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Developing Your Voice Through Song and Sound

Using the voice to express and communicate

From the moment we’re born, our voice is a means of communication. Without it, our ancestors wouldn’t have survived primeval times, and even today it remains our most elementary way of expressing ourselves. Babies whimper when they want food and affection; if their needs aren’t immediately met, their whimpers turn into cries, which usually get someone to come and provide whatever they lack. From the very beginning, we communicate even without language, using vocal yet nonverbal sounds. Even later in life, the way we vocalize things—and our voices themselves—plays a large part in how we express ourselves and are understood by others.

Voice and well-being

As we grow from babies to toddlers our vocal development reaches new, more nuanced levels. This becomes evident if you secretly listen in on babies: they’ll start babbling to themselves. It gives them pleasure and is good for their health. On the one hand, it stimulates their lips, which are packed with nerve endings; on the other, these vocal sounds and vibrations soothe their small bodies. Over time, more varied vocal sounds are added.

When we watch adults communicating with babies, we see how attuned they are to these vocalizations: most adults start babbling, chuckling, and using much more melodic speech than they would in conversation with other adults. We’ll make the most of these observations and insights in this chapter to help our voices resonate and make our vocal expressions more diverse and vivid. We did this as babies without even trying—now it’s time to tune back into those same vibes.

Humming, intoning, and rhapsodizing

Humming comforts the body. It deepens and lengthens our breathing, and the resonance and vibrations it creates are like a little body massage from within. A relaxed hum can also help us identify our authentic voice, or so-called neutral pitch. Pronouncing vowels, in particular, creates and fills space. The vibrations of these sounds spread throughout our body as well as the space surrounding us. Interestingly, sound, vibration, and spirituality have always been closely associated. It’s no coincidence that humming, rhapsodizing, and other types of singing have long held an important place in various spiritual traditions.

Sweet anticipation

Imagine a delicious meal. What does it smell like? What does it look like? How will it taste? Hold that thought, and let an anticipatory “Mmm” rise from your throat, and then another. . . . Can you hear and feel real excitement in both your body and the tone of your voice?

Whistle while you work

Oftentimes when we’re totally absorbed in the moment, happily busy with some task or in a flow state at work, we spontaneously start to hum. Usually these little ditties arise unconsciously and in a totally relaxed voice. But we don’t always have to leave it to chance: You can consciously decide to launch into a light little hum. Experiment, play around with it, and take note of how it feels—as always, with no expectation or judgment whatsoever.

Monotone humming

This humming variant can be practiced on its own or in conjunction with the ebb and flow exercise from the previous chapter. Once you’ve exhaled a few times while making that relaxed “f” sound, let your next out-breath give rise to a hum: “Mmmmmmm.” Let your lips relax and lightly close, but leave your jaw slightly open. Allow the pitch to emerge on its own, and the tone to determine itself. Then let your next in-breath come by itself. Afterward, if you feel like it, try a few other pitches. Feel its effect—on your breathing, your body, and your mood.

Buzz like a bug

The buzzing “z” sound, when sustained out loud, can best be compared to the sound bees and other flying bugs make. Imagine a bumblebee flying around you, and use your index finger to trace its trajectory. The curves and loops are not just visible in the air, they’re also audible. This exercise activates your diaphragm, enlivening both body and voice alike.

A, e, i, o, u

Intoning is a way of exhaling with sound. After practicing a few steady exhalations using the aforementioned “f” sound, next time you exhale instead produce any vowel sound you’d like, keeping a consistent tone. When the exhalation and sound come to an end, wait for your next inhalation to come, all on its own, and then intone the vowel again as you exhale. Stay with this vowel for a few breaths. If you’d like, try out a few different pitches. With the next inhalation, just think of the vowel. How does the vowel sound affect you? Where do you feel its vibration in your body? Practice using a different vowel. Where and how does this one affect you?

Sound painting

Just as we can visually paint with colors, we can also aurally “paint” with sounds. The best example is with onomatopoeia. We use the Greek term onomatopoeia, which means “name I make,” for words that phonetically imitate or suggest the sounds they describe. This phenomenon extends into the visual realm, capturing the connection between color and sound. Just as we speak of perceiving colors’ tones in the visual realm, we similarly distinguish between tones’ colors in the audible realm—it’s no coincidence that we talk about blues music or opera singers’ coloratura, literally their “coloring” of an aria. In many onomatopoetic words, and even entire poems, the sound of speech clarifies its content. Try it for yourself: hisssss, whooooosh, blah-blah-blah, babbling on. . . . Our languages and voices aren’t mere sounds and modes of communication, but—as we’ve already seen—they’re also physical experiences. Try tasting language, letting it melt in your mouth.

