You Don't Have to Be a Singer to Work with a Vocal Coach

There's an assumption that vocal coaching is for people who sing and who are polishing something already in progress, preparing for a performance, or climbing some ladder of musical achievement.

That's not who I mostly work with.

Many people who find their way to my studio were told at some point that their voice wasn't quite right, or they were simply never invited into singing at all and decided it wasn't for them.

Others come because their speaking voice isn't working the way they need it to. A teacher whose voice gives out by Wednesday, a therapist who wants more warmth in how they're heard, or someone who just feels disconnected from themselves in a way they can't quite name.

The voice as a way back to yourself

People watch dramas to feel something. To be moved, stirred, reconnected to their own emotional life after a week of going through the motions. It works but it's borrowed feeling. Someone else's story, someone else's voice carrying you on a much needed escape.

Working with your own voice can be as exhilarating as it might seem terrifying in anticipation. The aliveness that results is yours. It doesn't fade when the episode ends. Like any real relationship, getting to know your voice isn't always comfortable. Sometimes it shows you something you’d been successfully ignoring. While it can be awkard at first, it's usually the most useful part. People describe feeling more present, more grounded, more like themselves. A freshness that ripples into ordinary life in ways that are hard to predict and fun to notice.

This is not a small thing. It's actually one of the reasons I do this work. When I began inviting the ‘metal’ voice into my speech, I heard myself whining and then realized that I was actually bothered by something. This is how the voice reveals us to ourselves.

What "good at singing" even means

The voice isn't an instrument you either have or don't. It's a living system connected to your breath, your body, your history, your nervous system. "Good" and "bad" are judgments that mostly reflect what someone was told or not told, encouraged or discouraged, early on.

In the Full Voice method I work with, there are five elements of the voice: earth, fire, water, metal, and air. Most people are more comfortable in some than others. Finding where your voice is free, and where it's held, is the whole project. That's true whether you've sung in choirs your whole life or haven't made an intentional sound since third grade.

If feeling 'good at singing' is your goal, we can absolutely work toward that. What helps most is getting to know you, your voice, your history, and your vision so that our time together actually aligns with your path rather than someone else's idea of what a voice should be.

You don't need a reason beyond curiosity

You don't need a goal. You don't need a problem to solve. General curiosity about your own voice is more than enough to begin.

What you might find is that your voice knows things about you that you haven't gotten around to knowing yet. That's not a problem, it's an open door.

Ready to find out what your voice knows?

I offer vocal coaching in Olympia, WA and online. If any of this resonates, feel free to reach out. I hope to help you love your voice.