Flockstars Coaching

When asks if you want to fly to Málaga to teach vocal massage, you say yes.

Thank you for an awesome 6 days of focused learning.

I am so excited to see how this group incorporates this work into their vocal studios.

I am always inspired by the philosophy and ethos but it was particularly inspiring to bring this way of working to Spain and beyond.

thank you for being a fantastic research partner, co-teacher, and makeshift tapas master 🧑‍🍳

Catch me on Fridays for vocal massage in London with the Voice Care Centre or Thursdays with 🙌🏼

Oh, and keep your eyes peeled for 2023 vocal massage training dates coming soon 👀 (Oo la la)

SPOILER: Yes, I definitely was talking *way* too much in vocal fry when I was 17.
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I once listened back to a video of me around 16/17 and thought "OH GEEZ THAT'S A LOT".
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I also had a bit of an American southern twang at the time.
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PEOPLE CHANGE.
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(Although RIP to my southern twang that left me in drama school for an ~American Standard~ accent replacement, lol)
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Because women are often stereotyped as speaking in vocal fry, and this voice quality sometimes marked as a barrier to success in the workplace, there is a part of me that wants to say, "YES! Vocal fry is absolutely fine!!!".
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That isn't really true. Talking in vocal fry a LOT of the time can lead to some vocal challenges.
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BUT, vocal fry isn't all bad.
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Speaking at the end of sentences in vocal fry occasionally? Won't kill ya.
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It's when we are using vocal fry the majority of the time that we might run into issues.
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You would probably run into issues if you always talked in your head voice (aka 'M2', sometimes referred to as falsetto, too, which is a whole other level of confusing to people).
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So rather than vocal-fry-bashing, let's focus on what we can ADD to our daily speech - can we add a sprinkle of M2, use *all* of the colours of our voice in terms of pitch, rhythm, and pace?
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This is much more helpful, I have found, than an internal voice-bashing conversation with ourselves anytime we notice ourselves speak in vocal fry.
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Does this change your thoughts on vocal fry? How do you feel about this debate?

Voice Teacher FAQ’s: YOUTH EDITION

❓: How long should a voice lesson be?

🅰️ : This totally depends on age, goals, and what works best for your schedule/finances.

For younger students (5-9), I recommend 30min lessons weekly. If a student is really keen, 2 x 30min lessons per week can work well, too, especially because at this stage we are doing a lot of musical exploration and learning HOW music works as well as how our voices work.

For students 11+, 45min lessons weekly are a perfect amount of time to work on a combination of technique and repertoire. I typically include some music theory work every other week with this structure.

For more advanced students (typically aged 14+ but not always the case), a 1hr lesson weekly is awesome.

❓: How can a young voice student avoid vocal injury?

🅰️ : One-to-one lessons with a vocal health informed singing teacher are the BEST way for young students to use their voices in an optimal way and learn to care for their voices.

I teach group classes on Saturdays with the lovely , and although we DO cover technique in class, I don’t get to hear students individually and address THEIR individual needs.

If you can do it, take a 1:1 voice lesson to make sure there isn’t excess strain whilst singing.

❓: Aren’t singing lessons expensive?

🅰️ : The short answer is yes, they *can* be. But that doesn’t mean they have to be an exclusive thing.

If weekly lessons aren’t possible, try fortnightly or once a month! A little bit of technique is better than none.

A voice teacher is here to support the singing the student is doing elsewhere in their lives - in school, choir, after school drama classes, etc.

Having that one on one time is invaluable in helping the student develops sustainable, healthy voice use as well as confidence in areas of their life in which they use their voices.

If finances are the only barrier to taking voice lessons, send me a message. There are discount options and payment plans available that might work for you.

📚 Do you have any other questions for me about this topic? Drop them below or drop me a DM ☺️

Imposter Syndrome: Let's Talk About It.
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Whether you are a singer or a coach, it's pretty likely that you have experienced thoughts and feelings in line with imposter syndrome.
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If you struggle to see your value, your strengths, your skills, and feel like all the successes you've ever had were due to sheer luck, that sounds a lot like imposter syndrome to me.
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A good amount of healthy striving is normal.
Good, even.
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It's when we cross the line past healthy striving into perfectionism that we risk getting into the 'imposter syndrome trap' if you will.
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Where we are NEVER satisfied with anything we achieve.
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Achievements don't feel like achievements because there is always something else we could have done better or someone else doing the thing better.
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Often we can recognise that this pattern isn't good, but it can be tough to get out of it.
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I used to have MASSIVE imposter syndrome. It has fortunately diminished quite a lot, but that happened gradually over time.
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(It still comes up from time to time, but I am not derailed by it anymore).
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So here's my advice to you (besides what's in the graphics above):
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Continue to do the thing.
Continue to show up.
Continue to be brave.
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In the wise words of Kurt Cobain (yes, I am going there), "Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are".
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So SHOW UP.
Share YOUR experience.
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And know you aren't alone.

