Help! Throat constricting as I sing

[HardwireSpeers]

I've been working a lot on my singing the last few years and have made a lot of progress but am having one serious issue that is derailing my progress - my throat starts tightening up after singing for awhile, and really seems to be around certain songs.

 

A bit of background, I'm in my mid 50's and have played guitar since I was 16. I've been involved in bands, duos, solo performances off and on since starting, but never super serious other than touring for a short time in my 20's. I've never been 'a singer' and just concentrated on guitar. About 10 years ago I started wanting to get more serious about singing, songwriting and performing - and while trying to run businesses and deal with family issue have slowed my progress I am making headway. A few years ago I did a course called Belt Your Face Off about learning to sing with mixed voice - the biggest benefit was learning a lot of 'basic' technique that I've never heard before but made a very big change in my singing voice to the point where people who've heard me over the years have come to me and tell me how much I've improved, as well as having a woman walk up and say "Why have I never heard of you before, you have a great voice," and gave me information on a local folk club that she's a member of and often needs 'warm up acts' for performers who are touring through.

 

So that's all great. Except I'm tightening up as I sing and particularly finding certain songs are a real problem - of course several of them are ones I wrote.

 

The problem is probably psychological at this point, I've been able to sing other material for a few hours and do it again the next day. But when I start tightening up (occasionally on the material I should be doing well too) then if I continue to sing at all my throat hurts for a week and I can't get it to loosen up enough to really sing well. The problem songs aren't out of my range (I wrote them to fit my voice) and I don't sing with a lot of growl (I'd love to develop that but have only do some light vocal fry so far.)

 

Among the issues I'm dealing with are recently diagnosed allergies that are at a really low level but are inflaming my nasal passage and causing excess mucous in my throat and lungs.

 

My warmup routine include lip trills, nggg's, whooos, and so on. I also loosen up my neck and jaw with stretches, sticking my tongue out, etc. And I also try to do similar things to cool down. I've also found doing scale up with lip trill and singing back down the scale helps. I've also taken some skype lessons with an instructor from New York Vocal Coaching which has helped with technique, vocal range etc.

 

So - my question is: do you have any tips, tricks, techniques, visualizations, mental concepts that can help loosen a tightening throat as I'm singing (kind of hard to stick out my tongue or do lip trills in front of an audience.)

 

Thanks,

Neil

[kickingtone]

Make sure it is not a protest against some small technical fault. Don't automatically try to find a way to override that protest. Your throat could be becoming sensitized after frequent repetition of some phrase you find slightly (even imperceptibly) awkward. Some songs will contain more repetitions than others, and once the sensitivity sets in, it affects everything. Perhaps, you could try practising suspect phrases to see if they trigger the effect, then figure out what technique change is required.

 

Something similar happened to me, and I traced it to a particular innocent looking vowel change, when descending in pitch. It needed a huge adjustment in breathing support, by engaging the lower abs, but it would find me out and put a little stress on my vocal cords, without me really realizing it. That would dry and strain my vocal cords each time, and, eventually, my voice would tire, and everything would become difficult until I rested a day or two. Improved breathing support completely solved the problem. Now, it doesn't even happen when I have a dry throat from eating or drinking the wrong thing.

 

Anyway, someone who has been singing live, as you have done, would be much better placed to give a broader assessment.

[WRGKMC]

Sounds like its a matter of focus. You're trying to elevate your emotional level to the music instead of letting the notes elevate on their own.

This is a serious issue for many musicians. They want to experience the same emotional power the audience does when they perform.

 

You cant have your cake and eat it at the same time. You are either a listener along for the ride or you are a performer. you have to make you mind up as to which. As a performer you need to be the master of illusion. You cant live everything you project and many things you do singing can be done without stress and hard work. The audience hears it as though you're straining ever muscle in your body but you're barely burning calories.

 

This is especially when you are singing rock tones with a guttural voice. I've worked with singers who were attempting to give birth when singing, veins popping out and sweat pouring down. it was easy to see they were on their way to having a stroke or heart attack by all that stress, and indeed many did just that.

 

You are older like me. You been playing a long time. A certain amount of stage fright will get the adrenalin going but don't over do it. You body just isn't going to produce the hormones it did when you were in your 20's. When you were young, pain of tightening up would turn the adrenalin on make you sweat and make you feel super human. ,You're lucky if you can get it to happen when you need it most at the close of sets.

 

Musicians know where and how to trigger these switches are so don't abuse them. Instead use your experience to fake it. You don't need to be hanging 10 on the front of the stage with your throat and fingers clenched. Save that for the simple songs that need to be hammed up. Your tougher songs let the notes come to you, not you go to the notes. If you're well rehearsed they will come to you as if from heaven and you'll pull them off flawlessly. Its your eagerness that freezing you up because you're looking way too far ahead. Don't anticipate the music, live the music one breath at a time, one upon the other. If you screw up whoop de frigging do. Its your music and whose to say it wasn't intentional to get attention.

