ABOUT ADELE - Doug Gardiner Vocal Fitness & Balance
Vocal Fitness is a voice that is agile - meaning it has freedom
A Balanced voice is one in a state of equilibrium
I love Adele! She’s one of few truly great vocal artists of our time. I think her singing style and voice are compelling, soulful and rare. Unfortunately, this multiple Grammy winning legend was forced to cancel the final two sold-out shows of her tour due to vocal cord damage. Vocal problems and dysphonia can be the result of many causes.
Adele has reportedly developed a nodule or hemorrhage similar to one she experienced in 2011, which required surgery. If this is true, I believe the artist bears some responsibility for causing this harmful injury. A nodule is similar to a callus we might get on our hands in a specific location after lifting weights, playing golf or digging a ditch. A vocal nodule can occur on the vocal cords in a particular spot where those cords come together unevenly. A nodule develops when we sing with added pressure to a vocal mechanism that’s out of balance.
Some of the comments I’ve read about Adele’s situation seem out of place in their defense of her singing technique against anyone who suggests it might be the cause of her repeated vocal shut down. I’m a champion of people expressing their creative selves through singing -- good, bad or indifferent. However, I think some singers and vocal coaches have a fear that “technique” may stiffen their vocal ability, make it heavy or somehow infuse a classical color.
Artistic freedom cannot be accomplished until a properly working voice makes artistic expression possible. Technique and artistry are not the same. The technique of true art is the art of concealing technique. The goal of vocal technique is freedom and effortless agility. Natural vocal function will not produce nodules no matter how often you sing that song or perform that show unless harmful environmental factors are in play.
I wish the very great Adele a deserved recovery and a better understanding of how to not let this happen again. I know it can be done.