That Sweet Roar

Music education at its best fosters both skill and confidence. Unfortunately this is not everyone’s experience.

This video is for the singers and musicians who came out of their music education without the love and enthusiasm for it that they went in with. 💔



If you have turned your back on your instrument and artistry for years, please consider rewriting this story.

I know firsthand the impact that competition, comparison and making the process heavy and serious can have on the creative spark.

Getting my university degree felt gruelling and pushed my self doubt to an all time high.

But I’m so glad I listened to my defiant streak that was telling me that this wasn’t the only way.



This interview and story from the ABC show ‘The Piano’ is a beautiful example of a woman who rewrote her relationship with her instrument.

Who went from not being able to play for decades, to grinning after a performance.



If it has felt like a piece of you has been missing - please do something about it.

Your younger self who was entranced by music and being able to create it with your own hands or voice is waiting for your permission, encouragement and defiance.

To reclaim the joy, curiosity and devotion that was chipped away by pressure, rules and unconstructive criticism.

And to the music educators who are doing it differently, with encouragement, compassion and heart - thank you. ❤️

Social karaoke nights > serious, high pressure student concerts.

I wanted to create an opportunity for singers to practice performing that felt welcoming and light-hearted (the opposite to what I experienced when I was young).

Luckily I teach PHENOMENAL people who are fun, encouraging and supportive so they pretty much create that for me.

(I only wish I could fly my interstate and international students to join in, they’d fit right in)



These nights are not about proving what you can do or how hard you’ve practiced, they’re about taking the stress out of performing and giving singers a safe space to try things out.

We even do karaoke roulette for those who have been coming for a while (people make requests based on what they think would suit your voice).

This video is a love letter to the amazing singers who have been a part of these nights for over a decade. I wish I had more vintage footage! ❤️

In every performer’s life there comes a moment (or many moments) where you doubt whether you can pull it off.

Call it imposter syndrome.
Call it biting off more than you can chew.
Call it stretching outside your current comfort zone or capability.

And it is both extremely uncomfortable and extremely rewarding.



This is how we grow as performers.

Through trying to bridge this awkward gap between where we are (and who we are) and where we want to be (and who we want to become).

The process is murky, non-linear and uncomfortable.

Because we’ve usually left what feels familiar and effortless and traded it for something we aren’t very good at yet.



Anne describes this perfectly in this interview about her transformation for her new movie Mother Mary and specifically her nervousness around her ability to pull off the dancing required.

She talks about how our perceived limitations attempt to hold us back from even trying, but if we can sign up for the clumsy journey and make our way through it - we can find that we were capable of so much more than we thought.

It doesn’t feel empowering as you’re wading through it, but it certainly does at the finish line.



I think this is one of the benefits of having a coach, when you’re moving through these transitions.

Having someone believe in you wholeheartedly while your identity is having a meltdown is incredibly stabilising and helpful.

They can stop you mid-spiral and guide your focus back to the small steps that are required to get there.



If you’re going through this right now (possibly questioning your life choices) know that you’re in the messy middle and doing something courageous that’ll spit you out a completely different singer.

You’ve got this.

Singers, your fear of rejection is not just keeping you off the stage and out of audition rooms, but it’s also causing you to micromanage your voice to please others.

I know because I’ve been there.

Recently I’ve been playing a game that is all about micro-dosing rejection so that I can build my nervous system’s capacity to be with it.

To rewrite the meaning that I made out of it way back when I was a kid.



Our capacity to handle disappointment, criticism and rejection as musicians, performers and artists really does determine how big, authentic and creative our lives get to be.

Watering down your expression in the hope that others will choose you, accept you and not judge you is (firstly utterly human but it’s also) sapping what makes you and your voice unique.

Because many of us are highly sensitive people, micro-dosing the things that activate our nervous systems is a way of building our resilience while also honouring how we’re wired.

I hope you’ll start exploring a variation of this game - let me know what you discover!

For all the singers and performers who are frustrated that their anxiety is sabotaging them on stage - please listen.

I know you just want it gone. I’ve been there.

But your frustration assumes that the logical, rational adult part of you who knows that performing on stage isn’t a matter of life or death is the one who is shaking like a leaf up there.

They’re not.

When you go into a fight, flight or freeze state, you lose most of your access to that rational part of your brain and can’t talk yourself off the ledge like you can when you’re cool, calm and collected.



So who IS in the driver’s seat?

Your nervous system is responding to a past memory where a similar situation was perceived as a threat.

For some this is a performance or presentation that went poorly when they were young.
They might see that incident as humiliating, stressful or scary.

