WEBVTT
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.400
The biggest breath you can take is almost always working against you.
00:00:04.719 --> 00:00:06.799
I know that sounds wrong.
00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:11.919
Singers are told from day one to breathe deep, fill up, support.
00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:16.559
And there are moments where a large breath is genuinely necessary.
00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:21.199
A long classical phrase, a sustained line at the end of a bridge.
00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:27.039
But for the vast majority of contemporary singing, a big breath does not help.
00:00:27.359 --> 00:00:31.440
It creates pressure that the voice then has to fight.
00:00:31.679 --> 00:00:36.799
And that fight is what most singers experience as strain.
00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:44.880
This episode is about what strain actually is, where it comes from, and how to get rid of it.
00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:48.399
First, when to stop.
00:00:49.280 --> 00:00:53.039
Before I talk about fixing anything, I need to make a distinction.
00:00:53.280 --> 00:01:04.879
If you are experiencing pain while singing, real pain, not just fatigue or scratchiness, and it happens all the time, regardless of what you are singing or how long you have been singing.
00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:06.480
I am not touching that.
00:01:06.719 --> 00:01:12.480
That needs a doctor, an ENT, ideally one who works with singers.
00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:18.879
Pain that is constant and nonspecific is a medical question, not a technique question.
00:01:20.239 --> 00:01:23.519
What I am going to talk about is the other version.
00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:32.319
Your throat gets scratchy during certain passages in a certain part of your range, or after you have been singing for a while.
00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:36.959
That is usually technique, and technique can be adjusted.
00:01:38.319 --> 00:01:40.400
The hyperfunction loop.
00:01:40.799 --> 00:01:48.879
The most common mechanical cause of vocal strain is hyperfunction, an overaduction of the vocal folds.
00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:55.200
The folds are pressing together harder than they need to, and it creates a vicious cycle.
00:01:55.599 --> 00:01:57.599
Here is how the loop works.
00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:00.159
The singer takes a large breath.
00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:07.840
That breath creates high subglottal pressure, the air pressure building up underneath the closed vocal folds.
00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:11.759
To hold against that pressure, the folds adduct harder.
00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:14.319
They press together more tightly.
00:02:14.639 --> 00:02:18.080
That produces a pressed, effortful sound.
00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:23.840
But now there is even more pressure to manage, so the folds squeeze harder still.
00:02:24.159 --> 00:02:26.560
The cycle feeds itself.
00:02:28.159 --> 00:02:34.000
If you have ever heard someone describe a voice as pressed, that is usually what is happening.
00:02:34.319 --> 00:02:38.879
Pressed phonation is a real and useful tonal color in certain genres.
00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:43.360
The difference between style and strain is whether you can turn it off.
00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:48.960
If pressed is a choice you can move in and out of this technique.
00:02:49.199 --> 00:02:54.479
If it is the only thing that you can do, it may be hyperfunction.
00:02:55.919 --> 00:03:00.719
One of the telltale signs of hyperfunction is trouble in the middle of the range.
00:03:00.960 --> 00:03:07.360
A lot of singers can manage their high notes and their low notes, but hit a wall somewhere in the middle.
00:03:07.599 --> 00:03:16.879
That wall is the hyperfunction locking up the passaggio region, where the voice needs the most flexibility to transition between fold configurations.
00:03:18.800 --> 00:03:20.400
Two paths out.
00:03:21.599 --> 00:03:26.639
Getting out of the hyperfunction loop comes down to reducing the pressure that drives it.
00:03:26.879 --> 00:03:30.560
There are two approaches, and they work together.
00:03:31.599 --> 00:03:32.560
Path one.
00:03:32.960 --> 00:03:34.319
Smaller breaths.
00:03:34.639 --> 00:03:37.280
This is the most direct intervention.
00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:40.879
Less air in means less pressure to manage.
00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:43.280
Hook's law applies here.
00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:49.520
The more you inflate an elastic structure, the greater the recoil force it pushes back with.
00:03:49.919 --> 00:03:58.719
A smaller breath means less recoil, less subglottal pressure, and less demand on the folds to hold against it.
00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:03.120
I know this goes against everything most singers have been taught.
00:04:03.439 --> 00:04:11.520
The advice to take a big breath and support is so universal that almost every singer I have ever worked with arrives already doing it.
00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:25.120
But, for contemporary singing where phrases are shorter and rarely demand the sustained airflow of classical repertoire, a big breath is often the source of the problem rather than the solution.
00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:28.879
All you really have to do is commit to trying it.
00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:33.199
The experience of it being easier usually sells itself.
00:04:35.279 --> 00:04:39.600
The other piece of pressure management is genuine breath support.
