Fixing a tight/squeezed voice | Singing Lessons For Beginners

So I’ve been working with a new student. And we’ve gotten to a point where he’s can vocalise consistently up to the A4/C5. So this tells me he’s quite capable of stretching those vocal folds.

However one of the challenges we’ve recently worked through feeling of being SQUEEZY and sounding this way. And some of you might notice this.

You’re able to hit the notes, but it still sounds/feels a bit too tight.

Today, let’s talk about why this could be. And I’ll share with you an exercise that you can use to fix this. Make sure to stay to the end.

Real quick! For those of you who don’t know me. My name is Ivan, I love making music and also teaching singing to students all around the world. On this newsletter my goal is to make learning to sing simple. If that’s up your lane, consider subscribing. If you want to improve your voice faster, check out the links down below for ways to work with me

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Now of course, there’s the usual tip of just relaxing the throat which you can try. But I think there’s more to it.

One lesson that really helped me is understanding that there’s a constant balancing act of AIRFLOW and CLOSURE.

The more connection you add, the more air you need to blow.

[DEMONSTRATION IN VIDEO]

At every volume/connection, there’s a certain amount of air I need to blow.

Now how does this relate to the squeezy or tight sound?

From personal experience, the squeezy sound or quality is when I don’t blow enough air for the connection required.

And so this also means that fixing this is also quite simple. We just need to rebalance this ratio

1) You either need to squeeze/connect those cords less hard (whilst blowing the same amount)

2) Or blow more air

So this brings us to the exercise!

Say if you have a sound that feels squeezed.

Let’s try one of the 2 things

1) Let’s get a feel of blowing a bit more air (without getting louder)

CUE: It’s okay at the moment to blow a bit more air than you think

2) Pull back the connection but (keep the airflow)

[DEMONSTRATION IN VIDEO]

Now here are some cues, when you do it right!

1. There will be a smoother sound that comes out.

2. The voice generally might feel looser, natural or squishier. It might even feel more breath. But when you listen back to it. It doesn’t sound breathy.

3. The volume shouldn’t get louder! Because if it does, it mights your vocal folds are also RESISTING more. Remember our goal is to tweak the balance.

STEP 3: Then just bring that balance sense of connection/airflow to a song

Anyway! That’s all. If you found this episode useful, please share or give it 5 star wherever you’re listening from. This really helps spread the word and means the world to me. If you’d like to study with me, links are down in description. Take care!

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