What would you consider to be the main focus of your career, or your “specialty”? How did you discover your calling for your speciality? How did it start?
The main focus of my work is bringing the worlds of athletic training and functional applied neuroscience into the voice studio. My book, The Singing Athlete, lays out the groundwork of my method for coaching singers.
The development of my training style began with my own history as an injured musician. Growing up, I was a “natural” as a pianist, and though I had lessons, I was never given much instruction in the mechanics of how I was playing.
In the year 2000, I moved to NYC and landed a job in the pit orchestra of Les Misérables. During my time playing that show, I developed tendonitis in my left elbow that progressed to left shoulder issues, nerve symptoms, and pain every time I touched the keyboard.
I thought I would never play the piano again without discomfort and began to explore other career options. But, in the end, I felt (and still feel) that music is what I’m put on earth to do, so I devoted my resources to improving the way I was using my body.
I studied with the best mentors I could find in the world of physical training. As I practiced Pilates, Gyrotonic, Alexander Technique, yoga, etc., my pain began to dissipate.
My trainers helped me realize that I lacked control over my left-side core muscles. I had had an inguinal hernia on my left side as a young child and had never done any rehab on it. I noticed that my left elbow and shoulder problems eased as I strengthened my left midline.
Finding functional applied neuroscience was the last key piece for me. I had made great strides through physical training, but I would still occasionally lose my form when I played in intense performance situations.
Learning how to improve my vision, my balance, and the reflexive portions of my brain gave me a stable framework for pain-free movement that I maintain to this day.
I share my story with you so you can consider what elements in your life might be holding you back:
- Did you do any sensory rehab after your recent tonsil surgery?
- Has your optical prescription changed, and has that affected your posture?
- Did the inversion sprain you had in your ankle two years ago affect your ability to feel the ground?
These are the kinds of things I work to resolve with singers.
What do you love the most about your work?
I adore this quote from a study on laryngeal musculature in Nature:
“Vocal motor activity is routinely performed at a faster discrete rate than any other human behavior, which requires a control system that mainly depends on an intrinsic reflex system.”
The reflex of singing is profound and reveals so much about what is happening inside a human body. Working with this vocal reflex daily is both an incredible honor and a source of endless fascination for me.
In your opinion, what qualities do you feel make an “excellent” Vocal Pedagogue?
In my Singing Athlete certification program, I say that I am training coaches, not critics.
I think the great vocal pedagogues don’t simply point out a problem. They can identify an area that needs improvement, but they always follow that up with a clear and consistent strategy for resolving the issue. If their first attempt at fixing the problem doesn’t work for a particular singer, they pivot to a new strategy. They know how to find the sweet spot where a singer’s nervous system is engaged and not overwhelmed.
There is a strong neural impulse to categorize people, which saves calories in the brain. We are all survival creatures, and teachers can be tempted to put a student in a certain mental box to make things easier for themselves (e.g., “He just needs to work on his breathing,” or “Her tongue is always tight.”)
In my view, the great pedagogues resist the impulse to boil people down to a “type”. They meet the individual student where they are on that day, and they remain curious about other paths to move them toward optimal vocal function.
Can you speak to the importance of having mentors? How have mentors influenced your life/career? Can you tell us about some of your mentors?
I put myself through school playing for voice lessons. I considered it an apprenticeship, where I would come early and take notes on the exercises the teacher was assigning, listen to the way they instructed the singer, etc. This is how I learned to work with voices different than my own, and I am eternally grateful to all the brilliant teachers I got to observe in this intimate and powerful way.
Out of grad school, I got a job in the music and theater departments of Boston University, where I studied privately with the amazing Penny Bitzas. Penny always modeled a teaching style that was direct, caring, and focused on getting the best out of the student. I learned a ton from her.
When I moved to NYC, my first teacher was Victoria Clark. Many people know Vicki from her brilliant work as an actor in Light in the Piazza, Kimberly Akimbo, etc. She is also an incredible singing teacher, and her support of me during my early years in New York made all the difference to my trajectory there.
The one person I was determined to meet in NYC was Joan Lader. I had followed her work from very early in my career, and I was certainly not disappointed when I finally got the chance to work with her. Joan is one of the most incredible human beings I’ve ever known, and she remains a huge inspiration. Her embrace of lifelong learning and her passion for all things voice-related give me a model of how I hope to be for the rest of my time on earth.
