Properly Stress Your Vocal Chords With Screaming

This article is a hodgepodge of advice from different people who consider themselves screamers. Many of them probably use different techniques. The purpose of this article is to teach you how to "scream" (as many singers do these days) without hurting yourself. if you are good at inward vocals please try doing the outward screams also because it will show that you have many different kinds of metal, death metal, and grind-core skills. Also with any kind of singing you do keep in mind you're getting better every time you practice.

Screaming for musical performance is not about screaming your lungs out! While it may sound like some singers are screaming as hard and loud as they possibly can, most are not. Musical screaming is about learning to use your false vocal cords to produce screaming sounds, even though you are not screaming loudly or forcefully. If you do this, you can learn to scream as much as you want and you never have to worry about losing or damaging your voice because you scream in a band.

Steps

  1. You should know what your voice range is (baritone, tenor, contralto, mezzo soprano, etc). If you don't already know, then search for info on the different voice ranges. Find an instrument you can sing along to, such as a guitar or piano, find middle C (256 Hz), and figure out what range you fit in to.
  2. Warm up. Every good metal screamer does a warm-up at some time of the day before a performance. This is not a screaming warm-up, it's a singing warm-up. People like Randy Blythe of Lamb of God, Byron Davis of God Forbid, and Phil Labonte of All That Remains, all practice conventional singing warm-up exercises before a performance; the same fundamental exercises that you would do before choir practice. This is very important for your voice so don't be lazy and skip it. Find a singing warm-up routine, like singing the vowels--Eh, Ee, Ah, Oh, Oo--over a 5-note scale.
  3. When you first start learning, you're going to be making a lot of dodgy noises. Like little cat growls and trying to speak like Marge Simpson. It's important that you create your scratchy sounds from the nasal region in the back, above your throat, not low in your throat. If you make the sound from low in your throat, you will be teaching yourself to do it wrong and learning a method that will hurt you. Try to feel the difference between the Marge voice and the low-in-the-throat, gargle-like noise. You should be able to create the Marge voice without hurting yourself. Use these two points of reference as you're learning. Remember to keep your scratchy sounds coming from higher up (the nasal region) so you don't damage your voice. If you're doing it wrong, it will hurt. Practice intelligently. You will probably be screaming wrong in the beginning, so save your voice until you figure out how to do it right.
  4. Use your diaphragm correctly! Don't hold the air in your chest! You should breath in and fill your stomach, not your chest.
  5. When you are first learning to scream and do not know how to use your diaphragm, flex your abdominals, kind of like you're about to take a punch. After you do that, talk a little bit, if you get a raspy sound coming out, you are talking correctly.
  6. All you have to do from there, is repeatedly (over the course of many weeks), raise and lower pitch. Also after a long time of practice as to where you can get different pitches, try pushing out more air.
  7. The more air you push out, the higher in pitch your screams will be. When performing high exhale screams, open your mouth as wide as possible and scream while flexing the diaphragm.
  8. It is MOST likely that it will hurt at first, but after a while you will learn how to do this correctly. If, however, it continues to hurt and/or bleeds, you are doing it wrong.
  9. To attain a different pitch use your diaphragm, tongue position and the shape of your mouth... lows for eg - lower your tongue open your mouth wide. For highs, raise your tongue high and allow the scream to hit the top of your throat.
  10. For future reference, in most of the music that you might be trying to imitate, they use distortion effects in the studio or auto tune to make a deeper and fuller pitch.

Inhale screaming

  1. It's just as bad for you as exhale screaming (if done improperly). If you master both, alternating can give different vocal chords a chance to rest.

