Does Weight Affect Singing Voice? How To Keep Your Singing Voice Healthy

does weight affect singing voice

Singing is a form of art that needs a lot of training, devotion, and effort. If you want to improve your singing voice, you must first understand what influences it.

Some people think that losing weight can help improve vocal performance. So does weight affect singing voice?

As a vocalist, it’s critical to stay in shape. Obesity and diet plans, and excessive weight loss can have an impact on your voice.

This article will explain more about the reasons why weight matters to the singing voice. Let’s read on to discover!

How Weight Affects The Singing Voice?

We come in a variety of sizes and shapes. Talented singers are no exception. When you perform, the entire body serves as an instrument.

As a result, body type and size have an impact on how your voice works and sounds.

The weight affects the voices of both men and women but in different ways.

For men

Male vocalists who are overweight suffer from hormonal changes. They tend to produce more female hormones.

Then, the body responds, and overweight males notice that their voices sound more feminine.

Due to greater levels of feminine hormones, the singing voice of overweight males becomes lighter. They begin to lose their capacity to generate deep, husky voice tones and are unable to sing with full integrity.

Men and women store fat in different ways. Most of an overweight man’s extra fat stays in his belly, while women’s extra calories lie in their hips.

Both can be harmful, but belly obesity can ruin your essential organs and create difficulties to sing with proper breathing techniques and energy.

For women

Being overweight can trigger hormonal abnormalities and imbalances in women.

Increased body weight causes a woman’s body to generate extra male hormones. These changes can change the pitch of a female vocalist.

A woman’s singing voice might suffer even from a slight rise in testosterone. It might make their voice sound more manly and drop their tone.

A woman singer’s voice tends to be lower and more profound as her body weight increases.

Can You Improve Your Voice By Losing Weight?

You can sing at your best when you are in a healthy condition. Holding too much weight is damaging for both you and your vocal range. On the other hand, dropping too many pounds may be just as harmful.

It would be best to keep a healthy and stable weight. You can check the BMI guidelines for the recommended weight for your height.

Weight loss can boost your overall fitness while also renewing your voice after a time of being overweight.

Vocalists should not go on fad diets. This method will just exhaust your body and destroy your stamina.

Losing weight improperly or hastily might weaken your voice. Fad diets deplete your system of nutrients and cause hormonal issues. As a result, they will force your voice and body to stop working correctly.

Does The Height Affect Your Voice?

In general, height does affect our voice. However, everyone is different. Conventional notions may or may not apply to them.

Taller persons seem to have deeper tones on average due to their larger, wider vocal cords and folds. These vocalists often have deeper subglottal resonance and lower pitch.

Does Obesity Make Your Voice Change?

Obesity has a strong relation to other major health issues. It also impacts daily life, such as producing dyspnea, fatigue, and poor self-esteem.

All of these things can destroy a singer’s stamina and, as a result, pose a negative impact on their singing voice.

According to studies, having excess weight impairs your voice’s quality. When you hold too much fat, your vocal range, voice tone, and vocal acoustics weaken.

Obesity affects more than just your voice. It may also cause anxiety. Obesity links to sadness and a lack of self-assurance too.

This system might make it difficult to get on stage in front of a crowd and hinder you from delivering with power and passion.

Is Vocal Weight The Same As Body Weight?

The weight of your voice has nothing to do with your body weight. The phrase “vocal weight” relates to how heavy or light your voice sounds.

A soft voice has a flute-like tone. This tone is high, flexible, and agile. A vocalist with a heavier voice has richer sounds and more overtones. His voice is also more profound and more robust.

Vocal weight has little impact on the vocal range. It only influences the tone.

Light voices tend to sound more girly, whilst heavier voices tend to sound more manly.

How To Keep Your Singing Voice Healthy?

Staying healthy is the ultimate rule for an excellent singing voice. Besides, you can strengthen your vocal cords by following these tips.

Stay hydrated

When singing, our vocal cords shake rapidly. They can only perform at their full capacity if you lubricate the cords thoroughly.

The lubrication entails drinking about eight glasses of water every day and avoiding coffee and alcohol. The cords tighten and thicken due to these factors, limiting the vocalist from reaching the highest notes in their vocal range.

Vocalists who use a lot of alcohol may lose elements of their vocal range. Hence, limiting your alcohol consumption at shows is an intelligent suggestion.

Also, avoid beverages that are too cold.

Stop smoking

Some famous singers have fantastic voices despite their smoking habits. However, smoking is still terrible for your singing voice. It can dry up the vocal cords, causing mucus to accumulate.

Smoking also reduces respiratory function, putting pressure on the lungs. Then, the vocalists will find it challenging to hold lengthy notes.

Experienced musicians and instructors are firmly against smoking and aggressively discourage it.

Warm-up

Before every performance, vocalists always warm up. This section helps keep their voices strong and avoid harming their vocal cords.

You just need to breathe deeply and then exhale. In the meantime, making sounds like “fff” or “shhh”. Warming up the voice with lip trills and humming is also a good idea.

You can learn more vocal warm-up exercises via this video.

Sleep

The vocal cords are generally weak muscles. They require a lot of care and attention, particularly if the singer performs every day.

Vocalists can give their voices a much-needed rest by sleeping. The voice then is able to recover itself during this period of rest.

Experts suggest between seven to eight hours of sleep every night for the ideal outcome.

Practice

You can always enhance the quality of your voice. Practicing provides for steady improvement and allows the performer to maintain optimum vocal cord function.

It’s critical to develop better techniques and avoid attempting material that is too far beyond your vocal range while practicing.

Eventually, consistent practice will contribute to healthy vocal cords that can protect your voice for the rest of your life.

Don’t sing with your throat

The vocal folds appear to be the only aspect of a more extensive system that generates your voice.

It would be best to understand your physique and recognize where your voice comes from. This knowledge can help you sing properly and maintain your vocal condition.

Never perform with your throat. It is the strength underneath your voice. Let your vocal cords relax while performing, and allow your sound to resonate in your face, pharynx, and chest.

Frequently Asked Questions

Vocalists have shown their concern about the stability of their voices. They also worry about the weight affecting their performance. Here are some of their frequently asked questions.

1. Does being overweight alter your voice?

Fat does impact the curvature of one’s neck and hence the sound of one’s vocal. Weight gain on the body can put a strain on the chest and diaphragm cavities. It can change the way you talk and how often you have to pause to breathe.

2. What might possibly harm your singing voice?

Singing excessively loudly or with bad skill, as well as speaking too loudly or too softly, are harmful to your voice. Once you have a cold or pneumonia, overusing your throat might be risky too.

3. Is your voice different in your twenties?

The most significant changes to your singing voice will occur throughout puberty. The change will end when you reach 18. After two to three years, you’ll get your mature pitch.

The Bottom Line

The best way to have a powerful singing voice is to stay healthy. You can use your own energy to pull off your capacity and hit every note.

Weight does affect your voice. However, you can improve it by keeping in shape. You can try the tips we have shared to boost your potential.

Hopefully, you will find this article helpful. If you need any further information, please feel free to ask. Thank you for reading!

 

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