Opening your throat will have a huge effect on the sound of your voice. Most untrained singers don't know how to open their throat.
I'm going to teach you how.
You open your throat by lowering your larynx. Your larynx (or Adams apple) is that grape-sized bump on the front of your throat.
As you drop your larynx, your throat opens and you produce a richer, deeper, more expressive sound. The key to opening your throat is learning to lower your larynx.
Finding your larynx
Some people have a larynx that sticks way out and others have a larynx that is somewhat hidden. Mens' larynxes are usually easier to find than women's.
Try this now:
To find your larynx, place your fingers near the top of your throat where you think your Adam's apple is. Now swallow. Your larynx will rise.
Now yawn. Your larynx goes down. If nothing happens when you swallow or yawn, move your fingers up or down on your throat until you find your larynx. Then try swallowing and yawning again and notice how it moves.
The three basic larynx positions
You just discovered how your larynx can move up and down. The three basic positions of the larynx are:
1. Neutral, which is where it is when you are reading this page or talking.
2. Up, when you're swallowing.
3. Down, when you're yawning.
Your goal is to keep your larynx neutral or slightly down when you're singing. You'll learn to control your larynx by doing the larynx exercises that follow. Eventually you'll be controlling your larynx when you're singing songs.
Why do I need to control my larynx?
Good question! When you learn to control your larynx, you'll
automatically be controlling how open our closed your throat is. Your throat has different degrees of openness. When your larynx is up, your throat is somewhat closed, and the air and sound pass through an opening about the size of a dime. Your sound will be thin, wimpy and potentially obnoxious. Your voice will tend to "break" or "warble."
When your larynx is in a neutral position, your throat opening is about the size of a quarter. Your sound will be much fuller now and you won't feel like your straining or about to choke on the note. Singing will be easier.
If you take this further and drop your larynx to its lowest position, your throat will open to the size of a half dollar. At this point your sound will be even louder, deeper and somewhat operatic in nature. We usually won't take it all the way down in pop singing because we don't want to sound like opera singers. But singers like David Bowie take it down pretty far, which is why he has that somewhat operatic sound.
When you have complete control over your larynx, you'll be able to control the richness, depth and volume of your sound. Sometimes you'll want a sound with alot of authority and power. Well, just drop your larynx slightly and you'll get that big sound.
Won't my larynx stay neutral all by itself?
No. When you sing low notes, your larynx will remain neutral all by itself. But as you start to sing higher notes, your larynx will gradually voice. When she learned to control her larynx, (which caused her throat to be more open), she began belting like a great blues or gospel singer. Now her voice is big, open and full of expression and soul. I've had many other students like Emily who had quiet voices to begin with, who developed
powerful voices as a result of learning this key.
How do you learn to control your larynx?
Since you don't have any other activity in your life that asks you to control your larynx, you probably don't know how to control it yet. That's okay. You'll learn to control your larynx by doing the larynx lowering exercises.
Larynx Lowering Exercises:
The purpose of these exercises is to give you control over your larynx, which will then allow you to open your throat. While you're doing each exercise, keep your neck, jaw and throat muscles relaxed.
Exercise #1. Larynx Push-downs.
With your fingers on your larynx, yawn. Notice how it goes down.
Now try to make it go down without yawning. If you need to jump start it with a yawn, that's fine. Your goal is to lower it rapidly 20 times. then rest and lower it 20 more times.
Exercise #2. Larynx Holds.
Lower your larynx and hold it down for 20 seconds, then let it come back to the neutral position. Repeat this exercise 10 times. As you're holding your larynx down, the muscles will begin to fatigue. This is good.
You're building strength and gaining control.
Exercise #3. Talk "hooty."
Remember the cartoon characters like Goofy, Deputy Dawg or Elmer Fudd? They all talk "hooty." Talking "hooty" forces you to drop your larynx.
The easiest way to talk "hooty" is to yawn and count to five out loud while yawning. With practice you'll learn to talk "hooty" without yawning
first.
Spend five minutes a day talking "hooty." If you're unclear about what talking "hooty" sounds like, listen to the examples on the Vocal Workout CD.
Note: These larynx exercises are difficult and it takes many students up to three months before they really master them.
My experience:
I was in the recording studio having trouble with a high note. This note was unstable and felt like it was about to break. Then I realized that my larynx was rising on that note. I lowered my larynx to a neutral position and tried again. I was amazed. The note was now easy to sing.
Tips for mastering Key 3:
1. Practice moving your larynx throughout your day, at work, in the car, while watching TV.
Summary
It will take a few months for you to have enough control over your larynx to really control the openness of your throat. But if you start practicing the larynx exercises now, you'll be very grateful when you start singing songs.