The muscles controlling and surrounding the larynx represent one of the most important control system affecting the human voice. For most singers, learning to stabilize the larynx is essential for vocal health, the increase of range, and the proper blending of chest and head voice.

In this article I will attempt to shed some light on larynx position and offer some exercises that can help you improve your voice by stabilizing your larynx. Keep in mind that full time voice students may spend years on this! But a little awareness goes a long way in saving your voice from the harm caused by singing on a high larynx.

The Problem of a High Larynx

Consider the larynx to be a basket floating in a complicated web of tendons and membranes inside your throat. Your goal is to not allow the larynx to rise too much as you sing from low notes to high notes. To find your larynx, put your finger on the V that you feel in the front of your throat (commonly, the adams apple: the original problem ?) If you swallow, you feel it rise. We refer to this as constriction, because you are squeezing the space around the larynx. Good for eating, bad for singing!

You can tell if you’re singing on a high larynx if you notice:

• A heavy chest voice and a large break between your chest voice and head voice
• Vocal cords that feel scratchy and producing a lot of mucous
• Your voice feels worse the next day after singing
• Your head voice feels breathy, airy, and unfocused

There are some differing views on whether or not a high larynx is harmful or not, with some techniques suggesting that it’s acceptable (even desirable!) , and others suggesting that your larynx should be as low as possible. I base my findings on eighteen years of teaching, and constant study and testing of new ideas.

I believe that advanced singers can learn to sing with a high larynx, provided that they are working with a professional who knows what they’re doing. For most beginning singers, however, a larynx that is too high and surrounded by tense muscles can lead to significant problems with the voice.

Keep in mind that larynx control is only one of the five control systems I describe in my vocal method:

All of these systems function in concert, with stability of the larynx representing a long term goal of the method. The larynx houses the vocal cords, and operates in relationship with the whole voice (body, mind and Spirit), and is not in any way isolated. Each system effects the other systems in a structure of balance and coordination.

How to Stabilize your Larynx

There are a lot of techniques to help stabilize the larynx, but the first step of this long journey begins with awareness. Keep in mind that professional singers spend years getting this right! With your finger on the V of your larynx (or adams apple) sing along with a scale and notice if it is rising and falling with pitch.

Notice the difference between different vowels: Sing oo (like boot), and then sing Ah (like Father). I refer to this as the kinesthetic approach: which means that you feel what’s happening with your body. Gaining awareness of the position of your larynx is the first step

Next, consider your larynx to be a basket floating in a network of attachments, some reach up into the jaw, tongue,and head, and some reach down into the chest, sternum and lower body. We want to relax the neck, jaw, and muscles around the larynx, so we can avoid the unconscious reflex that pull up on the larynx when we sing high.

As you sing your scales, place your hands on the back of your neck and notice if there’s tension. Next, place your hands on your jaw, and check to see if your jaw is clenching at all. The more release you have in these muscles, the easier it will be to stabilize your larynx.

Proper breath support is also important in order to stabilize your larynx.

The basics of this are:

1. Breathe in without motion in your neck, shoulders, or face
2. As you inhale, feel your stomach inflate
3. As you sing a scale or song, keep some gentle pressure out against your abdominal wall
4. As you’re singing, try not to let your stomach contract suddenly

If you have any questions about the larynx, or singing generally, feel free to contact me at john@jdsvoice.com

John has been a professional Vocal Coach in the San Francisco Bay Area for the last sixteen years. He studied under Seth Riggs, Lynn Wickham, and Raz Kennedy, and studied the Alexander Technique under John Baron. He began voice teaching after working as a producer and arranger for other singers in San Francisco after college.

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In singing proper breathing support is very important, because it is one of the foundation. Proper support must be observed for you to have quality voice and it makes singing a joy. If you have proper support, in the eyes of the audience the production seems effortless and magical. In this article I’m going to share to you helpful tips and learn to sing with proper breathing support.

