Vocal Tension: Release and Redirect
As a younger singer in university, I remember hearing a lot of teachers, classmates, and visiting guest artists talk about how easy singing should feel. At the time I would always think, “how do I make this easy when I am doing so many things wrong?” Relax was something I heard a lot of. Which was great except I had no idea how to do that. I was so fixated on everything that wasn’t working, I completely lost sight of not only what was working, but why I even wanted to work on it in the first place. Singing became about fixing issues and managing problems. I had forgotten to actually enjoy doing it. I am sure this story can relate to many other’s experiences, which is really unfortunate considering the best part about singing and making music is enjoying it!
A really important thing to remember is that the act of singing itself involves muscle tension. There are muscles working to make your voice sing, and that is supposed to happen. The problems start when there are extra muscles getting involved that don’t need to be working. The body is a really incredible thing, if you really want to belt out a long, loud note, your body will find a way to make this happen. I learned a lot about this by listening to Sarah Whitten, a voice professor at Harvard, talk about the muscles in the body that will compensate to create the sound you are trying to create, during Opera Program Berlin’s 2020 virtual summer workshop.
So instead of trying “not to push,” try “redirecting” that really useful energy somewhere else. Singing loud ends up being a lot more about staying easy and released than it does trying to shout-sing your way through, so try putting the “shout-sing” energy into a physical action with your hands, or an emotional expression. The energy feeding these extra muscles is good, it is just important it doesn’t over excite muscles that are really not needed for the creation of your sound. Telling a muscle to relax, or “not to do something,” often ends up with trying to suppress the energy behind the muscle, which can just add more things to worry about on top of everything else. Release these extra muscles and you can instead focus on enjoying the sound you are making, or the words of the song. Let go of these problem fixations and start loving your voice!
DISCLAIMER
I am not a medical doctor. These posts are all anecdotal, based on experiences through my own learning, understanding and teaching. My musical knowledge is based primarily in the Western classical tradition, which by no means defines the only perspective to learn and understand music.
