Welcome to my blog!
Here you will find vocal tips, technique guide, interviews and all things singing.
Why Is Your Voice Lower In The Morning?
You’ve just woken up after a wonderfully restful sleep. You sit up, stretch and exclaim, “good morning world”. Uh oh. Morning voice - deep, raspy and dry feeling - for some it’s just another reason to avoid other humans first thing in the morning; for others, it is something they wish they could maintain throughout the day. But why does this happen? How can we stop it (or keep it going)?
What Makes Billie Holiday Great?
Billie Holiday has one of the most distinctive voices of all time; she inspired many artists; Frank Sinatra, Andra Day, Nina Simone, Joni Mitchell, Janis Joplin and Etta James. But why is her voice so relevant since over 60s years after her death in 1959? In this episode, I am going to be looking at what makes Billie Holiday so great?
Why British People Lose Their Accent When They Sing
The Scottish accent. Lilting, friendly, trustworthy and aggressive on a saturday night. All jokes aside, as a person who possesses a fairly rare accent, I’m often asked why I don’t have an accent when I sing. And this isn’t just a phenomenon that happens to me; it happens to lots of singers. Many people even feel like some famous British artists not only lose their accent but sound American when they sing. But, why is this?
The Dark Side Of Sea Shanties
The viral success of the Glasgow Postie Nathan Evans and his Sea Shanties was another surprising twist to lockdown life. The original video has been viewed over 6m times on TikTok, not counting other social media platforms and inspired a flurry of community spirit - with other social media users adding harmonies, instrumentation, and remixing it with dubstep, drum and bass, funk and metal. But there is more to Sea Shanties than meets the eye, in this blog, I will explore their fascinating and dark history.
The Truth About Bagpipes
You know you are in Scotland when you hear the sound of Scotland’s National instrument - the bagpipe - floating over the heathered mountains, lochs and pine forests. The bagpipes are as central to Scottish identity and culture as kilts, haggis and whiskey. But the pipes have an unsavoury history, they were not invented in Scotland and were played by the dastardly English the hundreds of years before the Scots.
MENDELSSOHNS FORGOTTEN SISTER
It was on a warm June morning in 1842 that Felix Mendelssohn was invited for the second time to perform at Buckingham Palace for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. For Victoria and Albert, it was their shared love of music that brought them together - they took their sheet music with them wherever they travelled so that they could play piano duets and sing for each other. Mendelssohn knowing this had a request - would the Queen like to sing? He rummaged about his music producing a set of songs for her to pick her favourite. She chose “Italien”. It wasn’t until after she sang that he confessed that his sister Fanny had written the song.
Why Do Singers Lip-Sync?
If you don't already know what lip-syncing is, it is essentially miming. It’s short for lip synchronisation and is where someone matches lip movements with someone else who is speaking or singing - often to a prerecorded track. But it is not just used in fun lip sync battles and drag acts; it is something that your favourite artist might be doing too. People often see it as a negative thing, but is it so bad? I wanted to take a look…
Metal Music Makes You Calmer
In popular culture, the stereotype of a metalhead is less than flattering - whether it’s headbanging, satanism, mosh pits or the decapitation of small animals - thank you, Ozzy Osbourne! But recent studies seem to be telling a different story, that metal music could, in fact, help us emotionally regulate. Can metal really make you calmer? I wanted to take a look…
Why Scientists Turned CoVID-19 Into Song - Sonification & Science
You've probably seen lots of visual representations of coronavirus on the news. But now, scientists have come up with a way for you to hear it. They've translated the structure of its famous spike protein into music. But why?
WHY Don’t you like the sound of your voice?
Most of us shudder at hearing the sound of our voice, whether in singing or speaking. We are present for every word that we say, so why do so many of us dislike our own voices?
Benjamin Franklin Invented The WorldS Most Dangerous Instrument
Most of us know Benjamin Franklin as a politician, writer, scientist and one of America’s founding fathers. He is lesser known for his musical achievements - a skilled player of the viola da gamba, guitar and harp, he was also the inventor of allegedly, the world’s most dangerous instrument - the glass armonica. But what is it? How does it work? And can an instrument really be dangerous?
WHY YOU CAN’T GET THAT SONG OUT OF YOUR HEAD
If you have been near a child, the words “Baby Shark” may be enough to make you run from the room covering your ears. Earworms, 90% of us experience them a least once a week, but how do they work? And how can we get rid of them?!?
WHAT ARE IN-EARS ANd WHY DO SINGERS USE THEM?
If you have ever been to a live concert or watched your favourite musicians perform live on TV, you may have noticed them wearing earpieces. But what are they listening to through them? And why are they necessary?
WHY ARE THERE NO NEW CHRISTMAS SONGS?
From Bing Crosby to Slade, East 17 to Paul McCartney, and Brenda Lee to Wizzard, there’s no avoiding these festive artists. But if you look at a little closer, you’ll notice they all have one thing in common - these songs are all pretty old. Where are all the new Christmas songs?
wHY I AM BEING SELFISH
The idea of looking after yourself is something that has come up for me a lot in these uncertain times, both as a teacher and as an individual recently. So, I decided it was time to shed some leaves for autumn, throw out some bad habits and unhealthy ways of thinking, to change too.
WHAT ARE FORMANTS AND WHY ARE THEY IMPORTANT?
In my blog “What are Harmonics?” we discovered that the vocal folds actually vibrate at multiple frequencies at once that determine the tone of the sound. But this isn’t the end of the puzzle, welcome to the world of Formants.
You Can Hear Cold
Here in Scotland, winter transforms the landscape - echoing icy lakes and crisp flowing rivers that cut through the silence of the snow. But I am sure you realise I am inferring that it's not just the scenery that changes during the winter, the way that we experience sound is also entirely and distinctly transformed.
WHAT ARE HARMONICS?
We all know that vocal cord vibrate to produce sounds but did we know that they actually vibrate at multiple frequencies at once. These faster vibrations are called Harmonics or Overtones and along with formants (blog to come) are part of what determines your tone.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE MAKE A SOUND?
We rely on our voice every day to communicate with others, but we usually speak without thinking about how our body makes it happen. However, knowing how we make sound is useful to maintaining the health and effectiveness of our voices both when singing and in everyday life.
How to ReduCe TONGUE TENSION
Suffer from a tight jaw, tightness in the neck and surrounding muscles, distorted or airy tone, closed throat or cracks and wobbles in the voice? If you experience any of this it could be tongue root tension.
SHOULD YOU LIFT YOUR CHIN WHEN SINGING?
It is widely thought that raising your chin is bad technique and will cause tension in your neck but why do you often see professional singers from Pop to Classical do this?
WHY WE NEED TO WARM UP
Daily warm-ups and practice routines are an essential part of taking responsibility for vocal health and development. But why do we need to warm up?
The Resonant Voice
The resonator for the voice is called the vocal tract. Unlike a bottle, the vocal tract is made up of multiple containers of air (resonators) that vibrate at different pitches.
LETS TALK EPIGLOTTIS
The Epiglottis is our friend but what is the Epiglottis and why is it important?
How to Cover any song and make it your own
Covering a song can be a daunting task. It is easy to get stuck in a rut and follow the ideas of the original artist. How can we make covers our own?
HOW TO LOOK AFTER YOUR VOCAL HEALTH
It is easy to damage your voice, and if we do not look after our voice correctly damage can be permanent. It is your responsibility to look after your vocal health, in order to get the best out of it over the long term.
HOW TO FIND YOUR OWN UNIQUE VOICE
In order to create a creative vocal performance, you need to sing intelligently. It’s about taking responsibility for your ideas and making them work in your own unique and creative way.