Why does your singing voice feel trapped or stuck?

Do you feel trapped inside a singing voice that doesn’t feel like it represents who you really are? I’m not just talking about how pretty the sound is. I’m talking about your singing voice revealing who you really are; courageous, confidant, authentic, free and totally alive!

Do you feel that way when you open your mouth to either speak or sing? Do you feel like you can’t express your thoughts or emotions easily? Not a lot of people do. So don’t feel alone if you feel like I’m talking to you.

Today, we are going to talk about why this happens, and some things you can do to get in touch with your most authentic singing voice.

Why does your singing voice feel stuck or trapped?

It’s my opinion that most people feel trapped when it comes to expressing who they really are. They may feel like they’re most amazing sound is in there somewhere, but they just can’t get it to come out! And I feel like there are 3 major reasons for this.
1. Overcompensation
2. Hesitation
3. Delusion

Overcompensating Your Singing Voice
Some folks believe that in order to be celebrated as a singer they have to push their voices way into the stratosphere. These people define being a good singer with sheer volume, and mimicking other artists who are known to sing in this way. Can you blame them?

Most of the singers to hit the spotlight in the past couple of years sing in this way. The problem with this type of singing is….it’s boring! The voice becomes so accustomed to that push that it can no longer make more refined, varied coordinations. It’s like conveying the same level of yelling for an entire whole song. There’s only so much of that your audience can take before they are secretly wanting to slip away for a bathroom break.

So if you feel yourself overcompensating, you’re going to want to play with dynamics. Can you convey the same amount of emotional intensity without getting louder? Try other elements of storytelling like rhythm, articulation, and phrasing to vary your choices. This will keep your audience totally engaged, because they don’t know what you are going to do next.

Hesitating Your Singing Voice
There are folks who want to sing, and have so much to offer, but they fear being criticized or beaten down if they were to truly allow their voice to soar. Maybe they didn’t get the response they were hoping to get that time they allowed themselves to truly sing.

They’ve since associated pain and humiliation to singing. You can probably imagine what this does to the voice. It develops a habit of drawing back quickly, and reinforces a belief that, “I can’t sing.” It can also cause a heck of a lot of tension inside, because the body feels it is not safe to release true sound. The body then will do whatever it can to keep the sound inside.

If you feel like this is you, the best thing you can do is yodel. I’m serious! Sabotage your sound. Go for the craziest, ugliest, nonsensical sound. Allow yourself to play without any expectations. The more you play, the easier the body feels about the releasing sound, and the more willing you will become to remain open to your most authentic voice. That willingness is the key!

Delusional Singing Voice
This one is tricky. Because I am sure that it happens to us all. You know that time that you felt amazing when you were singing? Christina Aguilera couldn’t top the riffs that you were throwing! Suddenly you may feel like, “I can do this!” So you record yourself, ready to be amazed at the play back. Then that hot red feeling of total disappointment washes over you as you listen to the recording.

This kind of tone-shock can be devastating! I don’t have enough fingers or toes to count the times that I literally ran out of the room embarrassed that I allowed myself to even think that I was that good. This is dangerous territory folk. This is the moment where mistrust happens. We learn to believe that we suck, and that we should just give up. We learn that we are not good enough. So we then try to manipulate the sound in order to be perceived as good singers.

Don’t punish yourself when this happens. I am sure it will happen at some point or another. Instead, shrug your shoulders; let go of the need to impress; and get back to the important part of singing - communication. Amp up the energy and intent about what you’re saying. Intent is the lifeblood of good singing. And usually, it’s what is missing when we obsess about the sound. We forget that we are telling a story. Get back to the basics. Simplify! Have a point of view and just express it.

[jocelynsworld]

I use to can sing really good now it's like as I got older my voice is just like trapped.

[jubilex]

I think I have hesitation, sometimes when Im singing and it comes the time to belt It goes inward because In my mind Im afraid of people hearing me for being too loud or that they might laugh or something, but it's just something thats inside my head but its hard to overcome it

[stevedoetsch]

Be prepared that when you express your "authentic voice" (real emotions) that others may misunderstand, scoff, or even laugh simply because they are not used to you actually being yourself. Just stay calm and centered in your real feelings and they will quickly adjust to it and learn that in fact, you are not joking.

