Tips for Rediscovering Your Voice

I get messages ALL THE TIME, everyday about those of you who miss singing. 

 

Messages like:

 

-"I lost my voice and want to sing again...I used to sing in choirs and in theater production and I miss it."

 

-"I’m not the best singer but it used to bring me joy, and I want that back."

 

-"I love singing and I’ve wanted to get back to it for awhile"

 

-"I sang in choir in school. AlwYs loved it. Got away from it. I just want to be able to sing again…"

 

-"I use to love singing when I was in school I use to perform in talent shows, but I never felt good enough then so much in life happenedAnd now I just want to be something in this life. I have a passion for singing and just would like to make that passion a part of my daily life."

 

-"Because of the joy I feel when I am singing and it's been a while"

 

-"I love singing and realizing it's been awhile and how I miss it."

 

And there are so many more.

 

So many about wanting to be singing more, longing to return to your voice! I’m so touched by these messages.

 

I see you. I hear you! I totally get it. I took a long break from singing after my dad died and didn’t know how to get back to my voice.

 

You miss singing with joy, and maybe you are going through some burnout.

 

If it’s been awhile since you’ve sung, listen to Episode 5 of the Joyful Singer Podcast: Vocal Warmups that actually work.

 

This episode is about SOVT exercises, which your first step in reconnecting to your voice. SOVT exercises are going to help you get your voice back online.

 

 But I've got 5 tips for you to help you get started.

 

#1 Give Yourself Permission to Be a Beginner Again

 

Go back to the basics. Strip away all the pressure.

 

The pressure to be excellent at all times steals our joy, our curiosity, and our way of making discoveries. 

 

What if your vocal practice wasn’t about being "on"? What if it’s not about being perfect, being excellent….

 

What if it was a place where you could experiment, mess up, and play?

 

And to help you tap into that energy- that beginner energy, that playful, child like wonder I want you to do something…..

 

⏰ Try this: set a timer for 15 minutes and explore sounds, explore lines from songs, maybe even full songs without any agenda for an outcome, other than experimentation. So the goal isn’t to make something better, it’s to simply play. 

 

Make weird noises. Be ridiculous.

 

Sing one note and feel how it resonates in different parts of your body. 

 

Go with what feels good- make sounds that feel good to you, start there….

 

This is your sandbox, your space to experiment, not to audition for Broadway—no judgment allowed.

 

Listen, I’ve been there!

 

When the Broadway revival of A Little Night Music closed, I realized singing had become a chore- even though it was the thing I had built my life around.

 

I spent the next 10 years on a journey to discover where that spark went and connect back to the reason I fell in love with singing in the first place.

 

When I decided to sing FOR ME, everything changed.

 

Set that timer, give yourself permission to fool around, play, make noise that feels good, see where you are led.

 

 #2 Follow the Thread of Delight

 

►Ask yourself: What do you want to sing when no one’s watching? 

 

Maybe it’s not your usual genre at the moment.  Or what you used to sing before you took a break.

 

Maybe it’s folk songs, jazz standards, or even improvising with a loop pedal.

 

Let yourself be pulled by joy, not duty or shoulds. Please stop "shoulding" all over yourself.

 

Try making a “Delight Playlist” of songs you love to sing just for fun—not for auditions, not for technique, not for anything other than you feel like it.

 

Reconnect with the feeling of singing along to something that makes your heart leap.

 

One of my clients, a talented Broadway performer, came to me completely fried. 

 

She hadn’t sung for herself in years.

 

So, we ditched the usual picks and she started messing around with songs she used to sing as a kid.

 

Songs she remembers her Mom singing.

 

And guess what? 

 

She found her spark, she reconnected to joy, her singing opened up, it felt easier.

 

So follow YOUR thread of delight.

 

#3 Create Ritual, Not Routine

 

As you begin to think about singing again and you create a routine for yourself of singing time- instead of thinking it as a routine, because routines can feel like chores- try Creating a ritual.

 

Rituals feel sacred. 

 

Shift your practice from something you have to do into something that feels like a gift.

 

What can you do, what can you include to make it feel more like a ritual and not a routine?

 

Light a candle before you sing. 

 

Breathe deeply. Do a mindfulness practice before you start.

 

Frame this time as self care.

 

Set an intention: “Today, I’m focusing on making this feel as good to me as possible,” or “This is five minutes of music that nobody gets to critique.”

 

Crystals (whatever you are into!)

 

Just a little intention goes a long way.

 

#4 Let the Inner Critic Rest

 

You know that voice that says, “You should be better by now,” or “Why can’t you hit that note like you used to?”

 

This is not a helpful voice.

 

That’s not your artistic genius speaking—that’s just your inner critic, your inner critic keeps you from taking risks, from making sounds with wild abandon for fear of looking foolish, it’s the voice that wants to keep you small, it’s holding you back. It’s not the best voice to have in the drivers seat. Let’s get the wisest part of you, your wise, inner good boss in charge…

 

Try this: name that critic. Give it a persona. Mine is called Judge Judy 😉, and she gets cranky when I try to have fun. 

 

So name her so that when you notice that voice popping up in your head, when you notice your mood dipping and notice that suddenly this practice time doesn’t feel fun, you can take a couple of deep breaths to reset, take a little break, get recentered to put some distance from that voice, ask her to calm down, and then do your thing. You can put your what I call you good inner coach in charge of the experience you are losing to have.

 

#5  Reconnect with your Why.

 

Why do You Sing? What’s the reason you want to be doing this again

 

Before you ever sang your first aria or Broadway tune, there was a moment when singing felt like home. 

 

Maybe it soothed you. 

 

Maybe it helped you feel seen. 

 

Maybe it was simply fun.

 

Maybe it was bonding with other singers, others musicians.... the collaboration

 

✍🏻Write down your earliest joyful memory of singing. 

 

Let that version of you—the younger you who just loved to sing—be your guide, be the thing you keep coming back to you, let that be your north star.

 

Write it down hang it up, look at it often. Keep returning to YOUR Why as a reminder of what this is all about. Sometimes we get sidetracked, we think it’s about impressing others, we think the final destination is booking the broadway show, that isn’t our TRUTH. That is getting sidetracked. Keep reminding yourself of your truth.

 

I talk all about this and MORE in Episode 17 of The Joyful Singer podcast: How to Start Singing Again After a Long Break. LISTEN HERE