Emily F. OB 9

Emily F. OB 9: The voice changes as we grow, particularly from childhood to adulthood. Understanding the voice's capabilities is essential for maintaining good vocal health. There are a lot of similarities in the young voice and the older voice, so many principles of good singing can apply to older and younger people. BUT, younger voices are more delicate and require slow, gradual practice and progress. Older voices need consistency in practicing good technique in order to stay in shape. 
Key concept: Understand the limitations of your voice and take good care of it, and it will work well for many years. 
Making connections: I seriously almost cried when I read that "Hugues Cuenod made his debut at the Met at age 87!" I don't expect or plan to get to the Met, but it gives me hope that I can still improve and I have lots of years left to be a successful singer. Having not had lessons when I was young, I did develop some bad habits, one of which was doing a lot of copying. I basically taught myself to sing by listening to "The Phantom of the Opera" and singing ALL the characters' parts just like they did over and over. It makes me chuckle now, but I sang everything I listened to, in all ranges, and tried to sound just like the singer. I'm realizing that my young vocal folds were most probably overadducted and overworked by trying to push my range further than it would comfortably go. And I'm sure I didn't always have good models, so trying to copy their sounds was not good for my voice. BUT! I can practice good vocal technique now that I know better. I don't think I've irreparably damaged my voice, so I can improve if I take good care of it.