How To Get Rid Of Vocal Strain / Vocal Tension

How To Get Rid Of Vocal Strain / Vocal Tension

How can we reduce muscle tension? The first step to reducing muscle tension is quite simple and obvious, although many people overlook this simple practise. Warm up the voice before singing. This is a MUST if you want to sing at your best, and purest tone.

Singing in a way, is just like playing sports. We use certain muscles to get the desired results. Just like running, singing requires the appropriate muscles to be warmed up. It's gets the blood flowing, and the muscles functioning more efficiently.

Singing without warming up will limit the ability to hit and sustain high notes, while causing a tremendous amount of vocal strain.

A fifteen minute warm-up on easy scales, in an easy range, should be effective in warming up your voice and reducing vocal tension.

The biggest (and most common) cause of vocal strain is singing with bad vocal technique. A few years ago, I was a classic example... My technique was so bad that I actually began to develop vocal nodules. My voice would feel sore after ever session. I would actually feel my larynx spasm during, and even DAYS after a practice.

It happened because I didn't know how to shorten my vocal chords in the higher regions of my range. I used to feel intense strain in my throat, and my jaw. The answer to correcting this, is training these outer muscles to relax while singing. The inner muscles of your larynx (the correct singing muscles) can then handle all the vocal chord adjustments, producing the tone much easier. As these muscles are developed, your voice will develop incredible range, and great tone, with no vocal tension at all.

So...

To eliminate vocal strain we must:

1. Warm up our voices before singing

2. Develop a technique that allows the outer muscles of the larynx to relax, while the inner (correct) muscles perform the vocal chord adjustments. This is done using exercises that allow our voice to relax and develop our correct singing muscles. The very best program that teaches this technique in detail is Brett Manning's Singing success program.

information taken from: http://www.become-a-singing-master.com/strain-vocal.html