4 Ways Tension is Holding Back Your Voice
I very nearly called this blog post, The Four Horsemen of the Singing Apocalypse but I figured it might be a teeny bit dramatic.
These four common culprits of tension in the body do however have a huge impact on your sound and the ease with which you sing, so it's pretty important to get them under control.
Good tension and bad tension
There are a few problems with body tension when it comes to singing, the first being that we assume that some body tension is fine and often don't know which tension is good and which isn't.
I know when I was learning how to sing, I had bucketloads of tension and figured that was how singing was supposed to feel.
I always thought singing was a difficult skill to learn and should therefore feel as though I was trying fairly hard.
NOPE.
If you hold this belief, please write it down on a piece of paper and ceremoniously burn it.
Here's what I tell singers:
You want to control your voice using your breath and support which means you'll have a feeling of RESISTANCE at the ribcage, but never gripping, pulling in, forcing out or a hard tightness.
When you're controlling AND simultaneously allowing your airflow in this way, everything from the neck up should be relaxed.
So why do we experience tension in the first place?
It’s usually one of two reasons.
The first is that we’re not FUELLING THE VOICE correctly.
There can be confusion around how to support the voice properly, to use our breath as fuel so it takes the pressure off our throats and other pushers.
I have a free workshop all about this is you’d like to take a peek…
And the second reason leads us into the first (and maybe the ringleader) of the four horsemen….
The culprits of your vocal tension
YOUR THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS
For many singers this guy is the main instigator.
The reason why the following three tend to come into play.
Because of our self-doubt and insecurity.
Think about it.
Why would we force from our throat when we sing or tense up our tongue?
Usually to push the sound out or up.
To “hit the note” or “add power.”
To “try harder.”
So yes, it can be as a result of insufficient breath support.
But it can also be because part of us…
believes that what we can create without adding more force is not good enough and/or
doesn’t want to heard or judged or is worried about embarrassing themselves.
The vocal tension we experience when we sing can be a direct result of our expectations of what we “should” sound like and our feelings about being heard.
Try this on for size: If you’re often super critical of your own voice, what happens when you sing wearing a pair of noise-cancelling headphones?
If you’re worried about being heard or criticised by others, what happens when you practice alone or in a studio space or a soundproofed room/closet/into a pillow to muffle the sound?
YOUR JAW
The jaw tends to have a few moves in its tension arsenal kit that interfere with our sense of freedom and resonance.
The first one is to grip and stay frozen in place.
You want the jaw to drop softly and naturally.
TRY THIS: I often get students to sing as if they're a little dopey (or on a serious dose of anaesthetic) to really let go of the tightness in their jaw.
Singing on the repeated sound Buh or Mum is good for releasing jaw tension.
The other trick that the jaw plays on us is jutting forward, especially when we feel we're singing something difficult and need to work harder.
TRY THIS: The best way to get a sense of whether or not this is happening is to place your fingers on your chin and notice if you're pushing into your fingers or dropping the jaw naturally downwards as you sing.
YOUR TONGUE
Oh this guy is one of the sneakiest.
He can tighten and pull back as soon as you have your awareness on anything but him. Think of him as the naughty toddler of the group.
The tongue will behave particularly badly when you are going up higher in your range, especially in your head voice.
TRY THIS: Keep him chilling out with the tip behind your bottom teeth (only moving when pronouncing consonants that need him to move) and keep focused on him when you're going up to higher notes.
As long as you keep him as the sole focus, you'll be able to keep him soft and out of your way.
Not sure if tongue tension is messing with how easy the sound comes out?
Follow along with this vintage video of mine to find out!
YOUR ABDOMEN
(and the relationship with your BREATH)
One of the most common places singers hold tension is their abs.
Now my dear, holding your abs won't give you more power or support (and certainly doesn't result in a rock-hard six pack), so PLEASE LET IT GO.
TRY THIS: Inhale and start talking while you squeeze and release your abs. No sound/power/resonance difference right?
Now pull your belly button right in as if it could touch your spine your abs and pay attention to the very base of your throat.
If you focus on that spot you'll notice that gripping the abdominal muscles like that actually grips the base of the throat too!
When supporting the voice properly, the belly moves as we release air but it’s FLEXIBLE AND RESPONSIVE.
The ribcage is where we experience the feeling of control and resistance.
Check out the video below to see what I mean.
I hope you found this post incredibly helpful.
And remember…
No matter your source of tension, please know that it is a challenge that always has a solution.
