If you’ve ever heard Adele’s Someone Like You, you’ll have heard the emotionally affecting high bit in the chorus. You might also know that these days, Adele performs a different version of the chorus, one that’s still emotionally affecting but not quite as high.
That’s because Adele got nodules, and has had to modify a number of songs in performance since. This Guardian Long Read details how many singers have had to undergo surgery as a result of faulty technique. You can hear it in the recorded Someone Like You: the emotionally affecting part is a result of pushing up towards a note, putting too much pressure on the front of the neck and working the vocal cords too hard, sending too much air over them and making the voice sound strained.
It’s not just singers, either. How many teachers, doctors, lawyers - anyone with a job that involves lots of talking throughout the day - have felt the effects of a tired throat at the end of the working day?
Fun stats about our voices:
- Women speak, on average, 20,000 words a day, to men’s mere, paltry 7,000.
- The frequency of the human speaking voice ranges from 500 Hz to 2 kHz.
- Most of us don’t quite know how it happens - we just take it for granted.
There is a correct way of placing the voice in the throat. There’s also a recommended method of breathing, a way that involves the whole body and supports great vocal placement.
On top of that, there’s ways of getting more comfortable with vocal improvisation, so we’re prepared for anything our voice needs to do.
North London Music Therapy is launching the first in a series of workshops and online courses. Using Your Voice is a morning of workshops exploring how to use your voice’s full potential. It’s for music therapists (actually, all therapists!), singers, teachers, doctors, lecturers - anyone who uses their voice on a daily basis, especially if you’re using your voice a lot. It’s a fun few hours of warm ups, exercises, games, hints, tips and lots of hydrating refreshments to give you lots of ways to use your voice healthily and to its fullest.
Get your ticket for Using Your Voice here.