How can I improve my vocal stamina?

Recent Question from ‘Kate’:

I am due to go into the recording studio to record my next album. I am expected to be vocally on top form and ready to sing for 8-12 hours a day. I know from past albums that my voice will get really tired. Last time I suffered from hoarseness, dry throat and pain down the right side of my neck after about 3 days of recording but I had to carry on. My vocal coach has said I need to build up my stamina by singing for longer periods gradually over time as this will help to build up stamina in the muscles used for singing.

Is this right? Can I I build my vocal stamina just with doing more singing? Will this help me to develop my voice so that I can sing 8 hours a day without any vocal fatigue or strain?

Short answer: No!

Long answer: Read on to find out more about ‘vocal stamina’ and how to actually develop your ability to sing for longer without strain and vocal fatigue.

 

What is Vocal Stamina?

Having good ‘vocal stamina’ is having the ability to sing for long periods of time, ideally without consequences of voice strain or hoarseness. Having good ‘vocal stamina’ is a highly sought after skill amongst singers, especially with ever increasing repertoire demands put upon our artists, music teachers, choir leaders and performers. As you can see from Kate’s question – in some cases, singers are asked to sing for over eight hours a day, many days in a row!

 

Building Vocal Stamina purely through increasing the amount you sing is dangerous

 

You can see where Kate’s vocal coach’s logic comes from. In the world of Athletics, building stamina involves endurance training. Endurance training focuses on increasing the body’s ability to withstand fatigue and stress, raising an athlete’s threshold to fatigue. If they manage to push through that physical fatigue, the athlete will by definition have developed their endurance ability, therefore it is said their stamina has improved. The idea of a singer building up vocal stamina in this way can be quite dangerous and lead to incurable vocal fold damage.

Why?

The difference is to do with anatomy of the musculature involved for a singer. Let’s take an example: A body builder who wishes to build muscle will do so by aiming for their muscles to hypertrophy (increase in size) through lifting weights. Growth of the muscle is thought to happen as muscles fibers repair from damage due to overuse. Put simply, overusing particular muscles causes body builder’s muscles to become stronger. Skeletal muscle tissue is the most adaptive tissue in the body, and can therefore be overused time and again with little to no damage. As any body builder would agree – it’s actually very hard to grow muscles and takes a great deal of persistence and dedication to do so!

Unfortunately for singers our laryngeal muscle physiology is not the same as trunk muscle physiology. Research into laryngeal muscle fibers is patchy, but what research does show confirms we cannot grow strength in our laryngeal muscles as the muscle fibers are built for short spurts of high speed and power, fatiguing more rapidly than the slow twitch muscles in our body, such as those used for postural maintenance. I am not a muscle expert, so read the research here if you would like more information concerning muscles.

See here for more details about muscle fiber types.

 

What about the vocal folds?

The vocal fold anatomy is more complex. The vocal folds can be thought of as two parts: the body and the cover. The body is responsible for providing tension and establishing vocal pitch. The cover of the vocal folds have many layers (made up of the epithelium and lamina propria) which, when combined, form the vibrating section of the vocal folds. ‘Jelly-like and slippery’, as I explain it to singers who come into voice clinic, so they can slip over each other quickly and effectively when a wave is passing through them.

The hoarseness and vocal fatigue you might be familiar with is a common indicator that the voice has been overused. This happens because the cover section has swollen. The best way to reduce inflammation in this layer of the vocal folds is to rest. Once swelling occurs in the vocal fold cover layers, pushing your voice by continuing to sing and speak will not build stamina – it will not enable you to sing longer next time. ‘Singing through it’ using swollen vocal folds puts you at risk of further damage to your vocal folds. Potentially you are putting yourself at risk of developing more serious conditions, such as: vocal fold nodules, polyps, haemorrhages, and other pathologies.

As I said before…laryngeal muscles do not hypertrophy (grow in strength) with continued use, so you’re not ‘building stamina’ by overusing these muscles.

Ok, so how CAN I get better at singing for longer without discomfort or hoarseness?

Modern singers are often referred to as ‘vocal athletes’. This should not be in reference to their ability to push through physical challenges, as some sports athletes do! In clinic, when I refer to singers being ‘athletes’ it is with regard to how you use your voices more dynamically than your average Joe Bloggs, therefore you have a responsibility to yourself to maintain a healthy lifestyle and undertake regular vocal exercise that establishes and maintains good vocal technique if you want to continue to have such a dynamic vocal instrument. Just as good athletes do.

Why is vocal training so important?

You might be blessed with great vocal technique anyway, and so not be aware of the trouble and strife of vocal strain, however, for the rest of us mere mortals…establishing good vocal technique through adequate vocal training will help to improve efficiency and conditioning of your muscles, prolonging the period of time until your cover layers swell by ensuring you are not putting undue stress on them. This IS improving your vocal stamina (endurance). This is how you do it… improve your technique.

 

Monitor yourself for signs of fatigue

Voice strain and vocal fatigue is the body’s way of telling you your instrument is overworked! Continuing to sing at this point will simply increase the swelling of the cover layer of your vocal folds, prolonging recovery from a hoarse to normal voice.

Please note: other factors may have a role in vocal fatigue and strain, so always go and see your GP and get a referral to an ENT doctor so they can have a look at your vocal folds. Never just presume your problems are solely due to poor technique. If you’ve been having problems – Voice clinics exist for people like you!!

