Do Allergies affect high notes while singing?
My allergies have been acting up recently and I stopped using Allegra because of its drying properties. But my singing voice got weaker now that the real warm weather has hit and the plants are thriving again. I want to be real detailed so here I go: -My high notes are very hard to hit now. And when I try, air just comes out. And a slow dull tired sensations starts so that's when I stop. Almost like my throat is getting sore. - I have mucus that I can't seem to get out. Not a lot but I can feel its there and I feel like clearing my throat a lot. - When I can hit a high note(which really isn't as high as I can go) I get tired easily and the note kind of wilts involuntarily. Almost like I'm imitating a siren. - My throat is quite itchy and when I drink ginger tea the back of my throat, but what is kind of curious is that I feel like it's more towards the top of my throat not the whole length down my throat, it burns. I don't know if that is supposed to happen with ginger tea. -I sometimes feel like I have a lump in my throat. A small one. Right above what my adam's apple would be if I were a guy. I just want to know if these voice problems sound like they are being caused by allergies or is it something more serious? I have decided to stop singing, humming, making loud noises for two months. Any advice to keep my voice healthy while I do this? I'm drinking a lot of water and Ginger tea with honey and vinegar. Sorry for it being so long but I am scared something bad is happening to my singing voice. Please and Thank you. :)
What is the placement for singing loud high notes?
The only way I’m qualified to answer this is from the experience of a healthy, holistic— meaning classical—training.High notes are placed where all other notes are placed as well: in the front of your face, reverberating within the sinuses and other resonance chambers. When the sound is in front, it is half way to your audience, without a mic.In order for that to be possible effortlessly, the throat must be completely unencumbered, open and relaxed, so the sound can go up and as if over the ears, and reach the front of your face without strain. Think the beginning of a yawn, with the space behind your upper molars lifted.For THAT to be possible you have to develop a very good support system, one hell of a strong motor in your tummy muscles, so the healthy use of your diaphragm is ensured. Only then will your throat feel the support and be able to open and relax.I go into a little more detail on my blog here. When you’re doing all the three steps above, you then have the choice to knock them over with a really piercing or warm high note, whether loud, or—which is way harder—soft. Enjoy, be well, and sing yourself well.
Can I sing high notes if my nose is blocked?
You can still sing high notes however with a blocked nose but their is less space for the sound to resonate in the nasal cavities, so thus causing the voice to sound strained. It doesn’t mean you have lost range, just means that the sound is not as clear. Wait for your nasal passages to clear up and then it should be ok. If it still isn’t clear then best to see the doctor to find out if it could be some other problem (i.e. sinusitis). Good luck!
Headache after singing high notes?
can you be more specific about your headache? I can think of three reasons right off the bat: 1) you don't realize it, but one or more sinuses are clogged. When we sing high for a while, the resonance starts breaking up the clog, and that hurts. We experience this more when we have a cold, but it's possible, in winter time, to have clogged sinuses ( there's lots of 'em) and not be aware of it. 2) you are unconsciously tensing the back of your neck and shoulders to hold out your high note. Certain death for those muscles, and the easiest way to give yourself a tension headache. Make sure you stay centered in your middle as far as breath support goes, and don't help out anywhere else. An easy test of this in your practice room is to slowly bend over ( bend at the knees if you must) till your fingers dust the floor. Make sure your head and neck are also quite relaxed and hanging down. Now take in as deep a breath as you can, and go for the note. You will be able to tell by the lack of tension how your neck and shoulders are responding. 3) If you aren't all that used to singing up high for any length of time, and the sensations of resonance are still rather new ( the humming or buzzing around your ears is one symptom) this can rattle you slightly to where it creates a headache. this is probably the least likely of the three reasons, since you are well enough advanced to sustain a note like this, but I thought I'd mention it anyway. High register sensations are new territory for all singers, since none of us speak up there ( except maybe Robin Williams, and the folks who do cartoon voices for a living). Getting used to and trusting the sensation of high register is something that every singer has to learn, even tenors and sopranos. Check with your vocal coach or teacher and for heaven's sake, don't think it isn't important enough to mention. Anything that has to do with your vocal health is important for a singer. Without our voices, we just aren't singers, so take good care of yourself. Drink plenty of liquids ( please avoid too many bubblies or sweets) and if your home is heated by forced air or other dry heat, place a bowl of water near your room heater at night so that there is extra mositure in the air while you sleep. Getting dehydrated in winter is more common than you'd think. Best wishes, and break a leg.
When I try to sing high notes, my voice feels strained. What can I do about this?
Learning about creating space in the vocal instrument. the soft palette must be flexible for hight notes to be a possibility. for this to happen the jaw must be loose and not holding tension. Tension in the neck and subluxation in the upper spine can create tension in the neck and jaw area.My suggestion would be to back off the high notes for a bit. Stay where you are not straining … Assess the level of tension and flexibility in the areas mentioned above. find exercises to release the tension and begin doing exercises to have awareness of the soft palate .learning how to shift to the different resonating chambers will help to chest, mouth, nose, head.What has helped me to sing high notes is getting rid of the judgment around singing high notes, doing yoga and going to a chiropractor as well as singing a lot. Singing a lot even if it is not high notes yet helps you gain a greater awareness of all the moving parts in the vocal instruments. With this greater awareness you will be able to begin to play with different notes including some higher onesall the best
Do you know any exercises to sing higher notes?
