It's important to understand the voice as a muscle. To create a sound requires tension of the vocal muscles (vocal folds) but not tenseness. Learning to warm-up the voice will keep you singing correctly, prevent damage, and develop your optimum sound. Singing should always be comfortable. As soon as there is tenseness in your vocal folds your voice will sound strained and you risk injury. Be alert, focussed and apply effort in the right technique without over-reaching (pushing) and tensing the muscles.
