April 3, 2009 - 3:00 pm.
How Fabulous ! The first search result of 71 MILLION pages on Over Singing shows a video on how not to Over Sing and gives no advice on how not to. Instead a person shows you how to do a humming exercise. As all good teachers she does the right thing by showing you how to do the exercise by doing the exercise herself while a tape plays the notes on a piano. The only problem is that she doesn’t master her breathing technique and has no control over her voice singing every single note out of tune.
So let me give you this little advice onn how not to over sing.
Introduction.
After 5 years of vocal training one day I woke up and prepared for my daily vocal workout. After some warm up I was ready to sing some songs. On singing a bit higher suddenly my voice made a scratchy noise and I could not sing any note beyond that pitch.
I thought my voice only tripped but when I tried again the same note gave no more than this scratchy harsh noise. It was quite scary and I had no clue what was going on.
I didn’t feel uncomfortable or pain as a sign I did something wrong so to find out what was happening I went to see an ENT doctor who looked at my vocal chords with a camera and told me there was a cyst on my vocal cords.
He told me not to sing for 3 weeks and avoid speech. I was quite upset because singing had been part of my day to day life for several years. I needed it.
Nevertheless I had no choice if I wanted my voice back and I did exactly as I was told and 3 weeks later my voice was there again better than ever.
Now what happened? I remembered that for a while I had been doing a new exercise and I thought this would give extra thickness and power to my voice but instead a few months later I lost my voice.
When the doctor told me I had a cyst I instantly knew this must’ve been the result of the new exercise and I realised that I had actually been over singing.
What is over singing?
When you sing in a band and the band is so loud you have to consciously and constantly sing louder because the volume of the microphone cannot be increased without giving feedback that’s when you over sing.
Over singing puts pressure on the vocal cords because the extra volume doesn’t come from the breathing technique. The more pressure the sooner you will lose your voice. If you give all you have for about an hour or so the next day or even the same day after singing you might be hoarse or have no voice at all.
If you put some pressure but didn’t give everything you had you might not notice anything instantly but over time-and that could be up to several months later-you will get vocal problems. Possible problems are nodules, a cyst…
The right breathing technique and being a trained singer won’t spare your voice from vocal problems.
It might actually make it worse as your voice has built up reserves. Your voice is stronger but it doesn’t mean you can’t damage it. You just won’t get that instant hoarseness or loss of voice the next day. You might not notice anything for months and so you won’t be alerted you are doing something wrong. Nevertheless within time problems will rise if you keep over singing.
How to avoid over singing?
You should always feel comfortable in your throat and not feel tired or any sort of hoarseness or pain is a signal that you’re doing something wrong. When singing in a band make sure you sing exactly the way you sing without a band. A microphone should make no difference to the way you sing. Some people start singing louder. That is the microphones’ work. If your voice can’t be heard the band has to reduce the volume of their instruments.
What to do when you did over sing?
Always keep your singing in check whenever and wherever you sing. No matter how trained you are don’t take your technique and experience for granted. When you realise you’re over singing instantly correct yourself: Stop, relax, center your energy and start over.
Try to develop hearing yourself from inside yourself without having to cover one ear rather than hearing your voice back through the speakers. If you can do that it will be unlikely you will over sing.
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April 2, 2009 - 3:11 pm.
A lot of people happen to speak too low or too high. Most of these people are not aware they’re doing this and it may never become a problem. Maybe you also speak too low or too high. If that is the case and your voice plays a part in your job it is important that you speak with your natural voice.
Vocal Pollution.
We are not aware of what exactly we do when we speak. We provide the content. Our body and mind do the rest and if everything works well than our voice will sound natural and the pitch it produces will be the natural pitch which will be different for every person.
If it is that simple than how does it happen that some people don’t speak with their natural voice?
This is not an article about air pollution but it does have a tremendous effect on the voice. Gasses, smoke, dust, soot etc. If you live in London simply ride a push bike starting at London Bridge towards the center of London. Unless you cover your face with a mask thirty minutes later the tissue in your nostrils will burst. The same air passes your vocal cords. Though tissue on the vocal cords might not be damaged you won’t be able to sing at peak level.
While there are physical circumstances that have a lowering effect on the voice such as smoking, breathing second hand smoke and drinking alcohol an altered voice can be caused by emotional conditions.
Emotions Speak.
Our feelings have an instant effect on the sound of our voice. Serious physical pain makes us speak higher or almost whisper. A lot of people suppress or hide their emotions. Hiding or trying not to feel intense pain puts pressure on the larynx-sometimes to a point where the throat physically hurts-which in turn lowers the pitch of the voice. Try to speak in a moment of intense emotional pain. You will hear that the pitch of your voice has changed. Allowing yourself to feel the pain, trying your best not to feel the pain or trying to hide it only from the listener will give your voice a different sound and/or pitch for each of these possibilities.
Feeling down, pain or other intense feeling occasionally is not going to permanently change your voice. It is when these feelings take the upper hand and control your life that the voice will change like for instance depression and hardship can dramatically and permanently lower the voice.
During the war in Yugoslavia my uncle had a girl staying with the family for several weeks. She lost both her parents in the war. I met the girl once when they visited our house. She couldn’t have been older then ten. The pain and hardship of what she had already been through at such a young age were carved into her face and her eyes were branded by a terrible sadness but I was particularly shocked when she said something. She spoke with the voice of an old woman who lived a hard life. The pitch was close to an octave lower than the natural voice of a ten year old girl.
Imitating Speech.
Then there are people who (un)consciously change their voice. They get fascinated by someone else’s voice and start imitating that person.
Whoever does that without any vocal training or awareness of the breathing system will no longer breathe or speak natural. When a person has been altering her/his voice for some time it will then feel uncomfortable to switch back to the natural voice.
How high or low should someone speak?
If you want to be a singer than it’s a good idea to start off making sure the pitch of your speech voice is natural. If it’s too high or too low there is a good chance you’re not breathing right either so you will have to correct your breathing technique to correct the pitch of your voice.
There is a simple exercise to find out what your natural voice sounds like. Sit down on a chair with your feet flat on the ground. Lift your knees, lower your back keeping it straight. Stretch your arms, lift them above your knees and keep them there. Ok when you are in balance knees up and arms stretched bend your head forward until your chin lands onto your chest. Let it stay there and now say something. The sound and pitch your voice now produces is your natural speech voice. Notice also how your voice has more volume. Notice also where it hurts most. The muscles around your waist are working really hard now and that is why your voice is instantly more powerful. These are the muscles that support the voice. Their strength determines the power, endurance and strength of your voice.
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