Warming Up—Tuning In

My story

The voice is my life’s work. Even as a little kid I loved singing, both with my mother and by myself. Later on, I sang in church, in my school choir, and while practicing the piano at home. Throughout my early years I came into contact with all sorts of vocal styles in my music studies and beyond. Some of my teachers tried to shape all of their students on a single vocal model, while others took a different approach, aiming to develop each student’s personal voice as if it were a unique treasure. Eventually, I started studying to become a music teacher and chose to focus my thesis work on the development of breathing and vocal games for children. Despite my undeniably playful and joyful approach, my initial teaching focus was on vocal training.

Over the years I kept noticing how people who sing, regardless of age, have a certain glow about them and begin to shine from within. The connection between voice and harmony—in all senses of the word—became especially clear to me when a serious vocal injury suddenly wrenched me from my (perhaps overly) full life. At first my doctor prescribed silence; I hadn’t voluntarily spoken for a while anyway, since every word hurt my throat. Singing had been my elixir of life, my beloved profession as a music teacher, even my everyday mode of communication—and suddenly it was forbidden. I couldn’t talk on the phone and had to step back from my choir. I couldn’t even yell up the stairs, so I resorted to clapping my hands to summon my kids to the dinner table. I was really taken aback to lose so many abilities. It was a frustrating, difficult time, and yet later revealed itself to be a deeply valuable experience. I “practiced silence” and dove into other creative activities, like writing, as I sought other means of expression. I had time to think, reflect, and read deeply on the subject: I devoured books and articles on breathing and the voice, holistic medicine, psychology, and psychosomatic phenomena. Mindfulness and meditation also came into my life because silence, in its own unique way, can lead us to the very core of our own personality. Beyond all those books, I explored different approaches to the voice, especially as it’s studied in the field of speech therapy.

The next decisive development occurred during my three-year training to become a breath therapist. Breathing is an all-encompassing experience, and the path to more fully develop it is necessarily holistic. The more freely we allow our breath to flow, the freer we become—physically, mentally, and ­spiritually—and the more our own core selves can unfold. Free-flowing breath is the basis of a free voice and a harmonious personality. During my time of relative silence, my voice developed as never before. By the second year, once my voice had recovered after a long break imposed by said health issues, I was able to sing Bach’s Mass in B Minor without the slightest fatigue. And that’s when my fellow choir-mates noticed my renewed voice and, consequently, my entirely new charisma.

Luckily not everyone aiming to achieve personal development and a freer voice has such an arduous path before them, but everyone does have to take that first step. Since you’re holding this book, congratulations, you already have. My greatest hope for this humble little volume is that it will inspire you and pave the way to a plethora of richly resonant experiences yet to come.

Vocal development as a path to personal harmony

Our voice is an important part of our personality. The sound of our voice expresses who and how we are, as well as the tune and tenor of our mood, even more clearly and immediately than our words do. Many of us only become aware of our voice when we have problems with it: when we feel a lump rise in our throat during an intense conversation or an important presentation; when we’re so excited we can’t speak or our voice cracks with emotion; when we sound squeaky in situations where we want to be taken seriously; when we aren’t heard or have no voice, be it literally or figuratively.

Our voice is an important means of expression. We mostly communicate vocally with our fellow humans, so the voice is a key tool for self-­expression, the exchange of ideas, and for understanding. Craftspeople are always mindful of their tools; they take good care to sharpen them, hone them, and keep them in good shape. Such maintenance makes their job easier. Similarly, when we treat our voice (and all that accompanies it) with care, we can express what we feel, think, and want to convey in a more nuanced way. We can develop our voice just as we can promote our sense of self, our physical agility, and our mental strength.

With this book, I in no way aim to burden you with any (additional) tasks for your everyday life. Instead, I simply invite you to become more aware of your voice—to lovingly use it during a few minutes of spare time each day, and playfully explore its possibilities. You’ll soon find your voice growing livelier, more sustainable, and more resilient. All this will also help you develop your own distinctive voice that, in turn, will have a positive effect on your mood, your ability to communicate, your goals for personal development, and your physical well-being. Naturally, by extension, these improvements will also have positive effects on your relationships with others.

The many little exercises that follow will help in these endeavors. As you read, keep the emphasis on little in mind. Our guiding principle: Just five minutes every day—at home or during a brief break at the office—is preferable to an hour only once a week.