Question about healthy singing.

[fiyero8132]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 6:39pm

Hi,
I'm a 15 year old baritone, who is going to be competing in a music festival in one month. I am singing "Winter's On The Wing" from the secret garden in the musical theatre category. It is a great song and my first choice so my voice teacher allowed me to sing it even though it has a few high F#'s which are difficult for me. She is out of town so I'm rehearsing with another teacher and doing some work independently. When I practice it often hurts my throat and affects the way I sing for a day or two. Sometimes I nail it and sometimes I don't (my voice cracks and ****...)so I am not super confident about performing it publicly, although I have enough faith in myself to know that if I worked really hard and warmed up well everything will turn out right. My mom is worried about long term affects. What do you think the risk is? Do you think the pain is enough of a reason to drop out of the category? I made an impulsive decision to sing this piece and will certainly choose more carefully in the future. Please give me any info you can. Am I harming myself?

[Unknown User]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 6:45pm

hmm...well, you shouldn't EVER be in pain when you're singing. your body is telling you something. you shouldn't lose your voice when you sing.
perhaps the song is just out of your natural range??
can you chose a different song?? i am surprised that that song was on a list for baritones to sing..isn't that role a TENOR??
anyway...you need to get in touch with your voice teacher, perhaps figure out some alternate notes or pick a new key and an even better idea is to contact an ears nose and throat specialist so he can check your chords and make sure you're not developing nodules.
drink a lot of water and steam is always a good thing for your chords..drink warm tea, NOT HOT...
anyway..PM me if you have other questions...

[phantom_tenor]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 8:15pm

yeah, i definately agree. Maybe you're constricting on the F#s because you're afraid of them cause they are very high for you, like you say? Alot of young singers tend to do that.
I would definately advise dropping the key a tone if you are going to be doing that song at all. IMO, a song with several F#s in it is not suited for a developing baritone voice, and you could be doing some real damage.
What is the pain like, where do you feel it?

[ljay889]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 8:22pm

Make you sure you are supporting the best you can. If you don't support it will add strain/pain to your voice.

[hen88]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 8:43pm

I am a baritone myself. I used to experience that same feeling of a weakened voice after singing too much in my upper register when I was a teenager. That was because my vocal chords were still developing and would tire easily. But my voice only needed an hour or two after singing heavily to regain its strength. But nothing ever "hurt" while singing. Pain is always a bad sign. Never, and I mean NEVER push your voice through any kind of pain. Your vocals folds are a muscle. If you overwork a muscle, it tears. Then it will heal itself creating larger muscle tissue. When this happens to vocal chords (which must be smooth and flexible), they become lumpy and inflexible. Hence, you will have somewhat damaged vocal quality when you sing. Please be careful.

I definitely know what you are going through. I also really wanted to sing as close to a tenor register as I could. But if you really look, there are some amazing songs that are perfectly within your range. Winter's on the Wing is definitely written for a tenor voice. Until you master how to appoach your upper register as a baritone (not trying to be a tenor), then you can try some of these songs and decide for yourself if they are right for you.

I really don't mean to discourage you. You should be happy with what you are singing. But please be careful. And follow your teacher's advice. And if you decide to do the song anyway, please warm up thoroughly. Your voice is still developing. Men don't usually finish developing their voices until they are close to 30 years old. Consider that. You definitely don't want to ruin it all now. Just be patient and be careful.

Best of luck to you.