As a voice teacher I care about vocal health and singing the healthiest you can to preserve the life of your voice in whatever vocal calling of singing genre you have.  There is a fine line between a scream and a sing. I’ve actually heard that line crossed many times and each time I do it makes my own vocal chords cringe with muscular empathy for the person who does it.

Don’t get me wrong.  I love a good heavy medal voice, but one that it supported by muscles in the abdomen rather then one that is riding on raw vocal chords.  This doesn’t contain itself just to heavy medal.  I have heard many a tenor and soprano cross the line from sing to scream when going for a high note they are not supporting. Ouch.  Or someone who is to high out of their tessitura and ends up yelling a whole song.

It is actually a minor adjustment to go from sing to scream and that’s why the nuance of it can be so difficult to master especially when you are standing out there on stage.  It is simply taking the tension out of the chords and putting it low into your musculature for body support.

Let me explain to you technically what a scream does to your chords.  It takes them and just rubs them together in  an awful form of friction which is the opposite of how the vocal chords are intended to be used for good singing.

If you feel the scream in your throat then you are not supporting it and you ARE doing damage to your own voice.  The more you do it the more likely you are to develop vocal nodules which are essentially blisters that come up from too much friction on your vocal chords.  This can cause eventual permanent vocal damage if not treated properly with vocal rest, healthy vocalizing, and or yucky surgery.

Now, there is the question, how can you prevent the unsupported scream in a singing situation?  You need proper vocal support in your body.  The higher you go in the voice the lower that you need to be accessing muscle support from in your body.  So think of singing your higher notes with your feet or even from the “imaginary” roots in the ground under your feet.  Access the earth to get you through a tough passage.

When we are nervous our muscle support system can fall apart due to our shallow breathing.  You need to remember to breath and to breath low.  (My Voice Lessons To GO v.1 Vocalize and Breath has a long section of breathing exercises to help you master this).  What may have been beautiful singing in your house can completely go “screamy” in a performance with shallow unconnected breathing.  We see this happening a lot on the American Idol auditions.  People walking in saying I don’t know what happened I didn’t sound like that at home.  And it may be true, but no one cares.  You need to be able to deliver consistently no matter the audition or performance.

Some keep on singing instead of screaming tips:

If you are in a band:

Remember you have a microphone and an amp- so use it.  You should not have to be constantly screaming over your band to be heard, rather turn them down and turn yourself up so that there is a better balance. People want to hear your words no matter how good your guitarist is.  Give yourself a break by making this possible with the proper balance of amplification.

Don’t over rehearse the night before.  If you use up all of your healthy singing the night before and go to long you may inflame your chords a bit.  This will throw you off in your performance.  If your chords are a bit swollen it can throw off your whole technique which can push you to push or scream.- Not good.  I Iike to prevent a rehearsal the day before when possible so that the voice can remain fresh for the performance.  If it is not possible to prevent the rehearsal then mark your way through it.  Save the gusto for the performance.

Use moniters on stage.  Make sure you can hear yourself.  I think that this is a really important.  There is a strange phenomenon that occurs on stage when you are singing with other instruments or singers.  You don’t always here yourself in real time since acoustically the sound goes out and bounces back to your ears.  If possible, make sure there are monitors on stage that you can hear and only listen to them.

When singing unplugged:

If the acoustics are bad in a room don’t try and over compensate by over singing. Memorize the sensation of singing freely and do that no matter what the room does or does not give back to you.  People will hear your push as a push , if your do it, so don’t.

If your acoustic accompaniment is playing too loud, rather then try and sing over them give them a visual sign to hold back (in a friendly way).  Make sure when possible to do a sound check with them as well, not just rockand roll singers need this.  Every piano is different.  Every room creates a different acoustic experience. Check the balance before hand so that you are comfortable with what you are putting out there.

Remember that you audience will absorb the sound.  Literally.  Just like carpets and drapes do.   So filling a room with people will change your balance, don’t be thrown by it.  Still, sing naturally.