Savor the syllables

Consonants stimulate our body. They engage our diaphragm and other parts of the body involved in creating speech—lips, tongue, palate—and also help carry the sound of our voice to the outside world. Relish each consonant as you speak. Let such syllables burst like balloons, fizz like firecrackers, tickle your tongue, lilt off your lips. . . .

Play ball

Dribble an imaginary ball in front of you, alternating hands with each bounce, and make the following sounds: p-p-p, t-t-t, k-k-k. Apply the same springlike momentum of the hands’ movement to each individual consonant. Most important, release all tension in your hands, lower jaw, and everywhere in your body after every movement so that the air you inhale before the next gesture will come automatically each time. It might seem like a small detail, but it’s enough to make a big impact.

Let the sounds resound

Some sonorant consonants (those with a continuous sound) and obstruents (those with obstructed airflow)—in linguistic terms—require not only our lips, tongue, and palate, but simultaneously make use of our larynx. Sonorants include m, n, ng, l, r, y, and w; obstruents include most other consonants, such as the voiced (or buzzing) z, popping p, and the familiar f. Play with words that contain these sounds, speaking slowly and savoring every second. Make sure your lower jaw is loose and you aren’t exerting too much pressure. This allows the vibration to spread through your body so that your voice resonates. You can also use these consonants for vocal exercises: make audible sighs and rising or falling tones without adding vocal pressure.

Peter Piper

Throughout childhood, tongue twisters thrilled many of us. We inevitably floundered about and muddled our words at first, so training can be not just fun and effective, but downright hilarious. Rifle through your memories and give the old phrases a go. Here are some examples to get you started:

Peter Piper picked a peck of
pickled peppers,
a peck of pickled peppers
Peter Piper picked.

Betty Botter bought some butter,
but, she said, the butter’s bitter;
if I buy better butter, it will make
my batter better.

A skunk sat on a stump and thunk the
stump stunk, but the stump thunk
the skunk stunk.

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck
if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Cork dork

Speaking with a cork between your front teeth is an excellent way to practice articulation. It might make you feel like a dork, but it’s also an ideal reason to enjoy a bottle of wine with your loved ones—solely to get a good cork, of course. If you don’t have a cork on hand, your finger can also work: just lightly pinch your thumb and forefinger together and place them between your teeth. Try saying or reading a short text out loud—a snippet from the newspaper, say, or even a poem—and make it as clear and comprehensible as possible despite your new oral obstacle. Then remove the cork or fingers, and say it again. Hear how wonderfully clear your enunciation is now?!

Story time—out loud!

Read aloud from time to time, alone or in company, and enjoy being creative and expressive with your voice.

The color of song

Singing is vibration. Picture sound waves, just like the wavelengths of different types of light. Colors, too, are vibrations of sorts. And so, singing makes life vibrant: vibrant color, colorful sound vibrations. It’s not just about the tones’ colors, it’s about the big and small vibrations that singing creates within our bodies and psyches—the kind of vibes that can bring us into harmony with ourselves and others. Singing is the opposite of life’s quiet, unsung acts. Singing connects us. Singing comforts us. Singing makes us happy. Singing frees us. Singing enchants us. . . . Try it and see—feel—for yourself!

Singing for health

Recent neurobiological and music-therapy research has confirmed much of what we’ve intuitively felt and experienced for thousands of years while singing. Singing reduces fear and aggression. It helps reduce stress and strengthens the immune system. It creates positive forms of attachment, can lighten depressive states, and can even relieve pain. It increases our satisfaction with life, as well as our sense of self-­efficacy. It has been scientifically proven that singing releases hormones related to happiness and inhibits hormones related to stress. Likewise, breathing and other rhythmic corporeal practices help balance and harmonize our minds by forming new synapses in the brain. Singing promotes our physical, mental, and spiritual health in so many ways—and is completely free of any harmful side effects.

Singing with heart and soul

To do something with body and soul means to be completely absorbed or, as some might say, in a flow state, and when this is the case, we find ourselves living fully in the moment. The mental treadmill on which so many of us often find ourselves mindlessly sprinting, consumed by worries about past and future, stands still. When we sing, we’re fully immersed—whether singing solo or with others. Afterward we resurface feeling refreshed.

Try singing as you tend to everyday tasks like housework, your commute, or your morning or evening stroll. Everything goes better with a song, because singing makes us happy!