05 Pharyngeal Voice

In this lesson, we’ll talk about:

The pharyngeal resonator: what it is and how to access it.
The three most common vocal issues that worship vocalists have.
How to use the pharyngeal resonator to build power into the voice and create a pathway between the vocal registers to get rid of the break.

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189 Responses

When I practice chest voice and head voice individually, I can isolate the resonators and sing fairly strong in each. When I am doing any exercises where both are involved, I feel like my chest voice turns into this very thinned out head register (but isn’t pushing my chest up) and my head voice (which enters around G after C4 and caps out around F, Gb, G after C5) tries to pull down and when I engage the pharyngeal, I feel like I can’t get to either resonator…
Is this normal? haha
I”m assuming as my pharyngeal gets stronger, it’s going to work itself into both head and chest but for right now, I hear little to no blending, just want to make sure this is normal haha

Charmaine Brown says:
July 25, 2020 at 10:17 am
Since these concepts/coordinations are new to your voice (and you’re also dealing with vocal fatigue, etc.), yes, this is normal—and it will take lots of patience and diligence. Give your voice lots of grace as it is learning! Keep working on the resonators—don’t worry so much about the blending yet, that will come. If in a few weeks you’re still having lots of issues, I would encourage you to submit an “Analyze My Voice”, and send a few of your exercises to get feedback.

The car analogy is really helpful. It makes a lot of sense that we could stay in first gear too long and then grind the gears trying make the shift.

Charmaine Brown says:
July 23, 2020 at 7:51 pm
For sure!

I’m struggling these last couple weeks with allergies. For the most part the workouts are okay except the wah is very challenging for me when it gets very high. Do you think these workouts will be easier once my sinuses clear up?

Charmaine Brown says:
July 23, 2020 at 7:51 pm
Yes 100% they will be easier once your sinuses are cleared up! I used to struggle BIG TIME with allergies so I can totally relate! Give your voice grace in this season!

Week 4 Pharyngeal Voice – I don’t think I sounded nasally enough when I saw the playback of my video exercises even though I was very self-conscious in feeling that I did sound very nasally. I heard that I sounded brighter and clearer at the higher notes. I think pharyngeal is stronger at high end of the scale for me. I hear a disconnect at the lower end and a breathy quality as I end the run of the scale. I wonder if this is a bad habit because I am not breathy when I hit the same note in other runs? I am unclear as to whether or not I might be switching over to head voice; Or if I am truly a bit stronger in pharyngeal at higher notes in workout scale? The meow felt easiest. My throat felt a bit rough after the Meh long scale.

Charmaine Brown says:
July 23, 2020 at 7:50 pm
Yes we definitely want to keep it in a clear tone—so focus in on that as you continue to do the exercises. For the MEH, you may be tensing up the throat and keeping the mouth too closed. Try opening the mouth a bit more and keeping the shape more narrow, or you can try NEH instead and see if that helps your throat feel better!

This lesson is very interesting to me. I really don’t think I’ve heard anyone else explain or talk much about pharyngeal voice, just head and chest voice. I feel like I’m still trying to get a good understanding of the 3 and love that I can come back to these lessons anytime to watch again. While these exercises are kind of crazy, I really actually like them. Very helpful for sure.

Charmaine Brown says:
July 23, 2020 at 7:46 pm
Yes, crazy but they work haha!

05 Pharyngeal Voice

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