What if one of the biggest influences on your vocal tone, style, and control is something you probably don’t think about nearly enough?

Your vowels.

In this nerdy, (yet) practical episode of The Singer’s Path Podcast, Sarah Bishop breaks down why vowels matter so much in singing, and how small changes in vowel shape can dramatically influence the way your voice functions and sounds.

Vowels are part of the “filter” through which your vocal sound travels, and the way you shape them with your tongue, jaw, lips, larynx, and other articulators can influence tone quality, perceived vocal thickness, and register.

But here's where it gets really useful:

You don't necessarily want to sing every vowel exactly the way it's written.

Depending on your voice, your habits, and the sound you're trying to create, subtly modifying a vowel can help you find a more efficient function—or create a completely different stylistic color.

Sarah also explains why blindly copying generic vocal advice from the internet can backfire. If your existing vocal habits already lean toward too much weight, for example, simply “opening your vowels” because someone online told you to belt that way may actually make the problem worse.

And then we get into the fun stuff ~style~

Why might the same lyric sound completely different in classical music, musical theater, pop, rock, country, or folk?

Vowels are a big part of that equation.

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

Abundant Artist Audio ↴

https://www.thesingerspath.com/abundant-artist-audio

Free Warm-Up Series ↴

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1yHkygsdKnCXYRoPfnuSFbFWCR6cNzvLQ?usp=drive_link

Discover Mini Course ↴

https://singerspath.mykajabi.com/discover-mini-course

Group Lessons ↴

https://www.thesingerspath.com/singer-s-path-group-coaching-waitlist

Have you loved these episodes? Leave a 5 star written review on Apple Podcasts, take a screenshot and send it to singerspath@gmail.com to be entered to win a FREE private lesson with Sarah! Winners to be announced at the end of spring! *You MUST email a picture of your screenshot to be entered!***

Reminder- if you HAVE already submitted a review for the podcast or other products from SB Vocal Studio- send an email with a screenshot and let Sarah know so you're eligible to win a FREE lesson!

Make sure to follow Sarah on Tik Tok and Instagram @singwithbish

Questions or Topic Recommendations for Sarah? Know someone who would be a perfect guest on the podcast? Fill out the form below!

Contact Sarah HERE ↴

https://www.sarahbishopvocalstudio.com/contact

Link to old Singer's PATH episodes ↴

https://www.youtube.com/@singwithbish/playlists

Want to check out the associates at Sarah Bishop Vocal Studio?

Learn more about associates Lily and Jeremy here! ↴

https://www.sarahbishopvocalstudio.com/associate-teachers

Watch the podcast on Youtube HERE

Have you ever started learning something new and suddenly thought, "Wait… was I always this bad?"

You're practicing. You're studying. You're putting in the work. And somehow, instead of feeling more confident, you feel like you're getting worse.

You're noticing every mistake. You're overanalyzing your technique. You're suddenly aware of tension, breath, your tongue, your larynx, your audition nerves, and it can feel like you've uncovered an endless list of things that are "wrong" with you.

But what if that awareness is actually a sign that you're making progress?

In this episode of The Singer's Path Podcast, Sarah Bishop introduces the Four Stages of Competence, a framework that explains the uncomfortable stages we move through whenever we're learning and developing a skill. She focuses on the first two stages, unconscious incompetence and conscious incompetence—and explains why becoming aware of what you don't know can temporarily make you feel less capable, even as you're moving forward.

Sarah shares examples from singing, acting, auditioning, and her own training journey, including what it felt like to finally become aware of a technical problem and then be completely frustrated that she couldn't consistently fix it yet.

This episode is a reminder to give yourself some dang grace.

Because sometimes "I'm struggling more than I used to" doesn't mean you're failing. It means you're finally aware enough to grow.

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

Abundant Artist Audio ↴

https://www.thesingerspath.com/abundant-artist-audio

The Inner Circle ↴

https://www.thesingerspath.com/singers-path-inner-circle

Group Lessons ↴

https://www.thesingerspath.com/singer-s-path-group-coaching-waitlist

Have you loved these episodes? Leave a 5 star written review on Apple Podcasts, take a screenshot and send it to singerspath@gmail.com to be entered to win a FREE private lesson with Sarah! Winners to be announced at the end of spring! *You MUST email a picture of your screenshot to be entered!***

Reminder- if you HAVE already submitted a review for the podcast or other products from SB Vocal Studio- send an email with a screenshot and let Sarah know so you're eligible to win a FREE lesson!

Make sure to follow Sarah on Tik Tok and Instagram @singwithbish

Questions or Topic Recommendations for Sarah? Know someone who would be a perfect guest on the podcast? Fill out the form below!

Contact Sarah HERE ↴

https://www.sarahbishopvocalstudio.com/contact

Link to old Singer's PATH episodes ↴

https://www.youtube.com/@singwithbish/playlists

Want to check out the associates at Sarah Bishop Vocal Studio?

Learn more about associates Lily and Jeremy here! ↴

https://www.sarahbishopvocalstudio.com/associate-teachers

Watch the podcast on Youtube HERE

What if you're not actually burned out from the work itself?

What if you're burned out from everything you've decided the work has to look like?

In this episode of The Singer's Path Podcast, Sarah continues the conversation around creative burnout, sustainable consistency, and the importance of creating space. She explores the invisible rules artists often place around their careers. The constant "shoulds," "coulds," "woulds," urgency, pressure to post, pressure to audition, and belief that more output automatically means more progress.

Sarah challenges the idea that taking a break is interrupting your work. What if space isn't a pause from the creative process, but the place where your next version of your work gets created? She shares how stepping away can create room for clarity, creativity, recovery, and a deeper connection to the purpose behind what you're doing.

This episode is for the ambitious artist who keeps pushing, keeps producing, keeps trying to "stay consistent", and is starting to wonder why the joy has disappeared.

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

Abundant Artist Audio ↴

https://www.thesingerspath.com/abundant-artist-audio

The Inner Circle ↴

https://www.thesingerspath.com/singers-path-inner-circle

Have you loved these episodes? Leave a 5 star written review on Apple Podcasts, take a screenshot and send it to singerspath@gmail.com to be entered to win a FREE private lesson with Sarah! Winners to be announced at the end of spring! *You MUST email a picture of your screenshot to be entered!***

Reminder- if you HAVE already submitted a review for the podcast or other products from SB Vocal Studio- send an email with a screenshot and let Sarah know so you're eligible to win a FREE lesson!

Make sure to follow Sarah on Tik Tok and Instagram @singwithbish

Questions or Topic Recommendations for Sarah? Know someone who would be a perfect guest on the podcast? Fill out the form below!

Contact Sarah HERE ↴

https://www.sarahbishopvocalstudio.com/contact

Link to old Singer's PATH episodes ↴

https://www.youtube.com/@singwithbish/playlists

Want to check out the associates at Sarah Bishop Vocal Studio?

Learn more about associates Lily and Jeremy here! ↴

https://www.sarahbishopvocalstudio.com/associate-teachers

Watch the podcast on Youtube HERE