Stage Fright Ambush: How To Prevent or Defuse A Sudden Attack Of Nerves

Have you ever had a strange, unexpected attack of stage fright you couldn't understand? There are two prime causes for uncharacteristic stage fright, numbness or nervousness sucker-punching a performer.

1. Unfamiliar Venue

• When you haven't played a type of venue in a while, you may experience a guarding reflex triggered by your primal fight or flight response. Your inner "horse" (the automatic nervous system that gives your voice cues) isn't use to running this particular field, and will shy until it knows there are no lions, tigers and bears about to jump at it from the sidelines. (Or tomatoes about to be thrown!)
  

What you can do: Know that there will be a tightening of your body for the first part of the first song you sing. So, make sure your first song will be easy for you to do... not one of your most vocally challenging. Then, start to sing without fear, because you know what is going on and that the "clench" will pass if you don't hold on to it. Just allow your ribcage, throat and auto nervous system to relax... and they will.

• Note that size does not matter here. If you are used to playing arenas, a small venue like a 100 seat listening room may feel oddly petrifying.

The cure for this ambush: play more of these venues til your 'inner horse' learns to trust them!

2. Inadequate Preparation

During performance, the stage fright beast WILL jump on you to some degree or another if you don't accomplish these two preparation steps for performance:

• Know your material.

How? Practice, practice, practice. You should know the lyrics so well you could recite them in your sleep. You should be able to know the song so well in your fingers (if you play an instrument) that your fingers are on "automatic".

• Have vocal cords at peak operation.

There is no substitute for doing the things that put your voice on it's best footing. If your voice is smoothly running, it will smoothly run. If it's rough, it will get rougher because you will try to push it through. So... make sure you are rested, hydrated, peaceful, and exercised... both physically and vocally. WARM UP YOUR VOICE!

Think your little gig is too small to worry about? Think again.

Picture that in the hallway of the venue of your little gig happens to be the boyfriend of a girl who works in the mail room of a significant record label who would be interested in an artist like you. He hears a less-than-stellar performance and casually mentions it to his girlfriend the next day...

The cure for this ambush: Maximize your vocal stamina with Power, Path & Performance lessons and training Cd's .

Singing and Speaking Loud Without Vocal Strain: The Double Secret

To sing or speak at a loud volume without straining your voice, you must put two things together: Form and Strength.

FORM:
You must know how to use your voice as efficiently as possible, with the least effort necessary. And you must know this BEFORE trying to increase your volume, so that singing loud is no more stressing to your instrument than singing soft.

STRENGTH:
You must increase your vocal stamina gradually and steadily. Never increase your vocal volume suddenly. You may injure it. If you haven't been singing full voice much, this becomes even more important. Once your stamina allows full voice without strain, sing full voice several days before a strong performance.

Comments from you let me know how you are understanding what I tell you... and are appreciated! Click the comment button at the website page under this blogpost.

Check this website for further information on "Power, Path & Performance"vocal training cds and personal lessons

Vocal Strain: Top 17 Causes

From the answers to my recent questionnaire, vocal strain is the subject most often on my readers' minds. You spoke, and I listened.

This is a big subject. Instead of just a series of posts, I will be writing about vocal strain off and on, interspersed with other vocal subjects in which you and other readers have expressed interest. Also per reader preferences, some posts will be short tips, some longer articles.

Here are the top 15 causes of vocal strain I see in singers and speakers:

1. Bad Breathing Technique:
...inhaling too high in chest, too much or uncontrolled breath pressure applied to vocal cords.

2. Tight Throat Channel:
...tightness where nose, throat and mouth meet at the "post-nasal drip zone".

3. Yelling:
... 20 minutes of yelling, screaming or "shooting your voice from your throat" can result in blood blisters, the beginnings of vocal nodes, appearing on the vocal cords. Keep it up and you'll harden those blisters into callouses, polyps, nodes, or even cause vocal cord paralysis or vocal cord hemorrhage.

4. Acute Viral Laryngitis:
... which usually is triggered by an upper respiratory illness, but sometimes appears without other signs of sickness.

5. Acid Reflux (GERD)
... most damaging if it is laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR)

6. Smoking
... causes irritation, swelling and dehydration of the cords

7. Talking too loud, too long, without good vocal technique
... can cause serious vocal damage. Many times the first thing I address to correct vocal strain is the person's speaking voice.

8. Chronic or Strong Coughing
... the constant hitting of your vocal cords together is as bad as yelling. You must get to the bottom of the cause of the cough and cure it. Sometimes it's GERD or LPR, sometimes a short term virus, post nasal drip, allergen or other air-born irritant, sometimes it's throat cancer. See your doctor if your cough lingers or brings up blood.

9. Bone and joint problems:
... lack of strength and flexibility in the spine tremendously affect the voice; pain in spine or between ribs can indeed cause vocal strain from breath and throat issues.

10. Muscle tension problems:
... trigger tight chest and/or throat channel and "freezing" of anatomy... always detrimental to voice.

11. Fatigue problems
... inhibiting good support/control, causing slumping of body with concurrent high, pushed breathing and throat tightness.

12. Posture issues
... causes pushing of breath, tightness of throat channel and guarding stance.

13. Emotional problems
... nervousness, lack of confidence, numbness, eating disorders, addictions, chronic resentments, inability to focus on communicating. These emotions affect anatomy in ways that can cause vocal strain.

14. Lack of Sleep
... causing once again, slumping of body and breathing/throat issues

15. Dehydration
... the vocal cords need a thin layer of mucus lubricating them to move most efficiently. Not enough water intake results in a thickening of this lining... imagine your boat running aground and you'll have an idea of what your dehydrated voice experiences.

16. Flabby Core (insufficient physical exercise)
... causing slumped posture, unsupported and under controlled breath and tight throat.

17. Endo-tracheal damage from being on a ventilator
... if you must undergo surgery, watch for this one.

Need your help:
Which of these 17 top causes of vocal strain do you want me to write more about next? Or... is there another cause of vocal strain that you'd like to add to this list for me to address?

The difference between my Blog and my Newsletter

I recently put out a short questionnaire, which I sent to my "Judy Rodman Productions" newsletter database. One of the many things I learned from the valuable answers and feedback of the survey (if you took it, THANK YOU!!) was that several people were asking for me to write more about vocal technique. This let me know that these respondents probably didn't know about this blog, and the difference between it and the newsletter. So... let me explain so that YOU can be sure you're subscribed to the right thing for YOUR interests and needs:

WHY YOU SHOULD SUBSCRIBE TO MY "ALL THINGS VOCAL" BLOG (if you haven't already)

This blog is called "All Things Vocal" for a reason...if you've been reading it a while, you know:) Here's what I write about on this blog:

• Tips and insights on things concerning the singing and speaking voice.
  
• Free vocal lessons with "Power, Path & Performance" vocal techniques that you can instantly apply to your next live performance, recording session, public speech.
  
• News flashes about upcoming auditions, events or other urgent news for vocalists.
  
• Frequent updates... two or three times a week.
  

If you have not subscribed to this blog and would like to, go to the main blogpage HERE. Look on the left hand side of the page under the words "Subscribe to this blog". Click your choice to sign up via either email or reader.

WHY YOU WOULD ALSO WANT TO SUBSCRIBE TO MY "JUDY RODMAN PRODUCTIONS" NEWSLETTER:

My newsletter's purpose is to actually deliver news which will encourage mutual support, community connection and networking. For this reason, I use this publication to talk about what I am, and my clients are, doing.

Here's what I've been writing about on the newsletter:

• Who I'm working with and links to their webpages
• News about my vocal students and recording clients
  
• Projects I'm currently working on (studio, songwriting, multimedia, live engagements, etc.)
• Breaking news and upcoming events (sometimes on both my blog and newsletter)
• Links to other places where you can connect with me.
• Short vocal tips
• Links to blogposts you might have missed on this blog.
• Main newsletter is a monthly publication, special short notices are sent from time to time.
  

If you want to subscribe to my newsletter, please go here

I will be tweaking both this blog and newsletter from the information I'm gathering on the survey. I'm still looking for about 45 more people to respond before closing the survey. If you'd like to take the 10 question survey, please go here.