Tips

  • Cupping the mic is NOT a good way to enhance your sound. Eventually it becomes a habit and won't sound good in recording. It distorts the sound and many people consider this CHEATING. If you want respect, don't cup the mic. Take notes from the masters like Kyle Monroe and Phil Bozeman.
  • To avoid some harm to the vocal chords, add a slight 'yeh' sound before each dangerous inner-word vowel. So, 'attack' would sound like 'attyack,' etc.
  • If you do hurt your voice, either from screaming, or just yelling too much at a party There is always the option of vocal rest. Don't scream for a while, don't sing. Don't even talk or hum, and especially don't whisper. When your voice is hurt any form of vocalization can delay the healing process. Whispering is the worst, as it closes your vocal cords together, causing a similar effect to screaming with improper technique. If you must speak, use your full speaking voice. It still isn't great, but it's the least damaging option. Most times, your voice should, and will, come back after implementing vocal rest for a day.
  • This is the most important thing for getting the scream sound rather than a shout sound; you need to drink lots of water before, during, and after screaming to ensure that your vocal chords are well hydrated at all times for the sound that you want and to not cause any harm. Always drink room-temperature, or warm water. Adding a little bit of lemon may stop mucus from forming. Room temperature water mixed with honey is heard to be effective when practicing due to the fact that it coats the throat as well as keeps you hydrated.
  • The more you practice, the easier it gets and the longer you'll be able to scream without grasping for water. You'll be able to talk normal right after screaming over time as well.
  • Before screaming, hum, then push, so you're screaming whilst humming then open your mouth. This will help if you have difficulties screaming.
  • Warm up your voice before AND after screaming. This will prevent vocal damage.
  • Be patient. Learning to scream safely can take approximately a year, and for the first many months, often times, it simply sounds bad. Don't give up, it will get better.
  • Screaming is 30% skill and 70% confidence. You have to be thinking "I am the best screamer in the world!!" at all times. Nervousness shows. So just relax.
  • If you are interested in more tips, purchase The Zen of Screaming. It is a DVD by Melissa Cross on how to scream.
  • Practice with different mouth shapes. If your mouth is looser and hanging open like a fish mouth, a deeper tone will come out.
  • Try holding a scream for as long as possible without it wavering. The intro screams in some Atreyu songs would be good practice, but be warned, the screaming style used in Atreyu is very harsh and takes a LOT of practice. Also, try screaming as high as you can without hurting your voice. The song "Spirit Crusher" by Death is a good song for that.
  • Do not scream each scream with all of your air. Moderation is the key, if you use everything you have, it'll hurt very badly and not sound good at all.
  • The best way to practice is pick some of your favorite songs scream with the track. You don't have to sound just like your role models, so develop your own sound! Uniqueness and creativity in your patterns will surely raise your vocal reputation.
  • Listen to certain screams in different types of metal. Like listen to the screams in Deathstars, then listen to the screams in Lamb Of God. See what style you would be able to work with the best.
  • Skill in death metal singing can be a great jump start for learning to scream, especially for metal screaming.
  • If you prefer something more flavored, try some weak (heavily diluted) squash/juice concentrate. Although it's not entirely bad for your screaming, water is a better recommendation. Honey is also very good for your voice before singing and screaming and for vocal healing if you damage your voice.
  • To avoid some more harm to the vocal chords, scream nasally. Imagine that the sound is going up and out of your nose. This helps with both health and sound.
  • Scream alone for a while, it can be embarrassing to scream around others who already know how to scream. Once you are ready show them your scream and let them honestly critique it.
  • If you want to achieve a higher pitched scream, an experienced singer can 'mix' in a bit of falsetto within the scream. This not only makes it higher pitched, but it definitely feels more comfortable.
  • Having an understanding of what head resonance is and how to use it is very helpful when you are learning to scream. The easiest way to learn this is Melissa Cross's method: put a pencil in your mouth and practice singing over it and under it. Also think of singing over the pencil and projecting your voice toward a wall in the distance. This should teach you what head resonance is. (Melissa Cross also has instructional DVDs that that can be bought that explain everything about "harsh" vocals)
  • Don't scream too much. This can damage your vocal chords. If you do, rest your voice after!
  • If you have trouble breathing through your diaphragm, put your hand below your belly button and push whilst screaming, this should help a little.
  • If it hurts, stop at once. It will feel a little uncomfortable at first, and might feel a little sore, but if it actually hurts, stop, take a break, drink some warm water and rest.
  • Quit smoking cigarettes, Your Lungs hold oxygen and have a max capacity, when you smoke you lower the amount of oxygen your lungs can hold, meaning you lower the amount of air you can push with your diaphragm meaning less vocal range.

Warnings

  • Make sure you constantly breathe, as screaming can take a lot of breath. Over time, you'll develop stronger and more powerful lungs, it is simply a beneficial side effect of this amazing art (screaming and growling).
  • You may have some jaw-cramping if you are not experienced with screaming/growling. Do not continue a scream if you get a cramp! You won't be able to scream/sing/growl for weeks afterwords.
  • Make sure your voice doesn't hurt too bad after you scream. This means that you are stressing your vocal chords too much. Loosen up and let it out. When you first begin to learn how to scream and growl, your throat will slightly "ache": this is okay, and it is natural. After a while, if you have been careful along the way, you'll be able to go for hours without hurting your throat.
  • When screaming, make sure you use good diaphragm support. Exhale with your diaphragm and tense your abs. As Melissa Cross explains, you need to balance the air pressure you use with the work your false chords do so you don't put too much stress on the chords. As mentioned earlier and in several other screaming articles, do not slouch or let your body hang limp, even when not performing or practicing. An example of how to hold yourself up would be those inspiring band group photo's, the ones that show the entire metal band standing (usually) side by side. Most of these photo's depict the band members with badass or menacing frowns, and this is just a minor aspect of metal, though if you look closely at their posture, you can see them standing straight and tall. This is how you should be whenever you can help it.
  • Screaming can be overwhelming at times, so be sure to properly breathe and do NOT scream at the top of your lungs. Passing out on stage does not sound like a good idea, so remember that using as much air as possible is damaging to the vocal cords and can lead to hyperventilation, dizziness, and overexertion.
  • If you don't drink water your throat can feel very dry and damage your voice. But, also remember to only drink warm or room temperature water for moistening your throat. The reason for this is that when you drink cold or near freezing water, you, in a way, "stiffen" your vocal cords, and while screaming or growling, can cause damage or pain, or both.
  • Pushing a scream too hard may cause a short-lived headache (not more than 10 seconds). Although harmless it's debilitating enough to make you miss your next phrase. Continuing to scream through the headache period only extends it.

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