How Tension Affects Your Voice (And What to Do About It!)

As a beginner singer, it’s important to understand how unnecessary tension affects your tone and your breath support. Here, NY teacher Nadia B. shares what to keep in mind and how to combat that tension…

Singing is, in many ways, a very natural activity. We all have a voice, and it is meant to be used to communicate in speech and in music. However, when one delves more into the art of singing through voice lessons, practice, and performance, tension sometimes creeps in. It can seem uncontrollable and the source unidentifiable. The reasons for tension are many, but with the following tips you should be able to better identify how to sing without tension and enjoy a singing practice that is full of expression and requires much less effort.

Understanding the Common Causes of Tension

To combat tension, the first step is to understand some of the common causes for tension while singing. The most common ones I encounter are a mix of psychological and physical. Trying to be right and using too much effort are two of the biggest factors in tension.

To identify whether these apply to you, notice as you’re singing if you’re always trying to “fix” something. Are you set on singing each passage perfectly, no matter what it takes? You might especially notice this in your singing lessons, when your teacher is observing you. While the intention is good, trying to sing something perfectly can lead to excess mental and physical tension. Using too much effort goes along with this idea. Although singing is a very natural activity, sometimes singers use too much effort in an attempt to sing loudly, more expressively, or faster.

So, What Can You Do?

Pay attention to your physical reaction and your thoughts as you approach a passage that calls for one of the above qualities. Do you notice an increase in tension, or of negative or panicky thoughts? If so, simply noticing these trends and taking steps to reduce your engagement with these unproductive methods can greatly reduce the amount of tension you’re using. Instead of placing your mental and physical energy in these methods, focus on staying open as you allow the expression to come up and out of you, connecting with the ground to sing louder, and using the breath as a means to propel a fast passage instead of muscular effort or unhelpful thoughts.

What Else Causes Tension?

Two additional mindsets that lead to excess tension are over-focusing and anxiousness. As you sing, are you overly focused on the voice and the vocal mechanism? While the vocal mechanism is undoubtedly important, singers can forget the rest of the body, which is an important part of resonance, power, and connection. If you are fixated on the vocal mechanism, try to bring your awareness to the whole torso, and then include the legs, arms, head, and feet as well.

Similarly, feeling anxious or nervous while performing can create tension. To work with nerves while practicing or before a performance, give yourself a few breaths to notice what areas of your body are responding to the feelings of nerves, and see if you can mentally connect those areas to the whole of you. For example, while your neck might feel tight and tense, remembering that it is part of your whole spine and supported by all the buoyant connections within the spine and the ribcage can help you release the tension.

Don’t Let Tension Take Over!

Whatever the cause of tension, it always has a physical manifestation that can be very uncomfortable and can interfere greatly with singing naturally and beautifully. As you become more in tune with how to sing without tension, use your awareness of your body to release tension in the following areas: