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Hi everybody!
My name is Justin Stoney and I'm the founder of
New York Vocal Coaching here in NewYork City.
Welcome to episode 57 of Voice Lessons To The World.
The show where we want to help you guys as singers
by answering your questions from all over.
And I'll give you a chance to ask questions later
but our question for this week comes from Tess Y. in Lincoln, Nebraska.
And Tess writes, "Dear Justin, I'm 16 and my best friend
just got vocal nodes.
I'm very scared that this will happen in my voice.
What can I do?"
Now Tess that's a fantastic question
and I thank you for asking it because
so many singers are scared of getting vocal nodes.
So what we're going to do today is talk about
what is a node and also how you can prevent this
problem from happening in your voice.
So what's a node?
A node is short for nodule and a nodule or node
is a kind of bump.
We don't just get one node or one nodule,
it's always plural, it's always nodes or nodules.
Now the vocal cords are an ingenious design.
They're made up of mucus and cells and even muscle.
And what happens is as the breath passes through the larynx
the vocal cords kind of do a wave-like motion.
Now let's say there was a problem with one of the vocal cords.
It kind of got roughed up, it's a bit swollen, irritated,
there's a spot on it that's a little puffy.
Then with repeated vocal pushing and force
this spot is going to be pushed into the other vocal cord
and we get a slamming, slamming, slamming,
slamming, slamming, slamming,
eventually this vocal cord is going to start to thicken as well.
Now we have two thickenings or two nodes.
And now we hear a problem.
Now the vocal cords don't make such good contact anymore
because of these nodes, because of this bump.
Really it's just the vocal cords trying to protect themself from injury
but it ends up in a vocal problem that we can hear.
So how do we know if we have this problem?
I want you guys to know that vocal nodes
are not usually a short-term thing.
You're allowed to have a bad vocal day.
If you were sick you're going to have
some vocal problems a little bit.
If you pushed your voice around or yelled one day,
you're going to have some vocal problems the next day.
But it's not a short-term thing.
You don't just push your voice around once
and then you have nodes suddenly.
No, it's more of a long-term thing.
Similarly you're going to not be able to get
rid of the vocal problem.
So if you have one or two bad vocal days,
you don't have nodes.
But if you had two or three weeks or months
of vocal problems, then that's more of an indication
that you might have nodes or another problem.
So how do we hear that we have nodes or a problem?
First of all you might lose some of your head voice,
or falsetto if you're a guy.
It's really the equivalent, falsetto for men
and head voice for women.
But up top if you've lost notes that you once had,
that might be an indication of nodes.
It could be in any register though.
Any notes that you once had that are now suddenly gone
and you can't get them back,
that is an indication of nodes.
There also might be a change to your vocal quality.
It used to be clear and strong and light
but now it's low and raspy and groggy.
That is a kind of sign too that you have vocal nodes.
Especially if you can't get rid of it.
Another thing is a sort of air leak that we hear
when folks have nodes.
So I try to make a clean sound...
♪ Ah ♪
But instead I get a...
♪ Hah ♪
I can't do...
♪ Ah ♪
I always get that air leak in my singing
or in my speaking.
That's an indication too that there could be a problem.
So let's talk about how to prevent nodes from happening.
Tess, one of the biggest things is that
we don't want to be pushing volume, right?
If you're in loud crowds where there's loud music
and you have to speak over these crowds consistently,
that's something that can lead to nodes, right.
Because you've got maybe a bump or something
and you're constantly pushing, pushing,
pushing your voice over that volume.
This can cause a problem.
Another thing is in your singing voice
if you have to get louder in order to go higher
that's bad technique.
And if you keep pushing and keep getting louder
and louder as you go up, this is going to be something
that can wear out the vocal cords and cause nodes.
You also need to be a little bit careful when you are sick
or when your voice is swollen.
It's not wrong to sing when you're sick
but you have to make sure you're not pushing.
That's when there's some extra swelling to the cords
and we know that that's the kind of thing
that can lead to nodes.
Now I should also tell you guys that
women have more of a problem with nodes than men.
Men can get nodes too, but women get nodes more often.
Especially young women.
Tess, it sounds like you're in high school
and younger women can tend to get nodes
more often than anybody else.
Your voice is changing a lot at that period of time
in your teenage years.
So that's really a time to make sure that you're
not doing only loud belting.
It's not wrong to belt but you don't want
to only be doing that.
You also want to watch the volume
when in your speaking voice.
And then there's also this issue of speaking
on the vocal fry all the time.
This is something that can also tire out the voice.
We know the vocal fry isn't bad.
But if you're only talking on the vocal fry all the time
that can also wear out your voice
and contribute to nodes.
So finally what if you already have nodes?
What if you know that you have a problem with your voice?
Well you could see a vocal doctor.
This is not a bad idea, right?
Sometimes vocal nodes require surgery.
But don't worry first thing to do is to not be afraid, alright.
So many singers have overcome vocal nodes
and are going on to do just fine.
So don't be afraid but go ahead and see a doctor
and they're going to tell you what you can do.
An ENT, Ear Nose and Throat doctor,
can help you to discover whether or not
you have a vocal problem.
But usually vocal nodes or other injuries
can be overcome with great technique
and some vocal rest.
So if you can rest your voice and then focus
on building a great head voice, great mix,
not pushing your voice around
but really focusing on good vocal technique,
you will be able to overcome vocal nodes.
So Tess and all, I hope that's been helpful
for you guys today as singers.
If you've got questions that you'd like to
see us answer on the show,
you can send an email to Questions@VoiceLessonsToTheWorld.com
So we just encourage you don't lose that joy,
don't lose that passion, be good to your voice
and treat it well so that you can avoid vocal nodes or other injuries.
Don't push it around. [♪]
Get with a great voice teacher in your area. [♪]
Or if you guys are in the New York City area [♪]
or if you'd like to Skype with one of our staff [♪]
you can visit us at www.NewYorkVocalCoaching.com. [♪]
I also encourage you guys to download our free app [♪]
it's for iPhone, iPad, and hopefully more in the future. [♪]
Or you can visit us at www.VoiceLessonsToTheWorld.com. [♪]
I'm Justin Stoney. [♪]
We'll see you next time. [♪]
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