Sandra is a practical and pragmatic singing teacher and her sessions are illuminating and informative. She will encourage and show you how to use all of your body and senses to listen, respond and support your singing as you start a fascinating vocal journey. Great singing is as much about listening as vocalising. She believes that ‘good vocal technique’ is really a much more natural position to sing in than the poor, ingrained vocal habits we choose to inflict on ourselves!

Her aim at all times is for you to release your voice in a comfortable, enjoyable way – harnessing your own passion and courage to explore and open your voice.

Sandra’s sessions cover a full explanation of the breathing and vocal mechanisms so that you can fully understand your unique instrument. You will be given specific singing exercises to practice at home, that help to strengthen your diaphragmatic breathing, integrate your voice in to your body and sustain an open and relaxed throat whilst you’re singing.

These components form the grounding of your technique and start the process of integrating the sound deep into your body. It is this integration that produces quality, resonance and conviction in your singing. From this place you start to experience your voice and your singing in a whole new way. And it is a lot less effort! Your vocal range extends as you allow the voice to move correctly through the natural registrations, you produce a more vibrant, rich and varied tone, and so your voice becomes more expressive. You will discover different dynamics, characters and colours of your voice that you can use in your songs. You become a singer.

Interpretation and Performance

After studying the fundamentals of singing and breathing techniques, you progress into the interpretation of songs and how you bring your new mastery into practice. Learning how to build a song with light and shade is an essential art and using your interpretative skills such as storytelling and expression, helps your audience connect with both you and your singing. Learning effective performance techniques and presentation skills builds your confidence and gives you a command of the stage and is a very useful technique in job interviews too!

Most of us are shy to put ‘ourselves’ into our songs at first. Learning to express and deeply connect with your own emotions through your singing and making the song speak for you, takes time and a lot of courage. Daring to let yourself truly commit to the songs message, is a key part of any performance and having a strong technique enables you to do that consistently and effectively.

It’s the difference between ‘faking it’ or ‘feeling it’

There are, of course, very good reasons why the voice doesn’t open like this all the time. If there are old emotional issues, bodily tensions, stress or a real fear of expressing ourselves, this can inhibit even professional singers from really letting go.

It takes courage, presence and openness to the process, to sing. Reaching those high notes can feel quite daunting and challenging and it can take a lot of trust in yourself to learn to master them! Finding that courage is part of becoming the singer you want to be. It is exciting and very rewarding.

Some students have individual sessions purely for their personal development, to explore those challenges in speaking up and expressing themselves, Sandra is happy to work in this way too.

Sandra has been working with breathing issues for many years, helping many people cope with their illnesses and stress, to create a better way of living.

Sandra uses a mixture of body work and practical singing technique breathing exercises, in a one to one setting, to help alleviate the struggle to breathe. Most clients with breathing difficulties are chest breathers which often triggers anxiety and puts added stress into the body. The heart has to work harder and you often feel tired. Sandra can show you how to change from your chest to deep, slow diaphragmatic breathing. This makes an enormous difference to your well being, with many being able to walk more easily, sleep better and clear their chests more effectively.

With clear explanations and practical exercises that you can do at home, you can develop an understanding of your breathing patterns and make changes that will help you breathe more easily and more calmly.

Sandra has given talks on ‘breathing well for singing’ for the British Lung Foundation at Exeter Hospital, ‘Breathing Easy’, a support group for those with COPD and IPF lung conditions and ‘Improving Lives’, IPF support group in Plymouth.

If you are suffering from Stress and Anxiety – good belly breathing can make a huge difference to your recovery. Stress means you are living in the Fight/flight/freeze reflex and your body is producing adrenaline all day long. Your body thinks it is under threat. You may be experiencing shaking, fatigue, but be unable to sleep, brain fog and feeling overly emotional. These are all symptoms of stress and anxiety, not you going mad, although it can sometimes feel like it.

Many people fear that they can’t see a way out of these conditions, despite seeing counsellors, as the sense of panic remains. There IS a way through – changing your breathing habits, changes how your body functions. Over time, your system will calm down again and you will recover.

Changing your breathing habits will calm and relax your system and help you turn off the adrenal glands, so that your body knows you are safe again. The shaking will stop and you won’t feel so utterly exhausted.

We don’t have to do any singing in these sessions (unless you want to and it’s very soothing!) we can work the breath through exercises and speaking.

Talk to Sandra about how this can help.