The voice of a child. The voice of the adolescent. The voice of the new baritone. The voice of the performer. The voice of the mature. The voice of the aging.
Is there a difference? Is there a difference in the feet of the five year old ballerina and the twenty-five year old prima?
Is there a difference in the brain of a preschooler and the brain of recent college graduate?
If we are training our bodies and minds in a methodical way, why would we not expect that our voice box be any different? The larynx is the last organ in our body to reach full maturation. Therefore, we must be patient and tend to its health so that we may enjoy it for the whole of our life.
This blog is meant to offer insight gained from research and experience on how our voices should develop in a healthy manner. It doesn’t matter if you use your voice as a speaker or as an educator, as a professional singer or as a non-vocational singer. This blog is intended to help you reach your fullest potential using a happy, healthy voice for the whole of your life.
Two videos emphasizing healthy warm ups for children connecting body and mind ~
We begin with activating the diaphragm through fun movements with our body. Then, we move to establishing the head voice and finding our resonating space. We then wake up our articulators and end with aural exercises to match pitch, form a unison sound, polish tonal memory and perfect intonation.
Zhuhai Classical Children’s Choirs in Zhuhai, China prepare for a performance at Central Conservatory, Beijing, November, 2017.