I work as a Singing Voice Specialist Speech and Language Therapist both privately (www.carriegarrettvocals.com)  and for the NHS at the University Hospital South Manchester department of Speech, Voice and Swallowing. Referrals to our Singer’s Clinic are accepted with GP referral, post-ENT.

To see me privately, message me via my website. Skype sessions available!

 

Rest up all you singers out there!! Short term annoyance (resting) for longer term gain (healthy voice)…. And get some technique lessons!!

 

Smile 🙂

Carrie x

 

 

Vocal Strain

Everybody has a different description for what they experience when they overdo it with their voice. Everybody reacts to vocal strain in a different way, depending on their level of knowledge (about how the voice works) and their life experiences (advice they have accumulated along the way).

 

This blog aims to clarify:

1) what vocal strain sounds and feels like,

2) what to do about it,

3) and to offer advice on how you can try to avoid it in the first place.

 

 Vocal Strain: What does it sound and feel like?

The most common symptoms of vocal strain are:

 

1. Discomfort in the throat and neck area: this could be an ache, soreness, pain, tightness, scratchiness, tickling, the feeling of a lump in the throat, dryness or a burning sensation.
2. Impaired voice quality: such as hoarseness, breathiness, a ‘strained’ sound, roughness, pitch breaks, or creakiness.
3. Change in the pitch of the voice: too high, too low, or monotone.
4. Voice loss: fatigue, running out of breath.
5. Difficulty in projecting the voice: volume is difficult to control, muffled voice or difficulty with resonance.
6. Difficulty reaching certain pitches. That you could reach previously.

 

These symptoms can occur in association with structural changes on the vocal folds like swelling, inflammation, vocal nodules, polyps, sulci, but in many cases the vocal folds appear perfectly normal.

In only a very small number of cases are voice problems caused by a serious disease.

 

The usual cause of vocal strain will be a combination of small problems related to the way the person uses his or her voice, the physical environment in which the voice is used and increased levels of stress and tension. Sometimes an unhealthy lifestyle or illnesses such as hay fever, reflux and sinus problems can also contribute to the problem. Because most voice problems are caused by a combination of factors which are not serious or difficult to eliminate, most can be easily prevented or remedied if detected early.

 

 

Vocal Strain: What to do about it?

Nearly everyone experiences minor throat discomfort or small changes in breath control, voice quality, pitch, loudness, or resonance from time to time. (Especially in the mornings or after a night out!)

 

When these changes are very slight, last for only a few minutes and do not recur every day, there is usually nothing to be concerned about.

When these changes are associated with a viral infection of the throat or sinuses, as long as the voice symptoms disappear when the infection resolves, there is rarely a need to be concerned.

 

If the voice symptoms are more than very slight, last for days, recur regularly and do not result from a viral infection, it is important to get your voice checked. From a medical point of view, the usual guideline is that any hoarseness or voice loss which persists for three weeks or more should be investigated by a medical doctor, preferably an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist.

In other words – go to your GP and get a referral to an ENT doctor.

They will be able to take a look at your vocal mechanism, take some information about your lifestyle and general health, and find out what may be the cause of the difficulty. Better to know and get it sorted than to panic and retreat into yourself or stop singing!

 

Vocal Strain: Causes and contributing factors

There are many possible causes and contributing factors for voice problems which can increase a person’s risk for developing a voice problem. Individuals vary widely in their susceptibility to voice problems and a factor which causes a voice problem in one person may have no adverse affect on another.

 

The main factors you can control to help reduce the likelihood of voice problems are:

• Understanding and implementing voice care principles (See British Voice Association website for advice and downloadable resources)

• Voice use patterns, e.g. rest after a night out, warm up, cool down.

• Voice production techniques, e.g. good breathing for speech, monitoring volume levels.

• Health and stress patterns, e.g. recognising when you are anxious, stressed, tired – and giving the body what it needs, such as better nutrition, sleep, relaxation etc.

• Characteristics of the physical environment, e.g. using appropriate amplification, recognising the voice’s natural limits.

 

Those who have a limited understanding of the basic anatomy and physiology of voice production and little knowledge of the principles of voice care may be at greater risk of developing voice problems. It’s a duty to yourself if you are serious about singing to find out more about voice care and make sure you stick to it – Respect yourself and your instrument!

 

It goes without saying an individual is likely to be at risk if they misuse their voice by yelling or using inefficient voice production techniques such as upper chest breathing in speech and singing.

Further, an individual is more likely to be at risk for voice disorders if they have health problems such as reflux, allergy, poor general health and high stress levels; or use their voices in environments which are not conducive to safe voice production like rooms with poor acoustics.

 

It is near impossible to offer individualised advice on how you should alter your ways to protect yourself from vocal strain through a single blog, but I hope this goes someway to encouraging you to seek out a specialist, or read advice published by recognised voice associations, such as the British Voice Association or the Voice Care Network. 

 

The voice is simple – it is an instrument that is part of your body. It is an active, dynamic system of muscle-use that requires good nutrition and hydration, a good exercise routine, and respect. If you are a singer, you are an athlete.

 

Take care of yourself and your voice will be better off for it.

 

Contact me directly by commenting on this blog or by emailing me at rockstarvox@me.com if you have any questions regarding vocal health for yourself or your students. More than happy to help.

 

Love and sunshine to all of you,

 

Carrie Garrett

Specialist Speech and Language Therapist (Voice) / Singing Teacher