Cramps in neck

Anne_

Hi everyone,

I have been singing for a while (pretty decently) and never have issues with soreness, hoarseness, etc. As I want to sing more rock style I was considering this course for further improvement of my belting range and getting into compression.

I was trying out the warm up exercises, lip roll, tongue exercise and lah scales. But the exercise routine gave me pretty bad cramps in my neck on both sides just underneath my jaw. (I never had this before when singing, only sometimes after yawning.)

Now I must say I have trouble in general opening my jaw, also at the dentists etc. I have to sort of move my jaw a little forward else the joint is locked. So either opening my mouth this wide or sticking out my tongue for longer durations is causing me problems. I must add though that all my muscles cramp easily as I have exercise intolerance.

Now I am wondering whether the training/workout/course are right for me? Is this a case of just slowly training my muscles and building endurance? Is this something a lot of students struggle with? Or should I do something different? As opening the mouth as wide as possible is the cornerstone of the method this is really having me wondering. I want to learn, but not if it causes me problems...

Thanks a lot in advance!
Anne

Vocality

Hi @Anne_

Welcome to the KTVA forum from the UK.

One of the first things we need to manage tension stay relaxed are we building tension, its normal to get muscular pain at the start were building strength and stamina which takes time to improve gradually as you progress. The course outlines more on managing tension and other important information that builds a strong foundation.

As you have existing issues I will tag @doc_ramadani he will reply to this thread to give you more advice on the medical side as well.

Vocality

DonniDeVille

@Anne_ I had a little of that problem with the tongue exercises! Perhaps we need to do them gently and not push the tongue too hard? Try not to protrude the tongue much, as I found that a bit easier... To start with anyway. I'm not giving up on it, as Ken said it was important...

Wigs

If you have the course, I suggest getting your student access here and we can try help you out more.

https://forum.kentamplinvocalacademy.com/discussion/6859/how-to-get-access-to-the-ktva-student-areas-of-the-forums#latest

Anne_

Thanks for your answers so far! I do not have the course yet. If the cornerstone of the course is giving me problems that are completely new this course might not be the right one for me.. As I said I am able to sing without tension and with support. It is just that protruding the tongue and opening my jaw as wide as possible is giving me cramps. So I was wondering if this is to be expected and something I have to train or if it is a red flag.

@DonniDeVille Sorry to hear you are also having a bit of a problem there. Though I am also glad to hear I am not the only one!

Klaus_T

hi, if I were you I would do the free exercises for a while, and see if it gets better. after all, "as wide as possible" doesn't mean anything other than what IS possible for you. which might be less than Ken, but still for you "as wide as possible". this will improve over time. I also had a bit of a tight jaw in the beginning. I did some additional exercises to relax the jaw. the YT video with the exercises I did was in German, but you can google "jaw relaxation exercises" and get tons of results. i would do the exercises before the singing so you are sure it is all relaxed. you can also do shoulder rolls for the general area

Anne_

The jaw exercises did help me, thanks for the suggestion! Not necessarily for the cramps but it did make opening my jaw easier. Belting the high notes was also more effortless. Let’s see what happens if I keep practicing..
(Might even make chewing a steak more comfortable as a bonus😂)