Question

When you stay within a narrow repetitive range of vocal techniques you?

Answer 1

It has been requested repeatedly that I write about vocal techniques that can result in vocal stress or even damage. I have hesitated to write about this because it is a difficult and controversial subject. Nevertheless, I believe it is a subject that needs to be responsibly addressed. Most singers know little if anything about the voice when they begin to study singing. Nor do they know what is healthy or unhealthy vocal technique. Having suffered vocal damage myself, I can only speak from my own experience. In the following paragraphs, I will list the causes of such vocal damage. Not only have I witnessed vocal damage, I can say I have suffered vocal damage and have recovered from it through the concepts of Alan Lindquest, his students Virginia Botkin, Martha Rosacker, and Dr. Barbara Mathis, and Dr. Evelyn Reynolds, my present teacher who has studied the Italian School extensively. All of these teachers have accomplished a deep understanding of the concepts of the Italian School in great detail and they all developed diagnostic hearing plus tools to solve vocal problems. All of them have been extremely influential in my development as a teacher and they have given me an expertise that I value greatly today. This is why I encourage young teachers to find a real master teacher with whom to study. Lindquest continued his vocal research until his death at age 93. This is the sign of someone who pursues the deepest truth in vocal concepts. Singing is a life-study. It is exciting in the sense that one can learn at any age and the journey need never end.

The Damaging Effects of a Flat-Tongued Technique

So many teachers and singers are confused about the healthy position of the tongue in singing. I have worked directly with singers who have studied a 'flat tongued' technique and attempt to sing on this type of production. The flat-tongued technique is basically a non-productive futile attempt to find more acoustical space in the throat. I can tell you without hesitation that this is an incorrect and damaging technique. If the tongue is flat, then the mass of muscle at the back of the tongue (tongue root) is forced into the pharynx. This fills up the primary resonator (pharynx) with tongue mass which can be compared to singing with a pillow in one's throat. Trying to teach a singer with such a background can be a difficult journey at best. Healthy nasal resonance cannot be present in a flat-tongued technique. It is important to understand that healthy nasal resonance (not nasality) is the only concept that completely releases tension at the root of the tongue.

In a flat-tongued technique, the singer is primarily using a technique which does not allow for a healthy change of register as one ascends upward within any scale or arpeggio. The root of the tongue places direct pressure or stress at the vocal cords or glottis. After hearing a singer trained in this destructive technique, it becomes obvious that this incorrect vocal concept does not allow for the healthy pivoting of the vocal folds. Therefore there cannot be a healthy transition into the head voice register. Loss of high notes is typical in such an approach to singing. When the tongue is too flat, then the singer has to force the voice into the upper register with a tremendous amount of breath pressure. This breath pressure irritates the vocal cords and the result is usually hoarseness and an inability to phonate healthily. Some singers have also suffered damage such as vocal hemorrhage, bowed vocal cords, nodules, or polyps from singing with the tongue depressed or flat. This constant pressure on the larynx and vocal cords created by this technique is completely unhealthy for the voice. I warn teachers and singers that those who pursue such a technique to get a 'bigger sound' (this kind of sound is only big in a small room and is quite small in a theatre.) can destroy their vocal health.

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