You can’t be the judge.  What you hear on stage may not be what the audience hears.  Just because you are standing near an open piano that is blasting in your ear or a baritone who is resonating for days, it doesn’t mean that your voice is not pinging through to the last seat in the house.  Trust your voice and your training. Sing healthy and naturally no matter what.  Remember, if you push to be louder you will just sound pushed and throw of your technique.  Who knows, if you stick to your good technique the loud baritone may come across negatively as someone trying to sing over you.  Always give an honest performance of your own voice.

Certain music requires a certain amount of “scream”.  What you can do to sustain that is to balance it with healthy vocal work outside of that.  Use your scream only when necessary, don’t practice it in rehearsals- just save it for the performances, and for God’s Sake- SUPPORT YOUR VOICE WITH MORE THEN YOUR VOCAL CHORDS !  Your are singing because you love it.  SO think always about how to sustain your ability to do it well.

Sing well people!

written by Ariella Vaccarino creator of Voice Lessons To Go (singing lessons on CD) and author of Vocalize!

Want a professional opinion of how you sound?  Sign up for my Vocal Assessment. Then send me a link or mp3 of you singing (audio/or audio visual) with your questions and I will get back to you with my feedback right away.

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Just a quick reminder to all my football fans out there.  If you are interested in singing, then you need to think about protecting your voice.  That means all the time, even during your favorite Super Bowl party.  And if by any chance you actually have tickets to the event, amazing, but you are in triple vocal danger from the average party goer.

In general if you are at a super bowl party, just watch the screaming.  Make sure you are supporting your voice at all times from your diaphragm even during the craziest play.

Yelling or talking over a crowd to be heard is really one of the worst things you can do for your voice.  It completely knocks your voice out of wack and swells your chords.  Don’t try and yell over people to be heard.  Either wait for a quiet moment to speak, or speak at a normal volume closer to someone, instead of across the room.  Also, seriously, why not warm up your voice,  www.voicelessonstogo.com, before you go so that you are in a good spot vocally when you get there.

This advice is even more important if you have a singing gig coming up.  Your voice will recover from the event within a few days, but if you have some big singing to do afterwards, you could start the beginings of a bad problem.  If your chords are swollen and you sing on them you will use your throat muscles more than normally and create more swelling, maybe even vocal noduals.  So be careful.

Support with your voice when you show your team support singers!

A friendly reminder from:

Ariella Vaccarino- creator of of Voice Lessons To Go (singing lessons on Cd), and author of Vocalize!

www.voicelessonstogo.com

Need a professional opinion of your voice BEFORE your next audition, or just curious how you measure up in the singing world? Sign up for Vocal Assessment on my site- you send me a link or mp3 of your voice with your questions and I get back to you with a professional opinion right away.

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It may take more to just a vocal warm up to prepare you for your performance or audition.  Think of your body as a machine.  Each machine is a little different and works best under its own specific conditions.

Warming up with Voice Lessons To GO is a great start for your “vocal warm-up’, but there is more you can do to get everything working its best.   Develop a routine that works for you by trial an error so you have something you can count on.

Here are some ideas try a few out and see what works for you:

1. Do a physical warm up before your sing- yoga, walking, biking, swimming are all great for getting the muscles warm and the breath engaged.  If you are physically warmed-up before you do your vocal warm-up you all ready have a head start on your singing.  Your body will be there to support your singing.

2. Do breathing exercises:  Whether as a result of a physical warm -up such as swimming or just 15 minutes of breathing exercises (I have great ones on volume 1 Vocalize & Breath of Voice Lessons To Go. The sooner you get your diaphragm coordinating with your breath the faster you will sing better, as well as develop more stamina and power.

3. Take a hot shower- this helps to break up built up phlegm, open up nasal passages and your sining resonators.

4. Humming and yawn sighs-  These are great “pre-vocal-warm-ups”.  Keep them light ans easy, just to wake things up.  Great to do in the shower since your acoustics will be favorable so you will be less likely to push.