Outside of the voice realm, my greatest mentor has been Dr. Eric Cobb, who is the creator of Z-Health. Z-Health is an education company that specializes in functional applied neuroscience training for athletes. I have been fortunate enough to have many great mentors in the neuro field, but Dr. Cobb’s work is the foundation that I still rely on daily.
When it comes to breathing, what are the most influential tips, insights or research findings that you would like to share with our audience?
Breathing is a highly effective way to influence the autonomic nervous system, and I think all singers should explore it. A very simple way to adjust your autonomic balance is by breathing in a paper bag (watch the video here).
When you breathe in and out of a bag, you recirculate air that is rich in carbon dioxide, and many singers find this very relaxing before or after a performance.
If the paper bag drill felt good to you, you may be over-oxygenated. As singers, we are often told to “take a big breath,” and that can result in a breathing pattern that overshoots the body’s need for oxygen. This hyperoxia can also increase the likelihood of episodes of reflux, allergies, or asthma.
I teach drills for resolving breathing dysfunction in The Singing Athlete, and Patrick McKeown’s book The Oxygen Advantage goes into more depth. Also, Anders Olsson is a great resource for all things related to this topic.
When it comes to the larynx, what are the most influential tips, insights or research findings that you would like to share with our audience?
I think it’s a good idea to review how scapular position can affect the larynx.
The scapula forms a functional joint with the thoracic spine, neck, and cranium, known as the scapulothoracic (ST) joint. The ST joint is not a literal joint like your elbow, but it is called a functional joint because the scapula exerts an influence on its surrounding structures, including the larynx, through the omohyoid muscle.
The suprascapular nerve, which innervates the supraspinatus and infraspinatus muscles of your rotator cuff, crosses the inferior belly of the omohyoid muscle.
If you know how to do supraspinatus and infraspinatus muscle tests (see video here), you can easily determine if there might be a laryngeal stability problem on one side. And if you assign the correct scapular exercises on the side that the singer needs, laryngeal stability can quickly improve.
When it comes to the vocal folds, what are the most influential tips, insights or research findings that you would like to share with our audience?
The most important nerve for a singer to understand is the vagus nerve [CN X]. Vagus means “wanderer” in Latin, and this nerve wanders from the brain all the way down the pelvic area.
The vagus is made up of 80% sensory fibers that create an information conduit between the brain and the visceral organs. The remaining 20% of vagal motor innervation is devoted to controlling the larynx (including the vocal folds), pharynx, and the majority of the soft palate.
The vagus is the main pathway into a portion of the brain known as the insular cortex, which is an association center that processes both your gut function and your gut feelings. The insula is where we consider the weighty questions of life (“What am I doing here on earth?”, “Who is my tribe?”, etc.).
You can think of the vagus and the insular cortex as the anatomy of your intuition.
The fact that the vocal folds are a direct channel into this area of the nervous system explains why voice work is so emotional and can be so healing.
To try a vagus nerve exercise from the Singing Athlete Certification, click here.
When it comes to acoustics/resonance, what are the most influential tips, insights or research findings that you would like to share with our audience?
After the vagus, the most important nerve for singers is the trigeminal nerve [CN V]. The trigeminal is made up of three “twin (gemini)” nerves that branch out into your forehead, cheek, and jaw.
The trigeminal is your “placement” nerve. It perceives vibration in your face and a large portion of your skull.
The trigeminal is the largest cranial nerve, and it runs all the way through your brainstem. It is a key player in the cascade that triggers a migraine. It is also important in any dental or TMJ history, as it controls the muscles of mastication and the dentition.
If there is unresolved history in the skull, jaw, or teeth, the ability to “feel” your voice can become disturbed, and other musculature can become hypertonic in an attempt to help you hit your vocal target.
If you’d like to test your own trigeminal nerve function, try the video here.
When it comes to registration, what are the most influential tips, insights or research findings that you would like to share with our audience?
For me, the most interesting aspect of registration is the curious path of the recurrent laryngeal nerve.
