(Because remember: slower vibration = lower notes.) The vocal cords are too thick and short… they “want” to vibrate at a slower speed than the note requires, so you’ll go flat. Every time. (Because remember: faster vibration = higher notes.)Īnd when we try to sing in our higher range in chest voice, the opposite happens. So… herein lies the problem-when we try to sing in our lower range in head voice, what happens? The vocal cords are too thin and stretched out… they “want” to vibrate at a faster speed than the note requires, so you’ll sing sharp. (PS the “zipping up/down” is a super-unscientific way of explaining the way the vocal cords function… but it’s a good simplified visualization!) This coordination is perfect for low notes-which need to vibrate at slower frequencies. When we sing in chest voice, the vocal cords are unzipped… they’re much thicker and shorter than in head voice. This coordination is perfect for high notes-which need to vibrate at faster frequencies. When we sing in head voice, the vocal cords are zipped up most of the way (kind of like a zipper)-and they’re much more thin and stretched out than in chest voice. If you want to sing on-pitch, these are important concepts to grasp. Which is good news for us… because it’s much easier to focus on adjusting our resonance (by listening for the tonal differences between head/mouth/nasal resonance) than to try to feel how thin or thick our vocal cords are in a given moment… not gonna happen. (The vocal cords actually have some elastic-like fibres in them-cool, right?! Or maybe I’m just a nerd. ? )Īnd the coordination of your vocal cords-in other words, how stretched or shortened they are in any given moment-has A LOT to do with the placement of your resonance (where the buzz/vibration of air is happening in your face)-these things go hand-in-hand… they’re intended to work in synergy. So how does this relate to your voice, and more importantly, to you being able to sing on pitch?īecause… whether you’re aware of it or not, each different pitch you sing in a song is a result of stretching or shortening your vocal cords to increase or decrease the speed of vibration. The longer and thinner the guitar string, the higher the pitch. The shorter and thicker the guitar string, the lower the pitch. Why? Because the more the rubber band is stretched, the faster it vibrates-and the faster it vibrates, the higher the pitch. If you stretch it even more and then pluck it, the sound you’ll hear will be higher in pitch. ![]() You won’t hear much of anything because there’s so much slack.īut… if you stretch the rubber band so that it’s longer and more taut, and then pluck it, you’ll hear an audible sound. Here’s something interesting to try (or just read on and take my word for it ? ). Hold a rubber band loosely between your fingers and pluck it. ![]() If your arrows (ahem, notes) are hitting the board at different spots than another singer (not to mention the instruments), it means that your voice is going to clash, and create dissonance… not the beautiful, harmonious sound you’re aiming for. Especially when you’re singing on a worship team with other singers. “Pitchy” is you hitting the board, but not quite in the middle.īottom line-singing pitchy is problematic. Completely off-pitch would be your arrow not even hitting the board. The pitch centre is what we want to aim for-think about it like the bullseye in a target: that middle circle is the best place to be. Usually when we hear the term “pitchy”… it doesn’t mean that you’re singing the notes COMPLETELY off-it’s that you’re singing just above the pitch (in other words, singing sharp) or just below the pitch (in other words, singing flat). So… what does “pitchy” mean, and how can you fix it? Or, maybe you’ve never been explicitly told that you’re pitchy, but you suspect it’s an issue in your singing (hint: it probably is). But… you may have been told that you sing flat or sharp, or maybe you’ve been told that you’re “pitchy”-a somewhat vague word that I personally love to use (although it drives some people crazy, because it’s barely a word!). If you sing on a worship team, you most likely can carry a tune-meaning, you probably (hopefully) have decent pitch.
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