Articles by Leontine Hass

I’m Losing My Singing Confidence

Nothing can take the place of performance practice -says Leontine Hass

Dear Leontine,

I am having a lot of issues with my confidence. When I get up to sing my abdomen literally starts shaking. My voice becomes impossible to control and I cannot sing as well as I can by myself. Is there anything I can do?

-David

Dear David,

You would be absolutely amazed how many singers have confidence issues and are undone by nerves.

The secret is that performing > read more

I’m In Trouble with a Hoarse Voice!

Hi Leontine:

I have a show to sing at this Tuesday. Yesterday, my voice started getting funny; I did not pay attention and kept on practicing. When I woke up this morning, my throat hurt and my voice…well, I can’t sing. It is so bad and sounds so hoarse. I am very worried. I have had green tea, coffee and someone told me to put a clove in my mouth. Please advise me…

-Naiha

Dear Naiha,

Sorry to hear that you are losing your voice.

The reason you sound hoarse is because > read more

What Happened to Julie Andrews’ Voice?

Dear Leontine,

Can you explain properly what happened to Julie Andrews’ voice? Other people seem to recover from a vocal cord injury. Or, is there another situation going on?

-John

Dear John,

Before I attempt to answer your question, a few caveats.

First, some details of Julie Andrews’ vocal issues relating to her surgery are simply not a part of the public domain. So, aspects of my response are inferences based upon my knowledge of similar situations.

Second, I am a vocal coach. Though informed on physiological matters, I am not a surgeon and therefore at times will be relying on insight I have gained from my specialist colleagues.

Having said this, your question is important because it has implications for all singers who may be considering surgery for their voices.

So, be sure to read the three recommendations at the end of this article.

Surgery Gone Wrong

In 1997 Julie Andrews had what should have been relatively safe and minor surgery to remove nodules on her vocal folds.

The vocal folds are a bit like onions and made up of several layers.

In a healthy vocal fold the most superficial layer is quite loose, so that the epithelium or outer layer of the fold can vibrate in a wave-like fashion over the underlying layers.

A good mucosal wave is necessary for the folds to open in a uniform, symmetrical fashion.

Anything that interferes with the mucosal wave causes a worsening in voice quality.

In severe cases, such as what happened to the fabulous Julie Andrews, the external layers of the folds can be accidentally scraped off during an operation.

Understanding What Happened

To put it simply, the folds became like two pieces of wood that cannot vibrate in the wind, rather than pieces of silk.

It is almost impossible to restore elasticity to the fold after this kind of damage, although I believe scientists have tried to grow tissue in a laboratory for Ms. Andrews.

There are also various substances that can be injected into the fold in order to allow them to vibrate and behave like a healthy fold.

The challenge is that these implants have to be pliable enough to vibrate hundreds of times a second.

The moral of the story is never allow an ENT doctor to do things to your vocal folds if they are not specialist laryngologists used to working with singers.

It is also worth mentioning that the area around the vocal process may become irritated from the breathing tube routinely placed through the vocal folds during general anesthesia.

Therefore, should you ever have any kind of operation, it is worth telling the anesthetist that you are a professional voice user, so that he is especially careful when inserting the tube, avoiding scraping past your true vocal folds.

Recommendations for Any Singer Considering Surgery

I have discussed Julie Andrews’ case with an ENT colleague and we have come up with three recommendations for all singers:

1) If you are not significantly impaired in your singing, avoid surgery. Consult with informed specialists and examine several non-surgical vocal strategies.

2) Rework your technique with a good voice teacher/vocal coach. Since technical issues are what caused the nodules in the first place, merely removing them without changing the technique will allow them to recur.

3) Get at least two opinions (preferably more) before any vocal fold surgery.

Best wishes,

Leontine

I Want to Increase My Vocal Range

Discover what stands between you and a larger range –says Leontine Hass

Hi Leontine – and hope you had a good holiday. I need to get an advice from you on how to increase my vocal range and what type of vocal exercises I need to achieve it? Thanks and more power!

- Edwin

Dear Edwin,

Right: a big question. Vocal range tends to increase slowly and with lots of practice.

First of all, I suggest you establish what your current vocal range actually is. If you play the piano it is easy to do this.

Once you have worked this out, the easiest and quickest solution would be to book in with a good vocal coach for the following reasons:

-A vocal coach can hear what sort of voice type you have. This means they can take a reasonable guess what you might be expected to sing if you were trained. If you are a bass/baritone for instance, laboring too much at the very top of your voice will not harvest the desired results as your voice is made to sit lower down. This will help you to have reasonable and healthy expectations.

