How to sing - 4. Relaxing the jaw and throat

True vocal power comes from relaxing the throat and keeping the neck muscles soft and not tensed (and, of course, excellent breath technique!). Alexander Massey of http://www.OxfordSingingLessons.co.uk is an international singer and singing teacher, based in Oxford, UK.

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[xEloiseKerryx]

can you help me, i have a problem with singing recently. When i sing sometime my voice randomly vibrates, not ina nice way, like if you made an 'ahh' noise and the car you were in went over a very bumpy road, any help?

[voicewisdom]

@xEloiseKerryx The videos on your channel suggest that you keep the back of your neck too short and tight (see my neck videos). You also could do with a) getting the back of your tongue lower in your mouth, and b) creating much more significant breath support - sitting with your guitar or keyboard, you are not using your abdominal muscles much, and it is these that provide significant breath support. You could also experiment keeping your rib cage wider when singing.

[chorister88]

Thank you, this video helped me understand a lot...i just dont understand, why so many singers are talking about putting 2 fingers into the mouth, or such a thing...this way you are doing it, makes you use more breath support.

[voicewisdom]

@chorister88 Parting the teeth by the distance of two fingers (middle and index) pointing into the mouth is to help singers with stiff jaws from locking their teeth together - but this is inefficient. 1) Drop the BACK of the jaw down, and slightly backwards. This loosens a muscle connecting jaw to larynx, so vocal cord vibration is made easier. 2) Free the side-muscle in the face by GENTLY pulling the bottom teeth down with your fingers. These exercises should also improve mouth resonance.

[Snackay]

Are you a tenor?

[voicewisdom]

@Snackay Yes - it's perhaps worth noting that a tenor who sings with a relaxed, low larynx tends to sound weightier, bigger and sometimes 'baritonal' compared to music theatre tenors who use more 'twang' (brightness in mouth resonance), higher larynx and tighter neck muscles; or 'pop' tenors who have muh higher larynx and sometimes sing semi-falsetto.

[SirTryfan]

I wish you lived in Wales, to work with me :) I have my diploma in 2 weeks, could really use it :)

[xEloiseKerryx]

@voicewisdom Thankyou, i will try this out :)

[Snackay]

@voicewisdom Yes, you are correct. I heard the baritone quality also, but of course I noticed you seemed to be at ease in the tenor range.

[MrChubbleyWarner]

@voicewisdom - thanks for that - yes, now you mention it, I guess there is an appreciable tension build up in the throat when one tries to place the breath in a certain 'area' - I guess for most beginners, place = push!