Hi Jaime, I don't know if you're still in Paris...I know that there are also plenty of other knowledgeable people here too, so I welcome any feedback.

I've been singing a long time, and I'm pretty confident with my grasp of good technique (not saying that I'm not still aiming for improvement, of course I am!!! but this post isn't about me)

I have a few students and they're all beginners so I feel capable of teaching good habits & technique, but the other day I talked with a person who is interested in taking some lessons. Here's the thing, she's a very experienced singer, who never had formal training, but is now suffering from what is most likely a vocal nodule. (this coming from a doctor she saw)

Here's my question: if a singer already has a nodule and then starts to practice with better technique, are they still running the risk of making the problem worse? In other words, I feel that the RYV techniques are great preventative steps, but how will they affect a person who already has this problem?

I know I need to get more info from her, and actually hear her sing, to get a better feel for the situation, but I just thought I'd throw it out there as a general question.

What I do know is that she claims she had a 3 octave range, and used to practice music up to 6 hours a day. Now she can sometimes only sing for 10 minutes at a time. And when I talked to her on the phone even her speaking voice was very hoarse.

My inclination is to just give her the best "advice" I can, but not take her on as a student, due to the fact that she may need a vocal health professional (which I'm not)

greetings, and may I say, I really like this forum, there is always interesting reading. :)

-Paul

p.s. you can also contact me via http://www.myspace.com/paul_adrian if you don't think this is appropriate discussion for your forum. thx

Paul, from what I understand nodules do need some rest and theraapy before just singing again.... so if that's the advice you gave her that's cool... after that, a technique who is emphsized on eliminating strain (Like RYV and SLS) and control airflow, has a positive effect on her folds as she will never be doing what hurt her in the first place, letting the tissue from noticeable damage ...

that is what I know :) (or understand xD)

Best of luck

Paul,

I just worked with a rock star who had nodes. What I did was to have them ONLY do very very light exercises. it doesn't matter what scale or exercise you use, just as long as the sound is very very soft, like a 1 on a scale of 1-10, and the tone is as clear as possible. Vocal rest is a must and tons of water and steaming. Start taking daily Zinc lozenges and two capsules of licorice daily for a bout two weeks on adn two weeks off. For the immune system, add 3,000 milligrams of C daily and 3-4 capsules of coral calium daily.

Get her started on a light breath support addition-firm downwards pressure, but only lightly and have her do this when she speaks.

Speaking of which, you need to have her hum her name to get that buzzing feeling up into the nose, cheeks, teeth and face. Shwe is going to want to keep this sensation when she speaks and sings. It is VERY important because if she doesn't keep that buzzing sensation and doesn't lightly support the tone, the sound is going to drop into her lower throat which will only cause the vocal cords to rub harder and aggravate the nodes.

Nodes CAN be reversed. Have her check out VoiceRX, but instead of lip bubbles, have her do light hums and don't have her work her voice on exercises for more than 10-15 minutes a day.

When she is ready, she can add a few songs but I want her to sing them as lightly as the exercises with a precise pure tone.

If she follows this regimen, she'll notice improvement and might even eliminate the possibility of surgery:)

JV

Jaime & Xavier, thanks a lot for the advice. I'll let you know how things go. :)