More Singing help?

Question

When I sing, I sing from my throat. How do I sing from my diaphram? Don't tell me that my stomach, right under my rib cage should expand, every teacher I have had has told me that but it has never helped.

How did your teacher teach you? Is it something you can explain or is it something I have to discover on my own? What should it feel like?

Answer 1

What your voice Teachers told you to do is totally correct, but this will not work if you are making pressure, or forcing your chest, throat and jaw.

You don't sing from your diaphram dear, diaphram just reacts going down when you take a deep breath filling your lungs completly. The muscles on your stomach works to help you to support your sound,that will help you to keep your voice in placement, in tune and without tense other muscles. Your voice come from your vocal chords, and they are in your throat.

While you are doing the pressure with the muscles of your stomach you need to relax your chest and throat.

To sing should be a wonderful experience, we need to sing natural and relax. More relax you sing, more beautiful, powerful and healthy your voice will sound.

At the time you are singing tense, the muscles on your throat will start getting in a terrible pain, eventually you can develop vocal damage.

Many teachers teach the proper breathing technique to their students, but they forget to teach them that singing is natural and we need to sing in a easy way, like we talk like we sing.

Practice your breathing exercises, and when your start warming up your voice, try to feel your chest and throat are not doing any tension.

Feel your soft palate going up, and sing on the yawing sensation, let your voice coming forward to your natural resonant cavities and do not push, force or tense your chest.

Try this way and let's see if you can start feeling better while you are singing.

Good Luck

Answer 2

Lots of good ideas so far... a few more from another voice teacher and choral director. (Me)

Lie down on the floor (at home is probably best) on you back and just relax. Think about anything and everything and finally just notice how you are breathing. How do your lungs and rib cage move? What is your stomach (which is being pushed out by your diaphragm) doing? Sing a bit lying down like this. When it feels natural and comfortable, stand up and try immediately. Let nature do its thing - no force required. (Control is not the same as force!)

If you are visual and maybe even biologicially minded, think about your lungs filling and extending down you back. I know, sounds crazy, but look at an anatomy picture some time and see where your lungs sit and how they are shaped.

If the yawn image doesn't work for you, imagine you have a pear in your mouth, large side in the back. (This is also excellent for raising your soft palate.) For something a bit grosser but definately gets the point across... you know how your throat feels just before you throw up? All open and relaxed (oddly enough) and whatnot? That might help you open your throat.

Different things work for different people. Keep trying - you'll get it! It took my first voice teacher and I a year to find my full vibrato but once we did, it was amazing.

Answer 3

You don't sing from your diaphragm, it has to do with your breathing technique. When you take a breath, do it as if you were yawning. Do you feel your lungs expand and your tummy pushing out? You should. You then slowly release the air as you sing. Your throat should feel relaxed when you sing, otherwise you will strain your vocal folds and get hoarse. The breath support comes from your diaphragm, the singing comes from your throat.

Answer 4

relax your mouth and throat to the point where you almost yawn. then start to let out air. as you let out air, just vibrate your vocal chords, on any note. if you're doing it right, there will be no stress in your throat.

if you're talking about breathing correctly, try lying on your back. you will breathe from your diaphragm that way and just focus on what your muscles are doing.

Answer 5

Don't strech your neck when singing, especially singing high pitch notes. When are singing from the diaphram when you can hear your sound as if it's comming from the back of your head.

Answer 6

Your not doing it right then. IN voice lessons, that's EXACTLY how your suppose to sing. If are not sounding as good as you should be, then you need to just lay your pride down and do it. IF your not sounding good period, than your just not a singer and should consider that. I cannot sing worth of sh!t, so why would I want to go out and pretend to be a singer. However, I am a good song writer, doesn't mean I'm going to be a singer...

_________________________________________________

I make my own music & produce it too. PLEASE Check out our recording label Mindset Entertainment. Music at http://www.soundclick.com/mindsetentertainmentinc & our label website (for browsers other than IE) http://www.mindsetentertainmentinc.net - Keepin' it real

Answer 7

Sirens! Start to immitte sirens and listen and feel the open thrat and round tones. Use an oo sound, then change vowels to ee, aa, etc.

Answer 8

ok, it should kind of feel like you are yawning it comes from the same place. and my teacher tells me that when you brethe your sholders shouldn't move. it should feel smooth and natural. its your head voice as opposed to you chest voice, and after singing for awhile you almost feel light headed.(if you're doing it right)