Terrified Studios

Jamie Cullum's Blog
The most disorganised man in showbusiness

A precarious position

It’s going to be an interesting year. Not only am I about to have my first child but I also am looking to pursue alongside each other the writing and recording of a new album and studies in both piano and voice. 


I began voice lessons last year out of necessity. I got very sick in the first tour in the USA of last year. In an effort to get through the schedule I pushed my voice in new ways which, though I was managing to make the necessary sounds, left my vocal chords ravaged and raw. I found that I constantly had a sore throat and that my voice would hurt when I sang. A combination of never really studying the mechanics of how my voice worked, dealing with a persistent form of the flu and general exhaustion had left my singing voice in a precarious place that I had never experienced before. 


It was a scary time and one that left me unable to think about much else. A singer who couldn’t sing?! I tell you no lie when I say that many a nightmare of last year featured some kind of performance where the only sound I could muster from out of my mouth was a dainty squeak.


I took myself off to an ENT doctor in Austin, Texas who stuck little cameras down my throat and mercilessly informed me that I had not developed the infamous nodules that has hampered so many singers; but it was a severe warning. The doc said that I should really rest my voice full stop and not continue touring until my voice was back to normal. I told him I had another 50+ shows to do that year and missing them was not my style. 


I resolved to go on a very strict routine with myself involving more rest and trying not to speak so much before and after shows. I also saw a singing teacher when I was in LA who showed me some new warmups to help me heal my voice further. He looked after Bjork so I knew I was in good hands. 


I was far from fixed however. My obsession with my voice bordered on the insane and I found myself checking it every few minutes of every day, letting out the bizarre yelps and buzzes I had been learning to check my vocal chords status. 


I got through it. But it was a tough time in my musical life that dented my confidence in a way I will never forget. 


When I returned from the summer tour I had a period of 6 weeks where, though I would still be working in other capacities, I would not be required to sing for any significant length of time. It was here I decided to start some serious vocal training. 


I mentioned on my twitter that taking serious singing lessons after many years of singing with no significant tutelage was what I imagine marriage guidance counselling to be like. When you marry, you don’t go to a school to help make sense of what the next how ever many years will bring. It is only when cracks show that you feel unequipped to deal with that you seek the advice of someone who can guide you through the maze. Once in this process, picking apart a mechanism you previously thought you had a handle on, you realise how much you have to learn. Singing is instinctual to most of us, but consistency and control and growth is something you have to learn. The doc told me that what I was doing - 100+ shows a year at 2hrs long with no interval, without having really looking into the mechanics of my voice - was like entering the olympic triathlon where your only training has been on the XBOX version of the same name. 


It was overwhelming. I approached the lessons with a mixture of excitement and fear. Here I was, a “professional” singer, for the first time, peering under the hood of what i thought was a Ferrari and finding the engine of a lawnmower. 


As the lessons continued I gradually started joining the dots between the correct stuff I had been doing over the years, things to avoid and things to nurture and develop. It became less scary and more like an adventure. When I went back to concerts in October, I found that the pain had subsided and the psychological fear I had developed about singing had ebbed a little. Far from perfect, but I had a path to follow and that was a great comfort to me. 


I intend to continue studying voice in 2011 and also start taking piano lessons again after 20 years or so. Voice lessons have inspired me to search deeper into the black and white keys and anyway it’s high time I knew what the hell those dots are on the page. 


I’ll keep you updated on progress throughout the year.  


Love,

Jx

  1. jessapede reblogged this from terrifiedstudios and added:
    read for me. One of...favorite artists went through
  2. jandisco said: Wow. I can’t believe you were in that much pain and discomfort and still managed to put on such an incredible show in Austin. It was, by far, the best concert I’ve been to….can’t imagine what you must be like when you are at 100%. Good Luck!!
  3. phoe reblogged this from terrifiedstudios
  4. origamikun said: One of the things that keeps me going is knowing that you can be an amazing musician without knowing shit about actual theory (which I know is a bad thing, but I find pleasure in improving by myself), like you sir.
  5. discountblogcity reblogged this from terrifiedstudios and added:
    Ah, musicians. Jamie Cullum is...favorites. I’m...hobbyist...
  6. terrifiedstudios posted this