A Young Person's Guide to Vocal Health

Dr Liz Stafford reviews 'A Young Person's Guide to Vocal Health' by Olivia Sparkhall.

I must confess, when I was asked to review this book, I thought it was an odd concept - how could a book possibly help children with their singing health? Surely you would need interaction, video, and sound to do that? I was very, very wrong!

This is an excellent resource containing an absolute mine of information about how to keep your voice in tip-top condition, presented in an engaging format of easy to understand text, infographics and illustrations. As a singer myself, even I learned something new - who knew the air above swimming pool water was so dangerous? I may rethink my twice-a-week swimming habit during concert season!

Sensitive topics such as puberty and eating disorders are dealt with sensibly and appropriately in regard to their affects on the voice. There is also information on alcohol, smoking and drugs, and while this is obviously predominantly a resource about singing, I felt an opportunity had been missed here to signpost towards support systems for those readers who might already be dealing with problematic relationships with these substances. I liked the supportive section on performance anxiety which many young singers will find helpful, and it was nice to see some information and myth-busting around foods, medications and 'cures' for illnesses affecting the voice.

This guide would be an excellent resource for secondary-aged singers but is also useful for teachers wanting to know more about how the voice works and how to protect their own and their pupils' voices when singing.

I wish this book had been available when I was teaching singing at the start of my career, as I would have recommended it to every single one of my pupils!