The accompanying questionnaire asked participants to report on any physical, mental or emotional differences or changes as to 1) positive change, 2) no change or 3) negative change, in comparison to their normal practice or performance routine experiences. The participants were also asked to specify any experiences of change in attitude and eleven areas of voice production technique, which are based on vocal expert Oren Brown’s (1996) daily vocal workout routine model, which he claims outlines the key vocal practice areas of study that lead to optimum development of singing. The specific areas of vocal technique are as follows: Release, Posture, Breathing, Pitch, Range, Resonance, Registers, Agility, Articulation, Power and Interpretation.
Results Attitude
The 90% majority of participants felt that their attitude improved during the week of the study in comparison to a normal week of practicing or performing. One participant explained that, as her attitude became more positive, she felt she could sing for longer, while another participant claimed she felt more motivated: “ I noticed I was more willing to do my warm ups, as I usually find they can be a bit of a pain!” Similarly, another vocalist noticed that she felt more enthusiastic during the duration of the flower essence course and claimed: “I was really eager to practice and I enjoyed it very much.”
Emotional
A high 70% of participants reported experiences of feeling happier, more emotionally stable, and of having more energy. For example one vocalist stated: “I noticed that I felt calm and I didn’t worry about my voice whenever I began to sing, I just did it much more freely and I felt more in tune with my body.” Similarly another claimed: “I felt more
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positive about my practice, I normally am quite hard on myself and get annoyed when I can’t do exercises, but I felt more positive throughout last week!”
Physical Participants of the 70% majority reported improved physical voice control, sensation of the voice being more open, greater ability to sustain notes, and a more relaxed throat and posture. For example, one person’s response to physical changes was: “ I felt the high tones were easy to reach and the breath support worked all by itself in my higher range as well as in general.” Similarly, another vocalist claimed: “My breathing felt easier and low and high notes seemed easier to reach.” However, the most astonishing report stated: “I have had a bad cold recently and was finding
I was really eager to practice and I enjoyed it very much
when singing in chest voice that I was quite congested. After taking the essence I was a lot less congested and found it easier to access my chest voice.”
Mental This area of finding shows that 80% of the singers found an improvement in their mental awareness, and reports included specific benefits regarding a longer duration of concentration, attention span and a sharper focus. One participant claimed: “I was much clearer in the first few days when working and much more focused than usual, and also much more aware than usual.” Similarly, another
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