- It's all over the internet!
Learn to sing with an open throat.
What does that mean and how does it help your singing.
And more importantly is it even possible
to sing with an open throat.
I've got all the answers, as well as a practical exercise
coming write up.
I hope you'll stick around to learn more.
- [Technician] Sound check.
(feedback whining)
Check one, check two. (crowd cheering)
(upbeat, melodic music)
- G'day, Dr Dan here.
Welcome back to Voice Essentials where everybody sings.
We've dispelled a number of singing myths
here on the Voice Essentials channel over the years,
but this might
just be the biggest one we've tackled to date.
The idea of singing with an open throat
certainly sounds legitimate, and for me at least,
conjures up imagery of an unhindered pathway
that my sounds can travel along.
At the end of it all, I think this is what singing teachers
who encourage their students to sing with an open throat
are ultimately aiming at,
and there certainly isn't any malice in that.
But can you actually sing with an open throat?
Well, yes and no.
You see, as we've discussed many times here
in previous videos,
your body can be quite misleading at times,
suggesting you are experiencing one thing
when in fact your body is doing the exact opposite.
Have a look at this graphic
taken from Ken Bozeman's exceptional book,
Practical Vocal Acoustics.
Here we see two vowel shapes /i/ and /a/.
Try quickly singing each of these vowels,
mapping with your mind how they feel
compared with what you see in the graphic.
♪ /i/ ♪
♪ /a/ ♪
For many people, the kinaesthetic sensations
won't easily match up with the graphic.
Ken Bozeman explains that "Most people perceive /ɑ/
"to be the most open-throated vowel posture
"and /i/ to be the least open-throated,
"when the opposite is in fact the case."
Interestingly, neither vowel produces a wide vocal tract
from glottis to the lip.
The /i/ vowel has a wider pharyngeal space
than the /a/ vowel,
but it still has a narrowed shape towards the front.
And the /a/ vowel while relatively wide at the front
is instead narrow at the back.
The challenge facing every singer then
is to mentally remap the vocal tract
so that the perceived physical sensations correctly align
with the actual anatomical shapes being formed.
We can achieve a truly open throat by inhaling noiselessly.
Bozeman explains, "It can be accomplished
"by a subtle palatal lift,
"felt more frontally, toward the hard palate,
"accompanied by inhaling in such a way
"that the teeth and front of the mouth
"are cooled rather than the throat."
Let's try that together now.
Now, obviously in this activity, we are not phonating,
that is, we are not making any sound.
But when it comes to producing sound
the ideal of singing with an open throat
becomes a little bit more dubious.
So why do singing teachers like myself
instruct student singers
to direct their attention to the back of throat?
For example, exercise two on my exercise CD,
Dr Dan's Voice Essentials is all about vocal tract shaping,
titled Sustain a Single Note with Lifted Soft Palate.
I mean, is it even possible to lift the soft palate?
I know there are other singing teachers here on YouTube
who will tell you: you can't learn to lift the soft palate,
but I respectfully disagree.
I certainly don't think you need to get hung up on it,
excuse the pun, but developing a greater awareness
of the very subtle sensations at the back of the throat,
including the raising of the soft palate
is, in my teaching experience, helpful.
Again, it all comes back to
remapping your kinesthetic awareness.
Now, allow me to state, that once you start singing a vowel
the vocal tract, including the tongue and soft palate,
will respond to shape the vowel
in keeping with your national dialect.
The idea of maintaining a raised soft palate
is in keeping with the metaphorical instruction
to sing with an open throat.
Yes, as we saw earlier for example,
the /a/ vowel is narrow at the back of the throat,
but that doesn't mean the resonance of the vowel
won't be advantaged by a widening of the pharyngeal wall
or a slight lift in the soft palate.
But you can't take full advantage
of these beneficial adjustments if you haven't first learnt
to become aware of their subtle physical sensations.
So, let's now do an exercise that is designed to heighten
your back-of-the-throat awareness
using the second activity from my exercise CD.
But before we do the activity together,
take a quick moment to pound the thumbs-up button
if you've already learnt something from today's video.
We'll be singing a single note for four counts
using an /a/ vowel, but before we do,
let's return to the noiseless inhale we did earlier.
Noiselessly inhale a few times and zone in on any sensations
you may be able to feel at the back of the throat.
Now this will be easier to do for some than others,
so take your time
if you're not feeling anything straight away.
One more.
Now singing an /a/ vowel, I want you to try to maintain
the noiseless inhalation vocal tract shapes
you just did all while you sing the vowel.
(single note resonating)
♪ /a/ ♪
(two lower pitched notes resonating)
♪ /a/ ♪
(two lower pitched notes resonating)
♪ /a/ ♪
Now listen to what happens
if I don't purposefully lift and shape the back.
(single note resonating)
♪ /a/ ♪
the tone becomes
thinned out a little. (single note resonating)
♪ /a/ ♪
(single note resonating)
♪ /a/ ♪
(two lower pitched notes resonating)
♪ /a/ ♪
(single note resonating)
♪ /a/ ♪
Hopefully that's coming across in the recording.
There are two things to be mindful of here.
Firstly, yes, the back of the tongue will rise
when you produce an /a/ sound.
This doesn't mean
that your soft palate needs to droop to meet it.
Secondly, some of you might notice
that the tongue not only wants to rise.
For some, the tongue will also wanna
be inclined to drag backwards.
Do your best to maintain a forward placed tongue
while you create the note on the vowel.
You might also like to try using your finger as a spacer
to tame the jaw's tendency to want to drop open.
The more open the jaw,
the narrower the pharynx is likely to become.
I hope this has all been helpful,
clarifying the instruction to sing with an open throat.
The devil is always in the detail, hey.
Let me know how you get on
with the activities we've covered today
with your comments below,
and if you've enjoyed the video
and you haven't already subscribed,
then I invite you to visit the channel, subscribe and join
our ever-growing community of singers from across the globe.
I'll see you again soon, I'm Dr Dan, sing well.