I'm Rachel Gerrard: Vocal coach, recording artist, songwriter. I've been coaching singers for 15 years, including professional vocalists. I have collated, refined and invented methods and techniques for building the voice and overcoming challenges - such as high notes - and have made all of these work in my own practice as a singer.

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However, my own vocal journey has not always been smooth sailing. A few years back, during a prolonged period of stress and a demanding recording schedule, my voice stopped working as it should. I sometimes became hoarse or started to cough, or my voice became tired and sore after only a few minutes of singing.

 

A laryngoscopy revealed swelling on the vocal cords but nothing too serious.  I did what I tell every singer not to do: I pushed my voice even harder and sang through the pain, continuing in my recording projects with a huskier tone than usual.

 

As a vocal coach, it was a strange position to be in: I was helping clients with their technique and vocal health - with consistently great results for them - yet I was not making the same techniques work for my own singing, instead pushing my voice to its limits and lying to myself that I'd be fine.

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I then realised that not only had my voice become out of alignment, but I had become out of alignment with my voice. I was treating it in such a careless and unloving way just so I could avoid taking the rest and rehabilitation it needed. Eventually my voice did heal on its own accord, but I was left feeling detached from it and my voice lacked energy and felt locked. I continued to train hard, push, imitate and obsessively learn songs in genres which were not necessarily the best choices for me. I convinced myself that if I could sound perfect and be all things to all people - and all styles of singing - that everything would be OK and I would love my voice again.

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Gradually, through writing and recording my own songs, I began to feel in touch with my own tone, energy and expression again. It was then that I realised that I had been in an abusive relationship with my own voice! I created visualisations, techniques and gentle processes to get my voice back into alignment - all of them based on what felt good to me and my voice. I also tweaked my current vocal technique regime into therapeutic exercises to reduce swelling and realign the voice and the breathing. I finally was able to extend the same kindness and consideration I gave my clients' voices to my own voice.

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I slowed everything down and became more intuitive as a vocal coach, taking into consideration the mind-body connection and becoming more holistic in my approach. I started to attract more clients with vocal problems, and realised that those problems usually stem from psychological or body-based issues and blockages which then become the basis for compensatory bad vocal habits which the client often isn't aware of or fails to recognise. 

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I realised I had been coming across time and again: the singer's physical perception of their own voice is often in the wrong place. As our voices fall out of alignment, they become less embodied, and the voice becomes less of an extension of our heart-expression and more of a separate entity which we manipulate as if it is an object outside of us.

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I know how it feels to not only have physical vocal issues, but to be out of synch with my voice - to be frustrated with it and even to hate it. I'll tailor a programme to suit your individual needs, and the needs of your voice, and I'll be with you every step of the way with ongoing support in a collaborative and creative process of healing and vocal liberation.