Stand Tall

In singing perfect posture is very vital as well as good breath control. In doing this, you have to look at the mirror by standing sideways and observe your posture. You must see to it that your back is as straight as a board.

Shoulder

To have proper breath support, your shoulder should stay down and avoid hunching up every time you breathe. You stand in front of a mirror and watch closely your shoulders and observe. You must focus on your stomach and imagine that the air is going in there.

Tight abs and buttocks

Just like any other weight lifters, singers should also work on their abs and buttocks. Tightening those parts is the most crucial part of support, especially to good vocal production. Your abs and buttocks must remain tight as well as firm every time you are emitting a sound, especially hitting those notes.

Keep your body still

This time observe your entire body and stand in front of the mirror. Stay as still as you can every time you breathe in. Take a very deep breath as you would when you yawn and do not gulp. Do not move also your head, except for opening your mouth. Make it appear in your body movement that you are taking a deep breathe.

Proper breathing support is one aspect in singing that can be developed overnight. I also sometimes have people coming to me asking for a few lessons, learn few tips in singing and improve their singing performance for some audition in the future.

In most cases, the things that they want can all be improved by proper breathing support. And these things include hitting high notes powerfully, large voice range and many others. Personally, I also think that even pitch control can also be improved with better and stronger breathe support.

Proper support also takes time to develop, it does not happen instantly. This support makes vocal product very smooth and easy, and it makes your voice seems like it is floating and soaring.

With proper support you can do things that at first you imagine would be impossible or difficult to do. You just have to take the time and make extra effort to learn proper breathe support.

In doing this proper breathe support, constant practice is also the key. It pays to practice in front of the mirror everyday and in no time you’ll have the kind of voice you dream of. Proper breathe support also avoids straining your voice and your larynx. It is one of the basic in singing and is therefore very important.

About the Author: Get tips on how to learn to sing here! Click to get vocal training online.

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To sing backup is much harder than it looks. Backup singing requires a great amount of listening and being very sensitive to the main singer, much as an instrumental accompanist would. You must learn to breathe and begin and end your phrase as the main singer does. You must, in effect be the singers shadow.

Hopefully you have some input or control over where you sit or stand on stage. See to it that you can see the singer at all times. The job of backup singing is much harder if you can’t see the singers face. Watch the singer to learn where they are going. The singer will change course or make a mistake and only if you are aware can you react. Watch the singer intently and always. Be on the lookout for a simple nod of the head or gesture that may indicate a repeat or change of course.

Learn to blend your phrasing to the will of the singer. You can start your phrase just behind the singers phrase if you want to blend properly. If you are not sure of how loud they are going to be, start your phrase quietly and raise your level as the phrase develops. Do not pronounce consonants too hard at the start of a melody. Two consonants sung slightly after each other will sound unpleasant and is largely avoidable.

The end of melodies are just as critical as the beginning. As the singer approaches the end of a line, gradually decrease your volume so you can avoid the embarrassment of ending after they do. Listen, watch, blend melodies and you can be a professional backup singer every band would love to have.

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Ever wondered why some singers catapulted to stardom rather quickly, some sparkled, flickered a little and then faded into obscurity while most singers stayed the same for years if not forever at mediocrity level?

Why is it that most singers never make it big in their singing career, not to say becoming superstars? Well, for starters, most singers begin their career as a lounge singer, singing in small clubs and belting out cover versions of established and popular singers. They selection of songs will be dictated by their audiences and so they must cover a wide genre of songs.

At one moment, you can enjoy a Barbara Streisand ballad and then the next song will be a fast Chaka Khan number followed by latin inspired Michael Buble’s ‘Sway’. Yes, it is good to be versatile and able to sing songs of various styles and genre. In fact it is even admirable if you can sing a Celine Dione number and sounded like Celine and then a Frank Sinatra swing sounding like ol’ blue eyes himself.

