Quote of the Day
I think that people who have “Vegas throat” are people who sing from their throats only.
Robert Goulet
Don’t worry if you don’t have a clue who Robert Goulet is. He was best known for his role as Lancelot in the Broadway production of Camelot in the 1950’s and had an illustrious film, tv and musical theatre career into the 1990’s. Goulet also appeared many times in Las Vegas. He was a well trained operatic singer who had great technique and could recognize singers who did not use good vocal technique. I am assuming that “Vegas throat” refers to the grueling schedule of working in Vegas which can often take its toll on the best of singers let alone the ones with improper technique. It is so important to be aware of the throat’s role when singing.
If you are using your throat improperly, you will more than likely lose your voice after a few songs or the first set, become hoarse and it may take days for the voice to recover. If you experience any scratchy pain or irritation, then you are most likely manipulating your throat in a way that is hindering your singing rather than helping it. I think of the throat like a vacuum cleaner tube…(I know weird isn’t it?). Visualize that though. It’s open with no restriction of air to flow through it. When you take in a singer’s breath then engage diaphragm support to help the note float out on the breath, the last thing you want to do is compromise the openness of the throat. If you are a “squeezer”, the vacuum cleaner tube analogy of the throat changes from the open tube idea to the attachment that has a narrow slit at the end. So what’s happened is that you have taken in this great breath, engaged the right amount of diaphragm support for the note and all of a sudden, it can’t get through with ease because the throat has been manipulated to have a smaller space for the air to flow through rather than the open tube idea and this will create strain. You could also be creating vocal strain if you are not connected to your diaphragm support. (Pay particular attention to what your diaphragm muscle is doing on notes starting in your mid-range and up into your rockstar/diva range notes.) If it is not pulling towards your backbone, then you need to re-visit some diaphragm exercises from past blogs. If your diaphragm is working well, but you are still feeling strained, then try this exercise to help open up your throat.
Open Throat Exercise – Relax and take a breath in through your mouth dropping your jaw to open up the throat all the way down. You should be able to hear the air go in. Be sure that your tummy is popping out as the air goes in. Exhale and concentrate on keeping a long open tube like feeling for the air to be released through. Repeat this a few times to establish the feeling of a very relaxed open throat. Now repeat the exercise and engage a tone in your lower mid-range on the vowel sound “AH” keeping the throat open and relaxed and the jaw dropped. Keep moving up in your range and avoid squeezing the throat. Singing should feel quite effortless and not squeezed. Practice this exercise often to help achieve this goal.
Until next time… Happy Singing!
Angela
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