Tuesday, June 3, 2014

I finally decided to make an appointment to see Peggy Baroody again, the singing voice specialist in Sataloff’s office. School is over, the estate work has settled down, I have some more time and energy to devote to this. I have been pretty faithful to the low acid diet since January, and I have been doing the few exercises I got from Peggy and the speech pathologist on that first visit. Lots of tongue stretches, long raspberry arpeggios, rolled r’s and humming, singing through a straw, and that little nasal beep to get the chords to come together. My voice feels much better than it did in the fall, and much more like my regular voice. Who knows if it is the diet, or the exercises, or just practicing regularly.
I told Peggy I felt much better, and she agreed that I sounded much much better. She took me through the same series of vocalises and then added a few more – lots of “ee” to get a forward bright sound, some low vocal fry to help the chords come together, and even some laryngeal massage with a vibrating thing – a bit strange, but, hey, I’m game. It seemed to help. I was very encouraged and buoyant after my lesson.
This really feels like the last chance. If this work doesn’t make a difference, who knows what the next move should be.