And thank you again for your readership, your feedback and your friendship. Let me know what I can do better... for you!

Vocal Warm Ups: Two Vital Reasons To Do Them

I believe there are two reasons to warm up your voice.

1. To coordinate your body/mind/voice... practicing and developing the muscle memory that enables the basic vocal technique triangle of breath/throat/communication synergy.
   
2. To give your voice a physical workout... get blood flowing through the tissues, interstitial fluid pumped out, and muscle stamina increased.

To accomplish these two things, "form is everything". Doing vocal exercises wrong, just like other physical exercise, will not help and can harm your voice. You can do ANY vocal exercise incorrectly. If your voice doesn't feel BETTER after your vocal workout, stop doing it!

Train your voice, yes, but train it correctly. Make sure your vocal teacher shows you not only what to do, but how to do it.

For information on Power Path & Performance cd vocal training products, go here.
The third cd of my 6-cd course is completely on the subject of HOW to do my vocal exercises.

For more info on my personal lessons, go here.

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?

I recently performed in Las Vegas, which was a blast, and here's what I came away with: great memories with my husband, my clients and friends, and... Perspective on why I sing. I told this story to a vocal student/friend and she suggested I put it in my blog here for you.

As always, when I perform, I end up looking for lessons I can use for you. I'm like a mad scientist, experimenting on MYSELF! I was doing live bgvs (background vocals) for a client of mine (Jim Wilkes) at the House Of Blues, and he also asked me to sing a couple of solos. One of my songs I chose at the suggestion of Ron Oates, who wrote a terrific arrangement of "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" -- the Carol King classic.

As I worked myself into it (and yes, it took 7 days to get my full voice in shape because I haven't been singing out much lately), I looked for my usual motivation . I ask myself what the lyric meant to me. It came as a bit of a sudden surprise. I found myself singing to -- my audience. Why is this odd? Because the lyric goes...

Tonight you're mine completely
You give your love so sweetly
Tonight, the light of love is in your eyes
But will you love me... tomorrow? (by Carol King & Gerry Goffin)

... and the answer came to me... "Probably not". Wow. What a splash in the face. But it is the truth, and in this truth there is great protection and power for an artist. That's why I want to share it with you. Let me explain:

Earlier in my life's journey, I was having hits on the radio, national awards, on TV and in stadiums all the time, etc. and when I sang, everybody loved me. It was the strongest drug I can imagine, all that validation. Then came the day when I wasn't on the radio or TV much anymore, and guess what... when I sang, the audience reaction wasn't nearly as strong, finally trickling to an appreciative pat on the head. I was devastated. What was I doing differently? Can I tell you how common this is for artists - both now and since the "music business" began?

I finally got my bearings, my journey took some wild turns and I'm amazed and thrilled with where I am now. Getting back to the present: I happened to take a ride in a parking business limo to the airport on this trip. While I was in there I had a brief surge of unexpected sadness... I was remembering when I used to spend a lot of time in limos. Then the antidote to this silliness was sent to my heart: Jesus never rode in a limo.

Hmmm. So I'm already more blessed in this life than Jesus was? If I am really a follower (as I want to be) of Jesus, why is the limo important? Here's the thing: it's really, really true that it is better serve than to be served. I will always enjoy a limo ride, an audience cheering, a thank you from someone I can help... but motivation is everything. When I do what I do out of the sheer joy of performing the act... and out of a desire to truly serve someone with my best ability... that's when I really win.

Fans must always be important to an artist. Without them, you won't have much of a career. In Power, Path & Performance parlance, the audience is the endpoint of your performance, after all. For your voice to work best, your motivation should be to make the listener feel something. But paradoxically, the safest way to have a public career is to be careful how much importance you are attaching to public fame. A good way to check yourself is to ponder if you'd still want to sing if you fell several rungs down the ladder. George Strait says he'd go back to singing in Texas bars.

That's what I took away from Vegas, and it felt good. I had a ball... and the truth is, I would have had a ball just feeling my voice sound with a full band and horns and Ron Oates playing piano behind me... even if there were only one person in the audience to listen, and that was just God clapping.

