How to scream without hurting your voice?

Question

How do you scream without hurting your voice? I went to a speech and debate tournament and won first place for acting in Dramatic Interp. My acting peace had alot of screaming in it and I damaged my throat...and now I'm sick...So does anyone know how to scream without hurting your voice and getting sick?

Answer 1

Just as a singer learns to sing without hurting their voice. Practice. Start slowly, do not drink really hot or really cold items to soothe the throat. Watch Lord of the rings special features to see how Andy Serkis does Gollum voices without killing his voice.

Answer 2

Practice. A lot.

Seriously.

And from the Diaphragm.

Your throat will get soar and raspy for awhile, but once you get used to it, you'll be screaming like a Drill Sergeant.

Answer 3

Yes, you do it from down low, from your diaphragm, not your throat. This is how you are taught to project your voice when doing stage acting.

You need to learn to keep your throat muscles relaxed when doing this, also.

Answer 4

Heres one way: Hire a good vocal coach to help you learn to "sing scream." Begin your screaming session with a good warm up. Many performers who are often required to scream warm up for at least 40 minutes. Exercise your vocal cords for at least ten minutes before trying any kind of scream. Drink plenty of the correct fluids. Water is the best choice. Avoid alcohol of any kind as that can dehydrate your body. Avoid milk based drinks and foods including chocolate, cream and any kind of milk. These products coat your vocal apparatus making singing all the harder. Avoid sweet drinks as these also increase the production of phlegm. Avoid any drink or food that decreases the production of saliva. Rest your voice both before and after screaming. Do not actually scream, rather hold a high-pitched wail singing note. A true, real scream is liable to damage the vocal chords. Practice by focusing on your breath, resonance, range, volume and articulation. Here's another way: Decide whether you will have a low, mid, or a high scream. This is not decided by your regular speaking voice. If you have a low voice, for example, your scream will be louder, and more powerful. If you have a higher voice, your scream will be quieter, and not as powerful. Listen to different bands and find a scream which you believe is in your scream range. Warm up. Go up and down a simple 5-note scale, the same old boring 5-note scale used in just about every choir as a warm- up, but do it on 'ga.' Make sure that you do it from all parts of your throat, it will make different sounds when you switch parts. This is more of a mental warm-up. It trains your body to accept the potentially harmful feeling on the vocal chords while making a raw sound. Sing the sounds of the vowels-- Eh, Ee, Ah, Oh, Oo --on that same 5-note scale, except every time you pass by, try putting a little raspiness on one of the vowels. Try pulling the sound up the back of the throat and through the nostrils, making it a more nasally sound. This trick will save your vocal chords. At first this exercise will make you sound like you're in pain, and you just might be, if you don't do it correctly. Pour your heart and soul into a song just like you pour your body (vocal chords) into it or else it won't sound sincere. It's an attitude thing, it makes 100% of a difference if you mean what you're singing and put emotion into it. This also helps with using your diaphragm, since you will most likely use it to emphasize mostly everything already. Practice screaming into a pillow. This makes it much easier for beginners. Once you have decided what pitch you are going for take a deep breath. Push the air out of your lungs and let the air dance off your throat. For some it helps to tighten the throat. Don't do this too tight, though; you may harm your vocal chords. Scream from your diaphragm. This is very similar to singing. Make sure the air and voice you are using is coming from your chest and not your head. The first way you will be able to tell if you are screaming from your head is if the pitch isn't similar to your speaking voice. The second way is if your chest doesn't recede when you are pushing the air. Take a deep breath whenever possible, in between screams. You don't want to hurt yourself and you also don't want the scream to sound forced [i.e. cracking and losing pitch]. 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. 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. Scream along with music, especially songs in which screaming is already taking place. Scream along with music that has no screaming and see how it sounds. You will have your own personal sounding scream that no one else in the world has. Drink lots of water before, during, and after screaming. 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. 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. IF YOU WANT TO SOUND NORMAL! If you find that you have trouble with raspiness in your voice while you're trying to perform in choir or a musical, sing from your upper back and make sure that you sing 'from your eyes.' If this explanation makes no sense, try envisioning it and feeling it. It should work. Also, try singing more nasally and not so deep in the vocal chords. This will also make you project more and (while it might not make a perfect sound) it'll make you louder. If none of this works, drink a lot of water, and perhaps try changing voice parts. If you scream in the tenor range, try singing baritone, and vice- versa, 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 vocalisation 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. ... Skill in death metal singing can be a great jumpstart for learning to scream, especially for metal screaming.

Answer 5

From the DIAPHRAGM...NEVER from the THROAT.