Question:
I’m a 12-year-old girl. I’ve never had singing lessons before, but people tell me I’m good at singing. I don’t know if they’re trying to be nice or if they really mean it. I don’t think I have a good voice because sometimes it sounds scratchy and I’m not good at reaching higher notes. Can mucus make my voice sound scratchy or is there another cause for this?
Answer:
Mucus can definitely cause irritation and result in a raspy voice. It can also cause swelling of the vocal cords that makes it hard to reach higher pitches.
Often, the mucus is not so much the problem as what we do to deal with it. If you push into the voice to try to make it clear this can cause a raspy sound, fatigue and swelling. It makes it hard to sing high.
If you back off and avoid the mucus, the sound could be weak and raspy and lack the energy to sing high.
We need to sing with a lot of breath support and then a very fine phonation. It feels almost like threading the voice through the middle of the mucus without touching it. It is just in the throat but it does not become part of the tone.
You can read other posts about stuffy nose and nasality for tips to reduce mucus and its effect on the voice.
I’m a 13 year old girl, and I’ve been told I’m am an alto, but at the same time I can hit some high notes (All of “Since You Been Gone” by Kelly Clarkson except for the bridge; “Turn Your Face” by Little Mix; “These Four Walls” by little mix, the highest note on a good day).When I do try some high notes my voice sounds somewhat muted, like the body of my notes are a little faded. I understand that voices will mature in time and for me to not push my voice, but because I pushed my voice… Read more »
You DO need to be careful and NOT push your voice. Learning to sing high is best done with a teacher because it involves learning to breathe properly, how to use your vocal cords, and how to access all of the resonance. Getting high notes to be strong is all about resonance — NEVER ABOUT PUSHING! When singing is working, it doesn’t tire the voice, or crack or change timbre. It doesn’t fade or get scratchy. I hope you look for a teacher near you. Maybe even a teacher at your school can help? I wish you are the best… Read more »