Singing Lessons in Nassau County

Is your voice letting you down? Do you think you might need Singing Lessons in Nassau County?

• Are you losing your speaking or singing voice?

• Have you found that your speech pattern, accent, or voice quality hinders your professional or personal success?

• Do you (or your child) have a medical speech or voice problem?

• Have you always wished you could improve your singing ability?

• Do you need to increase your confidence in public speaking situations?

• Have you contacted singing teachers, but found that they did not offer singing lessons in your own home?

Our Voice Care Center is dedicated to the total care of the professional voice. Our mission: to help people create excellent voices: those who have lost their normal voice and want to regain it, those who want to take a bland or unpleasant voice and make it pleasing and effective, or those who want to take an ordinary voice and make it extraordinary.

We do this through a customized program of voice, breathing, and relaxation techniques and exercises, based on the results of an initial voice evaluation. Our clients are treated holistically; including posture/alignment, reduction of muscle tension and vocal tension, tone placement and production, pitch control, intonation/word stress, and body language, as well as diet and anti-reflux regimens, hydration, vocal abuse reduction, vocal hygiene, and stress reduction… everything that contributes to the creation of an excellent voice. We also bring these customized components to our Total Singing Voice Program, through which we help singers achieve excellent voices through the development of a healthy dependable vocal technique. If you seek singing lessons in Nassau County, contact Professional Voice Care Center today!

In our new blog, we will present practical and informative posts on everything from how to have the voice quality you’ve always wanted, to how to break patterns of poor posture. We will talk about alignment of the head, neck, and shoulders; how to reduce voice-damaging reflux; how to create a complete hydration program and how to achieve an open relaxed throat for singing and speaking, including our “Voice Box Massage” technique that has become so popular!

We’ll interview some of our clients on their journeys through the voice therapy or voice training process, and see how they achieved their results. We’ll try to be very hands-on and present techniques that you can try TODAY! If you want to sing better in the shower, or aspire to be on the Broadway stage….give your next speech with confidence and presence….get through the work day and still have a voice….you’ll want to check back with us frequently. Use our simple but effective techniques and tips and you’ll no longer have to feel that your voice holds you back personally or professionally.  If you seek singing lessons in Nassau County, contact Professional Voice Care Center today!

So stay tuned, and get ready to learn how to have a CHOICE VOICE!!

Singing Lessons in Nassau County Can Help!

The buses pull up, discharging loads of students. The bell rings. Bulletin boards are decorated, lesson plans are being created. I know, it’s too early to mention that “s” word, school, but it’ll be here before you know it. If you’re a teacher, September brings with it all kinds of challenges. But if you’re a teacher with a voice problem, those challenges can truly be daunting. How can you protect your voice from further damage? And how can you get your voice healthy, and keep it that way throughout the school year? Here’s an idea: let’s talk about my five Voice Rules for Teachers. They’re easy to remember: they spell out “TEACH”!

Rule #1: T stands for “Take Voice Naps”.  A voice nap is a brief break, 5 to 15 minutes (or more if you are able) where you don’t talk or sing at all. We have found that vocal conservation is more effective than voice rest. Voice naps are one way of conserving your voice throughout the long school day. So, allow your students to work independently for a few minutes, let them take turns reading aloud, or ask your teaching assistant to run a group activity.  During lunch, a voice nap would be taking a walk or eating in a quiet space, instead of eating in a noisy teacher’s lounge or diner. After work, a voice nap could be sending emails or texts instead of making lengthy phone calls.

Rule #2: E stands for “Employ Non-Verbal Means to Quiet Students. This means no shouting over the students’ loud speaking or singing. Try clapping, flicking the lights, using a bell or even a small percussion instrument. There’s even an app called Service Bell, that simulates the sound of the old-fashioned silver bell on a counter in a store. For you music teachers, play a set musical pattern on the piano that signals to the students that they need to quiet down and focus on you.  You could always try the old “stand in front of the classroom, arms folded, with that ‘I’ll wait’ expression on your face”. Eventually a student will notice and one by one, the room will quiet down.

If you want to think creatively, nominate one student per day to be the Noise Monitor; you can delegate the room-quieting responsibilities to that individual. If you share with your class that you’re having a voice problem and want to engage their help to protect your voice, they’ll be more than happy to be your ally.

Rule #3: A stands for “Amplification is a MUST!”  Now, I’ve heard every excuse there is from teachers who don’t want to use amplification in the classroom.  But studies have shown that amplification is hugely important in protecting the teacher’s voice from vocal strain. It may even help students to hear and process verbal language more effectively.  Many of the personal amplification systems we recommend are body-worn, either on a belt clip (Voice Saver: http://www.califone.com/products/pa283.php) or in a fanny pack (Chatter Vox, which is on our Amazon-affiliated website store, https://provoicecare.net/recommended-products/singer-resources/).

Rule #4: C stands for “Cut Down on Loud Voice Use”. This seems to happen so much in a school setting. Talking over students, singing over a chorus, coaching a sports or physical education activity, running an after-school club, calling someone down the hall, or being on bus duty or lunch duty.  But using a forced loud voice production can really crash your vocal cords together and potentially damage them.

