I was reading some information recently concerning the voice, and I discovered some really, really interesting facts.......
Did you know that the voice is actually not a part of the body..... AT ALL ???
The voice is actually described as, "an event," which means that is is something that occurs as a result of certain circumstances being present together. In other words, different body parts - the larynx, stomach muscles, intercostal muscles, etc - that have entirely separate physical functions, when operating together produce sound. The addition of intention and volitional muscle control from your brain add another layer, and allow the "event" of the voice to appear more and more strongly. Another interesting phenomenon about the voice though, is that it can only be experienced fully when all of its parts are acting simultaneously.
(isn't that just so.... cool.... ?)
It's also a bit puzzling though. If the voice is an event, does that mean the craft of singing is kind of like event planning? Well if you've ever tried to plan things before, you know what I might be talking about. Planning events can be challenging! As much effort as you may make towards preparing for every little subtle nuance, we find time and time again that there will always be some level of unpredictability with any event, simply because it is happening at some point in the future.
And what does the future hold?
That's right, we don't really know. Although we have guesses about the future, we can't really be 100% certain about what will happen at some later date in time, no matter how psychic we think we are.
The voice, in my experience, is kind of like this: Unknown. We can build up its parts to be as strong as possible, and we absolutely should. And, we can learn as much as we can about how "the event" works under normal and weathered conditions. But just as your kid's backyard camping sleep-out party, there is only so much planning you can do before allowing the present moment to pass exactly as it does, in exactly the way it wants to, however in or out of sync with your plans it may be.
So the next time you wonder why you can't hit that high note you're aiming for, you may want to go a little easy on yourself. If we can realize that the voice is much more complex than most of us realize, maybe it will take some of the pressure off of it needing to be so darned perfect all the time. Instead, let's see our present experience of voice as a reflection its parts, exactly as they are, shining in all of their wholeness. Maybe we could stop asking how to change our voice, and start asking how it is perfect in that wholeness, RIGHT NOW.....
I wonder how that, would sound?