lisa richards world = music + life

Why You Can't Belt That High Note (And It's Not Your Fault) 

A student once sat in my studio, looked at me like she'd just failed a life exam, and said: " I should be able to belt this D5, what is wrong with me?"I smiled and then deconstructed this common myth that makes singers feel like failures. Somewhere along the way, we decided that if you're not blasting a huge, chest-heavy high note straight into a microphone, you're failing at singing. Here's

How to Overcome Creative Blocks: Sending Your Internal Songwriting Editor Away 

A blank page isn't an artistic problem; it’s a judicial one. You are trying to sit as judge and jury over a song that hasn't even made it out of the gate yetWhen you sit down with your guitar or open a blank notebook, who is really in the room with you? If you find yourself crossing out a line before you even finish the verse, your analytical editor has taken control.. You are trying to prune a

Why Your Canberra Team Needs to Find Its Collective Voice 

In a city driven by public service, corporate leadership, and policy creation, teams need a shared rhythm. By stepping into a creative, vocal-focused space, your team can build a culture rooted in genuine trust and emotional intelligence.Moving from Competition to Shared HarmonyMany workplace dynamics thrive on rigid hierarchy, but these same frameworks can stifle communication. Process-oriented

How Leaders Are Heard 

The Executive Voice: Why Your Presence is a Physical ActLeadership isn’t just about the strategy you present; it’s about the sound of your conviction. In a city like Canberra, where communication is our primary currency, the ability to command a room is often the difference between a project being greenlit or ignored.I recently spent a day leading professional development for the presenting team

Corporate Singing Workshops and Vocal Health Sessions in Canberra and Sydney 

A more human kind of workplace workshop A lot of workplace workshops are trying very hard not to be boring.Some of them succeed.Some of them don’t.A lot of team-building still feels like something people get through rather than something they actually get anything from. Everyone turns up, everyone does their best, and then everyone goes back to work.That’s part of why I started offering corporate

December Reflections: Finding Calm, Creativity, and Connection at Year’s End 

December Is a Strange OnePeople are gradually slowing down — or winding up so they can collapse on Christmas Eve and call it for the winter break.Families unravel over Christmas.Drinking increases.Domestic violence increases.There’s pressure to buy the perfect gift — something that somehow surpasses last year in meaning or surprise — even though most people don’t need more things.There’s food

Why We Make Things That Don’t Make Sense 

Lately, I’ve been thinking about why humans create. Yes there is creativity that builds a bridge or bakes a loaf of bread — this is what I call ‘ the useful kind  of creativity’ — but what about the kind that makes no clear logical sense? . The kind that calls sound out from the air or arranges colour on a canvas with no promise of function, profit, or survival benefit.We sculpt, sing, write

Just Started Playing Live Again — Now Booking House Concerts, Festivals & Private Events 

Hey there,I just started playing live again after a good 18 months away.And I didn’t take that break by choice.What do they say… Life is what happens while you are busy making plans? — an illness took my voice and left me with vocal nodes, then came a fractured wrist… and just as I was recovering, I fractured my tibial plateau. I had to stop. Everything.When you’re offstage for that long,

The Teacher Told You to Mime in 7th Grade? Here’s Why That Was Never About You 

Hey there,If you're one of the many people who were told to "just mime" during a school choir, classroom sing-along, or 7th grade music performance — this one’s for you.I hear this story all the time in my studio.A grown-up walks in, nervous about their voice. I start talking to them and it doesn’t take long before they say something like…“My music teacher told me to mime in Year 7.” “I was told

Singing as a Rebellion Against Burnout 

Hey friendsIf you're feeling a bit done lately, you're not alone.Burnout isn’t just for overachievers anymore — it’s  the constant background hum that whispers “ do more, be more, have more” mixed with “what is the point?.” It’s the 24/7 relentless flow of information and deadlines, it’s work,  kids, pets, and partners all demanding a piece of you until… Let's face it, you are