I haven’t been vocalizing near as much as I should be. I was very motivated at Christmas through to March break; doing my exercises, soaring through my bridges every day. It felt good, I was crooning!

The last couple of months I’ve been busier. Spring is here and I like to get outside in the garden, and take the dogs for a walk. It’s my favourite time of year. The days just fly by.

Yikes! My voice is paying the price. I did a gig yesterday and I noticed the setback. I was specifically having trouble accessing my head voice resonance as I was bridging through my first passagio.

Luckily I knew the steps to take straight away to get back on track. I focused on taking deeper breaths and engaging the abdominal muscles; I backed off on my volume a bit to the point where my vocal cords were “lighter” and I could handle the air pressure enough to focus on my “cry” and onset of each phrase.

If I was in better vocal shape setting out yesterday, my usual warm-up before a booking would have set me up well with the coordination necessary to get the “cry” and “twang” necessary to bridge through my first passagio with ease.

Once I settled in to the “rhythm” where my vocal cords, breath and body were in sync with each other, I was then able to focus on the bigger picture…..the dynamics, the resonance and vocal effects……and of course, the audience!

So, today I’ll vocalize for two sets of 20 minutes, or maybe longer depending on how it feels. I will do this daily (very focused) until I feel I’m back at the top of my game. Then it will be OK to take a day off once in awhile!