Singing In Heels (not just for the girls)

I had to wear heels last week to sing in Vegas and I have to tell you that I don't spend nearly as much time in those pedi-torture devices as I used to. It was actually fun to be back in 'em, but I had to use my secret to make it work for me instead of against me. Dear beloved readers, I shall share it with you. Ready?

• Balance yourself on your HEELS when you sing, instead of the BALLS of your feet. Press down on your heels for the hard stuff.

Everything should line up nicely, and it's easy to lean back a bit for the high long notes or the tricky vocal licks (those of you who train with Power, Path & Performance know what that's about). Your heels go right up your spine to your neck and your skull. Balancing your body weight on your heels like this will help you open your chest for both breath support and control, and open your throat as well.

Guys, the truth is, we all need to sing from our heels no matter how high they are. Plant those heels firmly into the floor and you'll feel the difference.

Feedback anyone?

Taming Tongue Tension

A question about tongue tension was asked at The Modern Vocalist this month. I thought I'd share my answer and elaborate it with you, dear reader of this blog, because it is a very common problem. Tongue tension equals soft palate tension, equals... throat tension!!

Tongue tension happens when you use the wrong end of the tongue too much! The tongue is said by some to be the strongest muscle in the body for it's size. It is literally connected by the hyoid bone to the top of your larynx. Tensing the root of your tongue raises the larynx uncomfortably. NOT GOOD. You need to be able to keep the mighty base (or root) of the tongue relaxed while you use the tip and front sides of the tongue to articulate.

Some things I suggest that have helped my students loosen tongue tension:

1. Wake up the face and do tongue tanglers, trying for clarity and not allowing the voice to "fall into the gravel" at the ends of phrases. Act like you are speaking to deaf people... make your lyric show in your face. This gets it out of the back of the throat and stiff jaw.

2. Speak or sing with the jaw moving in sort of a slight chewing motion. Tongue tension and jaw stiffness go together.

3. Put your knuckle inbetween your molars (not the front of your mouth) and sing. It will sound weird, like trying to speak with the dentist's hand in your mouth, but your jaw and tongue will experience having to relax.

4. Sing only on the vowels for a while, again allowing the back of the mouth and throat to fall open. This is harder than you think, you have to concentrate on NOT forming consonants. Then allow yourself to slightly let the consonants sneak back in, but keeping the back of the tongue feeling the same and letting the jaw relax flexibly.

5. Put two fingers under your chin. You are feeling the base of your tongue. Speak or sing, telling yourself not to tense there (bunch the muscle up).

6. DO NOT OVER-WORK the tongue in specific vocal exercises. Sometimes I find that exercises designed to stretch out and loosen the tongue can have the opposite effect. If you do these, be sure and note how they actually affect your tongue root's ability to relax.

By the way... some people can do tongue trills and some people can do lip trills and some people can do both. Just like rolling the tongue, forming French or German syllables, for some people it is easy and some hard, because there is a learning curve that makes it easier in childhood, and I believe, subtle muscle coordination differences in people. It doesn't matter if you can do these things or not. The main thing is to get your articulation out of the back of your throat, and there is more than one way to accomplish this goal.

Let me know what works for you!

Power, Path & Performance vocal training: The difference is real.

Vocal Training: Should We Train the Intellect or the Senses?

There is a point and counterpoint dancing among teachers of voice. Some say it's best to teach the intellect, using facts, logic, the left brain, so to speak. Others say the way to go is to teach the sensory system... with imagery and subjective "feeling" of concepts. Like many, I think the answer lies in the mix. Teaching is always a team sport, and needs the input and energy of both teacher and student to really make a lesson come alive. This becomes especially true in the art and science of teaching voice. Observation of the student as he or she tries to apply teacher's suggestions, insight and creative approaches to problem-solving are vital as factual knowlege of anatomy and effective, healthy and proven effective vocal technique.

I believe it is healthy, protective and empowering at vocal lessons to train on two fronts: Intellectual and sensational.

1. Intellectual vocal training deals with our thinking brain...the hemisphere commonly referred to as "left brain" ... which uses a mathematical and analytical processes to learn a technique such as vocal support.
   
