Expert: Wanda Reinholdt - 1/18/2008

Question
hi i have a problem.when i sing, most of the time its all okay, but sometimes my voice just "snaps" and goes onto some other note.it's very annoying.warming up first doesn't do much.i've tried to work out how to stop it but is there some breathing technique or something to stop it that you know?

Answer
Hi there Kayla.  Thanks for writing.

It sounds like you are having some difficulty in suspending notes and staying on the note you want to.  

The first thing I think that I would encourage you to do is to relax about it.  Take some deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth.  And let the breath relax you.  

The next thing that might help you is to focus on what you like about your singing.  Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the things we don't like that we self-sabotage ourselves.  It could be that you have grown so frustrated with this that you are focused on it.  Let's get your focus away from it for a bit.  

So every time you go to sing, take some deep breaths.  Do at least 20 or so.  When you breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth, breathe deeply taking in as much air as you can all the way down to your diaphragm and hold.  Then breathe out through your mouth the same way - as much as you can.  Release even more air than you put in.  

When you sing, think of doing the same thing.  Snapping can be caused by a lack of air support and or by uneven support.  So breathe deeply.  Learn songs in steps.  First learn the tune with deep breathing in place.  Then learn the words and finally, if a musical piece, the action.

Another cause could be an unclear throat.  Are you drinking lots of liquids and staying away from milke products when you sing?  Anything milky or caffeine heavy can impact your cords as well.  

Does that help you?

Wanda