Post operation chest/head voice question

[troutstudio]

Hi, this is about my wife. She has not sung a great deal in her life apart from work - she is  a music teacher with B Mus piano. 

Started singing a lot more in church. Got a very husky voice, diagnosed with a vocal cyst. This was removed successfully. Had a very slow recovery; then took singing lessons. Now singing without major issues, but has taken to singing everything in her head voice. This naturally gives a different sound. She has fears of damaging her voice again because pushing chest or full voice is something she equates with damage. 

 

I am recording her and would like to see a gradual return of her full voice for some songs or sections. How can she do this correctly? She feels that her break is an issue. Her speaking voice has slowly returned to almost normal since the operation (2 years ago) However I would say it's not the same as it was. There is a very slight husky tone there. Of course this can be good for singing. Just seems for recording that all head voice with her vibrato is not the optimum sound very every song. She is concerned about tuning when using chest voice but I have recordings before the operation and I prefer some of those tracks.

 

Any advice much appreciated.

[ronws]

I am not an expert but I think she should listen to her doctor and/or vocal rehab specialist or voice teacher specialized in helping singers recover from node removal surgery, rather than worry about a certain vocal timbre. What does she say about this?

[Owen Korzec]

Usually when people get vocal fold problems from technique it's because they are not supporting the sound correctly especially when doing aggressive sounds like belting or vocal distortion. It's not using her full voice that is the problem, it's doing it incorrectly. Which usually means either blowing too much air or squeezing too hard around the throat or some combination of both. Training head voice only does not fix the problem, only avoids it, and as you're discovering, just doesn't sound right.
 

So the best thing for her to get her full voice back but in a more technically correct manner is to find a vocal teacher who has developed their full voice from scratch and been using it for a long time with little to no vocal problems and can teach her how to sing the way they do.

 

In the meantime, if she can sing any particular range comfortably in her full voice, that range is safe to use for now. Even the stuff that is harder for her, is safe to use occasionally when she really needs it for a particular song etc. The voice is very resilient regarding occasional technical errors, it is just repeated damage without recovery that leads to the permanent problems like cysts

Also, a husky sound is not always healthy for the voice. But it is safe to use in the comfortable range and/or at soft volumes.

[troutstudio]

I am not an expert but I think she should listen to her doctor and/or vocal rehab specialist or voice teacher specialized in helping singers recover from node removal surgery, rather than worry about a certain vocal timbre. What does she say about this?

Thanks for the reply. She has had a long and very careful return to singing. The specialist who did the operation was never a communicative type. The post-op practitioner she consulted was a retired ENT surgeon. He was really good. On the last visit, he said her chords are fine, no scarring; carry on. Then she took singing lessons for 6 months and that all went well as far as correcting any breathing problems, etc. She does her scales and exercises. But her teacher didn't say anything at all about singing in her full voice. It's like she has decided to just sing in her head voice and I think that's a bit strange. I sing backing vocals in a band and I find parts that suit my range and sing in full voice. There's always an issue if you're right on your break, but I will slip into head voice if needed so I don't blow my voice up. I guess I'm asking if her fear of damage being related to full voice is founded. Anyway; I thought a cyst is different to a nodule - or are they all related to stress/irritation of the vocal chords?

[troutstudio]

Usually when people get vocal fold problems from technique it's because they are not supporting the sound correctly especially when doing aggressive sounds like full voice belting or vocal distortion. It's not using her full voice that is the problem, it's doing it incorrectly. Which usually means either blowing too much air or squeezing too hard around the throat or some combination of both. Training head voice only does not fix the problem, only avoids it, and as you're discovering, just doesn't sound right.

 

So the best thing for her to get her full voice back but in a more technically correct manner is to find a vocal teacher who has developed their full voice from scratch and been using it for a long time with little to no vocal problems and can teach her how to sing the way they do.

 

In the meantime, if she can sing any particular range comfortably in her full voice, that range is safe to use for now.

Really good advice there thank you.