2. Sensory vocal training deals with more abstract "right brain"... more visual and artistic in it's processes... which considers feelings and sensations that go along with ways to do something. Paradox: The sensations our nerves present us with often do not correlate with anatomical movements, i.e. a vocal break is "felt" in the back of the soft palate, but is happening in the larynx. The power of breath, when properly applied, should be "felt" as coming from the pelvic floor instead of the diaphragm or lungs. Consider the phantom limb syndrome, when a felt body part is not really there.

Some reasons both intellectual and sensational training is needed (and I speak from experiential success with my students and clients and my own professional vocal experience) is that both hemispheres are necessary for working the voice. In fact, according to Natasha Mitchell's webpage;

Every single cognitive function has right hemisphere and left hemisphere components. - neuropsychologist Associate Professor Michael Saling

When you use the intellect to understand how your anatomy is supposed to function, you can use the imagery that goes along with sensation to much better effect. You can protect yourself from what your intellect knows is damaging, even if you sense no damage (pushing when you're so used to it you don't even feel it).

But intellectually studying and understanding anatomy is not enough. Case in point: A math geek who understands the science behind throwing a ball might make a poor baseball player due to limited muscle coordination and under-rehearsed (or wrongly repeated) muscle memory.

For sensory training I find it often very effective to find out what physical activity is familiar to my client's body. Many times performing an athletic skill can be correlated to a vocal technique. If the singer plays basketball, golf, baseball, does karate, etc, I can suggest that they power their voice from the same center that they do their physical activity. This unlocks the naturalness of good support without eliminating the necessary effort for breath support and control. At the same time, I teach the student what should be going on vocally, and I call attention to a harmful sensation that might be right in a physical skill, such as tightening the neck and shoulders for dance or weight training.

Even though there is tension involved in low abs, butt & back for breath support, I call it a "power center" instead of a tension center. It is also not like a solid foundational stone; the vocal power center has to change shapes to support our voices, because singing is not static. It is a living, moving thing. It should become so natural to power our voices from this center that one is not aware of even using it. It should feel instead that our voices just resonate out of us, even when we up the volume or scream metal.

This dance of teaching both sides of the brain is a tricky and sometimes sneaky thing. Sometimes I still get puzzled as to where the source of the incorrect tension lies in my student. This is where, as a voice teacher, I find concepts and insights from the Alexander Technique, as well as the Feldenkrais Method, highly useful. When mysterious vocal inabilities don't respond to my usual methods, I try to be creative. I constantly study other reputable teachers' techniques. I am always looking for new ways to defeat vocal challenges. Sometimes it can be as simple as addressing the other side of the amazing brain!

Vocal Training: Change Habits, Then Strengthen Weaknesses

It's so much fun - for both of us - when a student comes to me for the first Power, Path & Performance vocal lesson. There is such an amazing leap in vocal ability that can be made by some simple changes I can suggest from watching a student do "their thing".

The first plateau of vocal training is reached by changing some breath, throat and communication habits, both physically and psychologically. I do this by giving some suggestions, then having the person sing again. When the student can feel (and hear) the difference, I show why these suggestions help, by teaching some basic anatomical principles and putting it all together where the training makes immediate sense.

The student's job will then be to practice these new habits. In this first plateau of vocal training, new habits are effected by choosing to do things a different way, and by correctly doing special exercises designed to develop new muscle memory to connect the mind-body-voice.

The next plateau is reached by gaining strength in vocal and breathing muscles, and coordination among the parts of the whole instrument - which really includes the whole body. This strength can increase the vocalist's ability beyond what was possible to improve at the first vocal lessons.

I'm enjoying watching my more regular students bloom with special exercises to strengthen the breath and coordinating and focusing exercises to enable better bridging of the vocal registers. Some of these exercises are the sirens along the right voice path, bouncing belly breathing staccato runs and paradigm shifts in how to make performance more authentic.

People wonder how vocal training works to improve the voice. I hope this illuminates some of my process. If any of you have thoughts from your experiences, please chime in. I would especially like to know of any frustrations you've had with vocal lessons. This is how all vocal coaches can improve their services... by listening to your feedback.

Considering taking vocal lessons? Contact me here.