August 7, 2026

Sometimes progress with the voice is obvious and immediate:

It doesn’t hurt any more!
I hit the high note!

And sometimes progress is harder to measure:

I can’t tell if this sounds any better.
It feels easier. Does that mean I’m cheating?

When you find yourself in this pit, or gutter, or slight bump of despair, you’ve got to remember:

Nothing has gone wrong.

Progress can be hard to measure because you’re a human, and your whole self is the instrument.

Your whole self has a lot of parts! And they’re all interconnected.

When we focus on one thing at a time, it’s easier to measure our progress, and we make progress faster.

“One thing at a time” means, as I sing this phrase, I’m going to focus on…

• keeping my body feeling wide and open OR
• feeling my feet on the floor OR
• sliding from note to note, rather than “stepping” OR
• singing all the right notes OR
• letting my jaw feel loose as I pronounce the words OR
• allowing (rather than pushing) the air to make the sound

NOT all six (or ten!) at once.

That’s too much to keep track of.

Instead, focus on one thing, trusting that the others will either take care of themselves, or at least wait their turn.

After two or three repetitions, you will understand that one thing so much better than before. You’ll be able to notice what is, and what isn’t, and experiment from there.

You might even notice that focusing on one thing helps other things fall in line:

• feeling your feet can help with staying open
• letting the jaw feel loose can make sliding from note to note easier
• allowing the air rather than pushing can bring things into better tune

And so on. You get the idea.

Your whole self is the instrument.
It has lots of parts.
They’re all connected.
Changing one thing changes other things.
Every body is a little bit different.

You can use all of this to your advantage, to sing more freely and fully than maybe you’ve thought possible.

If you like the sound of that, join me for a free online workshop – Your Whole Self is the Instrument – on Tuesday, August 25th at 1 p.m.

Under an hour.
Plenty of time for Q & A.
There will be a recording, but come live!
I’d love to see you.

Warmly,

Michèle