Reasons To Stop Thinking So Much About Your Throat
When you take voice classes in Folsom, you will probably be taught by your instructor to not to lay much emphasis on the throat. Instead, you are supposed to be concerned with any tight or pushed feeling at the throat while singing. Plus, you are supposed to hear alarm bells ringing when the sole approach to hitting that note is to squeeze the throat as though you are wringing out a towel.
Throat strain is usually the consequence of something else going skewed. Preferably, we would like singing to feel as though the voice “begins” or “connects” to the lower abdomen – this is the power source or the engine to help you project. It then feels as though it moves through this open pathway and falls out of the mouth without any “kinks in the hose” as it were.
Always keep in mind that “throat stress is the effect, not the cause.”
So, who to be held responsible then? It can be narrowed down to the following key culprits:
Breath Support
Breath support, as a process, has a number of moving pieces, but you will wish to use this as a beginner checklist:
Ø Is the movement of my abdominal muscles connected to the intention to project or are they moving individually to the sound you are generating?
Ø Does my belly move in at least a little at the beginning of the note or line at the same moment I am vocalizing or does it feel like my throat begins the note prior to my support kicks in?
Ø Is my inhale shallow in the chest or feeling like an expansion at my belly?
Ø On strong or high notes, do you feel like your abdominal muscles are making the belly swing in with flexibility or are you “yanking” them in and gripping?
The Way You Shape The Vowels
If vowel shaping is something that rings bells for you, this may possibly be a reminder regarding the way you adjust this.
Ø What am I doing with my lips?
Ø Is this a closed or an open vowel?
Ø What am I doing with my jaw?
Ø What word does the stress take place?
The Tongue
Check on the tongue, especially the root and the tip.
Ø To look into whether or not the root is the problem child, place both thumbs below the chin into the soft part between the throat and the jaw.
Ø Where does the tip of the tongue go on the notes that are causing you the most stress?
You are supposed to be capable of feeling a strain into the thumbs if you curl the tip of the tongue back as though you are making an effort to touch the tonsils with it. This is the stress we are looking out for.
These are the reasons that you will probably get to know during voice classes in Folsom Keep them in mind and you will be going to be a significant improvement in your singing!













