Well since i had that breakthrough a few weeks back, nothing has been the same.
My singing is worse, im straining loads, my voice is tired after about 4 songs from Images and words, and theres loads of phlegm on my throat so i cant help but clear it.
Ive tried everything, but nothing is working. For the first time since ever, im starting to 'not look forward' to singing, because im just disappointing myself everytime. I took almost 2 weeks rest, and that did nothing. My voice is healthy until i start singing. I just dont know what to do?
I know everything i should do when singing, but i cant make it all happen. Ive tried being optimistic about everything, thinking positive and knowing it will all fall back in place, but its not. Night after night its just really difficult, and my voice is completely worn out after a few difficult songs.
Whatever problems i have, they need to be fixed by the end of the summer since my band will be practicing new even more challenging material and getting some big gigs.
I dont know what advice you guys can give me that i havent heard before, but i guess its worth a go...

I think the only choice i have is to get lessons that i really cant afford because of debt, and the chances are no teachers around here will be able to help me anyway.

Times are certainly tough lol

Sorry to hear about that. I think the only way we can give you some helpful advice is if you record a clip of you singing at the present state.

Go back to basics. Analyze everything your breathing, relaxation, the power push and whatever else you can think of. Often we fall into very bad habits that at first are invisible. Only through a clear mind and understanding( ) can you overcome your limits.
All though this is from my experience in the Martial Arts I believe it also applies to singing. Master the basics is the key to everything.
I hope this helps, good luck

Alright, barring some illness or other problem that we don't know about, I tend to agree with the above poster:

What we know is that you've been able to sing well, and in a free manner, in the past. You recently had a breakthrough, but now it seems like you've fallen back.

Your voice sounds 'worse', you're straining, you've got a huge phlegm build up, your voice is fine till you sing, and your voice tires quickly.


I'll just start by asking: Other than this voice problem, are things okay in your life? I know that when I'm really stressed out, my voice reverts to utter CRAP-O unless I'm super careful.



Assuming it's not stress, my theory is that you had a breakthrough, and suddenly you could sing louder, higher, and more easily than ever before. So maybe you started 'leaning' on it, and pushing too hard for that volume/range that you know you're capable of.

It's the classic pit-trap. You push aside a bunch of branches, and see the path is clear ahead of you, so you try to sprint across the clear patch... only to fall into the trap because you tried to go too far, too fast.


Back off a little! Especially after two weeks of vocal rest! I have trouble getting back into my range/resonance/power if I take three -days- off. It takes me a nice long warm up and plenty of gentle scales before I'm ready to get back into my regular singing. It can take me a few days to get 'back on it' if I take a week off.


So go easier. Don't try to hop back into the hardest songs. Sing some things that are EXTREMELY easy for you. Maybe focus on just the chest voice for a while, then ease back into some songs that include your upper register.

Lee-I have heard you sing before. You are excellent and it sounds like you use good technique. You probably just need to rest for a while.

It sounds like you have overworked yourself. You really need to stop singing for a little while. I know this will be hard but not singing at all will help you forget whatever bad habits you've gone into so you can go back to the basics when you start singing again. Sometimes, you just have to condition your mind to stop caring. Because as soon as you care, you start being self-conscious and you start stressing out. Next thing you know is you're doing everything wrong...

When you start singing again, make sure you sing from the most relaxed state. Take a few minutes to close your eyes and relax all your muscles before you sing. When you sing, if you start feeling self conscious again, stop and try to relax.

To relax your face: say "huh"; that should bring your tongue forward and relax your lips. Sing from there slowly. Don't use the power push for now; just let your support engage on its own. Good luck!

This kind of stuff happens ... you get a taste of heaven just for the hell that awaits you to become more bitter xD ... After having awesome singing days and then being the way I am by now (It hurts when I speak too much xD) I really get it xD.

"my voice is tired after about 4 songs from Images and words" Lee Muria

HAHAHA Bro, are you surprised ??!! that's pretty technical and rangy stuff! and unless you are using massive support, chances are that you are killing yourself ! I can't tell you anything that you don't already know... just don't be so hard on yourself and build up your support ! (and if you can get a teacher plz do so!)

Just wishing you best from Chile (hahaha you've made a few fans here coz I showed your stuff to some friends)

Sorry to hear that bud,

A few things that I can suggest are:

Like everyone else said: Concentrate on not pushing too hard...the phlegm is probably from your throat healing itself after being hurt from the pushing. For the next few jams...don't put too much power and emotion into it (regardless of what the band thinks). Just sing the songs at that minimal volume point in which your still voice breaks at C5. You know, like full voice but volume 7.5...

Secondly, I mentioned this in another post but...dedicate like half hour of your vocal practice routine to vocalizing from G4 to G5...like when you get 2 or 3 notes past your break, jump down an octave and keep doing this. I have been doing this with the Jim Gillette Vocal Power CD...it has really worked wonders for me. I find it really, really helps with not pushing too hard in the upper ranges.
The key is not to go for volume, just maintain that minimum pressure to make C5 your break. This has also helped my break tremendously.
I've never been able to sing in the upper ranges easily...so my solution...G4 to G5 all the time now...in the car on the way to work...coming home...to the store...to jamming. Give it a test for awhile.

Lastly, don't knock getting a vocal teacher. I just found a classically trained teacher with an open mind who doesn't tell me not to scream or anything cliche like that. The first lesson with her, I showed her all the grit stuff I practice, all the Pantera screaming, all the death metal growls, and my warm-ups and routine. She was really impressed with my progress without formal lessons and my controlled undamaging technique for grit. (Thanks to Jaime of course ; )...
But she is still able to point out many things that I'm doing incorrectly, such as my overly raised tongue position on eeee vowels etc...A good teacher may help you more than you think.

Hi Lee,

I know exactly how you feel right now... got pissed off myself having that same experience... and I can already tell you that you'll get rid of it !!

Here's what I did : I stopped thinking about technique for a while. As the voice needs rest sometimes, so does the brain !

Sing with your heart and let your feelings explode out of your body !! Search for the flame that burns in you.. and I'm sure you know which flame I'm talking about !! ;)

Why do you sing ? Just to show off ? Or is it because you LOVE to feel the vibrations running through your entire body !?!

Replace "I TRY" with the much stronger "I DO" tool, and very soon you gonna post here again shouting with your powerful and great voice something like :

"GUYS, THE ORIGINAL LEE MURIA IS BACK, AND I FEEL SOOO FU..ING GOOD !!"

Love,

Mag

Woah thanks for all your support guys!
First off, im not having any personal problems, i dont really get stressed or anything like that, so that doesnt affect me.
One thing you all mentioned alot is over thinking....ive noticed that when im singing in the car and focusing more on my driving rather than singing, im not doing too bad. But as soon as i get to the evening and do my warm ups 'ready to sing', i get all these problems...so i must just be overthinking too much,
Ive never had great technique before, ive had okish technique :P, enough to be able to do the things that i can do, but not enough to eliminate all tension.
So in the past ive been able to sing to images and words and then Winterose which are the most challenging albums i have, and by then im usually vocally tired and worn out...but yeh they are extremely difficult albums and i never usually go too hard on myself about it....but lately i cant even sing one song from winterose and only 4 from images and words.
I think i may have damaged my voice slightly tbh, nothing huge, but perhaps the beginning of a nodule....so im gonna rest completely now until next monday which is when i start lessons with a classical baritone teacher. Ive had a chat to him and he seems to be pretty open minded about stuff and was quite helpful over the phone.
I think my problems may be to do with too much tongue in my throat, too much air through my vocal cords, and i think my main problem is to do with pulling chest.... i dont really started blending any head voice in until i get to my break point, where as ive heard some of you say that there should be a gradual transition. Ive tried messing around with this but i dont understand it at the moment.
Also, i have woken up with a cold today, so yesterdays performace was most likely to do with me being worn down, but it still doesnt count for the last 2 weeks.
I will be starting back to basics on monday anyway with my first teacher, so hopefully everthing will fall back into place soon...
Thanks ALOT guys
Lee

Sounds like you will be back on track soon Remember to stop caring so much and be kind to yourself!

Good luck Lee! You're a great singer, I'm sure you'll conquer this transitional period.

Just a quick question to put my mind at ease, i forgot to mention that when im all worn out, its only the 4 or so notes before my breakpoint that tire out, when i zip up its all fine and just as powerful...
and also, during the day, im able to hit whistle notes...
So i was just wondering if this is a sign that i dont have a nodule coming or anything like that, because if i did, i wouldnt be able to zip my cords up so well like that...
What you reckon?

See an ENT to make sure...

Lee, the same thing might also happen simply due to swelling of the chords. I've had that happen to me before. Once I had a gig to do and my voice was completely kaput. This was years back and I wasn't very knowledgeable in taking care of my voice, let alone how to revive it in a situation like that. I warmed up as best as I could, then hit the "social lubricant" when I got to the venue. I figured "the only way I'm gonna get through this is to be totally rock-n-roll!" lol

Ironically, this was probably the best show I did with that band.....which is why it's easy to see, in hindsight, what a deadly trap alcohol, or other quick fixes, are. But the fact is that my voice was totally shot for about a week afterwards. So, yeah, I learned my lesson.

Anyway, the reason I bring it up here is because in that period of shot-voice that followed, I experienced some things like you mentioned. Completely crappy voice in the middle range, but unusual access to the whistle register, and also low notes that are way out of my range.

My intuitive diagnoses at that time was "swollen chords" and a slightly injured set of chords which cause lots of phlegmage too. (p.s. I believe I just invented the word "phlegmage" lol)

I agree with Oiselle, Lee.
You should probably re-read the thread you posted where you first mentioned something unusual happening with your voice. It was about a month back; http://pub11.bravenet.com/forum/879185519/show/710187
You have a great voice, mate, take care of it and don't risk damaging it permanently.
Cheers, Dave.

Ok thanks guys
Yeh i think its probably just what Paul said, my cords are probably just swollen, but the worst that ive had before so im just fretting about it...
If things persist then ill go and see an ENT, but i think i should be fine...
Im really looking forward to starting with a new teacher on monday.

Never state things in a negative. So never say "Things suck" because you are programming yourself for the worse ;) Your vce may better at other times than right now, but that's us being physical. Always stay positive. During the Japan shoot I had a 102 degree temperature and was sick for six days before the show and about a week afterward. If you watch the show again, you'll notice I was soaking wet from sweat. I could barely talk and had NO energy but I still pulled it off by staying positive.

JV

Ok cheers Jaime, yeh i need to be more positive...

I'm also having similar problems right now. I think I'm gonna take a few days rest and once I feel better, I won't be singing but I will start off with some light scales. I do notice that in SLS, that they want you to keep a dopey sound on the lip trills, where Jaime said it was ok to let it go into falsetto. It seems the dopey sound wants to make me pull my voice and cause constriction. Does anyone do the lip trills with a dopey sound? Maybe I'm trying to over do th dopeynes?

Hey, about the dopeyness, it is meant to keep your larynx in a "comfortable low position", so if it is bothering you, most likely you are over doing it and neglecting your support! personally, when I do lip trills I do not go for that sound, coz it has caused me to unvoluntarily use an excessively lowered larynx in the high notes. What I do keep in mind is the "yawning sensation" but just as that, a sensation, not actually yawning...

peace