As a singer, you want to have control over your voice and treat it with care. A “hard glottic seizure” is a very abusive way to treat your vocal cords, which can cause damage. Here’s how you can find out if you have it, and the good news: how you can change it.

What is a “hard glottic seizure”?

Without going into many medical definitions, it is basically the clash of voices, just before speaking or singing. It can also happen when you clear your throat or cough. It is extremely hard on the vocal cords, and most people who have this habit, in their normal vocal practice, end up with a raspy voice by the time they are forty or fifty. However, you can change it at any time, as long as no damage has been done. You can have a clear voice again, if you are willing to put in the time and effort.

how do you know if you have it?

When you get together with friends and talk more than usual, do you find yourself hoarse? Do people comment that you have a particularly high voice? What ethnic origin are you? Some nationalities are known for speaking in their throats, and that often seems to be accompanied by a “hard glottic attack”.

I had a problem with my throat, my origin is German and they are throat talkers. Once my poor throat aggravated, it could not recover a good balance, because my normal use was very abusive. I had no idea. But when it got in the way of my singing, I found myself in the office of a specialist who dealt with singers. Lucky for me, no damage was done. But my poor throat was raw. So it was speech therapy for me.

One way to determine if you are having a “hard glottic seizure” in normal speech is to record yourself. My speech therapist recommended it to me. At the time, she was teaching groups of children to play electric guitars. She was screaming above all that noise. I recorded my class and was horrified by the way I used my voice, cleared my throat and coughed. It was all very, very hard. You could only hear how harsh it was. I had no idea what it was doing to my voice.

Record yourself on a phone call and find out what you do. Notice when you say “Hello, How Is that you?” Is there a little bang in the “Hello” and the “How?” If so, that’s a “hard glottic attack.” If you’re pounding your voice, that’s something you want to change.

Put an airy “H” in front of the vowels

This is a very good exercise to soften the attack. It should be done slowly with a lot of concentration. Think of a breathy, sexy actress, like Marilyn Monroe, and practice speaking like that.

Put a silent “H” in front of the vowels

The next thing is to imagine saying an “H” but silently. What you are doing is sending a bit of air through the vocal cords before producing a sound, thus eliminating the loud attack.

If you have been doing it for a long time, you must be patient. It is possible to change it, I know. But you must persevere.

practice single words

After the vowels, move on to the individual words. Record yourself some more, find out when and where you use “hard glottal attack” and work on those words.

Add small words, small sentences

Start by adding “the” and “to” or even a couple of words, until you get to longer and longer sentences. It is a good idea to record yourself during the entire process.

test sentences

After the sentences, move on to the sentences. It helps to repeat the same phrases, over and over again. Choose affirmations or inspirational reading. You will get more benefits than just voice therapy.

Volunteer to read aloud

A good thing to do is read aloud. Once you’ve achieved some success, it’s a great way to practice. You could even volunteer, go read to some inmates and practice your voice therapy at the same time.

Some other things to try

Try putting “m” at the beginning of the vowels. It causes the voice to become a hum, before you actually produce the vowel, and makes it impossible to explode into a strong attack.

Make a noise that gets into the nose, as a question. “Hmm” is a good way to advance the voice. My therapist made me do that, before each vowel, to bring out my voice.

If you’re abusing your voice in this way and you haven’t done any damage, you can change it, if you really want to. As a singer, it was something she wanted. He may want to seek the help of a speech therapist, who has many more tips to help him.