Steps to take in keeping your vocal cord intact

It’s every singer’s worst nightmare.

Imagine performing in front of a

crowd and right at the climax of the

song, you know that money-note in

the Chorus? And… your – voice –

CRACKS!

Ok, let’s not go there.

But the truth is, this is a very

common source of frustration for

singers. The dreaded Vocal Break. Or

the part of your voice that cracks/

flips/changes gears into a horribly

weak and thin sound.

The part of the voice where you lose

connection.

What many singers don’t realize is

that there are common technical

mistakes that almost every singer is

making that causes this sudden

break/flip in the voice.

When these mistakes are understood,

it is the first very important step

towards fixing the problem.

Do you want to have the confidence to

know that every time you get up to

perform that you’re going to nail those

money-notes and wow your audience?

This confidence comes from knowing

what mistakes you’re making and

then employing the correct tactics to

fix them.

Below are what I’ve found in my

experience as a Singer trying to

overcome my vocal break and as a

Vocal Coach helping countless

others overcome theirs, the Top 4

mistakes that cause singers to crack

and some simple tactics to overcome

them.

Mistake #1: Pulling chest voice up

Most singers, especially those

without formal singing training,

approach high notes trying to push

their chest voice further and further

up in their range. This only causes a

thickening of the vocal cords which

adds pressure continually. Once the

pressure is too much, the voice

‘explodes’ or breaks causing the

cords to thin out and therefore the

resulting weaker sound.

Tip: Whenever you start to feel yourself

straining up for higher notes, STOP.

Instead let your voice go where it wants

to go naturally even if it initially sounds

a little weak in your ears. Doing this will

allow what you perceive as the weaker

part of the voice to strengthen without

adding constriction and closure to your

throat. Remember that straining and

tension will never help you sing.

Mistake #2: Singing on the throat

The second mistake pertains to

resonance. Most singers will break

dramatically because they are not

placing their voice higher in the mask

(behind the nose). As a result their

sound does not travel forward as it

should but stays stuck in the throat.

This causes a dramatic crack in the

voice because once again tension

builds, causing constriction and

limiting the voice to move freely

through the vocal break

Tip: Rather than rely on the small

muscles in your throat and put pressure

on them – train your larger abdominal

and diaphragmatic muscles and sing

with support. Practice low breathing that

sees the abdomen fill up like a balloon

and the expansion of the ribs when

inhaling. This will give adequate breath

support which frees up your throat and

allows your voice to move freely

between registers

This video will teach you about

adequate breath support:

Mistake #3: Singing too heavily in

their low-mid range

A common habit that singers have is

that in order to compensate for what

they perceive as a weak high voice,

they tend to belt out their low notes

with gusto – ALL THE TIME! This

means that they are unknowingly

creating a greater chasm between

their low chest voice notes and their

high head voice notes, accentuating

and reinforcing the vocal break

Tip: Singing lighter in the chest range so

that you can even out the sound

between the two vocal registers.

Practice descending arpeggio scales

that start from your head voice range

and come down into your chest range.

As you come down try to keep the

sound as even as possible

This video will help:

Mistake #4: Singing too lightly and

breathy in their high range

The opposite problem to the above

mistake is that singers sing way too

lightly and breathy in their higher

range. Rather than singing with a

forward sounding, bell-like tone, it

becomes an unsupported and

somewhat weak falsetto. This of

course accentuates the vocal break

more because there is too much

difference in the sound compared to

your solid chest notes

Tip: Strengthen your head voice and aim

to develop a fully resonating bell-like

sound in your upper ranges.

This video will help:

Understanding the mistakes we make

is the first step towards improvement

and progress.

Next time you sing and you find

yourself breaking drastically – ask

yourself “Which of these 4 mistakes

am I making?” then apply the Tip to

overcome it.

The key is to diagnose your problem

(i.e. understand the mistake you’re

making) and then remedy it by using

1. the correct tactic to overcome it.