However, as a famous vocal coach, Brett Manning once said, ‘I have coached dozens of young women who can now sing almost exactly like Celine Dion. But then again, who wants a counterfeit when the real Celine Dion is already available?’ This quote is taken from Brett’s article ‘How to build a successful singing voice’.

In other words, most singers just take it as part of their job to sound like the original cover versions of songs and never try to create a distinctive sound and style of their own. Now, if all singers sounded alike, how would you get noticed and recognized for who you are? How to make it big as a singer when you can only sing other people’s song and imitate other singer’s style of singing?

Let me ask you a question, how many times have you heard a song being sung and immediately able to identify the singer although you have never heard that particular song performed by the singer? Many times isn’t it? Why? Because every prolific singer’s voice and style are like their thumbprint. It is distinguishable from the rest of the pack. That is why they stand out and get noticed.

If you want your singing voice to get noticed and make it big as a singer, develop a distinctive style and voice of your own. After all, you have sung so many singer’s style that you can use these influences to develop your own and stand out from the crowd.

Till next time, happy singing.

About the Author: Chris Chew is a personal development trainer and is still jamming and singing with bands at his leisure. See more articles at his website PlayMusicSing.com.target=”_blank”>LearnSingPlayMusic.blogspot.com

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Most people think that singers with good voices are born with them. Yes, although some people have better singing voices than others, most, if not all good singers undergo vocal training to improve their voices.

Most of the singer’s training is done through specific vocal exercises to achieve certain effects such as singing powerfully, getting vibrato into the singing voice or even expanding your vocal range so that singing higher notes is a breeze.

Unfortunately, this article cannot do that as the exercises must be physically demonstrated and manually practised. So instead of learning how to get a good voice, this article will show you how to protect and preserve your singing voice because your voice quality can be destroyed by bad habits that you may not even know you have.

Your voice is produced by a delicate mechanism and when used correctly, it rarely gives you any problem. So take good care of your precious voice and will serve you well for your lifetime.

The first golden rule to having a good voice quality is not to take up smoking and if you are already a smoker, do quit smoking before this nasty habit destroys your singing voice further.

The thousands of irritants and chemicals in cigarettes damage your voice and will certainly shorten your singing career and even your life unless you are a rock singer and need to have a raspy and coarse voice.

Always stay hydrated and as such, you need to stay away from caffeine, alcohol and other substance that dehydrates you. The vocal folds must be hydrated at all times to stay healthy and lubricated. So drink plenty of drink as much water everyday to keep them hydrated.

If you are on medication, check with your doctor or pharmacist whether the medicine you are taking is dehydrating. As a general guide, your body should be well hydrated when your urine is clear and not cloudy.

Everyone’s voice has its own limitations. So get to know yours. Shouting, talking loudly or even singing forcefully is damaging to your vocal cords, this is sheer common sense, but many singers still abuse their voices this way. So don’t shout.

Unfortunately, some people think that to sing powerfully, they have to shout. No, they don’t have to. You can develop a powerful voice with the correct vocal exercises without having to shout.

Your vocal cords collide with each other more than a million times everyday when you produce a sound and so, any extra harsh activities like shouting puts further strain on the already overused vocal cords.

When recovering from a coarse voice like say, from a sore throat, avoid any unnecessary conversations or phone calls to let your voice fully recover. Otherwise your recovery will be slower and even then, small permanent damages may occur.

You need to know that your vocal cords are muscles and therefore like any muscles, they need a thorough warm up before it can perform at its peak when you are singing. By the same token, they need to be cooled down with vocal exercises after your performances.

Just because you get away without warming up or cooling down now does not guarantee that you will not damage your voice in the future.

Next on the list is to avoid late night eating because this may end up with your stomach acid spilling into your larynx when you lie down to sleep and causing a hoarse voice and over the long term, permanent voice damage.

These are just some of the many things that you should not do to preserve, protect and maintain your voice producing mechanism so that you can have a good singing voice permanently.

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About the Author:  Chris Chew owns a music education website at Learn How To Sing Confidently On Stage and Learn How To Sing Better.