All my goodbyes and thank yous are in the vlog so not much more to say without getting weepy! Retrospect is a funny thing and I'm already feeling nostalgic for the last few weeks in lockdown. I'll never forget this experience and sharing my life as a singer with you. Stay cheered, stay healthy, lots …
Day 32: Hotting up
There's been a general lack of singing on the 'singing from home' blog. Oh the irony. I thought it was high time that you joined me for a vocal warm-up. My warm-up takes about 10 minutes but I've compressed it into two for today's vlog. Watching it back, I have a very definite concentration face …
Day 21: Hey y’all
I'm pretty proud of myself for one of my little lockdown achievements... I've been working on one of Lady M's arias from Verdi's Macbeth which is traditionally sung by sopranos. As a mezzo who started out not being able to sing above E5, I didn't think I'd ever comfortably trip out B flats and top …
Day 15: Tummy trouble
From the age of 14, I was big into rowing and spent my spare time messing about on the river. I carried on with sport into my 20s and whether it was running, hockey or Zumba, I had developed a habit of tensing my rectus abdominis at the start of a race, match or workout …
Day 14: To vibrato or not to vibrato
Today I was asked by my neighbour and friend, Simone, what the blog would be about. I was hell-bent on discussing phlegm (in what will probably be the grossest blog post yet)! But the accompanying tip involved touching your face and since the message around protection against COVID-19 is very much "don't touch your face, …
Day 9: Wait for the drop
A week ago, we started on our breathing journey. We looked at a basic 'out-breath'. We began with an explosive breath out while in a yoga cat, pulling our belly buttons through to our spines before translating this to a standing position. Today, we can finally breathe in! I guess the natural order would be …
Day 7: Ping-a-ling
I'm honoured that people are reading/watching the #sfh blog/vlog and grateful for all the feedback and questions. Today, I'm attempting to shed some light on how opera singers sing so loud. It's not just a question of sheer volume - opera singers are not miked or amplified so it's about producing the right tone and …
Day 5: Aaand breathe
I went running in the beautiful sunshine this morning. I was (obviously) breathing and I was struck by the sense of serenity as a result of the world taking a breath. So, what better topic for today's blog. Breathing is such an enormous topic and I have done a lot of work on breath over …
Day 4: How are Ü?
Happy Monday and what a beautiful day! With the sun streaming through the window, I decided to kick back on the couch and learn some languages. I'm topping up on German today and it prompted me to share a trick singers use to form the vowel 'ü'. Firstly, you have to assume the correct mouth …
Day 3: Necks please!
In the last week, I've completed a couple of swim training sessions. They're pretty long and include big chunks of steady front crawl. So, I had time to think about technique - streamlining and ways to reduce drag. I began focussing on my neck alignment and experimented with a couple of tricks I use in …
