How to Know if You’ve Gone Too Far
If there’s one question I hear all the time, it’s ‘how do I know if I’ve done something damaging to my voice?’ which always makes me think of something someone once told me about child rearing. “It only takes one time to touch a hot stove before they know better.” Unfortunately I wasn’t that bright in my younger years as a singer. So let’s take that analogy a bit further. These are the tell tale signs that you’re taking your voice down a dangerous road. (*I am not a doctor and am not attempting to give medical advice. If you have medical concerns about your voice please see a highly recommended ear, nose and throat physician.)
Pain
Pain is our body’s way of saying, ‘hey, knock that off!’ It is NOT a signal that you just had an intense performance. It means you are requiring things of your voice that will damage it. If you feel pain during or after singing, get the help of a qualified technique instructor to help put your voice back into a healthy balance. A good one can help you do that without sacrificing your signature sound. Yes, rock singers. I’m talking to you.
Hoarseness
Ever scream at a huge sporting event and find your throat is sore the next day? Probably no shocker. Yet we seem surprised when the same thing happens after singing. Hoarseness is another red flag that tells us your voice is not in balance and is being utilized incorrectly. Hoarseness can also be a symptom of vocal cord polyps, granulomas (a growth caused by acid reflux and accompanied by ear and throat pain) and other medical conditions. Even it this happens only occasionally, it’s time to be assessed by a good technique instructor. If it’s happening consistently, see a a good ENT.
Loss of Voice
This is another way your voice protects itself from damage, it says ‘I’ve had enough, thank you.’ We’ve all had times when we’ve had an adrenaline packed performance and required more of our voices than we should, but if you are losing your voice at any time after you sing, you are heading down a road that could lead to nodes, cysts and surgery (oh my).
Missing Notes
If you find that all of a sudden you have specific notes in your range that are really weak or maybe missing altogether, it’s time to see a good ENT. This is a classic sign that you’ve damaged your voice. Nodes or cysts are like blisters on the vocal cords. Wherever they develop the cords have trouble coming together . If this is happening to you, you’re in need of medical intervention. Once the problem is diagnosed and fixed, it will most likely return unless you find a qualified technique instructor to help retrain the bad habits you’ve formed that got you there.
If you’ve noticed the reoccurring theme has been ‘technique’. There are many incredibly talented people who have horrendous technique. Do they sound good? Yes. Will their voice last through everything they’d like to do with that talent? Not without good technique. So what is good technique and how do I find someone who teaches it? We’ll talk about that next time.
Have you had a vocal problem you’d like more information on? Tell us your stories about your experience with taking your voice a little to far. Click ‘leave a comment’ at the top of this post.
okayy so when im singing ive noticed that is hard for me to hi those relly high notes andif i force my foice it hurts and my voice wil crack…!!!( im kinda scared after i read you blog)…help!!
I gotcha. What’s happening is that you’re pulling your chest voice up too high. Chest voice has to mix with head voice to accurately reach the higher register and the proportion of the mix changes as you go up. Without mixing, your head voice can only go up so high. When it’s reached it’s limit, it yanks your larynx up and the result is a tight or painful feeling and notes that either get weak, shaky or just plain choked out all together. You just need a vocal coach with a good understanding of how to help you mix. If you’d like a recommendation for someone in your area let me know. I also teach live web lessons. Either way, a good instructor will help you scrap that strain and easily reach all of those notes that are eluding you.
Hello there, I’m Jenna and I’ve been doing singing lessons under the same singing coach for 7 years. I am now 17 and having a bit of a panic because to me my voice at the middle of my range dosent seem as strong as it’s always been. However my singing teacher believes it has infact become stronger. My voice is going through a phase of doing odd things such as cracking at high notes, wobbling when i run out of breath and sometimes in my mid range it feels like im forcing power which is unusual. It always seems to feel like I have flem in my throat randomly sometimes as if i’m having a cold. My singing teacher seems to think its because i’m at the age where my voice is maturing and tells me its nothing to worry about. She’s told me previous students whose had the same problem cut out dairy product for a while and they recovered. I’m just so terrified I’ve damaged it perminanently or i’m loosing it naturally (as I get older) is this just a phase? help!
