How to Scream Sing: 7 Types of Scream Singing

Scream-singing is a type of singing most commonly associated with screamo, punk, and death metal music genres. Vocalists who scream-sing emit an array of harsh, scream-like sounds from their vocal cords. These growling, squealing, and screaming sounds match the accompanying music’s raw energy. This aggressive vocal style may seem just like screaming, but there are many techniques and methods behind achieving this sound.

There are three main categories of scream-singing techniques: screams, growls, and false cords. Screams are the harshest on your voice because you are using your true vocal cords. Growls are more guttural than screams and, thus, a little less harsh on your vocal cords. False cords produce a buzzing sound and are the least severe because they only involve the upper thyroarytenoid muscles, which are deeper in your throat.

There are various subtypes of screams in scream-singing:

1. 1. Fry scream: The fry scream uses deep breaths from the diaphragm to push air through the vocal cords. The resulting noise is usually wet-sounding and will sometimes contain vocal fry.
2. 2. Inhale scream: Inhale screams require the singer to inhale continuously (rather than exhaling through the vocal cords) to produce grainy, guttural sounds. Inhale screams rely on the sound created by airflow through the throat.
3. 3. Kvlt scream: The kvlt scream is a powerful, high-pitched buzzing type of screaming that you’ll usually hear in black metal music.
4. 4. Low growl: Low growls are often reserved for death metal singing. They are guttural but more difficult to sing when working with lyrics. They are so low on the register that they can sound like grunts.
5. 5. Mid-range growls: Growls are a hardcore singing style that projects through deep breaths and the low vestibular folds of the throat. A mid-range growl is a guttural sound that you’ll commonly hear in death metal, metalcore, or screamo singing. Properly enunciating your words in this type of growling makes lyrics more intelligible.
6. 6. Pig squeal: This type of screaming is often heard in deathcore music. The singer uses their breath, tongue, and vocal cords to emit high-pitched, pig squeal-type sounds.
7. 7. Tunnel throat scream: A tunnel throat scream is a hollow type of scream-singing commonly heard in deathcore and death metal. Singers can achieve this sound by pressing the tongue against the back of the bottom teeth and using their mouth and throat to create sound.

Scream-singing takes a lot of warming up and practice to execute the proper techniques without vocal strain or damaging your voice. Follow the steps below if you’re a beginner trying to find your scream-singing voice:

1. 1. Eat the right foods. There are several preparatory steps to take before engaging in a proper vocal warm-up. The most important factor to consider is when and what you eat and drink beforehand. Consume foods and liquids one to two hours before you plan to warm up your vocal cords. Avoid eating heavy or acidic foods or drinking liquids that contain too much fat or gas, like milk or soda. Caffeine constricts vocal cords, so skip the coffee as well. Food and beverages should be warm or at room temperature—not too hot or cold. Take frequent sips of warm liquid as you warm up and sing to keep your vocal cords properly hydrated.
2. 2. Warm up. Warming up vocals with vowels is perhaps one of the most effective techniques, not simply for preparing your voice box for performance but for also elongating your vocal cords, improving pitch quality and tone, and better controlling range and breath. Vowels should form the crux of your warm-up routine. Practice vocal exercises that allow you to experiment with tongue placement and making open sounds with your vocal cords.
3. 3. Work on breath control. Screaming relies heavily on breathing, which will help you control your vocals. Take a deep breath and fill your diaphragm with air, then practice pushing the air out in an “ah” whisper. As you practice this exercise, gradually increase the force of the breath against your soft palate and start narrowing your vocal cords to help control the sound and pitch. You can reach high notes by forcing more air through your nasal cavity.
4. 4. Watch tongue placement. How you position your tongue can influence the sound of your scream-singing. Practice your screams with your tongue in different positions (such as tucked behind your bottom teeth) to see how it affects the sound of the air.
5. 5. Enunciate the lyrics. Some words are harder to scream-sing than others. Try out different mouth shapes and sounds such as “wah” and “eee” to feel how the air changes in your larynx. Open-throated words will be more breathy while compressing the vocal folds in your throat will make a more raspy or buzzy sound.
6. 6. Practice for brief periods. Scream-singing is hard on the voice, so keep your practice sessions short but frequent to avoid vocal fatigue. Giving your throat plenty of breaks can prevent the risk of vocal damage, injury, or hoarseness. Try different scream-singing techniques and play with different vocal ranges to feel what works most comfortably for you and your vocal health.

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