Why Pay More?
Are You Working Too Hard To Hit Those Notes?

by Mark Baxter

Imagine a guy walks up to you after a show and says, “I want to pay $20 for one of your CDs.” Maybe he really liked your set. Maybe he’s filthy rich. All you know is that you would have gladly sold him music for a ten spot. Now consider the way you tell your body to sing. Do you offer to pay more for high notes or certain sounds? Do you approach certain passages with a preconceived amount of effort? Just like the guy who paid twice as much for your CD, you might be paying too much to sing.

For most of us, it seems as though the body has a certain way it wants to sing. The reality, though, is that your body only does what it is told. Just as a guitar doesn’t care if it’s played well, your body has no investment in the way you sing. If you think a pitch is difficult then your body will tense in anticipation; think a pitch is easy and it will relax. “Give it everything you’ve got,” may seem heroic but a more productive battle cry for singing is, “Give it the bare minimum!”

We tend to loose sight of the fact that singing is all about sound, not effort. A good image to maintain is that the muscles within the larynx are about the same as those inside the eye. Just as you can’t feel the activities responsible for vision, there are no nerve endings on the vocal folds that allow us to feel them adjust. Since all that extra effort normally associated with singing is unnecessary, a question begs to be answered: Why pay more?

Ironically, the quickest way to stop working so hard is to allow yourself to sound bad. While your mind can appreciate that the voice needs less effort the body is going to need some time to coordinate. That’s right, there’s no getting around practicing. You’ll get a lot more out of your repetitions, though, if you’re not trying to sound good at the same time. Go for a loose feel first and let your body discover the path of least resistance.

Tone, control, range and expression are just a few of the advantages of dialing in the proportionate energy to sing. Keep in mind, singing with minimal effort does not mean singing wimpy. Of course singing loud, gusty sounds require some push, but it should be a choice not the default. There’s nothing wrong with singing hard if it’s not hard for you to sing. However, spending more energy than required is not only a waste; it’s a sure recipe for vocal trouble. Keep the physical effort under control and let your emotions do the dramatic stuff. No one in the audience knows or cares whether it’s physically hard to sing. Just like the CD, it sounds the same no matter what you paid.

Mark Baxter is a vocal therapist who offers private and video lessons. His vocal studios are located in Boston, New York and Los Angeles. Clients include: Aerosmith, the Goo Goo Dolls, Van Halen, Jonny Lang, Tonic, Aimee Mann, Journey, American Hi-Fi, cast members of Rent and thousands more. His top-selling book, The Rock-N-Roll Singer’s Survival Manual, and video, The Singer’s Toolbox, are available on line or in stores nation-wide. To contact: call 1(800) 659-6002, or visit www.voicelesson.com