Do you experience throat tightness when singing or speaking?
No worries, I have you covered.
In this video, I am going to share 5 tips on how to relax throat muscles so that you
can sing with ease again!
Stay tuned.
Hi, I am Katarina from How 2 Improve Singing.
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Have you ever experienced throat tension?
Maybe your throat muscles felt constricted during or after a vocal practice, performance
or speech.
Do you know what I am talking about?
That feeling of tight throat muscles, vocal tension or even pain and you have no idea
how to release tension from your voice?
By the end of this video, you will know exactly what you need to do to relax muscle tension
from your throat and even better, how to avoid straining your voice.
Why?
Because tension does not feel good and tension can lead to vocal damage.
So, let’s start.
In no particular order of importance: Tip 1 – Make Mirror Your Best Friend
A mirror is a must in your practice room.
It will help you uncover unnecessary muscle movements that are often responsible for a
strained throat.
The main perpetrators are unnecessary movements of the neck, jaw and tongue muscles.
A mirror can give you immediate visual feedback.
For example, when you sing, you can watch your neck and notice any muscle activity.
Some singers engage these superficial neck muscles when singing, especially these long
muscles on the side of our neck, called sternocleidomastoid muscles.
They visibly tense up for example when approaching a high note or when inhaling large amounts
of air.
The primary function of these muscles is head rotation and movement and are absolutely unnecessary
for producing a sound.
Another example of unnecessary movements is jaw jutting and sliding.
Some singers move their jaws forward in an attempt to belt or sing notes in high registers.
Or jaw clenching or a tight jaw is something that you can observe in a mirror while singing.
So, how to relax throat while singing?
Make sure that you have a full-length mirror in your practice room and you observe yourself
while singing.
The first step is to become aware of unnecessary movements.
Once you notice them, you can start eliminating them.
Of course, this is easier said than done.
So, what you need to do is to take one step at a time.
For example, if you notice jaw sliding, try a simple breathing exercise and notice if
you slide your jaw during this task.
If not, move onto a vocal exercise, something simple like singing scales or arpeggios and
again notice if your jaw is sliding during these vocal tasks.
If not, move onto more challenging vocal tasks like singing in higher registers or louder
or singing a phrase of a song and so on.
And keep checking for jaw sliding.
Tip 2 – Align, align, align Throat tension can develop as a result of
incorrect body and vocal tract alignment.
I am sure you’ve experienced the following scenario.
You sit at a computer all day long or use your smart phone for prolonged periods of
time and then, when you try to maintain good posture, your body is aching and your neck
feels stiff and tense.
Comment below with PAINFUL if you can relate.
I can.
So, you give in and you sing with your head in a forward position and stretched neck.
Of course, this will eventually lead to vocal strain and tension.
So, check your posture throughout the day and maintain a well aligned body.
If you already have trouble with body alignment throughout the day, I would suggest improving
your posture with yoga or pilates exercises or any other physical activities that improve
your overall posture and body alignment.
If you are not keen on physical exercises, check out the Alexander technique exercises,
especially an exercise called constructive rest, which is an easy but powerful exercise
to improve body alignment and release tension.
When we talk about alignment, I also have to mention the vocal tract alignment and more
specifically position of the tongue.
Tongue is a frequent offender that causes throat tension.
So, don’t forget to check out my other video about relaxing the tongue when singing.
Tip 3 – Breathe Low Someone just recently asked me if poor breathing
can lead to vocal tension.
What a great question!
The answer is yes.
Inadequate breathing technique can definitely lead to throat tension.
If you know how to breathe efficiently when singing, you take away pressure from your
throat and larynx, whether you sing high, low, quiet or loud.
Your throat contains relatively small muscles.
If you use these small muscles in and around your throat to control air pressures and airflow
when singing, you are putting a lot of stress on these muscles.
On the other hand, if the big muscles of your torso, starting with your pelvic floor muscles,
your abdominals, postural muscles and other torso muscles are engaged to control the breath,
you eliminate pressure from the vocal folds and throat.
Especially when you are going for full belty sounds or more powerful sounds.
So, the key to throat relaxation is to inhale with minimal effort but maximum efficiency.
Inhale low and start exhaling from a low place.
Connect your breath to your voice.
Use your body, not just your throat for singing.
Breathing exercises (if done correctly) are throat relaxation exercises at the same time!
If you want to learn effective breathing exercises, click this link here or below the video.
These exercises are sure to relax tight throat muscles.
Tip 4 – It’s in Your Head!
Ok.
What do I mean by that?
I am not suggesting that you are imagining throat tension.
No.
On the contrary, if you are felling tension in your throat, it’s most likely there.
When I say that it’s in your head, I mean that you may be putting too much pressure
on yourself.
I want to sing like Whitney Huston.
I want to have a voice like Rod Stewart!
I need to sing these really high notes!
Why can I not sing with vibrato?
I want to know how to belt!
Well, maybe you are not ready to do all these things.
Many singers want to do singing tasks too early or too fast for their current skills
and then, they only get frustrated by not being able to do them or even worse, they
develop tension.
So, don’t be one of them.
Singing is a journey and rushing your voice to perform at unrealistic high levels can
only lead to tension.
Tip 5 – Care for Your Voice It may sound fundamental but good vocal hygiene
and care are essential for a relaxed throat.
Evaluate your voice use with a critical eye and answer questions like: Do I use my voice
too much?
Am I competing with loud music or environment and therefore strain my voice?
Do I hydrate well?
Do I sleep enough?
Do I eat well balanced diet?
Do I abuse my voice by clearing my throat?
Do I take medication that affects the function of my larynx?
Is my voice and body built for this vocal task?
And many more questions that will give you an insight into how well you care for your
voice.
If you can pass all of these questions with a clean bill, then you are on a road to relaxed
throat muscles.
Bonus tip.
If you are already experiencing throat tightness, you can eliminate it with throat muscle relaxation
exercises, such as stretches and massage.
Stretches are easy exercises that should be part of your regular practice routine.
Stretch your neck and even your tongue to release that unwanted tension.
Laryngeal massage is a wonderful tool and many people sing the praises about it.
In my next video, I am going to show you exactly how to self massage your throat.
So, don’t forget to subscribe to my channel so that you don’t miss out on this video.
If you click the bell icon, you will be notified when my next video is up.
Now you know how to release throat tension.
I gave you 5 tips that you can start applying right now and make your voice feel better.
If you liked them, click the like button and share this video with your singing friends.
And don’t forget to check out my other videos on this topic too.
Hope to see you in my next video!
Happy singing!