[Natvaesen]

I just saw the title of this video and clicked it instantly! This has been my problem my whole teenage-life and up until now! I feel that my body won't LET me push sounds out of my mouth when I have to or want to... I have been a silent pre-teen, teen and young adult... Therefor my body has adopted my psychological mindset about singing or being loud, because I was bullied and started developing a When I DO get to sing in front of others, or just sing loud, a wild energy builds up inside, and I start to shiver because I'm not used to this feeling :P I'm choking, but I feel like I will explode soon if I don't open up and sing my socks off! I want to sing rock and roll, and I have an enormous power inside, I feel... And it wants to come out! But my body doesn't know how :/ So I love your video, and I never thought this was a problem for others than myself!! <3 Thank you for bringing this up!

[no-dyxw]

I'm the shy type who's ashamed of being passionate about stuff but my voice is naturally very loud which is why i developed a lot of hesitation

[themolis]

You are so right! My parents were always very anoied about music and sound in my house that all the time I was practicing since I was a little girl they asked me to stop or to keep it down, so I kind of got used to sing and play in a very low volume, which is a huge problem now cause I have lots of difficulties to project my voice and to feel self confient. And that's the biggest problem when I'm singing now. I have fine tuning when singing, which is very good, but can't project or breath properly.

[razrvlc]

There are so many people that sing loud and high because of singers like Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, and Celine Dion who all sang that way and made a huge impact on music in the 1990s. The thing about them, though, is that they naturally sang that way. They all showed an amazing sense of dynamics and never just stayed at 100% at all times. Now, there are people like Christina Aguilera who grew up listening to those three but never developed any voice beyond belting 100% all the time.

[NostalgiCrazy]

Has anyone ever told you that you should be a therapist lol? Cause you'd make a perfect one :D You're very good at expressing yourself in a calm and understanding way.

[gustionair]

I like the gentle way of explaining stuff you have, it's like hearing a lovely mom! Thanks a lot :D

[wendymooremusic]

This actually made me tear up. Ive been so stuck with myself lately and I keep punishing myself for it over and over again. Everyone tells be I can be good but it misses something. I keep telling myself why don't you sound like him or like her and its really making me depressed. I think I know whats missing now. Joy. I focus so much on being like my fav artist or sounding amazing and then I just purely hate myself because I can't and I end up sounding empty. I just need to have fun with it. And practice to become better. I forgot that it should be fun. So thank you for this.

[aneleykov]

Barely managed to hold the tears when you started talking about hesitation and delusion - can't even begin to count the number of times I've hated myself for my voice/sound/singing. Thank you very much for sharing your videos and lessons, they've been making a difference in my life.

[sharmsong]

Love this! Over complicating singing can make our voices feel so muddy. I really enjoy how you simplify the act of singing and bring it back to its roots.

[leithp]

#2 (hesitation) is me. And my wife tells me I sound "strained". And that it hurts to listen to it. Which ... obviously doesn't help. So ... yodel, eh? That ... sounds difficult. Self-consciousness is my biggest enemy.

[KartikayKaul]

I am a hesitant type and i agree with you on yodelling. i one day started yodelling when nobody was at home. it felt good.

[zaynemedricks]

8:54 .... completelely inspiring. how to be happy... how to continue with the mistakes youve made. how to be ok with the moment and all the things you are and are feeling.... thank you

[StephenWilson]

Just discovered you like half an hour ago Madeleine, and I've already had several moments of great realization hah. You are a beacon of light, you keep on shining!

[allinverse]

I feel so relieved just hearing you out. I just didn't know how to explain that trapped emotion I kept feeling in my voice so I couldn't even ask of anyone to unserstand me. Im so glad I happened to just type something random and land on your video. Thank you so much Miss.
I already feel I can let my inner voice go loose just by forgetting my past experiences of others criticising me when I had an intrest in something or was learning, and dropping all expectations. I haven't even sung a note yet but I feel free (im at work).

[bikalpakc_thekid]

Best Vocal teacher, I have heard till now...U express ur views in really nice manner, not bored for a single second

[D-Music-]

This is so true....the second problem really resonated with me. And I deliberately "unlocked, unrepressed" my voice without any psychological hesitation has already made a difference instantly!! Thank you so so much for these wonderful

[actualwakandangirl]

Madeleine I wanna thank you for this message, when you talked about hesitation and delusion I almost lost it coz you described and explained me to myself. I can’t tell you how much relief I got from listening to this. I’ll be yodeling my way out of this funk🙏🏾 thank you.😌