practicing the low breath -- or allowing my inhalation to move more deeply into my belly and allowing the exhalation to move up through my torso, through my throat and out of my mouth or nose as I would for singing.

I found this really fascinating because I do love to explore the breath in many ways and I just love how amazingly adaptable these bodies we inhabit really are.

     Seth Riggs Video on breathing      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5W3_Otvm4U 

So have fun exploring your breath. Who knows where it might take you!!


And happy singing and vocalizing.

                                                Barbara