[HardwireSpeers]

Make sure it is not a protest against some small technical fault. Don't automatically try to find a way to override that protest. Your throat could be becoming sensitized after frequent repetition of some phrase you find slightly (even imperceptibly) awkward. Some songs will contain more repetitions than others, and once the sensitivity sets in, it affects everything. Perhaps, you could try practising suspect phrases to see if they trigger the effect, then figure out what technique change is required.

 

Something similar happened to me, and I traced it to a particular innocent looking vowel change, when descending in pitch. It needed a huge adjustment in breathing support, by engaging the lower abs, but it would find me out and put a little stress on my vocal cords, without me really realizing it. That would dry and strain my vocal cords each time, and, eventually, my voice would tire, and everything would become difficult until I rested a day or two. Improved breathing support completely solved the problem. Now, it doesn't even happen when I have a dry throat from eating or drinking the wrong thing.

 

Anyway, someone who has been singing live, as you have done, would be much better placed to give a broader assessment.

 

Thanks for the comment kickingtone - I'll have to pay attention to what's happening and see if I can figure out if and when there's a 'glitch' that I'm stumbling over, even if psychologically.

 

 

[HardwireSpeers]

Sounds like its a matter of focus. You're trying to elevate your emotional level to the music instead of letting the notes elevate on their own.

This is a serious issue for many musicians. They want to experience the same emotional power the audience does when they perform.

 

You cant have your cake and eat it at the same time. You are either a listener along for the ride or you are a performer. you have to make you mind up as to which. As a performer you need to be the master of illusion. You cant live everything you project and many things you do singing can be done without stress and hard work. The audience hears it as though you're straining ever muscle in your body but you're barely burning calories.

 

This is especially when you are singing rock tones with a guttural voice. I've worked with singers who were attempting to give birth when singing, veins popping out and sweat pouring down. it was easy to see they were on their way to having a stroke or heart attack by all that stress, and indeed many did just that.

 

You are older like me. You been playing a long time. A certain amount of stage fright will get the adrenalin going but don't over do it. You body just isn't going to produce the hormones it did when you were in your 20's. When you were young, pain of tightening up would turn the adrenalin on make you sweat and make you feel super human. ,You're lucky if you can get it to happen when you need it most at the close of sets.

 

Musicians know where and how to trigger these switches are so don't abuse them. Instead use your experience to fake it. You don't need to be hanging 10 on the front of the stage with your throat and fingers clenched. Save that for the simple songs that need to be hammed up. Your tougher songs let the notes come to you, not you go to the notes. If you're well rehearsed they will come to you as if from heaven and you'll pull them off flawlessly. Its your eagerness that freezing you up because you're looking way too far ahead. Don't anticipate the music, live the music one breath at a time, one upon the other. If you screw up whoop de frigging do. Its your music and whose to say it wasn't intentional to get attention.

 

I know better than to push my notes harder than my body is naturally going to do - it doesn't make it any more 'emotional' for the audience and just hurts. I do blues and singer/songwriter stuff, so pretty mellow compared to the rockers - and its actually some of my mellowest material that's killing my vocals.

 

On the other hand, the audience does need to know that you 'mean' every word you sing or its very inauthentic and boring, even if its like acting where an actor - for the moment - gets into the life of the character.

 

[WRGKMC]

Allot of people hear rock singers and think they are yelling so hard they are about to blow a lung out. That's not the case. That rock tone comes from a guttural effects and the actual loudness of the voice isn't much louder then a normal speaking voice. Of course there are many who never learn that trick and attempt to actually scream but they wind up having a very short singing career.

 

I grew up playing blues and most of the music I write has some element of it mixed in there. One thing BB Kind said which I've always remembered He said Blues are never sung by someone who actually experiencing the blues. Reason being is they'd feel awful when trying to entertain people. Blues are sung by those who have overcome those adversities and are singing then in the light of having overcome those problems.

 

Blues are all based in church gospel music and attempts to do the same thing. The Musician takes on the role of the preacher as a joyous individual showing the people how to overcome bad times and drawing people out of the blues, not into them.

 

Keeping that mindset is the first thing a good blues player must master before he ever plays a note. Many of your famous African American Blues players grew up in the black church so the mindset of singing blues from a mindset of joy is natural to them. Musicians who don't have that background often don't understand this concept and actually try and play the blues from the emotional perspective of actually having the blues. Beware, this can have a negative impact on both mind and body is you get causing in that trap.