No pitch variation

No Pitch Variation

A common situation for a "stuck" singer concerns the inability to change pitches with the appropriate registrational adjustments. What makes this a conundrum is that a singer might think they are doing a good job when moving up and down the scale, yet the right muscles aren't actually engaging. In these cases, the singer is merely approximating the pitches rather than truly hitting them.

Pushing vs. Precise Adjustment

Many singers attempt to change pitch by pushing, pressing, or "breath blasting" to force the voice to work. This results in a sound that is near the pitch but never quite in tune. In a healthy voice, moving up and down a scale should feel like stepping on top of a stair or shifting gears in a car. These "gear changes" are the result of precise muscular adjustments within the larynx.

The Science of In-Tune Singing

For every pitch, there is an exact width, depth, and length of vocal cords that must vibrate. This is achieved through the coordination of two systems: the arytenoids, which close the cords, and the crico-thyroids, which stretch and thin them. When these muscles are functioning correctly, they create the healthy tension needed to produce a specific frequency naturally.

Finding Vocal Freedom

When your muscles are doing the work, you stay in tune automatically. The pitch is changed by healthy movement rather than by dragging the voice around through force. If we continue to force the muscles without educating them in the right "feel," we eventually lose our range and our ability to vary pitch at all. However, once your muscles are trained to adjust correctly, you gain total freedom. You are no longer stuck; you can move easily throughout your entire vocal home!