For others it’s the reminder that they were “too much” or “too loud” or “too expressive” in their past.



When you shame yourself for being afraid or being “overly dramatic” in the present, it perpetuates this cycle.

This younger part of you needs to know that no matter the outcome, it is loved, accepted and enough.

This requires a complete pivot from the frustration and “I need to get rid of this” energy that most of us have with stage fright.

It requires your compassion, building your capacity to allow the sensations to be present in your body and doing what you can to soothe this part’s fear.



I know your inner overachiever may roll their eyes at the “babying” nature of this approach, but trust me, it is the kindest and fastest way to transform your relationship to performing.

AND will have knock on effects to your self-trust, confidence and resilience as a musician.

Paying attention to your airflow and projection could be exactly what your voice needs in order to hit clear, resonant head voice notes.

When I’m working with singers, one of the most common things they’ll do that sabotage those high notes is hold back or slow down their breath.

This makes sense as soon as you tune into what your brain is often whispering on repeat.

Singers who struggle with perfectionism or fear of making a mistake will often prefer to hit the note quietly to make sure it’s in tune before committing.

This means they’re often holding their breath as they try to start a note in their head voice (dipping their toe in the water) before they follow through with air.

Unfortunately our vocal cords really do need that airflow from the get go.



Vocal exercises like lip trills and tongue rolls can be great to get a sense for how airflow can support those high notes.

And to help you break the habit of holding back too much, you can start the note on one of these (or use a straw or a soft VV sound) to land the note and open out onto the vowel or lyric.

This works because your inner perfectionist doesn’t seem as bothered when it’s a weird sound (as opposed to “real singing”), giving you the opportunity to build your confidence with this new way of approaching these pitches.



If you struggle with your head voice (and tend to avoid singing up there), make sure you check out parts one and two of the Hack Your Head Voice series.

Do you experience tension, cracking or a swallowed sound in your head voice when you sing?

Your tongue could be the reason why.



Tongue retraction, hovering and thrusting can all cause problems for singers, especially on high notes.

In this video I’ll show you a vocal technique exercise you can use to not only identify if you struggle with this problem but it’ll also be the tool to help you fix it!

Convinced you can’t sing high or can’t access clear, resonant head voice notes?

Most singers are selling themselves short when it comes to their upper range.

This is because the head voice can be a bit of a diva and does need some adjustments to be made for that gorgeous ringy tone we’re all looking for.

This is part one of three, exploring what little hacks could take you from thin, strained and cracking head voice notes to feeling like you could shatter a wine glass at a party just by singing. 😏



Modifying the way you pronounce the lyrics (especially closed vowels) is a game changer for high notes.

This is called vowel modification or resonance tuning.

We’re changing the shape of your vocal tract for better acoustic quality.

In this video I’m demonstrating how lowering your jaw slightly can boost the acoustics that give you more ease and resonance in the top of your range when the vowel needs more space.

Let me know what you discovered when you sing this for yourself.

It’s one of the techniques I wish my vocal coaches had shared with me when I was struggling with notes that would strain and crack!

What if there were common beliefs you thought were TRUE that were making it even harder to soften your stage fright?

I’m going to share the big 3 that kept me stuck in a shame spiral of “I must be broken because I should be over this by now”.



MYTH 1: That you shouldn’t be feeling the sensations related to performance anxiety.

Most of the physical feelings we experience when we’re on stage are exactly what we’d expect from a rise in adrenaline, a very normal response to an unfamiliar, unnerving or exciting thing.

Accepting that this response is normal and not a personal failure was so helpful for me.



MYTH 2: That practicing more means I should be able to get everything right in a performance.

I wish someone had told me that you can only practice performing while you’re performing because there are so many elements about the context that are wildly different.

The biggest one? You’re alone in one (or in front of your teacher perhaps) and you’re being watched by others in another.

Expecting yourself and your voice to behave the same when the situation (and your perception of it) is so different is very unfair.



MYTH 3: That you can get rid of stage fright simply by performing more.

Hey, this works for some people but in my experience, not for most.

For many of us we get in a cycle of feeling anxious, hearing and feeling the negative impact that has on our voice and performance, shaming ourself for that and avoiding getting back on stage for weeks (if not months or years).

And this is because it’s important that we work on untangling the beliefs underneath our fear.

Stories of perfectionism, failure, being judged or rejected, being perceived as too much or arrogant or annoying and the fear that we don’t belong or aren’t good enough (y’know those fun ones).

Working on these beliefs between performances was a game changer for how I felt on stage.