Practice keeping your larynx *down and *relaxed (and out of the way) while doing a light, high, "yawn sigh". It is that light sound you want. We don't need to push the high register to be loud, it is louder by comparison to lower notes for the same reason a soft piccolo can be heard over an entire orchestra. Engage your pelvic floor and thinking "downward push" with those abdominals when floating the high notes...Singing high is actually about engaging the lower muscles of your core and letting a full supported breath float up, lightly, unobstructed by the ever-to-be-avoided tight throat. Many make the mistake of tightening their throat, but this is contraindicated to nice higher tones. You should be able to move your head around freely during note production--looking right to left to right (like the western head movement indicating "no") --this can help ensure there is little or no jaw or neck tension. Because singing is an embodied thing, not didactic, and since the resonance of any one's voice is really impossible to hear clearly oneself, (because we ARE the echo chamber, and our ears are too close to the source of the sound--the tones produced through the sinus cavities) I always recommend meeting with a professional trainer. Online video tutorials can be useful for learning proper technique, but technical singing in the upper register is still a matter of muscle memory, and having a teacher to spot your issues, and when you "hit it", is invaluable for imprinting in your body the placement you need to repeat and practice. Building on proper form means first extinguishing unconscious bad habits. Excellent form starts with posture similar to a strong relaxed standing yoga, dancer's or athlete's pose: feet hip width apart, upright (not stiff) posture--as if an "eye bolt" is raising the spine up from the top of the very top of your head, chin is very slightly tucked, shoulders back, soft pallet raised, as in a yawn, full, soundless, relaxed inhalation using every interstitial muscle between every rib, front and back.Place the note like a bird landing on a wire, do not slide up to it. Practice a particular song a step or two above where it is written (unless it is unusually high) and you will stretch your range.Above all do not strain.Yawn. Relax. Trust that singing is an athletic, muscular event, it takes time to build your chops. Hydrate hydrate hydrate!The day of any performance, but especially he day before a performance.All best!
I'm trying to sing higher?
When singing, I find I can sing to about High Bb above the staff with little problem. I can whooh out a High C and bark a D, but I can't seem to reach any higher, no matter how hard I try. Someone told me I need to raise my soft palate. How do I do this? My voice teacher once effortlessly got me to the coloratura F, but I haven't been able to reproduce this. I was shocked at how effortless. He started me softly in falsetto at the C above Middle C and carried me up there on a chromatic scale, but we stopped because it sounded a tad screechy at the top notes. Still I felt like I could have gone higher. But when I'm home and practicing, I cannot reproduce that magical lesson. HELP!!! How do I raise my soft palate when singing? And how do I sing that F. Obviously, my idol is Minnie Riperton.
Sinus' affecting singing?
I'm 17 now, but lets go back. From the time I was 11 to 15, in those times, everyone always used me as an example of how they wanted the other kids in school to sing, I was often told that I should be chorus... But when I was around 13/14, I started getting sinus infections all the time, leading into my throat always being dry, also causing my sinus' to be dry. Now I'm looking into privet music lessons, and lets face it. I've recorded myself lately. I don't sound the Soprano I use to, My voice is cracking, and I feel miserable. My dad, who sang at Carnegie Hall and various other places in my childhood, tells me I sound good; but I feel like he is just being nice, as he is my father. Anyways, tomorrow I go in to see if I need sinus surgery or not, but I'm just really stressed. If there is nothing there, then the doctor will say he cant do anything, which will lead to me being very sad over all of this. Would sinus' really affect singing this much?
When I sing high notes, a lot of mucus instantly materializes in my throat/mouth. Does this have anything to do with my singing?
Sara Antunovich is really smart and usually right, so take this with a grain of salt.Singers blame reflux and colds and allergies for stuff. All the time. I do this, too, obviously. My experience, though, has been that while these are real forces, their efficacy in messing with your sound is inversely proportional to how perfect your technique is at the moment. So if you're singing absolutely without flaws, you won't have any phlegm coming up (note: nobody sings without flaws). If you're singing 90% perfectly (i.e. you're a high-level pro), then you'll have a bit of phlegm. More phlegm if you happen to have a cold/reflux/allergies at the moment, but not as much phlegm as if you were just singing worse.I can back up why this makes sense with voice science (cliff notes: efficient phonation at the vocal fold level produces an intralaryngeal flow that strips phlegm off your vocal folds), but what really matters is how this jives with your experience. For instance, I know Sara from the real world, and know she's a very good singer, so she's probably mostly aware of this as a reflux issue, because her technique is consistent and efficient. If you're that kind of singer, I'd start looking at causes like reflux, for sure. If you're a beginning singer, though, I'd be more likely to suspect that the problem here is that your technique starts to worsen when you're singing high notes, and that lack of efficiency is bringing up the phlegm.
I've gotten over laryngitis but i can't sing anymore?
my laryngitis has finally passed but my breath contropl is gone, and i cannot approach my head voice. i used to have arange oup to A flat above high C. now i can't get near high C and even in my low range i run out of air fast. it's like when i was a preteen before i began training my voice. i cannot afford a vocal coach so don't even suggest it. what should i do? is this temporary?