Your Own Voice Is Waiting: That Moment You Notice You Borrow Styles

Some singers walk into a coaching session with me wanting to fix a note. Others walk in wanting to find a sound.
Zoe walked in wanting to claim her own voice – not just vocally, but artistically.

She’s a highly skilled singer. Studio-ready. Sharp ears. Taste. But this session wasn’t about tuning or tone.

It was about authorship.

“I’m very good at copying. So I can sound quite good… but I’m basically using their articulation and decision-making.”

This is a moment many artists don’t even notice – let alone say out loud. Zoe did. That was the first shift.

Shift #1: Recognising What’s Borrowed

When a singer starts identifying which parts of their performance are learned from others, something powerful happens. It’s not about disowning your influences. It’s about reclaiming your own choices.

“When it comes to my stuff, I’m not necessarily making decisions, really.”

That insight turned the session. We moved from “is this version any good?” to “how do we make this sound more like you, more like your own voice?”

Shift #2: Adding Without Overloading

We were listening back to one of her tracks. An earlier version had felt incomplete – almost as if the song hadn’t quite arrived. And then, in the new version…

“When the guitar came in, it was like YES, that’s what I was talking about.”

The solution wasn’t more. It was the right thing at the right time. She didn’t need a new arrangement. She needed an earlier guitar entry. A single tweak that changed the momentum of the entire song.

Small shift. Huge result.

Shift #3: From Emotional to Technical

Zoe is emotionally connected. She feels her material deeply. But this time, she began noticing that emotional intensity wasn’t always supported by vocal variation.

“I think emotion – but I don’t necessarily have a technical change.”

This awareness didn’t diminish the emotion. It enhanced it. Now she could start matching emotional rise with vocal contour – giving the listener the signal to come with her. Still in her own voice, but with emotion and meaning.

And she did it naturally. In her own words, she had some “revelations” the night before the session. That’s how you know the coaching is working – the insights start showing up in preparation for the session.

Shift #4: Owning the Form

There was a run of lyrics – “turn on, turn on, turn on.” She sang it four times. It landed well. But I asked for five.

“Because four is very four-square… but five makes it sound like it’s going to go on forever.”

She lit up.

“Love that. I accidentally did three of something yesterday… I am quite four-square. For someone who’s not four-square, I’m quite four-square.”

This was said with a laugh, but it revealed something deeper. She was starting to hear herself in real time — not just the words or notes, but the habits. And instead of defaulting, she was choosing.

That’s artistry.

What This Kind of Session Is

It’s not about polishing what’s already working. It’s about uncovering what wants to emerge. In Zoe’s case:

• Noticing when she was performing someone else’s decisions

• Building vocal contrast to support emotion

• Choosing arrangement and phrasing intentionally

• Reclaiming her musical instincts

If you’re a singer-songwriter, vocal creative, or experienced vocalist who sometimes wonders if your sound is “yours” – or which is truly your own voice – this is the work. Not branding. Not marketing. Voice. At the deepest level.

Want in?

Book a coaching session with me. Whether it’s your vocal habits, your creative process, or your sense of direction, we’ll find the thread. And we’ll pull it gently until your own voice is right there in front of you.