You're halfway through a song, the big chorus comes up, you go for the high note and your voice does something you didn't ask it to. It cracks, flips into a squeak or just disappears for a second.
It happens to everyone at some point, including people who sing every week. The good news is it's rarely a mystery, and most of the time it's fixable.
I host karaoke with my wife Rilda, and I've also built a system called VOX that analyses recordings of singers' takes: pitch, timing, breath and where the voice changes gear. Looking at the reports from it alongside what I hear on the night, the same few causes come up again and again.
What a crack actually is
Your voice has different gears. The lower one, often called chest voice, is the full, strong sound most people use when they talk and sing. The higher one, often called head voice, is lighter. There's a point in between where your voice changes from one to the other, and singers call that the break.
A crack is usually your voice switching gears suddenly, without you meaning it to, right at that point. Instead of a smooth change, you get a jump.
Everybody's break sits in a slightly different place, and it can move around a bit depending on how tired you are and how warmed up you are.
The most common causes
1. Pushing too hard
This is the big one. When a high note's coming, most people try to get there by singing louder and squeezing harder. More pressure feels like more power, but past a certain point the voice can't hold that pressure and it flips.
In VOX coaching reports across 30 takes from four singers, pushing on the big or high notes was flagged in about a quarter of them. Often the biggest pitch slips in a song were sitting on exactly those notes.
2. The song's in the wrong key for you
A lot of the time the singer isn't doing anything wrong. The song just sits in the wrong place for their voice.
If the most-used notes of a song land right on your break, you'll be wobbling between gears all the way through. And if the chorus sits above it, you'll be fighting it every time it comes around.
3. Carrying your low voice too high
Lots of singers try to drag their full chest voice up as high as it will go, because that's the sound they like. It works up to a point, then it doesn't, and the voice gives way all at once instead of easing across.
4. Not enough air, or the wrong kind
If you're at the end of a long line and running out of breath, a high note on the last word is far more likely to crack. On the other side, a big gulp of air followed by a hard push is just as bad.
5. Your voice is tired
Late in the night, after a few songs and a bit of shouting over the music, your voice has less to give. A note you hit easily at 8 o'clock can crack at 11.
How to stop it
Change the key
This is the easiest fix at karaoke and hardly anyone uses it. Ask your host to drop the song a tone or two. Most karaoke systems, including ours, can change the key without changing the speed, and the crowd won't notice. What they will notice is you hitting the chorus comfortably.
If you're a lower voice singing a song by a high singer, dropping it can make the difference between straining and sounding good.
Ease off on the high notes
It sounds backwards, but singing the high note a bit lighter and softer often makes it work. Let the volume come from the band and the mic, not from squeezing your throat. The mic is there to make you louder. You don't have to do all the work.
Plan your breath
Look at where the high note is and make sure you take a breath before the line that leads up to it. A quick catch breath mid-line is allowed. Running out of air on the high note isn't.
Warm up with sirens
Before you sing, do a few gentle slides from low to high and back down on an "ng" sound (like the end of "sing") or a lip trill. Go quietly, don't push, and let your voice change gear smoothly in the middle. A couple of minutes of that helps your voice get used to moving across the break without jumping.
Pick songs that suit you
If a song cracks every time, it might not be the song for you right now, and that's fine. There are 90,000 others. Have a look at our list of the 50 most sung karaoke songs for some that sit in a comfortable range for most people.
When to get it checked
An occasional crack on a high note is normal. If your voice is hoarse for more than a couple of weeks, it hurts to sing or talk, or you've lost range you used to have, see your GP. They can refer you to an ear, nose and throat specialist if it needs a proper look.
Come and try it
The best place to practise is a friendly room where nobody minds if a note goes sideways. If you'd like to give it a go, see where we're running karaoke next, and if you'd like us to host your party, give me a call on 0424 418 643.