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Vocal health and removal of ‘hoarse-ness’ (Singing Teachers)
Hey all 🙂
I wanted to start a feed discussing vocal health and how to fix certain sounds that seemingly sound unhealthy in the singing voice.
A student of mine has developed a hoarseness over the last 2 months and I’m at a bit of a loose end in terms of what else I can recommend for her. I have suggested the straw technique to encourage vocal fold closure as I thought it may have been lazy vocal folds that were allowing air to seep through whilst she was singing creating a little hiss. I have also suggested vocal fry but she’s still creating a hissy/raspy sort of sound whilst singing. She has a very clear tone naturally and comes from a classical background and we’re both really baffled by this.
TIPS TIPS TIPS NEEDED!!
All the best xxxx
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8 Replies
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Hey Lily, would love to hear a recording of this so I can get a feel for what’s going on.
Is it happening across the entirety of her range or is it worse on some specific notes? -
PS. Is there any glugginess as well? Does she often clear her throat or feel the need to?
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She never feels the need to clear her throat – it’s more like air bleed sound. I’ve tried getting her to engage the vocal folds a little more using full vocal fold closure exercises (ZZ/JJ/VV sirens etc). It tends to be more problematic in the upper registers of her voice.
Any exercises you’d recommend? I have a lesson with her next week – so I’ll ask her if she minds me recording her voice. I’m just worried I may be focusing on the wrong areas and missing something vital.
Thanks Kat.
L x -
Hmm it’s hard to recommend exercises without hearing it. Definitely try getting a recording :).
It’s not unusual for high notes to be breathy, but hissy/raspy sounds like something different all together. I’m not sure what though without hearing!
Lack of fold closure will cause breathiness in the tone, but not any kind of abrasiveness – that’s something else.Although at the end of the day, fold closure is not reaaally helped that much with the straw exercise or with VVVs etc. As these are semi-occluded sounds they’re more rehabilitative rather than strengthening. If you want to strengthen and thin the folds out, the best way is probably using a bratty/witchy sound.
Just make sure there’s no uncomfortability/pain going on with her voice – you wouldn’t want it to be an injury. And at the end of the day, if you’re not sure, or there’s any doubt, don’t hesitate to send her off to an ENT, just so both of you can have peace of mind.
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Hi Kat,
Just had another lesson with my crackly student – I did some recordings of her voice through out the lesson. I also reestablished diaphragmatic breathing and core control and weirdly enough, it seemed to relieve a LOT of the ‘white noise’ that she was displaying. However, there was still evidence of the hoarseness at times.
It’s so odd because she has been classically trained in the past so I’m second guessing my training and the way that I am teaching her.
I’ll forward on the recordings via FB
L x
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