Mood affects your voice

I generally have one mood. I’m a pretty happy person. I swan around every day feeling bright, and relaxed, and enjoy every moment to the utmost degree. I never feel anxious. I never feel sad. I never feel angry or guilty, or ashamed, or embarrassed. I am but a perfect human specimen and should be the subject of scientific testing.

Ah, if that were only the case. To be permanently relaxed and happy. Or is being in a state of constant euphoria not actually a good thing at all?

This is not a philosophical blog so I’m not going to dig into it from any perspective besides a singers, and how, for a singer, experiencing a range of emotions has actually gifted you with the ability to sing pretty much anything you want.

Say what? Anything?! Yes, anything! Different emotions use different parts of our voice. Read on to find out what on earth I'm talking about.

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If it were true, and I was always happy, what would I draw inspiration from?

As a singer my voice would have limited tone.

• My voice would simply not have adapted to any other placement required to convey emotion.

• My voice would not have developed to make different sounds.

When I’m annoyed

My voice gets kind of static. It's a specific enough sound that it got its own name: staccato. Speaking or singing with a "staccato" sound is often used for voice acting, rapping, or general speedy singing! Some might just say that it’s “articulating” clearer. Think about it: when we’re irritated or annoyed, we articulate clearer. Whatever word you use to describe the sound, your voice is still doing the thing, and you can use it for various types of singing.

And what about sadness?

When we’re sad we have a smaller voice. It’s possibly breathier and quieter. Maybe even strained, or a bit croaky? Also, turns out, the way our voice naturally sits when we’re in this mood is SUPER useful to harness when learning to sing, belt (twang - theatre kind of big singy stuff, or the Chapelle Roan/Lady Gaga sound), and command a classroom!

So emotion really is good for other things other than feeling feelings. Huzzah! What a win. The emotions which get us in moods are real good for getting us to sound interesting (If you needed a reframe today for feeling terrible, I hope this is it).

As a vocal coach, voice therapist, singing teacher and band coach having experienced sadness and happiness and annoyance helps me relate to my students. I think I’d have just about ZERO ability to empathise with my students if I hadn't experienced a range of emotions . And the sound of empathy when I speak is kind of melodic. So it’s kind of useful to have. It’s useful to help me relate to others AND to sound nice!

As a songwriter

I think my songs would be horrendously boring and insipid if I had no emotion aside from HAPPY to draw from. Almost like an AI happy pop vibe. Imagine – NO BLUES! The horror. No Jazz, no feeling, no Celtic ethereal sounds! No mood. And we need moods in songs.

So it's good to embrace our moods, if for nothing but to observe what our voice is doing.

Catch ya next time!

Anna