00:04:39.920 --> 00:04:50.240
Finding that expansion through the torso, the external intercostals, pectorals, and lats working together to control the rate at which air is released.
00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:58.000
Support is not about holding more air, it's about managing the air you have with more precision.
00:04:59.839 --> 00:05:00.800
Path two.
00:05:01.680 --> 00:05:03.439
Sing softly.
00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:12.720
Strain is almost always related to trying to sing loudly, and singing loudly is just not necessary for most genres.
00:05:13.279 --> 00:05:15.519
Microphones will make you loud.
00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:19.120
The voice does not need to do that job.
00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:25.759
There is a direct relationship between subglottal air pressure and vocal intensity.
00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:30.959
Increasing pressure will increase volume as long as the folds can maintain closure.
00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:37.680
But maintaining that closure under high pressure is exactly the demand that creates strain.
00:05:38.160 --> 00:05:41.680
Lower the volume, and you lower the pressure.
00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:48.959
The folds do not have to fight as hard to stay closed, and the whole cycle starts to unwind.
00:05:51.279 --> 00:05:54.959
Why singing softly is harder than you think.
00:05:56.800 --> 00:06:01.279
Singing softly requires much finer control of air pressure.
00:06:01.519 --> 00:06:11.040
It is one of those places where the physical engagement through the external intercostals, pectorals, and lats increases significantly to do it well.
00:06:11.519 --> 00:06:18.000
Singing well ideally looks easy, but there is a ton of work happening under the surface.
00:06:18.240 --> 00:06:25.199
A few minutes of focused, quiet singing will be physically taxing in a way that belting for 10 minutes is not.
00:06:26.480 --> 00:06:30.160
Vocal function exercises are excellent here.
00:06:30.560 --> 00:06:35.199
All four exercises are performed as softly as possible.
00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:39.199
That is a part of the protocol, not a modification.
00:06:39.439 --> 00:06:46.399
The sustained E trains you to hold a single pitch as quietly and steadily as you can.
00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:56.800
The pentascale on O adds pitch accuracy across five notes at the same low intensity, which is different coordination challenge.
00:06:57.040 --> 00:07:02.319
The goal in both cases is finding the quietest sound that has not turned breathy.
00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:07.759
That boundary, soft but clear, is the coordination you are building.
00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:17.680
Recording yourself helps because the difference between soft and clear and soft and breathy is easier to hear on playback than in the moment.
00:07:18.720 --> 00:07:23.600
One note breathy phonation during puberty is normal.
00:07:23.839 --> 00:07:28.480
Female singers in particular may experience it in their early twenties.
00:07:28.800 --> 00:07:33.519
This exercise still applies, but the bass line is different.
00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:42.879
One of our amazing collaborators, Timothy, once described singing softly with an image I've always liked.
00:07:43.199 --> 00:07:46.959
It should sound like you simply moved further away.
00:07:47.279 --> 00:07:51.519
Same voice, same quality, just quieter.
00:07:51.920 --> 00:07:56.000
The tone does not change character, it just gets smaller.
00:07:56.639 --> 00:07:59.680
Much easier said than done.
00:08:02.160 --> 00:08:04.879
Tension is not the enemy.
00:08:05.519 --> 00:08:10.480
There is another version of strain that lives outside the larynx entirely.
00:08:10.800 --> 00:08:18.560
Visible muscle tension in the neck or jaw, bulging muscles in the neck, a chin that is locked and quivering.
00:08:18.879 --> 00:08:22.639
These are signs of tension where it does not belong.
00:08:23.360 --> 00:08:24.879
But here's the thing.
00:08:25.199 --> 00:08:28.160
Tension and singing go together.
00:08:28.399 --> 00:08:31.279
Without tension, you will not make any sound.
00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:33.919
The vocal folds have to close.
00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:36.480
The breath system has to pressurize.
00:08:36.720 --> 00:08:40.000
Muscles throughout the torso have to engage.
00:08:40.720 --> 00:08:44.960
Singing is never a question of removing all tension.
00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:51.039
It is about having tension where you want it and to the degree that is useful.
00:08:52.799 --> 00:08:58.000
This is one of the things I like most about really effective breath support.
00:08:58.480 --> 00:09:01.360
It moves the tension into the torso.
00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:11.840
When the body is properly engaged through the intercostals, lats, and pectorals, that engagement gives the tension a productive place to live.
00:09:12.240 --> 00:09:19.919
When the body is not engaged, that same tension almost always creeps upward into the neck and jaw.
00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:24.960
The tension does not appear from nowhere, it just has nowhere else to go.
