Throat issues
Jockster
Enrolled Posts: 38
I´ve been on KTVA for about 4 months now and have encountered a problem i have never had before. It began when i tried to stretch my chest a half step or two and delaying my wovel modifications. This made me add tension in my throat at first.
After i have done the Audio lesson on stage two (because that´s where i am) and tried singing a couple of songs i feel a weird sensation in my throat. I feels like in the beginning of a cold when the throat is irritated with mucus. It feels like i have been doing something wrong in my singing.
I have given this a lot of thought what the reason might be. I have tried to increase my diapraghmatic support as well as holding my breath when i sing. At first i got tension in my throat from doing it wrong, but the last couple of days i have found myself with a good support mechanism and a cleaner more air-free tone. I haven´t felt any pain or tension in my chest, neck or throat during singing. But afterwards it feels like my throat is swollen.
I know Ken said somewhere that open throat singing actually remove the phlegm from the vocal folds. He also said in one of the webinars that holding your breath in the throat is damaging while holding it in the base of the neck is the correct way. I´m not really sure what way i am doing it but i have a video when i do it.
Maybe someone can tell if i´m doing something weird.
Comments
Jockster,
I think you have probably reached a "plateau" where your body needs time to catch up to your ambitions to extend your range. This is a process that will take time, and as your voice stretches higher, your musculature and vocal tract need time to adapt and grow into the place you are taking it.
We all reach plateaus and nobody really likes them, because it's more fun to amaze yourself with progress all the time. But the truth is, that we will have hills and valleys in our vocal journeys. Life is not linear.
A clue to what you may be experiencing is stretching a half-step "or two". Be careful. We're talking about your body here, and just because our mind decides it's time to be able to sing two half-steps higher, our entire vocal mechanism may not yet be up to the task. It might not even be ready for one single additional half step. Not just yet. But it Will be. In due time.
You have really moved very quickly through a number of vocal hurdles. Be satisfied getting one half-step at a time, and take your time getting to know that note really well. Get acquainted with it. Don't be in a rush to leave it behind and find a new note to love. ;^)
Your demo sounds good to me. I can tell where you are reaching your limit, but that's OK. That's just where you are today. Next month you may be a notch or two higher. It's just sounding a little stretchy. That's the idea, anyway, but don't overdo it. Give yourself time.
Your voice is probably just fatigued and feeling like it's been pushed around a bit. It will rehabilitate if you give it a rest from taking it to the limit one more time, and then another, and another....
If your problem persists after giving it a rest, go have your throat looked at by a physician. These things normally take care of themselves if you stop overdoing it.
Be healthy, and sing well!
Bob