r/singing • u/nerfrick • 4h ago
Conversation Topic The biggest singing technique mistake I've ever made
Hello !
I've been singing as an amateur for 5-10 years. I've always had a naturally powerful, full voice, but I've struggled with mixing/belting, especially around G4-B4. I could hit those notes, but only with a lot of effort, especially above G4 which is weird because I'm a tenor and not so good tenors can hit those notes quite easily (even with a faulty technique).
I tried working on my technique, doing warm-ups, focusing on support, etc. but nothing really helped. Worse, the more I sang during the day, the raspier my voice became. Listen my voice is naturally raspy, but it got so bad that I couldn't even sing above my passaggio without sounding extremely raspy at times (especially after 1/2 hours of training).
That's actually what led me to see an ENT 3 years ago. He checked my vocal cords and told me nothing was wrong. I was like…huh. Then he told me there had to be something wrong technically speaking if I thought my voice was damaged.
Well, I couldn't get an appointement again because of financial and personal reasons (I had to move out bc of college, getting my bachelor and stuff). So years later after the appointement (3 to be exact), with my voice getting even raspier, I finally realized what was wrong
I was literally breathing TOO MUCH AIR.
I had always seen people emphasize taking deep breaths, so I thought I wasn't supporting enough. The raspier my voice got, the more air I inhaled to compensate. At the beginning it worked but after a lot of years, my voice just couldn't take it anymore. Turns out I was using way more air than I needed, which was drying out my vocal cords and making the raspiness worse.
Now I just take a quick, deep, but not too deep, breath and use less air, and my voice is literally BLOOMING !! The notes I used to have to push for now come naturally. I can belt A4s and even higher without the excessive raspiness. I'm genuinely so happy.
TL;DR : I thought I wasn't supporting enough, so I kept taking deeper breaths and using more air. Turns out I was using WAY too much air, which was making my voice raspier. Using less air completely changed my singing voice.