Remember these wise words: if you’re not getting paid to do something with your voice (in this case, being loud), DON’T DO IT!  I always ask my clients who teach, “Do they increase your paycheck if you push your voice loudly at work?” But if you lose your voice, there might not BE a paycheck! So, go back to Rules #2 and #3 to help make Rule #4 a reality. Remember, if you have a microphone, there’s no point in talking loudly into it. This defeats the whole point of amplification. Speak in a more confidential tone. If you’re running outdoor activities, use a bullhorn and/or whistle.

Rule #5: H stands for “Have Lots of Water”.  Wet vocal folds are happy vocal folds. You will need less force to drive the vibration of wet vocal folds vs. if they’re dry. Schools are dry to begin with, what with forced air heat, dust, poor ventilation, etc. You need to combat this with at least half your body weight in ounces of water. Fruits, herbal tea, and fruit-infused water are great too. Use a humidifier in the winter if you are able to in class, but definitely at home. Facial steaming is also helpful for keeping your cords moist. And increased hydration and steaming may help to keep all your mucous membranes healthy – and maybe ward off the dreaded school respiratory infection!

These Voice Rules for Teachers are just a starting point. There’s much more you can learn by attending voice training or voice therapy with a qualified vocologist, a speech-language pathologist with special training in the care of the voice.  Some of these concepts might include learning how to warm up your voice before, during, and after school (remember, especially those of you who sing, teaching is another performance, so you need to be warmed up!), how to use good breath support, how to relax tight muscles, and how to use good seated and standing posture. If you’re already having voice problems, and the thought of teaching 6-8 hours a day scares you, schedule a voice evaluation today. Don’t wait until October 1^st, when so many teachers realize they’re in vocal crisis. Take action now to prevent or hopefully reverse vocal damage. Happy teaching!  If you seek singing lessons in Nassau County, contact Professional Voice Care Center today!

Meet April Lindevald

Our singing student April Lindevald, a classically-trained mezzo-soprano, has been a professional singer for 35 years, and has always had a strong healthy reliable voice with excellent vocal stamina. April has a very successful career that has included appearances with the New York City Opera, the Gregg Smith Singers, and many other musical institutions, as well as singing regularly in a church with a large music program. She has also been a synagogue and concert soloist at countless venues.

April is a singer/songwriter and guitarist with a CD of original compositions, entitled “Fish Out of Wizard School.” She recently released her first fantasy novel, The Last Wizard of Eneri Clare, which received rave reviews on Amazon and Kirkus Reviews. (http://aprillindevald.com). This creative and talented lady is also a spiritual seeker and teacher, who uses tarot cards, crystals, and intuition to counsel clients in need of direction or encouragement. She seeks to help them deal with their challenges from a confident, empowered place.

By now, you’ve probably noticed that all of April’s varied pursuits have a common theme: they’re all vocally demanding! Singing for hours on end in rehearsals and performances can be a strenuous workout for the voice. But make no mistake: it is quite a challenge to speak at book-signing events (and there have been many for April), often without a microphone, at large active bookstores. Not to mention the trials and tribulations of speaking at length during tarot readings, over the general hubbub of a restaurant, party venue, or street festival. Any one of these activities could present huge vocal challenges; April often did all of them in the space of one week!

About 4-5 years ago, April found that her voice was beginning to give her some issues. She found that it didn’t last as long, she was experiencing clogging from mucus in her throat, as well as throat dryness, and her voice didn’t seem to be there when she needed it. She actually began to think that her career was coming to an end. And then she came to Professional Voice Care Center.

April found that with the use of targeted exercises that helped her to deactivate maladaptive compensatory muscular activity while readjusting her voice placement, she could put less pressure on the delicate vocal apparatus.  She reports that her voice got better and better! She regained a dependable well-functioning voice that’s “there when she needs it.” She’s even gained a few more absolutely beautiful notes at the top of her range and now functions very well as a high mezzo.

As far as her speaking voice is concerned, April has now learned to use her therapeutic vocal warm-up exercises before her book-signing and tarot-reading events (let’s hear it for dashing into a restroom to warm up our voices!). She now finds that her voice gets through these events with flying colors. Everyone hears her “clear as day” and she does not experience any vocal fatigue when the events are over.  In her own words, “These things work!”  If you seek singing lessons in Nassau County, contact Professional Voice Care Center today!

We invite you to watch the video below to see an excellent demonstration by April Lindevald of two of our most effective vocal exercises. The exercises, the Gargle Exercise and the Humming Exercise (with a new twist), are examples of Semi-Occluded Vocal Tract Exercises, or SOVT for short. (See our previous blog entitled “Get the Buzz” for an in-depth explanation of SOVT Exercises). These vocal techniques create a relaxed vocal instrument, a rich resonant “buzzy” sound, and even help to encourage consistent breath support.

As April demonstrates, after she did the Gargle Exercise, her speaking voice was obviously clearer and more resonant. She has found this exercise helps keep her tongue forward and relaxed. The Humming Exercise helped her to place her voice forward in the mask (the area around the mouth and nose where a doctor’s mask would cover), thus amplifying her voice effortlessly. She felt this as a shift to a less stressful, more projected place, with a lot of vibration in the face, like a buzz.

Summary

Service Type

Singing lessons

Provider Name

Professional Voice Care,

184 West Nicholai Street,Hicksville,NY- 11801,
Telephone No.5164331822

Area

Nassau County

Description

Is your voice letting you down? Do you think you need vocal training? If you seek singing lessons in Nassau County, contact Professional Voice Care Center!