Viola Bornmann I Vocal Coach, Estill Master Trainer & Personal Coach

Has someone told you – you will always sound the same and you can only sing this one style?

Because they did tell me: You will always sound like a flute. You will always sound too classical.

And I believed it. But I still didn’t want to sing ONLY classical music.

When I studied classical music I took jazz lessons secretly, just because I was curious. But I really took care that no one would find out because I was afraid, that my teacher would say I was ruining my voice. (But that’s a different story..)

Fun fact a few years forward: Now I feel much more comfortable in popular music.

But I do need both and they feel so differently in the body. So why would I want to limit myself?

Has someone put you in a box too? Tell me in the comments.

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Ohhh, What a special moment! ✨

Do you also like singing in harmony, and somehow you feel energized afterwards?

And you know what? It really is good for your body. Science agrees.

1️⃣ It releases oxytocin, serotonin, and dopamine – the hormones that are connected with the feeling of connection and joy. (✏️ Thaut M., The Conversation, 2025)

2️⃣ It boosts your immune system through increased immunoglobulin A (✏️ Grape et al., ScienceDirect, 2017)

3️⃣ And it even reduces stress hormones! (✏️ Keeler et al., Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 2015)

So, if you have the feeling that singing together is good and healthy for you, it can actually have a positive effect on your body, just by singing together.

Isn’t that great? 🧡

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🎤Arghhhh, this is tough!

“Listen” is not the easiest for me, it’s somehow not totally comfortable in my voice – at the same time I love singing it!

So, here I want to tackle “Listen” from Beyoncé, especially the chorus. When I sang it I had this feeling of “there is too much of everything” – too much power, too much breath, too much effort in the vocal folds.

Soooo I went through the process to sort all of that out and I just took you with me - Including all (maybe not even all of them 😄) the frustrations.

In the process I used:

1️⃣ my cricoid cartilage tilt, that will support my vocal folds and bring more mass without me having to give more effort in my vocal folds
2️⃣ bringing more “twang” in by engaging my aryepiglottic sphincter, replacing the lyrics with a sound like “baeh” or “maeh” to bring more ease and power to my voice
3️⃣ Body “anchors” to support my body so my voice doesn’t have to work so hard (one in the head & neck area, the other for the torso)

Of course, I cut out a lot of the process and there were other things that were coming along while I was practicing.

At the end I felt really more at ease and didn’t have to work so hard anymore.

Do you know this feeling that some songs are just not as comfortable even though the same pitches are easy on others?

🧡

🫠 Do you sometimes think the scales and arpeggios you hear people using to warm up their voices are quite complicated?

And instead of warming up your voice, you first have to learn the scale. It takes a long time. And instead of a warmed-up voice, you might end up with a tense one 😥

I do think it makes sense to practice scales and arpeggios. But if they feel intimidating, take too long to learn, or you don’t even start, choose something simple instead.

Because warming up the voice does not mean singing complicated melodies, scales, or arpeggios.

It means warming up the muscles.

Warming up can be simple: one single pitch, simple humming, or lip trills can be so effective.

The goal is to wake up the muscles, activate them, and bring the vocal tract into balanced coordination 🤝

Here is an example of a short warm-up sequence I did with the choir. It may sound like silly, weird noises, but I do them for a reason – to activate different parts of the vocal tract:

➡️ Yodel: Switching between thick and stiff vocal folds for better control and coordination�➡️ Puppy Whimper: Thyroid cartilage tilt�➡️ Santa Claus: Larynx lowers�➡️ Mouse: Larynx rises�➡️ Duck, Bully, Witch: Activation of the aryepiglottic sphincter�➡️ Yay: Tilt of the cricoid cartilage

In the end, it’s short and fun.
�And if you want, you can still do a scale afterwards.

Thank you for always being my guinea pigs!

This “oooh” was in my ear for the next five days!

Why do I look like I’m 2 meters tall? 😄

But that doesn’t matter – what matters is the music.

This time Denis brought his original song. What a special and meaningful moment it is to be one of the first people to hear a new song, to work on it together, to share my ideas, and to be part of the process. 🤩

Thank you, Denis, for sharing your beautiful music with me. It means a lot! 🧡

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🍷 Glühwein Edition! SING & DRINK in December – come warm up and sing with us! 😊

Lisbon, it’s time to let your voice shine!

SING & DRINK is a fun, social evening where we sing together, enjoy drinks, and connect with fellow music lovers. No experience needed – just bring your voice and good vibes.

If you love to sing passionately, are a karaoke fan, or always dreamed of performing with a live band, SING & DRINK is perfect for you.

📅 Date: December 12th, 19:00
📍 Location: 1399, Lisbon .art.room
💶 Price: 15€

✍️ Comment SING and I will send you the link to reserve your spot!

Let’s make music, enjoy our voices, and celebrate the joy of singing together! 🧡

Viola, Artur & Bernardo

All of that is true. I’m often tired lately 😴

Sometimes I wonder if it’s even possible not to be tired in adult life.

Part of it might be the never-ending mosquito party in my bedroom.

But I guess it’s more than that. 🤪

Maybe you feel the same, those phases when your body reminds you to rest, to sleep, to breathe, and to find balance again. I truly believe this is what life is about: between the ups and downs, the ongoing quest to stay in balance.

Right now, I’m balancing out again.

Being a freelancer in the artistic world hasn’t always been easy. It’s a constant balancing act energetically, emotionally, and financially. There have been many moments when I thought:

“Should I do something completely different? Something that has nothing to do with singing or psychology?”

But every time I ask myself that question, I realize it’s not that I need to do something different, I just need to do certain things differently.

Whenever I manage to rest, keep my nervous system balanced, and regain my energy, I KNOW I don’t want to do anything else.

Maybe that will change someday. But for now, whenever I “work” with voice, music, and singing – on stage, in class, with the choir, in workshops – I feel somehow home.

So yes, sometimes, I’m tired.
But for the best reasons.

Can you relate to this kind of balancing act?

🎙️ Voice nerd and dog lover, living under the bright blue Lisbon sky. 🌞

Hey – I’m Viola! If we haven’t met yet, I wanted to jump in and say hello. I’m so happy you’re here!

If you want, let me know who you are and what you’d like to see on this page! 🌊