How to Scream Sing Without Damaging a Voice

Scream singing is a common trademark of modern popular music, but learning how the professionals do it night after night can be a challenge. After one night of scream singing, you will probably wake up the next morning with no voice at all. Never fear, in a few simple tips you can learn to protect your voice while scream singing.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Practice singing as much as possible, and then begin to play around with pitch and tone, creating your own scream voice while singing. Remember that shouting or screaming uses a completely different part of your vocal chords, so you must practice reaching a scream sound while actually singing. Once you learn the technique, you will recognize that scream singing is no louder than normal singing and will never reach the volume of an actual scream or shout. You have a microphone for volume.

2. Warm up well before practice or performance to protect your vocal chords. Practice singing scales, beginning in a low voice and working louder. Like any muscle of the body, starting off with cold vocal chords is a great way to hurt yourself.

3. Prepare for scream singing practice or performance by avoiding all dairy products for at least one day. Dairy products cause mucus to build up around the vocal chords, forcing you to strain to sing. You can also improve the ease of singing by drinking plenty of water and gargling a bit of salt water before warm-up.

Tips & Warnings

• Consider hiring a voice coach, as singing and scream singing is not as simple as it may seem. A professional voice coach can help you to recognize the difference in vocal chord tension in a scream and a singing voice, teaching you how to recreate a scream sound while actually singing. Hiring a voice coach may be the best thing you do for your musical future, as recognizing this difference is extremely important and can help to protect your singing voice and your career.
• Keep your artistic longevity in mind when practicing and performing scream singing. Remember that if you feel pain or discomfort or suffer from lost or raspy voice, you are not singing correctly. You must reassess the difference between screaming and singing and find that place where your singing voice sounds like a scream without damaging your voice. This can be frustrating and can take tons of practice, but once you get it you will increase the longevity of your singing career.

Resources

• Online voice coaches and DVD learning materials