Yeah, that doesn’t sound right. Changes in the voice through puberty happen to everyone as the muscles and the cords go through growth spurts along with the rest of your body. Those changes can cause a shift in where the bridges are (the notes at which your voice is transitioning) but it does not cause wobbling or the other things you’ve mentioned. The phlegm can be from new allergies, either food or plant, or seasonal colds. You should not be pushing or ‘forcing’ anything though. That will create new bad vocal habits, not to mention damage. Honestly I’d have to hear your voice and learn more about the technique you’ve been studying to tell you what’s going on for sure. If you want to schedule a one time voice assessment I can get to the bottom of it for you via skype (video chat). If you’d rather get a second opinion from another instructor in your area insteadI can also recommend someone.
Its better to sing while listening to your ipod though, you can sing with the song anyway. Its better if you have songs from your mac and whenever you wanted to listen with it on an ipod, just transfer the song from your mac to ipod.
It’s just better to have a Mac! (we have a PC/Mac war in my house, but the Macs are up by 3 so far).
Is it possible to improve the range within your chest voice without mixing it with your head voice? thanx…
The chest can be ‘stretched’ to reach further but because of the anatomy of the voice it can never reach the amount of notes it can when mixed with head voice. The main reason people try to gain more notes in chest is to preserve their power when singing. But taking chest higher than it’s intended to go causes all sorts of vocal problems and can literally ruin your voice. The answer is to develop a solid mix (chest+head voices) so that the same power you experience in chest can painlessly move right up to your high notes. When you can do that, you’ll easily have a four octave range and have power in all of it, all while maintaining a healthy voice! Email me directly and reference this post and I’ll give you a free Skype voice assessment so you can see how it works for you. kim@thevoiceclub.com
Wow.. the only problem with me is that when I sing and hit some of the high notes, then my voice gets kind of soft.My voice doesn’t hurt or anything but I do know that I need a vocal coach because I like my voice but I think it has so much more potential.Well, maybe my voice is kind of weak now because I’m a teenager but who knows.
What’s happening is that you’re chest voice is not mixing with your head voice. Chest voice has all the power and head voice is pretty wimpy. If you’d like to hear what your mix voice sounds like email me and reference this post and I’ll give you a free 30 minute vocal assessment online!
Everyone of us should use our voice wisely. So we can’t blame ourselves when we have used it in a wrong a way. It’s not a joke when you lose your voice. It’s hard to make your points in a clear way.
hello. Recently i had a cold and my voice was hoarse because of it. Before my voice was completely ok, i started singing again. Now it’s been about 3 weeks and my voice is still hoarse, but when i sing it sounds good…. Sometimes my voice becomes normal, but then it changes again. Also, i have noticed that my voice can’t be heard if i don’t sing loudly. What’s wrong with my voice? Is it hoarse because of that cold, or is it destroyed forever?
If the change happened after an illness the best first step is to have an ENT take a look just to make sure there’s not damage from too much coughing or if you just have residual inflammation. It can take sensitive tissues longer to heal than other parts of us! If you have inflammation or an obstruction the vocal cords may not close like they’re used to which can cause the feeling of weakness in the voice. Even if you have had a balanced, mixed voice, an illness can throw your voice for a loop (my serious illness completely changed the way my voice recovers from little things now). If you know how to mix (check out the video post) now is the time to get some help strengthening your mix so that the cords relearn to connect smoothly through your entire register even when compromised. Email me at kim@thevoiceclub.com and refer to this post and I’ll give you a free online voice assessment to give you more specific direction. Let me know how you’re doing.