I feel like I haven't introduced myself in awhile...⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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So, hey Instagram friends (old and new)!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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If we don't know each other, my name is Lydia and I'm a voice coach and singing teacher originally from America, but now based in Oxford, England.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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When I was 17, I had a voice injury that majorly rocked my confidence.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I was gearing up to go a competitive musical theatre university and I felt my voice had failed me.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I was *terrified* it would happen again. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I was scared to practice by myself. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I was scared to belt. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I was EVEN low-key scared of coffee.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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(I did still drink coffee, thank goodness).⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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But I really let my fear rule my life for awhile. It got to the point where I just really didn't even like my voice anymore at all.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I thought I didn't sound good enough. Other people were better, so I should just quit, right?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Who can relate to those feelings?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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After transferring schools and thinking I'd quit performing, I realised I didn't have to be so scared all the time.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I decided to figure out how to get my confidence back AND how to share that knowledge with others.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I became a vocal coach.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Working predominately online now (although hit me up if you're in the Oxford area and would like in-person lessons!) I absolutely LOVE what I do.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I love helping people LOVE their voices again or for the very first time.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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If this sounds like you, please send me a DM. I would love to hear your story.

I promise this post isn't boring.
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If you're like me, when people talk goal-setting, I'm usually like...
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*YAWN*
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But here's the thing.
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Singing isn't something you can objectively get better at.
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Singing is so subjective and no matter how 'good' someone else thinks you are, there are always other opinions out there.
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So cool, cool, cool. How do we *actually* OBJECTIVELY get better then?
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Making SMART goals is the best way I know how to do this.
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This is where I would normally yawn, but STICK WITH ME! I promise it is actually really helpful.
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SMART stands for:
✅ Specific
✅ Measurable
✅ Achievable
✅ Relevant
✅ Time (or time-bound)
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SMART goals can help us see real progress. You can set a voice-related goal and ACTUALLY achieve it.
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Woweeeee if that doesn't make me feel the opposite of a yawn! 🤩
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When thinking *specific* here are some questions you might ask yourself:
➡ What do I want to accomplish?
➡ Why is this goal important?
➡ Who is involved?
➡ Where will it happen?
➡ Which resources are involved?
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When thinking MEASURABLE, we want to ask:
👉 How will I know when it is accomplished?
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This is SUPER important to track your progress and keep you motivated.
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When thinking *achievable* we want to know:
➡ Is it realistic? If so, how can I accomplish it?
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RELEVANT goals would answer 'yes' to the following questions:
👉 Is this important to me right now?
👉 Does this fit with goals in other areas of my life?
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Finally, we have to consider how much *time* it might take to achieve our goals, so aim to have a rough deadline for yourself!

This is definitely my voice teacher face.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I've had many voice teachers throughout my life, and I'm sure they all have their own 'voice teacher faces', too.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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My first voice teacher was a classically trained singer from Juilliard named Leslie Hamilton and I started taking lessons with her when I was 12. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I took with her for around two or three years before my school had allocated me a new teacher.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Now here we are well over ten years later and there are STILL things I remember from my lessons with Ms. Hamilton:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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👉 Starting practice silently. Whether it's doing a formal breath exercise or taking 3-5 breaths to ground myself, I remember being encouraged to include this in my practice time and before lessons.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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👉 The importance of musicianship. At the time, I had joined my church choir and had started to learn sol fege (or tonic sol-fa / do re mi fa so la ti do / basically sight reading music!)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Ms Hamilton always sat down with me to go through the sheet music of whatever piece we were working on together.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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She'd ask me what I noticed about the music and inspired me to find a deeper meaning to my storytelling that was informed by the way the music was written.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I'm not sure how well I actually executed that back then, but I have always appreciated that she steered me in that direction. This became super useful when I had to write essays on music notation and storytelling in college.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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👉 And finally, she was the first teacher to tell me that I wasn't too young to embark on 1:1 lessons. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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My mom and I had asked another teacher when I was 10 years old if I could take lessons and I was sadly told I was too young.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Ms Hamilton never made me feel like I was too young. She gave me challenging repertoire and met me where I was.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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(cont. below)

SECOND WEEK SINGING POST-C WORD UPDATE
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If you saw my stories yesterday, you know my voice practice was not pretty.
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Part of that is probably influenced by my covid recovery...
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But here's the thing.
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My voice practice pre covid was also often not pretty!!
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Expecting our voices to be 10/10 every day is unrealistic, whether you're struggling post covid or not.
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I'm taking this experience as an opportunity to appreciate how RESILIENT our voices are and to enjoy watching my voice change with the exercises and practicing I do.
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I kinda feel like I'm throwing on a lab coat and studying my voice, TOTALLY unbiased.
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Just excited to see what happens.
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How about you? How are you feeling in your week two of the year?