-The vocal coach will also be able to hear what you do as you approach your passagio (somewhere around c-f). Typically an untrained male voice will do one of two things to try to get beyond the passagio. They will either flip into a thin falsetto, or they will move into a loud belt, unable to sing quietly. Your vocal coach should be able to determine which of these two evils are yours and show you how to stay in true head voice. If you already stay in true head voice then that is great. This, then, needs more practice, more stretching, more time spent on high notes.

-A good vocal coach will also determine which parts of your physiology are getting in the way of a better range. Your larynx could sit very high if your sternocleidomastoids are tense (this happens if you tend to stick your neck out). This inhibits range at the top and the bottom of the voice. Your tongue root could be tense. This stops the larynx from rising for high notes. You could have difficulty tilting (the thyroid cartilage tilts in order to stretch the vocal folds out for higher pitches). Lack of support is a fundamental matter to address. There are many possibilities which a good singing teacher can address.

Here are some tips for practicing you range:

* Siren up and down throughout your vocal range every day.

* Practice high notes on quick scales but also practice sustaining them to build up stamina.

* Stick your tongue out 10 times, 2-3 time a day to train the back of the tongue root to come forward.

* Imagine that you are ‘crying’ when singing high pitches (this helps tilt the thyroid).

* Practice to the top and the bottom of your range every day and try to practice high pitches at least 8-10 times (not just once at the top of a scale.

Good luck and have fun singing -but do go for some lessons!

-Leontine

Do I Really Need to Memorize?

Dear Leo,

I have real trouble remembering lyrics, especially when I’m nervous. I’ve seen a few singers performing gigs with the music in front of them and I was wondering what your opinion is about that? Is it really so bad? Or, maybe you have some advice on how to improve my memory?

Best wishes,

Kathy

Dear Kathy,

Having trouble with learning words is an experience of many singers – and nerves certainly don’t improve the situation.

I think it is very important to > read more

I Want a Big Belt

Dear Leontine,

Why is my belt not as ‘big’ as other singers? I’m a classically trained soprano who sings jazz and musical theatre gigs a couple times per month. When I practice belting, I use a ‘hey’ sound and try to sing in the head voice register but with a ‘speaking’ quality by opening and relaxing my throat. It feels and sounds cool, but not as big as I would like.

-Small Belt in the Big Apple

Hi Small-belt!

It would really be best if you were standing in front of me and I could demonstrate; for, it sounds to me as if you are probably not belting.

I may be wrong, as I am relying on what you have written. If you could send in a sound clip of you ‘belting’ then I would know exactly what is happening.

Let’s talk a little about belt and how it is different from your > read more

My Voice is Cracking

A tired voice needs to be ‘worked’ just the right way –says Leontine Hass

Dear Leontine,

I’m singing in a west end show as a swing at the moment, covering two lead roles which are both vocally extremely challenging. I’m finding myself exhausted and my voice has started cracking a few times. I’m getting more and more nervous and don’t know what to do – any advice?

-Carlo

Dear Carlo,

Being a swing is exhausting!

For some of our readers, I’ll clarify the terminology of the term ‘Swing’.

A swing is a singer who covers several lead roles.

In some shows this is taken to an extreme, where a > read more

Pitch Problems?

Dear Leontine,

I think I do well with my dramatic presence and abilities when I sing but I’ve had a nagging feeling that a friend just confirmed: I can go off pitch especially when I am getting emotionally enthusiastic about my songs. I’m not a trained singer – have never had a lesson in my life – but I’m wondering if there is anything I can do to deal with this.

-John

Dear John,

It is quite normal for emotional engagement to affect the voice.

Actually, it’s wonderful that you are so connected to the text.

It would be helpful to know whether your tendency is > read more

Can You Prop Up My Voice?

Dear Leontine,

I am a trained singer who has had quite a few successes. I recently had some bad results in auditions, mainly because I have been ill and coughing an awful lot, which has affected my voice. As a result my confidence has just gone, I get nervous and my voice has an uncontrollable vibrato because of the nerves. Can you give me any advice?

Best wishes,

Carla

Dear Carla,

Many singers experience a sudden loss of confidence, and rather than seeking help, will ‘block’ the problem, so that things just get worse and anxiety builds.

I had lunch with Timothy Gallwey last week; Tim has written many books tackling the issue of ‘performance’, such as ‘The Inner Game of Tennis’ and > read more

“I’m Not Confident!”

Dear Leontine,

I’m a Jazz singer who hasn’t gigged for a while, though I do studio work frequently and continue to hone my craft. I have a good day job but the fact I am not performing live is nagging at me. When I’ve sung on stage, I have thoroughly enjoyed the singing aspect, but have felt incredibly awkward and fearful when I am not singing. I’m afraid this fear has overcome me and is stopping me from reaching out to venues. My mantra is ‘I’m not confident’.

-Jenny

Dear Jenny,

Many professional singers come to me with the same question and burden.

In fact, I was > read more

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