In part 1 and part 2, we talked about the challenges that weightier voices face, and the challenges that lighter voices face.
The thing is, singers with a light voice can end up expressing similar traits to weighty voices, and vice versa.
But why?
Why would it be that a light voice – which should generally find itself struggling with what was listed in part 2 – find itself struggling with the issues a weighty voice might face as listed in part 1? Or the reverse, with weighty voices expressing issues more typically associated with lighter voice issues?
Singers are people with personalities, not just instruments
When I listed all the mechanical issues that singers tend to encounter, they were EXCLUSIVELY mechanical issues. In short, a weightier voice typically has more muscularity, so left to it’s own devices, it will tend to over-muscle itself…
… but that ignores the singer entirely. And singers are very resourceful when it comes to trying to solve their problems.
Most singers, when they notice they have a problem in some area, will typically try to solve those issues themselves. If they notice that they tend to struggle with certain issues, they typically try to trim down the areas they think are causing the issues.
Volume
For example, if a weightier voiced singer finds they are getting louder than they’d like (even if that’s what is necessary for good vocal operation), they’ll tend to reduce their volume. This tends to make a weightier singer sound quite thin and often anemic… which is exactly what lighter voice singers sometimes find themselves struggling with.
Similarly, if a lighter voice singer finds themselves sounding a bit weedier than they’d like, they’ll often raise their volume (even to excess)… which in turn leads to them finding themselves overmuscling and struggling to control the vowel.
High notes/Low Notes
If a weightier voice singer finds they are struggling to get to higher notes in a more normal approach to their voice, they’ll often sing lighter in order to find those high notes with more ease. This can result (again) in a thinner sound, but then can cause them to try and widen the vowel in order to make the (now) lighter vocal tone sound fuller and beefier. This is very much the domain that lighter voice singers to find themselves in, but through misattributed problem solving, weightier voice singers can find themselves doing the same thing.
Lighter voice singers may find lower notes harder to hit, and so may increase the intensity and attack of their singing to make the lower notes sound fuller. This can lead to things feeling overly heavy or dark sounding, giving the impression of a weightier voice than they actually have, or than their voice would like to be delivering.
Conclusion
The point is that the challenges listed in part 1 and part 2 are the primary occurring issues we’ll find in most voices. However, through intervention by the singer themselves, different voice types can find themselves facing secondary issues that are not reflective of their true voice, and therefore causing unsolveable issues.
If a weighty voice singer is dialling down their instrument such that they are acting like a lighter voice singer, their voice will never co-operate or feel like their own. Similarly, lighter voice singers trying to make their voice bigger and fuller like a weightier voice singer, will always find something feels off about their vocal approach.
Fortunately, all these issues are solveable, and one’s true voice can be found with the right approach. Whether you are a lighter singer who recognises these issues in your own voice, or a weightier voice singer who relates to this as well, if you would like me to help you with these issues you can book in with me via my booking form right here. If that’s you, then I look forward to starting work with you soon.