CAN WE TALK ABOUT POST-COVID SINGING PLEASE?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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You might remember that I got the big C word right before the holidays.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Fortunately I only had a mild case, but I *have* noticed some challenges with breath control during and post virus.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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It has honestly been SO SUBTLE that I doubt if I weren't a singer I would even notice.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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But I am a singer.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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And I notice EVERYTHING. 😆⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I've been incorporating more breath work into my vocal practice (and probably will keep this focus for the next 3-4 weeks).⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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The main type of exercises I am adding to my practice are CO2 Tolerance-based.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I have a whooole post on CO2 tolerance and vocal stamina so do check that out, but the basics are:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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👉When we breathe out, we get rid of CO2⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
👉It is our body's CO2 levels that cue us to breathe, NOT a lack of oxygen⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
👉The longer you hold your breath, the more CO2 you build up in the body⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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If we train our bodies to handle a higher level of CO2, it can help us sing longer phrases more easily, improve our overall breath control, and improve belt quality.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Cool, right? Let me share with you my current CO2 Tolerance exercise-of-choice:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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1️⃣ Stand with feet shoulder-width distance or wider. Breathe in and out of the nose. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
2️⃣ After an average exhalation through the nose, do as many bodyweight squats as possible* whilst HOLDING your breath (pausing at the bottom of your exhale - stay relaxed!)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
3️⃣ When you start to feel discomfort (air hunger), allow yourself to breathe in through your nose. Recover and repeat 2 more times.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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*You don't have to do a bajillion squats here. And if squats aren't your thing, you can replace squats with walking around, push ups, or whatever suits your fancy. 😄⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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What are your go-to breath exercises?

Psst. Hey singer.

How are you feeling today?

I don’t know about you, but I have felt a *little* overwhelmed coming back to work and practice post-holidays.

I’m wondering if you’ve maybe felt a bit of that, too?

Getting back into the swing of things usually doesn’t look super graceful (at least for me!)

And guess what?

I didn’t practice singing over the holidays AT ALL.

No warm up. No stretches. Nada.

So you can IMAGINE how clunky my first practice back was like. 😅

BUT here’s the thing:

The key to consistency is to keep going.

Pick yourself back up, do the dang thing, and TRUST the process.

Have faith in your vocal exercises. Let THEM coax you back to singing with more ease. You don’t need to *muscle through* your hardest exercises and repertoire just yet.

Be gentle with yourself, take it slow, and (say it with me):

Trust. The. Process.

WHO’S WITH ME? Give me a shout below 👇🏼

Here’s to a year of vocal growth, vocal love, and vocal health. 🎉

It's been a minute 🙊

Y'all KNOW I love social media. I love chatting with other voice coaches. I love talking to YOU about your vocal goals and questions.

But lately, as the world has gone back to somewhat of a normal place (debatable now with this new variant?? 🤞), I've found myself really having to put effort into thinking about social media.

And guess what? That has actually meant that I haven't posted very much AT ALL over the last few months.

And that is OK. Voice coaches, businesses, humans out there who might be feeling similarly, we've gotta give ourselves some GRACE!

What a year it has been.

So what HAVE I been up to over the past few months?

👉 I started my vocal massage practice in Oxford (and MOVED TO OXFORD)
👉 I worked in London every Friday at
👉 I started working on Saturdays again with the amazing students in Oxford

and finally...
👉 I FINISHED teaching of my 1:1 online singing lessons and vocal massage appointments for 2021.

We are OUTTA HERE, 2021. See y'all in the new year. ✌

Spring lesson term packages are available for purchase through 3rd January. Check the link in my bio to register.

PS Thank you to everyone who has sent well wishes with my covid recovery. Symptom free now and feeling much better!

Lydia x

This post is ironic.

(And I’ll tell you why)…

The top of the post says “Monday Motivation” but here’s the secret:

I don’t really believe in motivation.

I don’t believe inspirational quotes are what get us to take action.

I don’t even believe you’re going to see this post and get your singing practice done.

Why?

Because I don’t believe we are meant to be motivated all the time.

Motivation is not a prerequisite for taking action.

If we expect to have “motivation” before we sing, we are going to have a really inconsistent vocal practice.

And what is *key* for singing progress, stamina, and overall vocal health? CONSISTENCY.

So here’s where the inspirational quote DOES come in.

👉 Don’t wait to be motivated to practice singing.
👉 Don’t wait til you have a “good voice day”.
👉 Don’t let your expectation of a perfect practice be the enemy of a good one, or even a just-done one.

Vocal practice is there to help your voice.

Vocal practice is there to work FOR you.

Vocal practice is there to strengthen your voice and build your stamina.

So in the famous words of Shia Labeaouf:

JUST. DO. IT.

If you have questions about how to start your vocal practice or even your vocal journey, send me a DM! I would love to chat with you about it.