Welcome to our blog

Did you know that every Wednesday at The Vocal Gym™ we have a session based on SOVT?

So, you’re a soprano trying to sing rock/pop or contemporary MT. If you’re training with a qualified coach, you are doubtless making some new sounds, and getting good feedback. But adjusting to the sounds emotionally can be difficult.

Short and sweet this week – I wanted to share an article on the health benefits of singing.

Have you seen the Billie Eilish documentary?
This line struck a chord. I know it’s required for most MT numbers but… is there too much emphasis on big notes?

It’s the week of an exciting gig/audition/recording/opportunity and you start to feel that
niggle in your throat. A scratchy swallow. A little sniffle.

When the Sing Space, along with Online MD, created the 16 Bar Challenge during
the uncertain lockdown periods of the pandemic, it was the most wonderful
forum for singers to share an online experience that spoke directly to the
interruption we were facing as performers.

Kerrie blew my mind. Whilst it’s impossible to reduce her twenty plus years of experience into a 30 minute practical work out, here are some of the pieces of wisdom that changed the way I view the voice

Thinking is a virtually unavoidable part of our lives. We think about a math problem, we think about what we want for dinner, we think about someone we like, or a movie we just watched. Simultaneously, there is a seemingly higher and higher amount of people who are (self-)diagnosed “overthinkers”: People who get in their own way because of their incessant thinking.

29.6.22 If you want to be told exactly how to sing, the Sing Space is not for you.   Rachel Lynes, Founder   As I write these words, my finger moves to the delete button. It's not exactly good business saying that, is it? I should be promising answers and certainty, especially in this time. But that would be a lie. We're not here to...

22.6.22 - Why Breathing Matters. Barbara Tanze Breathing is a funny thing.   A bit like a car. As long as it works, we don’t think too much about it, but once it starts to make funny noises, we start freaking out. And this is where this analogy ends for me because I have no idea about cars but I have studied a ton about breathing over the...

16.6.22 - Mythbusting the 'Cruise Ship Singer'. Jess Thomas Ok so hands up, how many of us have heard/seen this phrase?Either on a TV show, in a tweet, or at a performance?! Ok, so now hands up for who actually knows what that means…or better still, if they think the person saying that statement knows what it means?! I’m hoping that by the end of...

8.6.22 The Highly Sensitive Singer Malin AnderssonIt is probably not news to us that most artists and creatives often are sensitive souls or empaths, drawn to expressing themselves through their art and performance.    But what exactly does it mean to be a ‘highly sensitive’ person?  What is ‘High Sensitivity’ and how do you know...

3 Blissful Days to reconnect, refuel, and refocus.  To help create long term strategies that use your own strengths, uniqueness, bringing more of what you love into your life and letting go of what you don’t need. Here are some of the images from our 3 days...   Rachel and Becky  JOIN OUR FACEBOOK COMMUNITY Get in touch today to...

SOVTs and the MT!   Alex Davies  I’ve always been intrigued by training methods that are considered unorthodox. So, when I first started seeing singers use SOVTE (semi-occluded vocal tract exercises) to warm-up and train their voices, I was hooked! After researching SOVTEs as part of my Masters in Vocal Pedagogy, I discovered some of...

18.5.22 - Technique - the last thing you need!   Michael Dahl Rasmussen THE PATTERN The following is a synthesis of many lessons. How much do you recognise from yourself? ___________________ S(student): Sings the song M(me): How was that? S: Hmm, kinda meh. Didn’t feel easy, struggled with a few bits, and wasn’t really connected. M: Okay....

13.5.22 And The Winner Is... Jo BentleyFirstly... A massive thank you to everyone who took the time to fill out 1, 2 or maybe even 3 of our forms. We are on a mission to make The Sing Space bigger and better for YOU. To really understand the members and what YOU want from us.  It has definitely allowed us to re-evaluate several areas of the...

11.5.22 - Apprehensive about Improvising?  Laura Boon Most of the singers I’ve met and worked with seem to fall into two camps - those who are comfortable improvising and those who avoid it like the plague, and would rather stick to the dots. I’m hoping that by the end of reading this blog, if you’re in the latter camp you’ll be feeling...

4.5.22 Jaw Tension? Consider your hips.   Rosie SeckerIt may be that you have never thought of there being a connection between the hips and the jaw. However, if you are feeling an imbalance or holding excess tension in one of these areas, considering what is going on in the other could be beneficial. The idea of the hips and the jaw being...

29.4.22 -The Singer and the 'Self'?   Rachel Lynes, Founder   This morning, I woke to find I'd lost my voice for the first time in a decade. Yet, this was, serendipitously, something of a gift. I was preparing for a retreat that Becky Gilhespie and I are running called, ‘The Singer and the Self,' and having to ask some big...

27.4.22 - Buying a microphone: 3 useful things to know   Julia KrajewskaIf you’re a voice artist performing to more than a small handful of people, at some point you’re going to need your voice to be amplified. Not only to ensure you can be heard, but also to avoid vocal strain and even give you further artistic control. The microphone is...