Hello I’ve just gotten done reading this article and found some information useful, but I have a problem. Recently my throat has started hurting while singing and talking on the left side. I have no clue why this happens. I suffer from bad allergies and a sinus infection, also I do daily eat or drink dairy products. And drink lots of caffeine. Im just wondering if all these things could be contributing towards the hurting of my voice when I sing and talk. (usually doesn’t hurt until I talk loud/yell) but yeah I was just wondering if you could please give me some advice. I’m only fifteen I really hope I haven’t done permanent damage. I’d appreciate some feed back
Allergies could be part of the problem. The best place to start is by going to a nose, ear and throat doctor (ENT) since it seems to be on one side. It could be post nasal drip but a doctor would have to take a peek to be sure. In the meantime, the best thing you can do to avoid vocal strain to an irritated throat is to make sure you warm up well and sing with a balanced technique. A really good warm up can be as simple as saying ‘mmm’ and sliding the note slowly from the bottom to the top and back down. Even better, do it with a lip roll or a tongue trill. I’d have to hear you to see if your technique could be hurting your voice. Email me at kim@thevoiceclub.com and refer to this post and I’ll give you a free online voice assessment to give you more direction. Let me know what the doctor says and take care!
i am scared cause i dont take any vocal lessons at all and im at the age of 17…. i want to know if i have damaged my voice….. the things that have happened to me is breaking in high notes and im have no problems at singing in low octaves (do,re,mi,fa,so,la,ti,do) i have no pain in singing or speaking but i do have a feeling of flerms in my throat all the times….i have not singed when i have a cold or sore throat….but i do break a lot in high notes…. sometimes the break is continuous untill i lower the octave back down…..it would be a great help if you can hear my voice out in skpye but if not i just want to know if i have damaged my voice….
Email me at kim@thevoiceclub and mention this post and your name and I’ll do a free Skype assessment for you. Can’t be sure without hearing you but many times ongoing phlegm can be due to allergies. When it’s thick it can also feel like something is stuck in your throat. I can give you some ideas of how to help reduce the amount and thickness of phlegm and sing through it, but it’s always best to have an ear, nose and throat doc take a quick peak whenever you feel something is not right in your throat just to be sure there’s nothing else going on. I have a suspicion that I know what’s going on with your breaking notes. I can tell you for sure over Skype but it’s very possible you’re pulling up too much chest voice and your voice is just not sure how to shift gears as it ascends up the range ‘mixing’ along the way. Shoot me and email and we’ll get it pinpointed!
additional information….. it feels like something is stuck in my throat….
Nice blog, just looking close to some blogs, seems a pretty nice platform you’re using. I am presently using WordPress for a couple of of my sites but looking to change one of them more than to a platform similar to yours as a trial run. Anything in particular you’d recommend about it?
After trying several free and paid themes I settled on the Lifestyle theme from Studio Press. There was definitely a learning curve since I’m not a coder, but it was well worth it. I’ve been very pleased with the support for flexibility of the product. Someday I’ll get into it more and make it look like it does in my head! Best of luck with your site!
thank u i will now..
Hi there, I am audtioning for a cover band and all the songs are about 5 minutes long, most of the vocals are pretty sonft but then there are a couple parts to each song that require some edge to them.
I overpracticed this getting into it, and auditioned with a damaged throat, i did well enough that they want me to re audition. My throat has a light pain in it almost constantly and there still feels like theres a small lump in the back of my throat. They have given me two weeks to rest and ive been good, but I the audition is saturday night and I have to make it. I have a vocal lesson on wednesday and a possible appointment with an ENT. Ive been drinking lots of water, tea, no spicy food, ive cut way back on drinking, def. no smoking anything. How long is this going to take to heal? my voice used to feel bulletproof and I need it there again.
If I could hear you I could narrow this down with much more certainty but your symptoms point to a possible technique problem that could be damaging your voice. If you’re developing nodes or other damage all the tea in the world won’t help. You’re definitely on the right track with the ENT. Do that yesterday. Your ENT can tell you if you have nodes, swelling, bleeding vessels, etc. Pain is always a warning sign and pain that reoccurrs when you start singing again points to a technique problem that won’t fix itself with any amount of rest. If the pain does go away with rest and doesn’t return when you start singing again working on strengthening your mix with a balanced, healthy voice will enable you to sing longer and stronger without fatiguing the voice. There’s still time before your audition for a free Skype lesson. Shoot me an email and I’ll give you some specific tips that will help you through it. All my best – let me know how it goes!