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Understanding Mariah Carey’s voice and her battle with vocal nodules: a THREAD
Mariah Carey is widely regarded as one of the most talented and influential female vocalists of all time. With a range spanning five octaves, she and Minnie Riperton are largely credited for popularising the use of the whistle register.
Over the past few years, Mariah has been subject to heavy criticism over the state of her voice. Many of her ‘vocal fails’ have been maliciously scrutinised and heavily publicised, leading to a general consensus that Mariah has ‘lost her voice’.
The purpose of this thread is not necessarily to rebuke the notion that Mariah has lost her voice, but rather to provide insight into the vocal condition responsible for this decline in vocal stamina, ease and tonal quality; vocal nodules.
Vocal nodules are benign (non-cancerous), callous-like growths on the vocal folds that can range in size from a pinhead to a pea. In order for sound to be produced, the vocal folds must come together and vibrate as air passes through them.
Have you ever developed callouses on your palms as a result of swinging back-and-forth on the monkey bars? Vocal nodules develop in a very similar way; excess pressure on the vocal folds causes nodules to form, much like excess friction causes callouses to form on your palms.
Although a hinderance, vocal nodules are the body’s way of protecting the vocal folds from further damage. It’s our body’s attempt at coping with excessive strain placed on our cords, which is exactly how nodules are formed. Crying babies and squealing kids can develop nodules.
Vocal nodules prevent proper cord closure and therefore the vocal folds from coming together and vibrating as they should, resulting in an array of unpleasant symptoms. Excess air can now pass through the spaces created between the vocal folds by the nodules.
Symptoms of vocal nodules include a breathy tone (caused by excess leakage of air), hoarseness, a scratchy quality to the voice, a reduction in volume and control, a burning or shooting pain from ear-to-ear, and more. The voice will often lower in pitch as well, becoming deeper.
Mariah Carey has mentioned on countless occasions that she has vocal nodules, and has had them since she was a child. Here is an interview in which Mariah describes her experience with vocal nodules:
Mariah attributes her unique ability to exact phenomenal control over her range, particularly the whistle register, to her vocal nodules. So wait, if nodules are essentially vocal damage and a hinderance to proper cord closure, how could they have possibly aided her range?
As mentioned earlier, vocal nodules often cause the voice to deepen, which may explain Mariah’s ability to descend down to a F2, which is unbelievably low for a female vocalist; even tenors can struggle to go that low. It should be noted that Mariah cannot *support* that low.
So, what about her whistle register? ‘Whistle notes’ are achieved through isolated vibration of the anterior section of the vocal cords. This requires minimal contact between the vocal folds, which nodules can ironically assist with. This configuration therefore...
...comes naturally to Mariah, giving her more control of the whistle register.
So how did *the* Mariah Carey develop nodules? Mariah was subject to a traumatic childhood, and would often sing to herself in a ‘whispery’ tone which she says would bring her comfort.
So how did *the* Mariah Carey develop nodules? Mariah was subject to a traumatic childhood, and would often sing to herself in a ‘whispery’ tone which she says would bring her comfort.
Excessive use of breathy tones, however, dry out the vocal cords, thus creating suitable conditions for nodules to form. She also smoked as a young teenager and sung excessively, both of which can damage the vocal cords. It’s likely that by the time Mariah’s nodules were...
...diagnosed by the appropriate specialist, she’d already developed ways of singing (in her own words) ‘through’ her nodules. Nodules are treated either through voice therapy or surgical means. The latter, although often successful, can lead to further damage of the vocal folds.
An example of this is Julie Andrews. Surgical intervention to rectify ‘a certain kind of muscular striation on the voice’ resulted in Andrews losing her four-octave singing voice. Subsequent operations were able to restore her speaking voice but not her singing voice.
Mariah’s nodules were noticeable to the trained ear during her very early days. In this clip from 1991, Mariah is very clearly struggling with her upper belts. Inflammation of nodules around the passaggio might explain her inability to access her head voice and therefore mix.
This appears to be a common denominator throughout Mariah’s career. Although capable of producing an evenly mixed belt, Mariah has never been quite able to *consistently* navigate the passaggio. Her head voice is often breathy and disconnected, and her belts can be chest-heavy.
This suggests that her nodules reside at the region where her chest and head voice ‘overlap’, which would explain her inability to consistently mix. As Mariah began to employ even breathier and further disconnected head tones in later years, this problem worsened.
Mariah in her prime was an astounding force of nature, but her voice even then was very much damaged. Mariah’s environment and work schedule likely did not allow for the time she needed to rehabilitate her damaged instrument. Additionally, the whistle register had become...
...so synonymous with her music that the possibility of losing control of this register should the nodules be rectified may have frightened her.
Mariah has said that music and singing is everything to her. She gave us everything, even at the expense of her fragile voice.
Mariah has said that music and singing is everything to her. She gave us everything, even at the expense of her fragile voice.
Mariah is inarguably a legend. Her voice today is not what it once was, but to imply she has ‘lost her voice’ is absurd. She can still sing! Mariah is one of the greatest vocalists of all time. Her vocal state does not negate what she was able to do with her voice at her prime.
Thank you for reading!! I hope this was informative and was able to provide some insight into Mariah’s unique and ever-changing voice.
