Who here has ever felt their voice close up onstage? You tense up, Your mouth goes dry and your leg starts twitching.
You walk onto those glorious boards getting ready to give your best Effie/Tony/Shrek and your voice refuses to play ball. It’s a terrifying feeling not knowing if your voice is going to work. But why does it happen?
Here comes the science bit!
It’s all about a part of your brain called the amygdala. The amygdala’s main purpose is designed to recognise and respond to a perceived threat. This is called “amygdala hijacking”
This term was first used by Daniel Goleman in his book “Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ”, which is a super informative. If you are interested, See the link at the bottom of this Blog.
All experiences through life get processed through the thalamus, and then get sent to the amygdala. If the amygdala perceives this as a threat, it triggers the ‘fight or flight’ mechanism. This part of the brain is a super useful tool that has protected us for many thousands of years. Back in the day, it was key to our survival. Prehistoric Chris would be sitting by the fire outside his (acoustically treated) cave, hear a noise, and BANG! Amygdala goes off and his body goes into fight or flight mode. Stone Age Chris is a lover, not a fighter, so he runs into his cave and hides under his bed made of rocks. This saves him from being eaten by the hungry lion looking for his next meal.
Now this is all very interesting but how does it relate to singing?
Well, our brains (as wonderful as they are) don’t have the ability to recognise the difference between vatious threats. It simply doesn’t have the time. When this is activated we get a huge injection of adrenalin into our system, our heart rate increases, our vision and hearing sharpen, we have increased muscle tension, less saliva is produced and our throat closes up.
So what can trigger this reaction? Essentially any situation that is stressful. Walking down a dark alley, crossing the road, watching a film, playing sport, but also, and this is the main point, being on stage.
Our brain is only trying to help protect us, but we need to teach it that this is not a stressful time - it’s a joyous one! Our goal is to perform and give the audience a wonderful experience with our voice, but our amygdala doesn’t recognise this.
But have no fear - all is not lost! With training, we can override this action and teach our brain that it doesn’t need to worry right now. We are in no danger. There is no lion waiting on stage for us. (unless you’re doing The Wizard of Oz, but he’s coward anyway!)
So next time you are about to walk out to those bright lights, remember: You are safe, you are skilled, and you are loved!
Daniel Goleman's website: