Greetings!

Wenchie

I'm Sarah, and I live near the Surrey/London border in the UK. It's nice to meet you all.
I don't remember a time when I didn't sing. I used to spend pretty much all hours of the day singing for my own enjoyment since before I could talk. I never had any sort of voice training at all and while my voice wasn't spectacular, I could hold a tune and was happy with the results. I loved singing. I sang while I cooked, while I worked...while I did pretty much anything. Around my 30th birthday, I developed Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (known in some places as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, CFIDS and several other names). Within a year I was pretty much bed bound. My muscles had no strength and I would get exhausted after very little exertion. This very quickly included my throat muscles and within another year I couldn't even get to the end of an easy song without my voice going constantly out of tune and cracking. I had to stop as it was exhausting me. Over a decade later, I've finally managed to get some of my life back. I can walk under my own power again, although not for too long at a time yet and I'm doing lots of slow gentle exercise to try to get strength back into my muscles. I didn't know how to fix my voice though as I'd never used any sort of formal vocal exercise before.
So that's why I'm here. I know it's going to be frustrating for me and take a long time, but I want my voice back. It honestly feels like I lost a limb or something as it was always so big a part of me. I'd happily take having a better voice of course, but more than anything, I'd just like to be able to sing for my own pleasure again and feel like myself again.

doc_ramadani

Hello @Wenchie,

a warm Welcome form Germany, I am Marco, 48 years old and started singing half a year ago. Being a MD I am very sorry to read your story. I send you a lot of energy.

There are very good singing lessons in a free video from Ken. This could be a great starting point: If possible I would try to do them on a daily base:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz2y9N5Sw8U

Doc

Furious_Phil

@Wenchie , That is a heavy burden to bear, but you are not truly out of the game until you give up.
There are allot of free KTVA videos on YouTube, so start with that. If you find you are gaining momentum and want to really pursue developing your voice, then I'd highly encourage you to get the full course, as it will help to navigate you safely through all the pitfalls and get you singing like a nightingale again before you know it

Cheers,

Phillip

Vocality

@Wenchie

There's times I get frustrated with my voice, your story put my issues into perspective and really hope to see you regain your voice. Alot experts here that can guide you back singing great.

warm regards from Scotland
George

highmtn

Hi, @Wenchie, and welcome to the forums.

Light vocal exercises might be something that would help you over a period of time. There are more questions than answers regarding chronic fatigue syndrome.

If you have the motivation, then baby steps might help you to get back into using your voice to sing for enjoyment.

Bob

Wenchie

Thank you for the warm welcome and all the lovely positive support! I had already purchased Ken's 2.0 course as I am convinced that someone that can help their own voice that much must be able to at least slightly help mine.

Motivation I am definitely not lacking, but patience might be a different thing. I've missed my voice for so long that I'll have to keep pulling myself up to rest so that I don't undo the progress I make. At the moment I'm starting with the diva starter drills, although I'm not able to get through the number of exercises that I'd like yet. I'm forcing myself to listen to my body and when I start to feel the energy levels drop and trying not to get upset if that day only managed a couple of exercises when the previous day had more. And when I'm too tired to stand properly to sing or my muscles are too tired to do the exercises I'm flooding my brain with as many of the information videos as possible so that I can absorb things I might have missed.

Today I only managed my lip drills, AH, AA, EE & OOH once through. Rather than look at that as any sort of failure, I'm reminding myself that a week ago that looked like a daunting prospect. Tomorrow I may manage that much again and my voice will be that tiny bit stronger for it. Don't worry, I am expecting slow progress. There's just very little that I value more than being able to sing again

Sarah

Klaus_T

@Wenchie , if you have bought the course, you know you can get your membership status changed, so that you can access the student area, too.

I had the flu a few weeks ago, and I was really tired but did not want to miss out on the singing practice, so I did it lying down, and you can always sit for the exercises, standing is best for support, but if that way, you can practice more easily in the beginning, it might be helpful.

and you have a good perspective on it, don't ever let the course be a source of frustration, I know it will be hard sometimes, but any stress related to singing is not good, and it should also be seen as a way of having fun. I think what struck me about Ken the most when I discovered this course, he always seems to have fun, rather than "work out"

Wenchie

oooh @Klaus_T The lying down idea is a good one! That might help me get through the weaker days as part of my fight at the moment is keeping enough strength in my muscles to stand and get proper breathing support. Thank you.

I did see the post about upgrading membership and sent the email in with my receipt after I first posted here, but I'm guessing it will take a few days to get sorted