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Hello, 1st post here, I'm a hobbyist opera singer (~ dramatic tenor). Recently had a laryngitis, apparently bacterial, not connected to a cold or anyhting - only the throat was infected. ENT doc prescribed an antiseptic spray with a tube to spray deeply into the throat. Well, day 1..2, I had somewhat elevated temperature, and I got mean coughing attacks esp. nights of week #1. Week #1...#2, I, as close to as possible, didn't speak / worked from home. 4 weeks now have passed, while coughing is rare and I can speak, neither is the speaking voice totally clean, there's always some rasp around the corner. And singing doesn't work too well at all, no real clean tones like I used to have even in the lower octave, and getting up to the passagio, or doing falsetto excercises, doesn't work at all. 4 weeks seems pretty long. Though, as this probably was really bacteria, I might have brought this upon myself by using a months old (in the fridge) nasal spray experiment that I had filled into a used spray bottle, wasn't too impressed with the result, forgot about it, and then one day I grabbed that instead of my go to isotonic saline spray and put some generous amounts in the nose, running down the throat - this usually calms things down a bit, well, not this time Common ENT says, using a "stick camera" to look at the larynx, there's still "something" but it doesn't look too bad and to him, my speech sounds "normal" ... well, not according to before/after recordings I have, lol... And as said, singing is totally screwed up. Should I see a larynx / voice specialist? Is it common for something like this to take that long until you can sing again properly / does this commonly resolve by itself even after this time? (this is not quite my 2..3 day cold that I get every couple yearts, argh!)

In chorus, falsetto is usually used to sing the soprano, and our real voice is usually used to sing the bass. When singing in the treble range, the lower the throat air sinks, the more the mouth opens, and the inside of the larynx will naturally tighten. What exercises will make it easier for students to use falsetto voice to sing high notes?

I haven't been active here in years, and I am just now seeing this post. This makes me incredibly sad. I have had several very heartwarming, educational, and fun conversations with Adolph. 

I am new to the world of choir and singing. I watched pitch perfect as teenager and after seeing chloe's case of "nodes" I wondered how legitimate the movie was with their information. What exactly are vocal nodes and how do they affect your voice in the long term?

Hi everyone. I`m Ema from Argentina, quite old in music, but a complete newbie in singing.  I`m curious about this forum. Greets to all!

Good to hear that you are upping your singing, to the next level. Hang in there and try to relax.  When you are doing something, your muscles is not attuned to the movements, and yes, it feels like strain. Doing it more will make it easier.  But do not overdo it.  And importantly, have fun, and take care of your vocal health. Rene

Hello! I am a relatively new singer, I've been taking weekly vocal lessons for about a year. I recently switched teachers after realizing the one I'd been seeing didn't know very much about singing technique beyond the very basics, and I want to take my singing to the next level. My new teacher strongly emphasized "twang" as something I'm going to need to sustainably utilizing my upper range in the style of singing I am interested in (pop punk) and gave me some exercises to help develop it. However, the sensation I am experiencing when attempting to create this sound feels a lot like strain and tension, which makes me think I might be doing it wrong. I do intend to explore this further with my teacher the next time I see her, but I wanted to get a jump start and ask if this is a common mistake or how I might be able to avoid this.

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