Singing was a new hobby for me. I had always assumed as a kid that every individual received one form of talent. You were either a great dancer, a fabulous singer, or a gifted actor. But the chances of having more than one were slim to none. I’m not sure where I got this idea. But there it was. I danced my whole life, feeling the music reach every part of my body from my head to my toes. My ears would take in the sounds, the beats of the music, and my body would just take over. But over the years I would sing in the shower and along my walk to and from school. I sang along to the Les Miserables soundtrack, which got me through junior high and most of high school. But I also sang a variety of other songs that gave me that dopamine hit. When I sang in the shower, I thought I sounded pretty great. It was only when I got out of the shower and sang alone when I realized it wasn’t as special (and maybe slightly more painful) than I thought. However, I really enjoyed it and believed that something potentially decent was there. So I decided to take a few singing lessons. When I met with the vocal coach, she heard the same awful nasal sound that I was making, and was onboard to minimize it and create a more open sound. She made me hold a mirror to my face so that I could see how I was positioning my mouth, which showed that I was primarily singing from the front of my face rather than from the back of the throat, where the big sounds come out. She told me to imagine a tennis ball was in my mouth so that I had to open wide and tall, which is exactly what I did. When I sang the song again, the nasal sound was gone. And I mean GONE! When I sang the following night with my singing group, a number of people came up to me to tell me how great and different it sounded. “The best I’ve heard you sing,” one said (though I’m fairly certain it was my husband). So get out there and take a voice lesson, because when someone gives you that one note that alters the sound of your voice in a significantly better way, THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING!
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