Last Updated on Monday, 28 September 2009 01:56 Monday, 28 September 2009 01:20

Although I had quit my job to become a full-time singer/songwriter, till this point, I had never had formal singing lessons. I had sung in choirs since the age of about 9 or 10 and led singing at church for many years, but none of these experiences taught me how to use my voice properly. After about 6 months of gigging and recording, I started to feel my throat responding badly to the way I sang. 

I used to be a belter, that is, I thought singing loudly was the only way to sing. Little did I know that this was hurting me physically and not that nice to listen to anyway! So, I went and found a singing teacher.

Interestingly enough, as I was surfing the Net for singing teachers, this one website jumped out at me. This teacher had trained Dale Ryder (Boom Crash Opera) how to sing and he is one of my biggest influences vocally. So I figured, if she was good enough for him, she's definitely good enough for me! I started lessons with Cynthia and the experience has changed my life. Not only have I learned how to use my voice properly (funnily enough it helps you sing better and sound better), but I have also learned so much about expression. For almost 2 years, we workshopped my songs till I sounded like I meant them again. As I said in the last blog, I had become quite task-focused with them, so they lacked the feelings I had intended when I wrote them. This journey helped me to appreciate the songs in a fresh way and the joy in singing them returned. Praise the Lord! 

Although I've taken a break from regular lessons now, I've been given great tools to keep my voice in shape. I just have to be self-disciplined enough to use them regularly.