Voice changing issues

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shreyas
Posts: 251
Joined: 03 Mar 2018, 13:16

Voice changing issues

Post by shreyas »

Good evening.

I've been posting on this forum for a while now.

I am 16, and my voice seems to be changing, as I used to sing at 5 until a few months ago when my voice suddenly became recalcitrant and unable to reach the higher shadjam without giving me a headache. Sometimes I feel comfortable singing at 2.5, other times at 3, then 4, and I barely have a range of one octave now. It's quite irritating, as my sruti basically switches to and fro in a matter of hours. My teacher told me to sing at my comfortable sruti, which I do, but any idea how long this will last and what to do about it?

SrinathK
Posts: 2477
Joined: 13 Jan 2013, 16:10

Re: Voice changing issues

Post by SrinathK »

This is totally normal for all boys. In 8 months I went from G# to D# and then down to C, where it has been ever since. I suggest sing at around 2.5 for a while and just work on your range and holding notes and basic manuevering for now. Do not push your range, that will lead to cracks and chokes. Over time, don't be surprised if it drops down to C-C#.

Sing in the lower octave in the morning, and the upper octave in the evening. Over time, the range will return, and it will only keep increasing. At my age (30 now), even register transitions become easy and I could cover 2.5 octaves over a day.

However the bigger issue is that your voice might lose its tone and sound really bland and nasal for a while - not the sweetness of a child's voice or the strong tone of a man's, but something awkwardly in between. But don't worry it gets better, much better. Most male singers actually peak from their late 20s to their 50s. But you have to be patient, not get frustrated and just accept it as it is.

Keep practicing, but never overwork the voice at this point.

arasi
Posts: 16774
Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 09:30

Re: Voice changing issues

Post by arasi »

Srinath,
What 'sound' advise to Shreyas!
You are not only a gnAtA, but a gnAni as well :) I have to use one of our stock expressions here(next only to endarO mahAnubhAvulu)--May your tribe increase...

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

Re: Voice changing issues

Post by RSR »

@1 -> Sri.Shreyas->
Great vocalists of the past, have been affected by voice-change issues, not only at adolescent age but inexplicably at later stages!
To name a few ( my source is the book 'carnatic summer')
Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Madurai Mani Iyer, Chembai Vaidhyanatha Bagavathar, and even GNB! and even Smt.MS, just on the eve of UN concert as narrated by herself.
Most of them , narrate that they won back , not only by intense and suitable practice but more importantly by Divine Grace!

This is a problem for vocalists only. I would suggest that one learns an Instrument like flute, violin, veeNaa, gottuvaadhyam,
and why not North Indian Instruments like Sitar, Sarod, Sarangi, Surbahar, and many more fascinating variety of String and bow instruments there.
There will be an element of novelty in playing CM is North Indian instruments.
You, being an MD follower, can emulate him , in his admiration and adoption of HM techniques. ( and violin!)
Angamalli Jose , was a CM musician who played Dilrubah.(Esraj) ( back in 1960's)
viewtopic.php?t=554
Sangeetha Kalaanidhi AKC Natarajan became a famous musician using Clarinet.
Kadri Gopalnath in our times, uses Saxaphone.
Gopalnath had to make certain modifications to the conventional alto saxophone to play Carnatic music. So successful has this adaptation been that the great musician Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, the doyen of Carnatic music, has acknowledged Kadri Gopalnath as a true Carnatic music genius
Child prodigy Mandolin Srinivas was a sensation and gave a number of concerts in Music Academy.

It is safe to master any one such instrument , if we want a long career as a professional musician.
------
I would even add, that playing instruments, not for any listeners but for one's own blissful experience in giving expression to our musical 'muse' is a reward in itself. And less worry about lyrics and their meaning-pronunciation and social import!

shreyas
Posts: 251
Joined: 03 Mar 2018, 13:16

Re: Voice changing issues

Post by shreyas »

Thank you! SrinathK and @RSR

However, I find that the main problem now is that the lowest note my voice can reach keeps changing. Sometimes, like just now before I typed this, I find that I can reach the Kaisiki Nishadam (Mandara) at D# and the highest I can go is perhaps the M or P (Tara). Other times I find myself unable to reach the Shadjam at D#, sometimes able to reach it at D. And I find anything above F too high. Therefore I don't even have a consistent sruti to sing at. Sometimes it's E, sometimes F, sometimes D#, it's quite irritating. You advised me to sing at D#, right? That's the main issue. Sometimes I can't even reach the Shadjam, sometimes I can go down to mandara D. That's the problem, and that makes my voice very unstable and croaky.

SrinathK
Posts: 2477
Joined: 13 Jan 2013, 16:10

Re: Voice changing issues

Post by SrinathK »

Why are you pushing your range? Of course, early morning you will have 2-4 notes maybe of extra range in the lower octave that will vanish over the day. But you aren't supposed to be singing to your extremes at this stage.

I have to give you the hard news, you have to retrain your voice all over again and be patient for a few more months (yes, months). So let's just choose a pitch where you can get down to D2 for now. I think you should be able to do this at E. So this is where you will be for now. But I expect your voice to break further down the road.