5. Find a warm-up song that fits your voice like a glove. – After you do your vocal warm-up, sing through some pieces that really work for your voice everytime, so that you can “set the standard” for your practice ahead.  Your song selection for this may not be obvious.  For example I am a lyric coloratura the highest type of soprano, yet I often warm-up with an aria from Carmen which is for a lower voice.  It seems to set my middle voice solid so that my regular songs float freer.  Sometimes I do the opposite and sing my hardest aria, queen of the night, right after the mezzo aria because it “shocks” my system into working since it is so hard.  This is a very individual decision, but really can be a great lead into practice.  Warming-up should not just be my CDs or your own vocalizes, it should include a transition song into songs.

6. Drink something warm with honey- I love Roibos tea!  There is no caffeine and it and it is smooth with the honey, not necessary but a good ritual for me.  It helps keep all my vocal muscles calm.

7.  Listen- play some recordings of singers who sing well to open your mind to singing well to.  We learn by listening.  Hearing someone with great placement can have a great influence on your own voice.  (make sure they are good singers!)  Good songs, and good singing are two different things.  Make sure you pick the ladder for this one.

8. Play through your music- sometimes I just play the piano parts through on my pieces to get into the piece and familiarize myself with the other aspects of it, other than my vocal part.  I think it really helps my to get comfortable with being part of the work.  We have to remember that a sing has many elements and we are only the singing element.

9. Speak your lines-  Get the lyrics into your body as speech.  This will really help your diction and vocal placement.  Remember singing is extended speech- it should sound natural and easy like you are speaking.

10.   Give yourself time-  A good vocal warm-up takes some time.  Some people need longer than others.  Some performances and styles need more time as well.  Prepare some time for yourself to sing properly.  When you try and push through a practice, often you end up doing just that, pushing.  there is no pushing allowed in good , healthy singing.

I hope some of these ideas inspire or help you.  I would love your feedback on anything you do for your best warm-up!

Ariella Vaccarino

www.voicelessonstogo.com

creator of Voice Lessons To Go- singing lessons on CD, and author of Vocalize!

Hey everyone, I was inspired after seeing some singers this weekend in a musical to write the following.  Something vital to healthy beautiful long lasting singing is keeping the emotions out of your larynx.

In “real Life emotion”, often our emotions express themselves directly through our voices.  If we are mad we scream or bear down on our throats in anger in a sort of growl, when sad our larynx’s rise and choke up as we cry, when elated our voices raise.  That is fabulous for real life and even for straight acting.  The crazy thing is that when you sing you can’t do any of that.  Instead you need to show emotion through your face, eyes, and body.

This is actually much harder then it sounds especially if you are a realistic “actor”.  Somehow in singing you need to divorce your larynx and all the muscles around it from the emotions that you need to display.  Try to transfer all tensions into your limbs and face when expressing strong emotions to your audience. If not you will risk that your voice will tense up and you will loose your freedom when going for high or powerful notes causing you to crack and make less then beautiful sounds.

A great example is in Opera. The heroine is most likely preparing to die at the end, but yet, even overcome with the most extreme illness she lays there singing the most exquisite purest sounds “pre” her death.

Or the Tenor who finds out that the Baritone is trying to steal his Bride and kingdom, through the sword fights and all, they sound magestic and powerful.  Not grovelly and tight.

Something to keep in mind.  Great emotion in singing is not necessarily a natural process.  Put a safety box around that larynx and emote around it instead.

Sing well!

Ariella

As I sit here and blog today, I am joined by a most sultry husky voice…mine.  Not my usual sound I assure you being a coloratura soprano. Even though I am secretly enjoying my va va voom sound, it is a pretty serious problem if a singing engagement was on hand.

My advice, don’t sing if you have any semblance of laryngitis. There is no “singing through it”, rather you will damage your voice if you persist to sing when you have this virus.  Of course if you do have a performance coming up you can get steroid shots from a ear nose and throat specialist who could probably get you through the experience.  I had that happen to me once singing for LA Opera in Journey To Cordoba.  I got through the performance but it was at about 45% of my usual ability, it took weeks to get back on track after that.

Actually try and be as silent as you can during such a trauma to the voice, this way you will not risk over speaking or singing on swollen shut chords.  I’ve said enough!  I hope many of you are enjoying healthy singing voices this week.  Keep sending your vocal assessments through, I would especially love to hear some new pretty voices this week after listening to my own!