Learning to Love Your Voice

     Recently I've had to face, head-on, the thing every singer struggles with at one point or another- how to learn to love your voice. For those of you who don't know, about six months ago my teacher and I decided that I was a Mezzo-Soprano and not the Soprano that I'd been told my whole life I was! Now I know what you're thinking- I would give anything to be a Mezzo, they have all the fun roles, they aren't catty like Sopranos, etc- but that's not what I felt when my teacher uttered those words..."Ashleigh, you're a Mezzo". After a few mental break downs and convincing myself that I was having an identity crisis, I was encouraged to write three things that I loved about my voice that day in my singing journal every day for two months. TWO MONTHS! It sounds incredibly short and easy to do but when it came down to it, I always struggled. Then one day I just started writing things down even if I felt that they weren't yet perfect and I read them to myself multiple times a day. And pretty soon, I didn't have to force myself to write them- it just happened and then before you know it I could rattle off ten things that I love about my voice, then 15, and then I could remind myself without having to consciously tell myself what I loved about my voice. It was at that moment that I no longer saw my voice as something separate from my body but rather as an asset to my body and I had learned to love it just as much as I love my body and being in my own skin. 

     For those of you struggling with learning to love your voice: don't be afraid of your voice and for the first few weeks you'll have to almost force yourself to say positive things about your voice and/or performances. You're not alone and you can and will do it! 

    For those of you who have learned to love your voice: How did you do it? What helped you? Do you still occasionally struggle?