No more singing at the extremes of your range. For now, just the lower N2 to top S. Sing only kaarvais and basic saralis and jantais and alankarams and akara sadhakam and all the 12 notes in an octave - and not even in multiple speeds, only slow. That's it. No other singing. No mel sthayi, keezh sthayi, none of that. Not even gamakas for now. :twisted:

Next, to strengthen the vocal muscles and the tongue, read stuff aloud, slow and fast (when I say fast, remember that Mutual Funds guy). I can't tell you just how useful this is. You might not be able to sing as usual, but your speaking voice should not have issues.

In the meantime, work on some other aspects of music like rhythm (especially this, now is the time) or (if you're already practicing) an instrument, reading good stuff, listening to more compositions and ragas. You will not push your voice range until it settles into a stable pitch. Ok?

This is also a good time to start learning how to grasp phrases and practice mentally and have it more or less ready before you sing.

Next, you should increase your lung capacity with breath holding exercises and also do gentle nostril breathing exercises like nADi shuddhi or sukha kriyA (Alternate nostril breathing). They'll not only clear your throat and nasal passages, but also improve concentration significantly.

And one another thing, do not sing for long stretches either. Right now is not the time for marathons, only 10-15 min intervals.

And do not get frustrated or impatient. You'll only hurt your own cause.

Side Note : I envy that you can even sing freely at home. While I fixed my range, I've never in the last 15 years had any time or space to practice at all (not at IIT classes, or home, not college, absolutely not with roomates in NCR, only now I get some time, but still, I wish I had more space all to myself) - so don't ask me to demonstrate. My singing tone is absolutely nothing to write about and hasn't changed much since adolescence as a result. But I do know what happened with my voice when it broke, and it did go away over time,. Damn, all those mel sthAyi cracks were embarrassing and I swear some crows were more melodious. :lol:
Last edited by SrinathK on 20 Aug 2019, 21:36, edited 1 time in total.

shreyas
Posts: 251
Joined: 03 Mar 2018, 13:16

Re: Voice changing issues

Post by shreyas »

Ok. I guess this is going to be a very annoying period in my musical life :( but thanks a lot for the great advice.

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

Re: Voice changing issues

Post by RSR »

@5->Shreyas->
I hope that I did not give the impression that vocalists with voice issues should give up vocal music and switch over to some musical instrument. Smt.MS has advised young musicians to practice and sing with veeNa. MD himself used to perform with veeNa, we are told.
My personal experience and preference is for HM and Esraj ( frets and bow). HM approximates to pure music (raga elaboration) than krithi-based CM. but HM vocal is ruled out for singers with voice trouble but HM instrumental is a great choice. You are young and have decades of good music before you. Good Luck.

ratanabhinav
Posts: 314
Joined: 22 Jun 2016, 22:58

Re: Voice changing issues

Post by ratanabhinav »

My advice would be :
Learn the violin for the next three- four years . Sing along with violin . Sing solo occasionally . Your swara gnanam and insights into gamakas and other musical aspects would grow leaps and bounds , and your voice will also gain a refined timbre since you practice with violin .

shreyas
Posts: 251
Joined: 03 Mar 2018, 13:16

Re: Voice changing issues

Post by shreyas »

Thank you all for the advice. I am going to need it more and more as the tonality of my voice tends towards that of a frog with a throat infection. :D

SrinathK
Posts: 2477
Joined: 13 Jan 2013, 16:10

Re: Voice changing issues

Post by SrinathK »

Don't worry. Gets better - after a few years you'll be surprised at how much it keeps improving. But be patient and work on other stuff.

thenpaanan
Posts: 635
Joined: 04 Feb 2010, 19:45

Re: Voice changing issues

Post by thenpaanan »

shreyas wrote: 20 Aug 2019, 20:16 Thank you! SrinathK and @RSR

However, I find that the main problem now is that the lowest note my voice can reach keeps changing. Sometimes, like just now before I typed this, I find that I can reach the Kaisiki Nishadam (Mandara) at D# and the highest I can go is perhaps the M or P (Tara). Other times I find myself unable to reach the Shadjam at D#, sometimes able to reach it at D. And I find anything above F too high. Therefore I don't even have a consistent sruti to sing at. Sometimes it's E, sometimes F, sometimes D#, it's quite irritating. You advised me to sing at D#, right? That's the main issue. Sometimes I can't even reach the Shadjam, sometimes I can go down to mandara D. That's the problem, and that makes my voice very unstable and croaky.
This is natural and not something to be alarmed about. I have helped a few kids navigate this difficult period with this simple change in perspective. We tend to think of singing almost exclusively in terms of controlling our voice apparatus -- we are focused on pitch accuracy/swara shuddham first, and range, second. But these are rather arbitrary -- nothing in our biology suggests that we are built to sing with pitch accuracy but it seems rather like a fortunate accident of nature that we are able to do so.

I would advise to focus on other aspects of singing while the voice is finding its way to stability. Focus on singing without strain, singing with proper support, breathing right, warmup exercises etc. These mechanical aspects don't require pitch accuracy by themselves but are nevertheless critical for voice control eventually. Don't worry too much about which scale to sing in -- just sing whatever feels natural right now (which might change on a monthly or weekly basis for you). Most importantly, be kind to yourself. Don't punish your voice either by not singing or by forcing it with strain and pain. I would not recommend switching to an instrument for this reason -- if you have some other reason to learn an instrument, by all means do so.

Best of luck, and as the saying goes, may the force be with you.

-T

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