Q: I have been in choir for nine years and would like to learn ways to warm up and reach higher-pitched notes without straining my voice. Our choir director keeps telling us that we must sing louder, which strains my vocal cords. I often have a sore throat and have to clear my throat a lot. Is my voice affected if I lean my head back when I sing higher notes? A lot of the girls in my choir cannot reach the higher notes, but our director says you cannot separate girls the age of 14 – 15 into alto and soprano parts. He also says that every girl is a soprano. Is that true? – Katy B.

A: Learning a great warm-up is the best thing you can do for yourself. A good warm-up is one that puts objectives on each exercise. This means there are goals to feel and hear before you move on to the next level. This is the only way to safely keep raising the bar and sing higher and louder.

A good vocal warm-up should start out soft and gentle. It is usually best done in your middle range first; then lower range and finally upper range. This first set of stages throughout your range should all be very gentle. Then, starting in your lower middle range, begin to increase the volume with good technique, not pushing.

The first big step in increasing volume is to keep shaving the air off the tone. A less airy tone will automatically become louder. Be very gentle and don’t push. As this gets comfortable in your lower and middle range, you can begin to gently work this non-airy tone upward. This requires a very relaxed throat and a good open singing posture.

There are also some very important things to learn about the difference between resonance and placement, often called head and chest voice. Resonance and placement require attention to detail with individual singers. This can make it more difficult to teach to groups. Difficult yes, but it is possible to direct singers with tangible clues rather than just demanding in broad strokes that singers sing louder and higher.

Demanding that someone sing louder and higher will inevitably create a lot of bad habits, huge frustrations and a bunch of people with a lot of psychological baggage thinking they’re bad singers. There are things to know and do with your body so that singing throughout your range has an effortless quality, sounds good and does not hurt or cause future damage. Always remember the rule: If it hurts, you’re doing it wrong. There is no reason singing should ever cause you pain. If it is, it is because you are doing it by force instead of coordination. Don’t do that, and don’t allow anyone else to lead you in that direction. And yes, pulling your head back and lifting your chin does affect your voice. It squeezes your throat tighter and makes it hard on your vocal cords and larynx. Keep your chin down and your throat relaxed.

Finally, all girls are not sopranos. We are all born with slightly to extremely different voices and vocal ranges. At the very minimum, the girls that cannot sing the higher notes should be taught to drop to the octave below so that they do not hurt themselves. Others will be able to reach the notes, but not necessarily with any power. They should not be forced to strain. With proper training they will be able to add power and color to those notes, but not through pushing!