Singing for health: Annie Pennies' vocal training boosts physical, mental health

Jason Gibbs
Las Cruces Sun-News
Annie Pennies, who offers Singing for Health classes in Las Cruces, is shown in her home studio on Thursday, Oct. 5.

A voice lesson from Annie Pennies is not just about polishing vocal talent. It’s about improving her students’ overall health.

Pennies holds a bachelor’s degree in vocal music education from New Mexico State University and a master’s in opera and musical theater from Arizona State University, where she is pursuing a doctorate in vocal performance. She also holds her 200-hour Yoga certificate and is working toward her 500-hour certification with an emphasis in Yoga therapeutics.

That educational combination now has her exploring the benefits of singing, both for mental and physical well-being. One of the key benefits, she said, is improved breathing, which results both from vocal training and yoga.

“My biggest thing was the breath,” Pennies said. “There’s such a huge breath connection. In Yoga, it’s essentially the science of breath. What do you use to sing? You can’t sing without breath.

“Singing for Health, I put together in an effort to do the same thing using your body and using movement and adding another piece to it — using your voice — to free you of tension, help free you from anxiety,” she continued. “People don’t realize a simple hum, a simple vibration in your body using your breath and vocal cords … can help vibrate your central nervous system. It’s a way for you to release that no other pair of things can do.”

Unexpected delay, reason to stay

Pennies was living and studying in Rome and had come home to Las Cruces while waiting for her employer to secure a work visa for her. The Italian government was taking its time in issuing the required paperwork when Pennies ran into a situation that would keep her in Las Cruces on a more permanent basis.

Torrie Hughes, a student in the theater department at New Mexico State University, talks with Annie Pennies during her vocal lesson at Pennies' home studio.

She met Eric Rangel, an orchestra director and percussionist.

“One beer a week turned into dinner once a week, turned into ‘are we dating?’” Pennies said. “All of a sudden we fall in love. He said yes. Italy said no and here I am in Las Cruces.”

Rather than teach in the public school system, Pennies opted to start teaching from her home studio about a year-and-a-half ago. Her business, AP Studios, currently has more than 30 students enrolled. Previously, she taught students in Tempe, Arizona and in New York. Her current group of students range from age 5 to “a handful of very experienced lifers,” she said.

The older community members have increased their lung capacity, enabling them to sing longer lines of music by taking deeper breaths. Some of her high school students have shown a surge in confidence as they practice. Pennies also has a couple of students with special needs who have shown “a new sense of focus,” she said.

Tim Hretz, plays a Mumford & Sons song during his music lesson with Annie Pennies.

“I’ve been very strategic in planning their lessons and seen a focus shift that’s been really impressive because there has been growth and learning, not just fun,” Pennies said.

Musical training also benefits mental acuity, and she points to it as the best way to learn a new language as an example.

“You think about it visually. You see the page, see the words,” she said. “Orally, you’re singing them so the muscles, tongue, lips actually use that memory. Then you hear it … all of those things help to solidify those neurotransmitting connections to keep things in your mind, almost like filing them away in a little memory cabinet.”

Students in tune

Torrie Hughes, 21, a theater and musical theater senior at NMSU, was looking for local voice teachers when a professor suggested Pennies. Hughes has been working with Pennies for the last couple of years, primarily on voice but she has noticed the health benefits as well.

“I always feel a lot better after going to a lesson with Annie,” Hughes said. “A lot of the warm-ups and stuff she has us do incorporate the whole body. We are really just focusing on the technique. We can block out the other things in our head. Working with the whole body, warming up and focusing on breathing, we don’t have to focus on any other distraction or stress. When I go into Annie’s studio I leave my worries at the door.”

Hughes has been able to take the techniques with her and uses them to de-stress during her daily routines.

“A lot of the breathing exercises help with that and sometimes we stretch and do vocal warm-ups that consist of me throwing a football or doing squats or stuff like that,” Hughes said. “It’s like any of the things I could do during the week and help lower my stress significantly.”

Curing what ails you

Pennies, still working on her doctorate, continues to explore and refine the ways in which singing impacts people’s health. She also continues to build her classes, adding new pieces as she works with people, she said. The bio-mechanics of breathing can be used to ease pain, both mental and physical. Students often tell her working with her feels more like a therapy session than a voice lesson, she said.

A note reading, "your breath is your anchor to your present moment," sticks to the piano of Annie Pennies, who teaches singing lessons to help people deal with stress and depression among other health issues.

“What if, at least one time a day, you didn’t have to take a pill?” she asks. “What if you could move your body in a very mindful way, breathe in a very mindful way, use your voice in a mindful way? What if that could bring you five minutes of easy, pain-free living?

“Then you realize it’s possible,” she said. “I don’t have to live in pain every second of my life. There is relief and I don’t know when it happens next but I know it happened then. Maybe next time will be six minutes and the next time a half hour. Even cooler, what if I actually had the teeny-tiniest bit of fun while I was doing it.”

Pennies is encouraged, if a little surprised, by her business’ success and credits the students for doing the hard work.

“Every semester we have a recital at Good Samaritan, I tell my students every semester ‘It’s the biggest honor to be trusted with your voice,’” she said. “It’s such an intimate thing we share, such an honor to me. I learn so much more from my students than I could ever give them. Most of the time I’m just facilitating what’s already in you.”

For information about AP Music Studios, visit facebook.com/apmusicstudiolascruces or contact Pennies at penniesa@icloud.com

Jason Gibbs may be reached at 575-541-5451, jgibbs@lcsun-news.com or @fjgwriter on Twitter.