Why Is My Voice Lacking Power And Feeling Fatigued?

In this blog we are going to be discussing and talking about ‘why is my voice fatiguing and lacking power?’

I am going to give you the top six reasons why this may be happening.

Here are the reasons… drum roll please.

Vocal Stamina and fitness – this is the number one point why your voice is probably lacking power and fatiguing. The vocal fitness is the same as physical fitness regime. If you want to jog or want to do a marathon, you’re going to need to start jogging with small intervals and build it up over a long period of time. You’re not going to go out and jog a marathon tomorrow if you have no training; you’ll hurt yourself and you’re not going to finish the marathon. Same with your voice. If you’re going to be singing for an hour or two (that’s a marathon session of singing) you need to build up to that, and how are you going to build up to that? How you Build up your vocal fitness and stamina is by having a correct and proper scales regime for practice. Again, start your regime off with small time intervals and expand that. Once you finish your scales regime, make sure you are singing after your scales because it’s very important that you’re applying the scales that we’re learning and doing in the scales directly into the songs straightaway.

Technique – that’s the second point why your voice maybe fatiguing or lacking power – is a wrong technique. So you have to look at your technique and see what you may or may not be doing right or wrong. Again, a good quality teacher should be able to diagnose exactly what you’re doing right and wrong and giving you a full diagnosis by getting you to sing, within 30 seconds I know exactly what I need to address with all singers – I do that with my students.

Some points that you may want to observe with your technique is ‘breathing and support’. Are you taking a proper diaphragmatic breath? Are you supporting the right amount of air underneath the vocal cords all the time? Because if you’re doing these, you should not be feeling fatigue. The diaphragm is the engine room that’s always doing all the work and all the support and that’s going to help immensely with your singing and technique.

Your vocal cords will need to be staying relaxed all the time. You don’t want to be feeling any pain or discomfort when you’re doing any of your scales or your singing because if you are, that’s incorrect. Go back to a proper scales regime and work on your technique and if this is not working, go out and get professional advice and help.

Singing in a wrong key – this is a very common problem. Singers are inspired by other people and we love singing other people’s songs, but other people’s voices aren’t your voice. Everyone’s voice is different, it’s like a fingerprint.  Everyone’s voice is a unique and a beautiful musical instrument. Pick keys that best suit your vocal range and your voice. Try to find out what type of voice you are – I’ve got a blog earlier on that explains the different vocal registers and what the voices are. Go back and read that blog.

Find out what type of voice you are!! Sing in a key that best suits your voice so that your voice sounds the best and you’re not going to strain. The big point about this is when you try to sing higher than what your ability allows. If you do want to sing higher and expand your range I finally recommend to seek professional help. Expanding your range can be done. Personally I am baritone but I can sing in my high tenor and soprano True Voice range for most of the day when I’m teaching.

Misuse or Abuse of the Vocal Cords – this could be physical abuse or substance abuse, whatever it may be it’s not good. Physical abuse for example is screaming, yelling, smoking,drinking too much alcohol. Top of this if you are not getting enough sleep or rest or not enough vocal rest can be detrimental to the voice. So these are the couple of things that may wear your voice out.

Now, I’ve got students of mine that are telemarketers during the day and this is a very dangerous occupation especially if you’re going to have to sing later on. So, I’ve got a lot of techniques that I’m telling to my telemarketer students and people that work in hospitality is to vary their speaking tones so that your always going up and down and not just speaking in one monotonous tone all day long because this part of your voice is going to be getting very tight so adjusting the pitch and the level of your speaking voice is one big tip. As well as using your diaphragm during the day whilst you’re speaking. But again, general misuse of your voice is screaming, yelling, or substance abuse and not getting a right amount of rest.

Getting right amount of rest and sleep – is very important. You always have to remember these points; the only time that your voice is truly resting is when you’re asleep because you’re not making any sound. Even when you’re speaking during the day, your voice is still working, it’s the same vocal cords we are using when you’re singing. So, please get a right amount of rest and sleep.

Physical Fitness and diet – is very important. Again, I have already gone over this with what you should and should not eat in The Vox Blog. So, the better that you feel, the better you are going to sound. But this also goes to do with stress as well too. If you’re feeling stressed, or tired, emotional or whatever it is, this is going to come through your voice. Always remember that your voice is an artistic expression of your emotions. Please try to remember that if you are going to sing, try to feel the best you possibly can and put your mind in the right mindset so you’re going to feel the best that you possibly can mentally and physically.

I hope that these points has helped you out. Thank you for Reading.

By Peter Vox