Vocal Music Advice

Margie writes: I am a trained pianist and have always sung well because of my ear; however, I have no private vocal training and have strained my voice for years. As I have gotten older I have allowed my talking voice to get lower and lower and I have completely lost the ability to switch into my head voice. How do I train myself to speak higher? I checked my talking voice on the piano and I was speaking in tones an octave below middle C. I am in pain and by the end of the day my throat feels as though I have an infection. I teach so I can’t stop or even limit my talking. Thank you so much for considering my question. Thank you!

ANSWER: Dear Margie,

I am going to assume that the strain you have experienced is because of speaking, not singing.  Correct me if you feel that is incorrect.

Without knowing precisely where your entire range lies, it would be a bit of a guess as to “where” to recommend that you learn to speak.  However, I believe you have identified the primary problem for the vocal pain and fatigue.  Under almost ALL normal circumstances, the pitch level of a woman speaking at C below middle C is way too low! Speaking this low tends to be the tell-tale sign of a of heavy smoker – who has, over a long time – damaged her vocal cords irreparably as far as pitch-level is concerned.  Here again, I’ll make an assumption without really knowing, that you are NOT a smoker.

You still can learn to use your voice without unnecessary tension in a part of your range that uses your voice efficiently and easily.  There are some things you need to bear in mind as you begin to tackle this:
1) if you have become used to the habitual pitch level of your speaking voice – you must prepare your psyche —and your ears— to get used to a different sound and feel.  Many ladies who speak too low find it difficult to get over the “new feminine sound.”  You will need to allow yourself to adapt to it as you adopt that sound.
2) changing a habit takes time and practice.

Let me suggest that you do two things: 1) Sometime on a Saturday – or a day when you’re not teaching and talking all day – somewhere in the middle of your day, discover where in your range you produce sound most clearly and efficiently – the most easily.  2) Begin some daily routine vocal exercises to get yourself started in adopting, and adapting to, the new sound.

To discover where your “optimal pitch area” is do these exercises:
a) Imagine that you are inflecting naturally and uninhibitedly, the way you would if you were investigating a problem and the solution suddenly dawned on you.  You might siren an “Ah” starting slightly low, sliding high and sliding down again.  Reproduce all the spontaneous feelings and sound that would be present if you were not “thinking” about it.  (It might be good to have another person there to hear you!!)  Do this three or four times, and have your friend (or voice teacher) listen to where your voice seems to “ring clearly” without strain.  Identify that place on the piano.
b) Now, you know how you respond when you’re on the phone with someone – they’re doing the talking and all you can do is respond “uh-huh?”  Using your imagination again, say a series of three or four “uh-huhs” as spontaneously as you would in real life.  Likely, the third or fourth repetition’s first “uh” is close to the bottom note of the area of your vocal-efficient optimal pitch.

It may be, that due to talking too low too long, that finding your optimal speech level does not seem to be found easily.  If that is the case then you can do something like the following:
Imagine that you’re cooing at a tiny infant – or puppy, or kitten or something you adore.  The pitch level and the lightness of that sort of sound is going to be close to where you need to be speaking.  I’m not, of course, referring to squeaking, but the sounds one makes to a content baby when one wants her to fall asleep or be assured.  Having discovered this AREA of your range (it is usually about a fifth) – it is an area not just a single note – you should then make it a practice to get out one of your favorite books and read a couple of pages aloud – keeping the sound around that area of your vocal range.  It should feel easy, not heavy or gratey.  It may initially come across to you as “sing-songy.”  Don’t be surprised if your initial responses to the sound either makes you laugh or feel insecure.  It must become the new you.
(more…)

Nick says: Hello! I have a few problems when it comes to my voice.

First of all, I hope you understand me ’cause I’m not a native speaker. (:

I’m 15 years old and I’ve been singing since I was 7.  I used to have a high-pitched voice and at the age of 13 I began to take vocal lessons, which helped me a lot to improve on my singing. In fall 2007 my voice started to change and because I couldn’t even sing one song through, I decided to take a break from singing lessons. Of course, I sang though – but not as much as before because my voice always got raspy/hoarse and sometimes it started to hurt.

In the last couple of months, this problem has become better but I never had the impression that my vocal change ended – my head voice sounded like before, my chest voice didn’t really ‘mature’ even though it’s gotten deeper. Anyway I feel like I’m still in the puberty vocal change or maybe again because I’m no more able to control my voice the way that I used to. It’s raspy, high notes end in screaming and my head voice often ‘stays away’. Is it possible that my vocal change STILL hasn’t ended? Should I go to an ear, nose and throat specialist?

ANSWER: Dear Nick,

I empathize with your feelings of insecurity.  Thank you for describing what you are going through with some detail.  Do not fear.  It is not only possible that your vocal change STILL has not ended, it is certain that that is the case.  You don’t need to visit an Ear-Nose-Throat specialist.

The voice change in boys varies with the person.  Some boys seem to change almost “overnight.”  Other boys seem to go through alterations over a period of — dare I say it — years.  The insecurity that you feel is very common.  The inability to retain your high notes without a lot of strain – is also common.  What you do need to allow is T I M E.  Your voice is lowering as your larynx (voice box) and all the associated muscles and ligaments grow.  “Control” is frequently something that is lost early, and regained late.  So, if you are 18 before you begin to feel comfortable with your new range, don’t be surprised or concerned.  You will eventually find that if you use the range you are comfortable singing in, it will grow strong and useful. One thing you need to allow yourself to do is to let go of the past.  Your range is changing – don’t try and hang on to your boyhood range.  Over the next months discover where your voice range lies, and where, within your range, you sing most comfortably.  Accept these changes as the new you!  You don’t need to be straining, screaming or anything else that causes you to become hoarse or raspy.  You can damage your voice that way.  Cease that.  (By the way, your voice teacher should know these things.  You might be wise to set aside voice lessons for a couple of years too!)

Let me recommend that you stay involved in music-making – even if the singing part takes a break while you play an instrument for a while.  Find someone that knows a great deal about the voice, and ask him/her for a list of singers you should listen to over the next two years.  Do a lot of listening.  Feel free to browse through my other writings in this blog.

You do not need to worry, Nick.  You do need to allow yourself time, and learn to accept what you are becoming, vocally speaking.  You’re becoming a man.  Congratulations.