In our slow progression as a species from a fish-like creature into a human being, our recurrent laryngeal nerve got stuck under other structures (the aortic arch on the left, the subclavian artery on the right). This resulted in a path that is much longer than necessary, especially on the left side.
When there is more distance to cover, there is more opportunity for things to go wrong. With this lengthy and asymmetrical laryngeal nerve path, it’s no wonder that “finding your mix” might be difficult.
In looking at the anatomy of the recurrent laryngeal nerve, it becomes clear that the posture of your shoulders and upper back is a key element of vocal function. If you are not moving this area of your body well, it is like stepping on the garden hose while you’re trying to water your garden. The flow is going to be interrupted.
In my certification program, I teach assessments for the thoracic spine and for all four main joints of the shoulder complex. I find that helping students develop a better map of these areas can be a way to change the TA/CT balance that many folks have never considered.
If you want to try one of my thoracic spine exercises, click here.
When it comes to vocal health, what are the most influential tips, insights or research findings that you would like to share with our audience?
Vocal health is brain health, and it is supported by a clear assessment process that goes beyond the larynx.
The vocal folds are not isolated structures. They receive their innervation from the brainstem, where many other neural structures are located. Nerves that fire together wire together, so dysfunction in neighboring areas can easily spill over and affect laryngeal function.
As an example, let’s say you had a root canal on your right maxillary second molar (a root canal removes a portion of your trigeminal nerve [CN V]).
Your conscious brain is aware that there was a problem that needed to be corrected. But your reflexive brain (which governs most of your neural processes) is thinking, “Well, that sucked. I’m now going to turn down all the feeling around that area so I don’t go through that again.”
The next thing you know, you can’t feel that area of your face well, and you may compensate with other muscles. That could mean that you are now over-recruiting your pharyngeal constrictors on the right side. And perhaps your vocal fatigue could be resolved by reawakening the trigeminal nerve through sensory training.
Try a trigeminal nerve assessment here.
When it comes to style, what are the most influential tips, insights or research findings that you would like to share with our audience?
From a physical perspective, tongue control goes a long way toward developing a command of style.
The longest chapter in my book is on the tongue. I think there is a lot to say on this topic, and I see big changes in singers as they improve their tongue mapping.
Click here to try a tongue control exercise.
When it comes to posture, what are the most influential tips, insights or research findings that you would like to share with our audience?
Reflexive posture is controlled by three things:
- The visual and vestibular (balance) systems
- The cerebellum
- The brainstem
If you’ve told a student, “Don’t stick your head out in front of your body,” a million times and they keep doing it, the problem is not that they are not listening to you. The problem is that one or more of the structures listed above isn’t pulling its weight.
To correct this, the first step is to be able to assess these vital systems. There are simple physical tests that can tell you which of these structures is underperforming.
If you want to test yourself, follow along with this vision exercise and see how your singing and posture respond.
When it comes to teaching methods or communicating complex ideas about singing, what are the most influential tips, insights or research findings that you would like to share with our audience?
Good training balances the left and right hemispheres of the brain.
The left brain is concerned with the details. It is about separation and breaking things down into smaller chunks. Language is centered in the left brain, because words are a reduction of reality.
While language itself is housed in the left cortex, context is the domain of the right brain. The left brain has the words, and the right brain gets the jokes.
While the left brain’s attention is very focused, the right brain encourages an open attention, where the larger ideas of singing can be processed.
Some ways to experience right brain activation are:
- Use of imagery
- Connection to spirituality, meditation, etc.
- Boiling complex ideas down to simple, emotionally resonant statements
Final Thoughts (Words of Wisdom, Books, Resources)?
I describe my business as the science of hope. I am living proof that things that seem impossible to overcome can indeed be conquered. Whatever you may be dealing with, there are always solutions. All it takes is curiosity, an open mind, and a desire to see things in a new light.
If you are interested in reading my book, The Singing Athlete, you can find it here.
If you want to get certified in the Singing Athlete method, the details are here.
Other great pedagogues to follow in the brain-based training world are Kimberly Moller and Jessica Raaum Foster,
To learn more about Functional Applied Neuroscience, I recommend Z-Health and the Carrick Institute.
My favorite book on singing written by someone else is Corinne Gibbons’ Ten Reasons Why Singing is Freedom.
