welcome to your
Straw Phonation Station!
What Is Straw Phonation?
Straw phonation is a simple but powerful voice exercise in the SOVT (semi-occluded vocal tract) family. SOVT exercises include anything that creates resistance at the mouth (usually by narrowing the opening) to help your voice work more efficiently.
Think of it like stretching your voice with a built-in support system - it’s gentle, effective, and backed by tons of science-y goodness.
Why Straw Phonation?
To help your voice feel smoother, stronger, more coordinated, and more sustainable, whether you’re starting your day, winding down from a long rehearsal, or recovering from a rough patch.
To rebalance your voice subsystems (breath, phonation, resonance) so they work together instead of fighting each other, giving you more power, control, and ease in all your voicing tasks.
2-5mins daily to balance or recalibrate your voice as a warmup or cooldown.
5-7min set 1x/day (or every other day) is great for reconditioning and building strength.
The Punchline
- pitch: start on a comfy pitch in your speaking range
- vibrations: focus on vibrations in your face/lips/nose/tongue/roof of mouth
- adjust: play around until it feels smooth and buzzy (not tight or tense)
- ease: think about keeping the throat open and spacious; the sound should feel easy - monitor for sneaky strain
- recalibrate: pause and reset if anything feels uncomfortable
- HOT TIP: pinch your nose to make sure you're not cheating and just humming - keep that air directed entirely through the straw!
Warm Up Your Voice
Goal: To gently activate your voice for the day ahead, so it feels responsive, ergonomic, and ready to go.
Let's Begin:
- Start on a comfy pitch — your speaking range is perfect
- Feel for vibrations in your face/lips/nose/tongue/roof of mouth
- Adjust until it feels smooth and buzzy (not tight or tense)
- Keep the throat easy and open - no strain allowed!
- Stop if anything feels uncomfortable, then reset
4 Simple Steps :
- Buzz and Hold – Blow a steady sound like “hoo” through the straw on one pitch
- Glide Around – Do sirens or glides (small → big) to stretch your range
- Stretch High/Low – Glide up to your highest pitch and down to your lowest
- Try It Out – Speak or sing a line of text/song into the straw
Two Ways:
Below, you’ll find two versions of each exercise:
- in the air (just a straw): super portable, quick, easy, use your hand for airflow feedback
- in water (straw in a cup or bottle of water): adds extra resistance that increases as you plunge the straw deeper into the water; the bubbles serve an excellent biofeedback tool to help you monitor and adjust your airflow as needed
💡 Try both and see what your voice likes best! 💡
Tips & Tricks:
- Feel more buzz on low notes; that’s normal!
- Support should come from your core, not your throat
- Relax your face and lips for better airflow
- Try pinching your nose to keep airflow going through the straw
- Want a pitch target? Try your “mmhmm!” and glide from there
Warm Up Your Voice With Melanie!
Cool Down Your Voice
Goal: To decompress your voice after lots of use, reduce tension, and reset your vocal system.
Cool Downs Help:
- after you've been singing or speaking for long periods
- following a show, rehearsal, recording, or teaching day
- when you're feeling vocally fatigued or tight
- if voicing is feeling particularly effortful
Let's Begin:
- All the same tips from warmups apply - only in reverse!
- Start on a higher pitch - the goal is to bring your voice back to neutral from wherever it's spent time today
- Keep feeling for vibrations in your face/lips/nose/tongue/roof of mouth; remember they'll be strongest on lower notes, so don't worry if you don't feel them as strongly up high
- Keep adjusting to ensure voicing feels smooth and buzzy (not tight or tense)
- Think about keeping space in your throat - watch for sneaky strain!
- Stop if anything feels uncomfortable, then reset
4 Simple Steps:
Start with your biggest voicing first (highest and lowest, biggest volume/most intensity) and work your way back to the middle. Think of it as gently landing your voice after a flight.
- Glide Down – On the same hoo sound, start high and glide low
- Keep Descending – Keep gliding down, starting a little lower each time
- Stretch Low – Coax your voice down lower and lower as you descend in steps
- Chill Out – On a comfortable speaking pitch, do some long tones on hoo, feeling the buzz
Cool Down Your Voice With Melanie!
A note from Melanie Tapson, voice therapist:
You might wonder… "with all the different ‘vocal straws’ out there, do I need to buy a special one? "
Absolutely not - unless it makes you feel excited and motivated! What does matter is how the straw interacts with your voice.
A lot of the research is based on a 6 mm internal diameter - a common size for drinking straws - so there's a common misconception that this is the "right" straw size for you. It's a great place to start, for sure!
But differences in straw diameter and length lead to different levels and sensations of resistance, which all give your vocal system useful feedback and workout.
That’s one reason why "specialty straws" exist: different sizes can feel different and offer varying benefits, and it's sometimes a treasure hunt trying to find a coveted size! But it’s perfectly fine to start with - and even stick with - whatever straw you have on hand, so long as you feel like it's giving you benefit.
The punchline: pick what feels good to you!
Hi! I'm Melanie
and I'm incredibly passionate about
all things voice!
As a professional singer, a voice teacher, a voiceover actor, a voice educator, and a clinical voice therapist, understanding the human voice has been my life's work.
But it hasn't always been an easy path unpacking the mysteries of this incredible instrument. As a performer, the demands of the job took their toll. My once-seemingly-invincible singing voice slowly became frighteningly unreliable, and my teaching voice was burning out faster than I could recover. I had no idea what was happening, and I was scared.
And ashamed.
I thought it was my fault - that maybe I actually wasn't good enough, or that my technique was at fault. I had all this training and I still couldn't figure out what was wrong.
Learn More About My Journey
Need something else?
No worries! I'm here to help! Fill out the contact form below, tell me what or how you want to learn, and I'll do my very best to make it happen!
