How to sing without straining

How to sing higher without strain

Most problems with the higher range are caused by the singer 'getting in the way' of his or her own voice.

If the voice is allowed to work naturally, without strain or tension, it will easily reach the higher notes in the range.

However, singers are creatures of habit - we all have our own ways of doing things, ways that feel 'comfortable', even if they don't always give us the results we'd like.

These 'attractor states' or muscle memories are conditions that the voice can quickly slip into - sometimes without us knowing it! The result is the 'wrong' sound, or difficulty reaching those top notes.

Estill Voice Training™ encourages singers to recognise and understand their own personal attractor states - and then overcome them.

Clearly, then, the answer to the question is 'it all depends' - it depends on what your individual habits are.

No reputable singing teacher would try to give a 'one-size-fits-all' answer to a question that has such complex variables. It would require - at the very least - a session where the teacher could hear and see you sing, to understand what it is that you're doing, and what you need to do.

But a good starting point is to understand that maybe the problem isn't with your voice - maybe it's with you and your bad habits!

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How to sing louder without strain

When we sing, we disturb the air around us. Waves travel through the air and enter the ears of anyone listening. These waves are then interpreted as sound. In simple terms, then, loudness comes from the size of these waves - the more you disturb the air, the louder your voice will be.

To sing louder, the temptation is to push more breath, or just work physically harder in the body. But both of these 'solutions' have problems - the voice can become too breathy, too pushed, too constricted.

There are ways to seem louder, without working harder, ways to 'project' the voice that give it more presence and carrying power. This is done by optimizing the sound so that it's more easily heard. This is often referred to as 'Singers Formant' or 'cutting edge'.

Estill Voice Training™ can explain the precise physical action required to produce this sound, and give you the ability to control it.

Learning to sing louder really is a matter of 'work smarter, not harder'!

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Sing without strain

As a Certified Master teacher of Estill Voice Training™, Andy Follin can answer all your questions on singing and give you the necessary skills to sing any song, in any repertoire - properly, safely and with the minimum of risk.

Andy is a professional vocal coach, not a school teacher, pianist or singer giving a few singing lessons in their spare time. Unlike a lot of voice teachers, Andy does not insist on long-term tuition, where students have to attend regular lessons, repeating the same exercises until their voice improves. You can attend as often as you like, but there's no compulsion to attend every week or every fortnight. In fact, many students only book sessions every 4 to 6 weeks.

Estill Voice Training™ is known for producing quick results. Quite often, Andy finds that long-standing problems can be fixed in the first few lessons. At your first session, Andy will give you an assessment of your abilities and draw up a plan that ensures you get to where you want to be, as quickly as possible.

If you're ready to take your voice to the next level, book a lesson with Andy today (see bottom of page).

Andy runs his studio from St Helens, so is ideally located for students in the Liverpool, Merseyside, Manchester, Lancashire and Cheshire areas. Please check out the separate pages for students from Liverpool, Merseyside, Warrington, Widnes / Runcorn, Wigan, Cheshire, Lancashire and North Wales.

For those unable to travel to the studio, or who are based overseas, Andy is also happy to teach online via Zoom. During the 2020 lockdown, Andy was able to continue teaching in this way to provide full service to his clientele. For more information on the equipment needed for an effective Zoom lesson, please check out the Online Lessons page.