The Secret to Singing With Less Effort: Resonance Made Simple

Why does singing sometimes feel like hard work?

Many singers push for power, volume, or brightness, only to feel strain in the throat. After a while, the voice gets tired, tight, unstable, or the sound doesn’t carry the way they want it to. The good news is that often the problem isn’t a lack of strength; it's relying too heavily on muscular compression alone, rather than an optimal balance of the key elements: air, muscular coordination, and resonance. The latter will be the focus of this article.

What is resonance?

Resonance is how your voice (the sound wave your voice produces) interacts with the spaces above your vocal folds. When a vocalist's vocal tract (the throat, mouth, and velum opening to the nose) is shaped in a way that is well tuned for the vocal task (pitch, volume, or register), the sound comes out clearer and steadier. This means you don’t have to push with extra throat tension.

It’s a bit like tuning an old analog radio. Say your favorite station is 96.5 FM. If you stop at 96.0, you can hear the song, but it’s faint and fuzzy. At that point, you have two choices:

1. Turn up the volume knob. The music gets louder, but so does the static and distortion.
2. Keep turning the tuning knob until you land right on 96.5. Suddenly, the sound is clear, and you don’t need the volume cranked all the way up.

Singing with resonance is like choosing the second option. When your vocal tract is tuned well, your voice is stronger, clearer, and easier without all the strain. You cut out the noise (unless desired) and deliver a clear and intentional signal.

Voice scientists describe this with something called the source–filter model:

• The source is the alterations in air pressure (transglottal flow), which are the result of the vocal folds vibrating (which is initiated by the air from the lungs).
• The filter is your vocal tract, the throat, mouth, and nose, shaping, boosting, and attenuating certain frequencies.

Why does resonance matter?

When the filter is shaped well for the pitch you’re singing, it boosts your sound (output optimisation) and even feeds energy back to the vocal folds (input optimisation). That means:

• More volume with less effort
• Easier high notes
• A freer, more expressive tone
• Increased endurance 
• Improved intonation 

This is why singers like those trained in bel canto, or actors in the theatre, could project powerfully without microphones long before we had a scientific explanation.

A simple way to feel resonance

One of the easiest ways to explore resonance is through semi-occluded vocal tract exercises (SOVTs). These are sounds where part of the vocal tract is narrowed, for example:

• Lip trills (blowing the lips like a motorboat)
• Singing through a straw
• Humming

Why they work: these exercises create just enough back pressure to help the vocal folds vibrate with less collision. They encourage efficiency and let you feel buzzing sensations in the face and lips, a good sign that resonance is working.

Try this!

1. Sing a five-note scale on a vowel of your choosing, somewhere relatively comfortable in your middle range. Notice the overall effort level, and pay attention to see if you feel vibrations around your nose, lips, cheeks, or anywhere toward the front of the face.
2. Switch to a lip trill on the same five-note scale. Pay attention to whether the sound feels easier compared to singing the same notes on an open vowel.
3. Finally, sing the same scale on a closed “oo” vowel*, but imagine keeping the buzz you felt during the trill. *The “oo” vowel is the most closed vowel and can act as an SOVT. 
4. Return to singing the vowel you started with and try to maintain similar sensations of vibration and reduced effort levels. With time, practice, and mindful awareness it will get easier to transfer these skills to vowels and vocal tract shapes without as much narrowing.

The bottom line

Singing doesn’t have to mean pushing harder, or as our culture often promotes “more pain, more gain”. With resonance, your voice does more of the work for you. As voice scientist Ingo Titze has said, "when the source and filter work together, vocal effort can be minimized for greater sound." (Titze, 2000)

If you find yourself straining or working too hard, try shaping your filter differently through vowel adjustment or an SOVT. You may be surprised at how much easier singing feels when resonance is on your side.

References

• Bozeman, Kenneth. Practical Vocal Acoustics: Pedagogic Applications for Teachers and Singers. Pendragon Press, 2013.
• Gill, Brian. Mindful Voice Production. 2015.
• Titze, Ingo R. Vocology: The Science and Practice of Voice Habilitation. National Center for Voice and Speech, 2000.
• Sundberg, Johan. The Science of the Singing Voice. Northern Illinois University Press, 1987.
• Bradford, Zac. “Vocal Resonance: Optimising Source-Filter Interactions in Voice Training.” Fusion Journal, Issue 15, 2019.