Have you wondered if those common vocal sayings that you always hear are true?
We’ve chosen 5 common myths about your voice to explore and debunk…Let’s start myth busting right now!
Myth 1 – Vocal Fry Is Bad For Your Voice
While you may not like the sound of this vocal option- it’s not hurting you!
Millennials and Gen Zers get a bad reputation for talking with vocal fry. It’s perceived as lazy, uninterested, and too quiet. If you consider what connects all of these traits, you realize that when a person produces this quality, they need to be fully relaxed. Vocal fry requires very little effort and encourages your vocal folds and surrounding muscles to let go and reset.
“Fry” a little after a vocally taxing day and you’ll feel rejuvenated and refreshed.
Myth 2 – You Were Born With “It”
Have you heard this before? That you were born with exceptional talent or star quality? Truthfully we are all born with the same basic anatomy. A pair of lungs, two vocal folds, and a mouth that colors and helps us communicate.
Our vocal sound (or talent) is the result of the environment we grew up in, the people that surrounded us, and the artists we aimed to sound like. Your talent results from a lot of your nurture and a little of your nature.
Myth 3 – Breath Support Is The Key To Great Singing
While breathing is essential to daily life and the vocal process, it’s only one part of the vocal production team that includes breath, tone, and resonance. Breath support without management can actually make you sound breathier. And sometimes, less breath will enable a fuller and clear tone with less unnecessary tension at the level of your vocal folds.
Myth 4 – You Must Breath From Your Diaphragm
While we’re talking about breath, let’s look at a major muscle that is involved in the breathing process: your diaphragm!
This dome shaped muscle lowers when you breathe in and raises as you breathe out. While it’s definitely moving, the air to sing is moving in & out of your lungs—not your diaphragm or belly.
While you may “feel” the movement in your belly and diaphragm, your lungs and the muscles surrounding your lungs are doing most of the work. Plus, diaphragm movement is mostly involuntary.
Trust it will do its job without you telling it to!
Myth 5 – Drink Some Water To Keep Your Vocal Folds Moist
Has your voice ever felt dry and you decided to drink water to get it to feel normal again?
Hooray- you made a great choice because water is great for your vocal process and not to mention your health.
But this sip of water does not actually touch your vocal folds! There are three valves in your larynx that act as a lid for the vocal folds to prevent food and drink from entering your windpipe.
If water dripped on your vocal folds, you would cough because the liquid went down the wrong pipe, the trachea.
The right pipe for food and liquid is called the esophagus and it’s right behind your trachea. Hydration is a habit. The more hydrated you are- the more hydrated your vocal folds are.
Drink water on a regular basis.
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