Reducing Constriction in Singing: Energy Economics

“Why do we constrict our voices when we sing?” This is a question I ask many of my students. Funnily enough, most students find it hard to answer this simple question. After all, almost all singers strain and constrict their voices at some point in their singing journeys.

Most answers I get for this question tend to be surface-level. Sure, it could be that “the body tenses up when I try to hit that high note.” It could also be “the pizza I ate last night at 2 am which caused phlegm in my throat for my 10 am lesson.” These are all valid answers, but they don’t address the root of the issue.

Here’s a wild concept: your voice sometimes constricts when you sing because your body is trying to help you achieve your desired sound. I know! How could it be that the thing that compromises your voice and causes discomfort can actually help you achieve your desired sound?

Energy Economics

Let me elaborate. Sound is energy. When we sing, we begin by storing up energy in the form of air pressure, then convert the air pressure energy into sound by vibrating the vocal cords. In practical terms, we can think of air pressure energy as our breath support - the more air pressure energy or breath support, the more sound energy we can convert to.

In physics, the law of energy conservation states that an isolated system's total energy remains constant. Energy in = Energy out. No energy can be created without an outward source. This means that to create a desired sound, one must generate the appropriate amount of air pressure energy/breath support to be converted into sound energy.

What happens when you don’t have enough breath support for the desired sound? No worries! The body has just the solution for you - constricting the throat. By reducing the space within your vocal tract through tensing your throat, tongue, neck, etc., your body effectively reduces the amount of breath support needed to create the desired sound. Sure, it causes discomfort, tires your voice out, and makes the desired sound tighter and less vibrant, but in the moment the throat constriction helped compensate for your lack of breath support and solved your energy economics crisis. Your body helped you achieve the desired sound through constriction.

The Implications

I’m not saying that constriction in singing is good for you. In fact, I spend most of my lessons with my students reducing constriction. However, the main implication of this concept is that most of the time, singers constrict their throats when trying to achieve a desired sound because they under-engage their breath support. 

In fact, if you try to reduce constriction in the throat while not using enough breath support, your voice may start cracking or straining even more. When you take away the body’s attempt to reduce the energy requirements needed to create a desired sound, your body will do all types of different things to compensate for the lack of energy. Sometimes that includes putting the energy requirements on your vocal cords (and you know what that feels like 🙁).

The best advice I can give to you on constriction in singing is to always check in with your breath. Am I giving the appropriate and adequate breath support for the desired sound?

How To Improve Breath Support: A Body Approach

The simplest way to increase the engagement of the breath support is to find body positions or movements that directly engage your breath support muscles. Here are some of my favorites:

1. The Plank: This is a brutal one. You are going to try to sing while holding an elbow plank. This will actively engage your core and increase your breath support to create your desired sounds with less constriction.
2. The Squat: Squat down and up very slowly while you sing. Squatting increases your core, glutes, and thigh engagement for breath support.
3. Wall Push-up: Engages the core and stabilizes your ribcage movements as you sing, increasing your breath support.

Once you practice these body positions and movements, challenge yourself to engage the same muscles while you stand up and sing. Over time, your body will learn exactly what muscles to engage for breath support when you sing without you having to deliberately do a plank, squat, or wall push-up.

There Are No Shortcuts!

Sometimes it can feel interesting to create a desired sound through constriction. In some genres, they even demand it. That being said, understanding the energy economics of your voice is a great way to understand how you can reduce constriction and create a sustainable, consistent instrument. There are no shortcuts, so take your time and be patient!