DISCLAIMER: This article is not simply going to be another example of an old man yelling at a cloud.
It’s also not going to be a discussion around me staring into the middle distance and yearning for the “good ol’ days“.
But I will put it bluntly
There is an epidemic of shouting masquerading as singing, at least to my mind and my ear. And today I want to talk about why.
Over the years
To begin with, I’ve lost count of the number of events where every singer was just yelling their guts out. I’ve even seen singers step away from the microphone to show how loudly they can bellow their lyrics – it’s part of their performance piece. I’ve seen performers get gigs for not much more reason than they can belt notes louder than their peers. I’ve even been singing as part of a group, where when someone starts yelling their part, people think that equates to a more emotional performance.
What exactly is causing this? And what are the highest quality singers actually doing that sets them apart from some that might be accused of yelling?
Before we judge such singers too harshly…
… are there reasons behind why many resort to yelling? Are there tripwires that cause some singers to miss out on the path to higher quality?
I’m not for a second looking to justify or exonerate bad singing, but I also want to be clear that the voice has its complications. It would therefore be remiss to not discuss some of the physiological factors at play in this trend.
What do I mean by ‘yelling‘?
When you hear someone shouting across a room to get someone’s attention, or yelling at a football match, or bellowing an order to a subordinate, this is yelling. We all intuitively know the sound, both having heard others yell, and having felt it in our own bodies when we’ve done the same.
NOTE: As a very quick prima facie argument against yelling of any kind as a valid foundation for singing, ask yourself: how long do you feel you can keep up any of the above activities before your voice would give out or hurt? E.g. How long do you think you could continuously yell as if at a football match, before your voice go hoarse or you would feel pain/heavy discomfort? And how long would you expect to spend recovering from such yelling?
Now ask yourself: if you were trying to vocally perform for hours every night, how sustainable would this approach be? Maybe for the odd 10-20 minute set once a month (or less frequently) you could get away with it for a period of time, but it’s far from an optimal or commendable approach.
I trust you know grasp just how unsustainable it is to approach singing like it was all about forcing one’s way to the top notes.
How does this happen
When someone yells, what is going on mechanically is best described as a megaphone-type structure. The vocal folds at the laryngeal level generate sound, and the vocal tract is wide-open and relatively disengaged. This creates an effect like someone speaking into the narrow end of the cone of a megaphone.
Think back to the last time you heard someone whose singing could be described as shouty. You may have noticed that such singers are not yelling every note. Instead, this shouty/yelling quality tends to creep into people’s voices the higher they wish to sing.
This shouty quality typically progresses fairly rapidly as soon as the singer starts to encounter difficulty with singing higher. The phenomena is also highly vowel dependent. In some instances it can be a binary switch, but generally this quality (or lack thereof) tends to creep in.
Why does this happen? Why do singers opt for this approach?
As we sing higher, we need higher and higher subglottal air pressure to sustain the note (i.e. air pressure underneath the vocal folds). In turn, this increases the air pressure in the vocal tract.
This higher air pressure also ends up acting upon the vocal tract. For less skilled singers, it is hard to know what to do with this sensation. They will be feeling pressure inside their throat, and typically experience a physiological response to want to release this pressure.
There is also the tendency of singers to apply excessive force to reach higher notes (even above the necessary increase). This is a fairly normal response with less skilled singers. To sing higher notes well requires fine motor control of the larynx and vocal folds, and should be achieved in a way that is independent of the application of air pressure. However singers who do not yet have this control tend to apply extraordinarily excessive amounts of air pressure to literally force the larynx to tilt for the desired pitch.
To the inexperienced singer, they have 2 options to alleviate this sensation of pressure:
1) Open the vocal tract (moving to that megaphone structure, i.e. yelling) – this then dumps the extra pressure that was in the vocal tract. It typically results in an initially high sound pressure level, but cannot be sustained for long periods due to the inefficient control/release of the air pressure.
2) Drop the volume (reducing the air pressure in the whole system) – this then dumps the extra pressure that was underneath the vocal folds, and in turn reduces the air pressure in the vocal tract. However, this typically changes the quality of the vocal sound quite dramatically, often resulting in a more head voice/falsetto type sound.
In both cases the singer is suddenly diverging from the approach they were taking before, and diverging from the vocal quality they WERE delivering.
In the first case, the vocals start to become very shouty on high notes, and have a distinct bellowing quality to the note (think Idina Menzel – Frozen).
In the second case, the vocals suddenly go very light on high notes, often sounding like they’ve gone to a light head voice or falsetto on those high notes (think Sam Smith – Lay Me Down).
So what is the solution?
As it happens, there is a 3rd option, but it isn’t necessarily obvious.
3) Keep the vowel the same, and keep the volume the same
Start with the correct vowel and a consistent volume, and learn to stay the course. To the inexperienced singer trying to figure this out, it can seem like an impossible knife-edge of control.
This means NO yelling by opening the vocal tract. No going light to reduce the workload. No bailing out to options 1 or 2. We are aiming to keep everything tightly controlled as we move higher and higher into the voice… tightly controlled, but without it feeling tight or forced. This is the 3rd option.
It’s what you hear when you hear most of the great classical singers, and the best pop singers (e.g. Stevie Wonder, Peabo Bryson, etc).
SIDENOTE: When I say we are keeping the vowel and volume “the same“, I am being slightly imprecise. The more learned and pedantic among you may be aware that vowels require some subtle modification as we ascend. I am talking more specifically about keeping the vowels congruent and consistent, from one note to the next, and also over wider intervals, so that there is little to no perceivable tonal change to the listener.
For the sake of ease of discussion, I have referred to this aspect as vowels/volume being “the same“, despite there being some modification going on to achieve this effect.
Conclusion: There are genuine reasons people yell
The physiological difficulties that singing presents inherently tends to lead people towards option 1 or option 2… mainly as an easy way out. It’s a bit like when people try to lift a heavy object with poor form – there is a correct way to achieve the desired effect, but the body tends to opt for another route that leads to damage over the long term.
We could also talk about how this then creates a cultural trend that aspiring singers then unhelpfully follow, but that’s not within the scope of this article.
This third option requires a LOT of co-ordination and practice. The higher we sing, the higher the air-pressure we have to learn to master and control, plus all the vocal fold co-ordination that must also be mastered. The higher we wish to sing, and the more controlled we wish to be, the more precise and controlled the respective parts of our instrument needs to be.
What I am describing is fundamentally a high-level skillset.
Truthfully, relatively few bother to invest this heavily into their voices, and most would rather take the easy road, even if it’s a short one.
Yet, this long road is the one that the the top-level professionals take in order to keep going for hours night after night. In turn, it’s also why the less skilled singers experience reoccurring vocal issues that keep impinging on their voice.
If after reading this, you feel like you are falling prey to this and would like some help to resolve these issues in your voice, you can book in via our booking form right here.
Learn More: Related Articles
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Famous Singers with Voice Problems
My Singing Voice Hurts: 5 Habits for Vocal Health
Vocal Longevity: The Icarus Effect
Why do I keep losing my voice: Overuse, Misuse and Abuse
The Seriousness of Vocal Fold Nodules