Question about stretching/strengthening vocal cord/range...

EllyM

Hi there,

I am a beginner singer working on releasing tongue root and jaw tension at the moment with some success, but I still feel a little pain/tension on my chords after warming up.

I would like to start strengthening my higher register as it feels weak, but am i going for this too early?

Also - is there a difference between tension felt after warming up and possible tension after strengthening the higher register?.....as in can you feel a slight pain/tension after stretching the chords gently and consciously...kind of like the good pain after going to the gym...or is all tension bad?

Thank you for your input!

EllyM

HuduVudu

First off, make sure that you have solid breath control. Lip burbles are a good way to ensure that this is the case. If you have that under control, then stretching your voice will be much safer. You are correct that you need to be warmed up before you start. The only tension that you should feel from warming up is in your support mechanism.

You will feel tension in throat as you stretch your voice, this is normal. Just like being at the gym don't push your voice beyond what it could possibly take. Be consistent over time and you will extend your range.

Hope that helps.

EllyM

Yes that does help. Thank you so much....good logical advice...

I like lip burbles [trills?]...but I can only really do them successfully if i squeeze the sides of my mouth..like where dimples normally are on the face area.

Do you think I should train myself to do the burbles without the use of my hand supporting them, or is it ok to use the support? I am able to go much higher with the support of my hand squeezing, otherwise the burble just cuts out for me...?

Plus - may I just clarify what you mean by this -"The only tension that you should feel from warming up is in your support mechanism."

As softly as I go when warming up I ALWAYS feel some amount of vocal tension...is this what you would call the expected sensation from having engaged my support mechanism correctly?

Thank you for your extra help!

Elly M

HuduVudu

but I can only really do them successfully if i squeeze the sides of my mouth..like where dimples normally are on the face area.

Work on not doing them this way. You are giving up a lot of the benefit of them when you do this. The important thing about them is that you need to try and do them with as little breath as possible and forcing your face causes you to lose the feedback mechanism that tells you that you doing it correctly or not.

As softly as I go when warming up I ALWAYS feel some amount of vocal tension...is this what you would call the expected sensation from having engaged my support mechanism correctly?

You should feel no real tension in your vocal chords. The tension you should feel is in your abdomen. That is where your support is at. You diaphragm should be doing a huge percentage of the work.

Here is a great video where an opera singer is explaining what I am talking about. The relevant spot in the video is 4:03. The whole video is great and cute and the kids ask awesome questions.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95RLviccrQc

Ken talks about it here:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv3T-xA28fE

doc_ramadani

Shane, a very nice video with the kids.

HuduVudu

EllyM

Thank you very much for your advice. I had the feeling that I was losing something by making my lip trills 'perfect' by using my hands to force the sound!

I am sick today, but will view the videos another day very soon. Thank you so much once again! I really appreciate ihe feedback

EllyM