Maybe you had the joy of singing knocked out of you during your tender years. Perhaps you even gave up singing due to unkind remarks about the “quality” of your singing you received from a parent, sibling, or teacher. But that’s all in the past now, isn’t it? Because now you have plucked up enough courage to start singing again, even with a view to singing in public.

Or maybe you are an experienced singer who has been experiencing a few hiccups with some aspects of your voice? You feel and know that you are not singing authentically, naturally, from your heart.

Well, wherever you may lie along this singing spectrum, you will find a lot in this book that will help you to improve all aspects of your voice and singing. Why? Because in your heart there throbs a burning desire to re-live the joy of singing you experienced as a child or as a newbie singer, and you want to share this joy of singing with others.

This book about the voice and singing has been written for both experienced and non-experienced singers. But unlike most books on singing, the author approaches the subject from a unique and refreshing vantage point. In “On The Wings Of Voice”, Kate Barbour presents a practical philosophy of singing from the heart which has been overlooked by mainstream voice coaches.

Kate discusses why many of the singing techniques you may have learned from mainstream singing courses fail to strike a chord in your heart (as a singer) and in the hearts of your audiences. She explains why you as a singer must first learn how to re-discover your natural (true) voice, which she calls your Ideal Voice. She also describes principles and practices for learning how to make this your habitual experience as you perform as a singer.

Kate maintains that only when you as a singer are able to access your true (natural) voice will you be able to avoid the endemic problem of vocal overuse and abuse that plagues most singers. This is a key “forgotten” aspect of singing. She found the invaluable benefits of accessing her true voice after experiencing a breakdown of her fragile vocal chords from damage caused by using “old school” methods of singing.

This is a truly inspiring book which offers you as a singer or potential singer insights into how to let your ideal voice out of prison. It covers both the psychological and physical factors of doing this, together with practical techniques that you can use to develop into a well-rounded, confident performer.

I suppose it is rather unusual for the husband of the author to write a foreword for her book. I could be accused of positive bias, couldn’t I? Or even of negative bias? Yet, as a participant in Kate’s life and career for over 16 years now, I think I know her rather well. In a nutshell, what comes across in her book and in her character is the purpose and passion she has in her heart for improving her own singing and for helping other singers uncover their natural, authentic voices. Enjoying singing from the heart is who she is; inspiring you to sing from your heart is what she does. Kate sings because it is her natural habitat and because she can. So should you… from your heart… in a way that naturally touches your listeners’ hearts!

In closing, I can hear at this very moment the blackbird singing in full flow. His voice resonates with freedom. Unlike most human singers, his voice is not trapped inside a cage of mental and physical barriers. His heart/voice has reason that brain-caged reason knows nothing of. All singers need to start singing outside the cage!

Bill Barbour, April 2013