Larynx position while singing pure head tones

[Keith]

While singing between A4 and Eb5, my larnyx is high. Real high. As a matter of fact, when I sing a pure head tone, it feels like it is as high as it can go. It is not comfortable. But, when I hold a note and try to lower it, it hurts. What could I be doing wrong? Strain?

[VideoHere]

i practice pure head tones, totallly head voice musculature with a low larynx using "oo" and "ee" but the lower larynx will limit how high you can go.

i would think trying to lower in the midst of a high note would asking a lot of your muscles?

just thinking out loud on this one.

[Remylebeau]

First, I think it's important to remember that there isn't just "high larynx" and "low larynx", there's several degrees of laryngeal position: super high, super low, and everything in between.

So if you find your larynx getting too high on the high notes I'd try and lower it a bit, primarily with vowel modification and secondarily by adding a bit of sobbing to the sound if necessary. But the key is that you don't need to lower it too much. You don't need it to be operatic low where it almost never goes above neutral position regardless of pitch.

[Keith]

Well to me if feels like it jams itself up as high as it can go, and when I try to manipulate it, it hurts...

[Remylebeau]

What are you doing to try and manipulate it? Using naturally darker more covered vowels is the easiest way to manipulate it without much effort. Are you darkening your vowels or just pushing down?

Also, is your soft palate raised?

[Keith]

Transitioning from Eh to uh

[Steven Fraser]

While singing between A4 and Eb5, my larnyx is high. Real high. As a matter of fact, when I sing a pure head tone, it feels like it is as high as it can go. It is not comfortable. But, when I hold a note and try to lower it, it hurts. What could I be doing wrong? Strain?

Hi, Keith! Why is your larynx high on Bb4 on a pure head tone? Got twang?

If your throat hurts when you try to lower your larynx while singing a high note, then you larynx is high because of tension in the muscles from which it hangs, which we will call the laryngeal suspensors. While the high larynx is not a technique fault on its own (its a judgment call,) having a high larynx because of unnecessary tension in the laryngeal suspensor muscles IS a technique flaw.

The remedy for this is to re-work your technique so that you decouple phonation from tension in the laryngeal suspensors. In a scale, the point to work on is where you first detect the rise of the larynx at onset. Sirens through this region will help, too.

On a personal note, I worked through this problem myself in my early 20s. Soft, clear sirens on oo and ee helped me find the place where I was raising the note by adding tension. Then, I re-worked the onset and the siren so that I allowed the laryngeal configuration to lighten just a bit before continuing. In this process, I had to re-calibrate my support, too, since it turned out that I was oversinging as well.

I hope this is helpful.

[Keith]

Over singing sounds about right. Thanks for the advice !

[ronws]

Steven's right. Sometimes the fix is not "lower the larynx more" but "don't raise the larynx (as much)". Try that approach for a bit.

I like your phrase even better. It's simple, like me. Not so much hold the larynx down as not letting it raise too much. And I like Steven's explanation, too. I didn't know how to answer this thread, even while feeling for Keith.

Not only do I not necessarily know what I think I know, but, I think, as a tenor, I may not always have the right perspective or best answers for someone who's got a good baritone thing going on. Unless we want to treat the mechanics of singing as the same and it just applies to each type of voice. For example passaggio for both types is in the 4th octave, just not in the same spot. etc.

So, yeah, maybe Keith needs a bit of the ol' lift up - pull back.

[Danielformica]

Keith you should be able to do a really dopey sounding gee and climb higher and higher as you go through the bridges (larynx stays very low)you have to remember to not push. I warm up my head voice/falsetto like this all the way up to soprano c6. Listen to Seth Riggs do these and try to imitate the sound it's very dumb and dopey but once you get it you can bury the larynx down by just the sound your making and carry it up without it moving at all. Hit me up this week(no charge) I'll show you how to get it. It takes a tone of practice but opens up your range easier for full voice