00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:37.360
So the fix for neck and jaw tension is usually not relax your neck or drop your jaw, it is redirecting the engagement into the torso.
00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:41.440
My go-to prompt for getting this started is simple.
00:09:41.919 --> 00:09:48.000
Palms up, make fists, squeeze the pinky side of your fists into your ribs.
00:09:48.320 --> 00:09:53.200
It naturally engages the intercostals, lats, and pectorals.
00:09:53.919 --> 00:10:00.960
It is a crutch, and it will also engage muscles in the shoulders and arms that we do not want long term.
00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:04.559
Which is why I like switching prompts regularly.
00:10:05.120 --> 00:10:11.919
We go deeper on this in season two, episode 15, You Can't Actually Sing from the Diaphragm.
00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:14.399
Here's what actually works.
00:10:15.519 --> 00:10:17.840
High notes and strain.
00:10:19.279 --> 00:10:25.120
Straining on high notes is usually the same pressure story with one additional factor.
00:10:25.360 --> 00:10:36.879
The singer is trying to keep the vocal folds short and thick as they ascend, which means pushing significantly more air to drive folds that are not configured for that pitch.
00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:41.360
To sing higher, the vocal folds need to stretch and thin.
00:10:41.840 --> 00:10:50.080
The cricothyroid muscle elongates them, and the thinner configuration vibrates at a higher frequency, with less effort.
00:10:50.559 --> 00:10:53.759
This is the body's default solution.
00:10:54.320 --> 00:10:55.279
It works.
00:10:55.919 --> 00:11:00.960
But the thinner sound is different from what the singer is used to hearing on their lower notes.
00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:05.279
It might feel light or unfamiliar, so they add weight.
00:11:05.600 --> 00:11:11.279
More thyroidinoid engagement, more air pressure, more effort.
00:11:11.759 --> 00:11:16.080
And now they are finding the natural mechanics instead of working with them.
00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:20.320
The fix is the same as everywhere else in this episode.
00:11:20.559 --> 00:11:26.559
Less air, less force, and let the folds do what they are built to do.
00:11:26.960 --> 00:11:36.000
The sound will probably not be what you want when you first start letting the voice thin out on high notes, but it gets stronger with practice.
00:11:36.399 --> 00:11:40.639
The strain also disappears immediately.
00:11:42.559 --> 00:11:44.080
The one rule.
00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:05.759
But they always make singing harder, not easier.
00:12:06.080 --> 00:12:07.919
They create pressure.
00:12:08.159 --> 00:12:10.000
Pressure demands closure.
00:12:10.240 --> 00:12:14.080
Closure under pressure can lead to strain.
00:12:15.759 --> 00:12:21.919
Start smaller, sing softer, let the folds thin when they want to.
00:12:22.799 --> 00:12:27.200
Until next time, keep singing smart.
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.400
The biggest breath you can take is almost always working against you.
00:00:04.719 --> 00:00:06.799
I know that sounds wrong.
00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:11.919
Singers are told from day one to breathe deep, fill up, support.
00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:16.559
And there are moments where a large breath is genuinely necessary.
00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:21.199
A long classical phrase, a sustained line at the end of a bridge.
00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:27.039
But for the vast majority of contemporary singing, a big breath does not help.
00:00:27.359 --> 00:00:31.440
It creates pressure that the voice then has to fight.
00:00:31.679 --> 00:00:36.799
And that fight is what most singers experience as strain.
00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:44.880
This episode is about what strain actually is, where it comes from, and how to get rid of it.
00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:48.399
First, when to stop.
00:00:49.280 --> 00:00:53.039
Before I talk about fixing anything, I need to make a distinction.
00:00:53.280 --> 00:01:04.879
If you are experiencing pain while singing, real pain, not just fatigue or scratchiness, and it happens all the time, regardless of what you are singing or how long you have been singing.
00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:06.480
I am not touching that.
00:01:06.719 --> 00:01:12.480
That needs a doctor, an ENT, ideally one who works with singers.
00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:18.879
Pain that is constant and nonspecific is a medical question, not a technique question.
00:01:20.239 --> 00:01:23.519
What I am going to talk about is the other version.
00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:32.319
Your throat gets scratchy during certain passages in a certain part of your range, or after you have been singing for a while.
00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:36.959
That is usually technique, and technique can be adjusted.
00:01:38.319 --> 00:01:40.400
The hyperfunction loop.
00:01:40.799 --> 00:01:48.879
The most common mechanical cause of vocal strain is hyperfunction, an overaduction of the vocal folds.
00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:55.200
The folds are pressing together harder than they need to, and it creates a vicious cycle.
00:01:55.599 --> 00:01:57.599
Here is how the loop works.
00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:00.159
The singer takes a large breath.
00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:07.840
That breath creates high subglottal pressure, the air pressure building up underneath the closed vocal folds.
00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:11.759
To hold against that pressure, the folds adduct harder.
00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:14.319
They press together more tightly.
00:02:14.639 --> 00:02:18.080
That produces a pressed, effortful sound.
00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:23.840
But now there is even more pressure to manage, so the folds squeeze harder still.
00:02:24.159 --> 00:02:26.560
The cycle feeds itself.
00:02:28.159 --> 00:02:34.000
If you have ever heard someone describe a voice as pressed, that is usually what is happening.
00:02:34.319 --> 00:02:38.879
Pressed phonation is a real and useful tonal color in certain genres.
00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:43.360
The difference between style and strain is whether you can turn it off.
00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:48.960
If pressed is a choice you can move in and out of this technique.
00:02:49.199 --> 00:02:54.479
If it is the only thing that you can do, it may be hyperfunction.
00:02:55.919 --> 00:03:00.719
One of the telltale signs of hyperfunction is trouble in the middle of the range.
00:03:00.960 --> 00:03:07.360
A lot of singers can manage their high notes and their low notes, but hit a wall somewhere in the middle.
00:03:07.599 --> 00:03:16.879
That wall is the hyperfunction locking up the passaggio region, where the voice needs the most flexibility to transition between fold configurations.
00:03:18.800 --> 00:03:20.400
Two paths out.
00:03:21.599 --> 00:03:26.639
Getting out of the hyperfunction loop comes down to reducing the pressure that drives it.
00:03:26.879 --> 00:03:30.560
There are two approaches, and they work together.
00:03:31.599 --> 00:03:32.560
Path one.
00:03:32.960 --> 00:03:34.319
Smaller breaths.
00:03:34.639 --> 00:03:37.280
This is the most direct intervention.
00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:40.879
Less air in means less pressure to manage.
00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:43.280
Hook's law applies here.
00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:49.520
The more you inflate an elastic structure, the greater the recoil force it pushes back with.
00:03:49.919 --> 00:03:58.719
A smaller breath means less recoil, less subglottal pressure, and less demand on the folds to hold against it.
00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:03.120
I know this goes against everything most singers have been taught.
00:04:03.439 --> 00:04:11.520
The advice to take a big breath and support is so universal that almost every singer I have ever worked with arrives already doing it.
00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:25.120
But, for contemporary singing where phrases are shorter and rarely demand the sustained airflow of classical repertoire, a big breath is often the source of the problem rather than the solution.
00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:28.879
All you really have to do is commit to trying it.
00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:33.199
The experience of it being easier usually sells itself.
00:04:35.279 --> 00:04:39.600
The other piece of pressure management is genuine breath support.
00:04:39.920 --> 00:04:50.240
Finding that expansion through the torso, the external intercostals, pectorals, and lats working together to control the rate at which air is released.
00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:58.000
Support is not about holding more air, it's about managing the air you have with more precision.
00:04:59.839 --> 00:05:00.800
Path two.
00:05:01.680 --> 00:05:03.439
Sing softly.
00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:12.720
Strain is almost always related to trying to sing loudly, and singing loudly is just not necessary for most genres.
00:05:13.279 --> 00:05:15.519
Microphones will make you loud.
00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:19.120
The voice does not need to do that job.
00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:25.759
There is a direct relationship between subglottal air pressure and vocal intensity.
00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:30.959
Increasing pressure will increase volume as long as the folds can maintain closure.
00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:37.680
But maintaining that closure under high pressure is exactly the demand that creates strain.
00:05:38.160 --> 00:05:41.680
Lower the volume, and you lower the pressure.
00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:48.959
The folds do not have to fight as hard to stay closed, and the whole cycle starts to unwind.
00:05:51.279 --> 00:05:54.959
Why singing softly is harder than you think.
00:05:56.800 --> 00:06:01.279
Singing softly requires much finer control of air pressure.
00:06:01.519 --> 00:06:11.040
It is one of those places where the physical engagement through the external intercostals, pectorals, and lats increases significantly to do it well.
00:06:11.519 --> 00:06:18.000
Singing well ideally looks easy, but there is a ton of work happening under the surface.
00:06:18.240 --> 00:06:25.199
A few minutes of focused, quiet singing will be physically taxing in a way that belting for 10 minutes is not.
00:06:26.480 --> 00:06:30.160
Vocal function exercises are excellent here.
00:06:30.560 --> 00:06:35.199
All four exercises are performed as softly as possible.
00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:39.199
That is a part of the protocol, not a modification.
00:06:39.439 --> 00:06:46.399
The sustained E trains you to hold a single pitch as quietly and steadily as you can.
00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:56.800
The pentascale on O adds pitch accuracy across five notes at the same low intensity, which is different coordination challenge.
00:06:57.040 --> 00:07:02.319
The goal in both cases is finding the quietest sound that has not turned breathy.
00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:07.759
That boundary, soft but clear, is the coordination you are building.
00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:17.680
Recording yourself helps because the difference between soft and clear and soft and breathy is easier to hear on playback than in the moment.
00:07:18.720 --> 00:07:23.600
One note breathy phonation during puberty is normal.
00:07:23.839 --> 00:07:28.480
Female singers in particular may experience it in their early twenties.
00:07:28.800 --> 00:07:33.519
This exercise still applies, but the bass line is different.
00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:42.879
One of our amazing collaborators, Timothy, once described singing softly with an image I've always liked.
00:07:43.199 --> 00:07:46.959
It should sound like you simply moved further away.
00:07:47.279 --> 00:07:51.519
Same voice, same quality, just quieter.
00:07:51.920 --> 00:07:56.000
The tone does not change character, it just gets smaller.
00:07:56.639 --> 00:07:59.680
Much easier said than done.
00:08:02.160 --> 00:08:04.879
Tension is not the enemy.
00:08:05.519 --> 00:08:10.480
There is another version of strain that lives outside the larynx entirely.
00:08:10.800 --> 00:08:18.560
Visible muscle tension in the neck or jaw, bulging muscles in the neck, a chin that is locked and quivering.
00:08:18.879 --> 00:08:22.639
These are signs of tension where it does not belong.
00:08:23.360 --> 00:08:24.879
But here's the thing.
00:08:25.199 --> 00:08:28.160
Tension and singing go together.
00:08:28.399 --> 00:08:31.279
Without tension, you will not make any sound.
00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:33.919
The vocal folds have to close.
00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:36.480
The breath system has to pressurize.
00:08:36.720 --> 00:08:40.000
Muscles throughout the torso have to engage.
00:08:40.720 --> 00:08:44.960
Singing is never a question of removing all tension.
00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:51.039
It is about having tension where you want it and to the degree that is useful.
00:08:52.799 --> 00:08:58.000
This is one of the things I like most about really effective breath support.
00:08:58.480 --> 00:09:01.360
It moves the tension into the torso.
00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:11.840
When the body is properly engaged through the intercostals, lats, and pectorals, that engagement gives the tension a productive place to live.
00:09:12.240 --> 00:09:19.919
When the body is not engaged, that same tension almost always creeps upward into the neck and jaw.
00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:24.960
The tension does not appear from nowhere, it just has nowhere else to go.
00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:37.360
So the fix for neck and jaw tension is usually not relax your neck or drop your jaw, it is redirecting the engagement into the torso.
00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:41.440
My go-to prompt for getting this started is simple.
00:09:41.919 --> 00:09:48.000
Palms up, make fists, squeeze the pinky side of your fists into your ribs.
00:09:48.320 --> 00:09:53.200
It naturally engages the intercostals, lats, and pectorals.
00:09:53.919 --> 00:10:00.960
It is a crutch, and it will also engage muscles in the shoulders and arms that we do not want long term.
00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:04.559
Which is why I like switching prompts regularly.
00:10:05.120 --> 00:10:11.919
We go deeper on this in season two, episode 15, You Can't Actually Sing from the Diaphragm.
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Here's what actually works.
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High notes and strain.
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Straining on high notes is usually the same pressure story with one additional factor.
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The singer is trying to keep the vocal folds short and thick as they ascend, which means pushing significantly more air to drive folds that are not configured for that pitch.
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To sing higher, the vocal folds need to stretch and thin.
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The cricothyroid muscle elongates them, and the thinner configuration vibrates at a higher frequency, with less effort.
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This is the body's default solution.
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It works.
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But the thinner sound is different from what the singer is used to hearing on their lower notes.
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It might feel light or unfamiliar, so they add weight.
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More thyroidinoid engagement, more air pressure, more effort.
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And now they are finding the natural mechanics instead of working with them.
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The fix is the same as everywhere else in this episode.
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Less air, less force, and let the folds do what they are built to do.
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The sound will probably not be what you want when you first start letting the voice thin out on high notes, but it gets stronger with practice.
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The strain also disappears immediately.
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The one rule.
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But they always make singing harder, not easier.
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They create pressure.
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Pressure demands closure.
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Closure under pressure can lead to strain.
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Start smaller, sing softer, let the folds thin when they want to.
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Until next time, keep singing smart.
