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    Open-Throated Singing: A Roadmap For The Instructor: Part 1

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    psandyou
    The document discusses open-throated singing and provides guidance for vocal instructors. It outlines several steps instructors should take when working with a new student, including diagnosing issues by looking for neck tension, starting with exercises to widen the base of the neck like a pre-yawn, and achieving an open throat in all directions through techniques like releasing the larynx downward at inhalation. The goal is to help students find their fullest vocal potential through an open and relaxed throat.

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    Open-Throated Singing: A Roadmap For The Instructor: Part 1

    Uploaded by

    psandyou
    55 views2 pages
    The document discusses open-throated singing and provides guidance for vocal instructors. It outlines several steps instructors should take when working with a new student, including diagnosing issues by looking for neck tension, starting with exercises to widen the base of the neck like a pre-yawn, and achieving an open throat in all directions through techniques like releasing the larynx downward at inhalation. The goal is to help students find their fullest vocal potential through an open and relaxed throat.

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    Open throat

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    The document discusses open-throated singing and provides guidance for vocal instructors. It outlines several steps instructors should take when working with a new student, including diagnosing issues by looking for neck tension, starting with exercises to widen the base of the neck like a pre-yawn, and achieving an open throat in all directions through techniques like releasing the larynx downward at inhalation. The goal is to help students find their fullest vocal potential through an open and relaxed throat.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    55 views2 pages

    Open-Throated Singing: A Roadmap For The Instructor: Part 1

    Uploaded by

    psandyou
    The document discusses open-throated singing and provides guidance for vocal instructors. It outlines several steps instructors should take when working with a new student, including diagnosing issues by looking for neck tension, starting with exercises to widen the base of the neck like a pre-yawn, and achieving an open throat in all directions through techniques like releasing the larynx downward at inhalation. The goal is to help students find their fullest vocal potential through an open and relaxed throat.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Open-Throated Singing: A Roadmap for

    the Instructor: Part 1


    So a student walks into your studio door for the first lesson. Considering that the teacher
    wants to help the singer find his/her fullest vocal potential, it is imperative that the open
    throat be defined in the first session. One of the first things that Lindquest shared with me
    was Lamperti's concept that the vowels were actually made in the pharynx, not the mouth.
    He shared that it is also the primary resonator and the source of sound amplification. The
    coordination of the open throat, forward tongue, wide/high soft palate, back jaw position, and
    healthy closure of the vocal folds establish the foundation of resonant sound without pushing
    too much air pressure. Every singer needs to find this coordination in order to produce
    professional-level competitive sound.

    Step 1: Diagnosing Issues: What is the first thing I look for when a singer starts to phonate? I
    look at the shape of the neck. If I see the neck reflecting 2 half-moon indented shapes, I
    know that the larynx (and therefore the throat) is squeezed. It could be from previous 'high
    light bright forward training', or it could be just from lack of understanding the voice. When I
    see this particular shape of the neck, it is am immediate red light for me as an instructor.
    When the pharynx is fully open, the lower laryngeal muscles actually expand at phonation. I
    like to call it the 'secondary opening of the throat' when the body engages or resists the
    outflow of air at the attack or onset.

    Step 2: Where to start? The first thing I begin with as an instructor is the wide base of the
    neck, as reflected in the pre-yawn or pre-vomit. If the singer cannot feel this release at
    inhalation, then I have them use Dixie Neill's exercise, sticking the tongue out of the mouth
    and making a vomit sound. This stretches the sides of the neck wide without tongue
    retraction. Considered a rather dramatic approach, it can make some singers uncomfortable.
    But it works, and it works immediately. The throat begins to expand instead of squeeze at
    phonation. I also use a humming exercise with the tongue between the lips, staying in the
    middle register. When the singer begins to make sound, notice that the neck expands
    instead of squeezes. An example of this exercise applied to open-throated vowels is on my
    instructional CD.

    Step 3: Achieving all directions of space. One reason that the Alexander Technique is so
    helpful to singers is that it teaches them to think multi-directionally. In doing this, the singer
    can begin to have a healthy dialogue with his/her own body and later with their voice. What
    is my body doing? How am I standing? What shape is my neck actually achieving when I
    phonate or make sound? How much breath do I take in, and is it too much or too little? Why
    do I push breath pressure at phonation? Is my body suspended open? Are my knees and
    hips locked when I breathe, compromising my breath capacity? All of these questions are
    important to ask ourselves during the study of the body and the voice.

    Beginning Laryngeal Release: Many singers have never worked on releasing the larynx
    before they come to my studio. I am amazed by this. Perhaps they just don't remember the
    experience. However, I would remember any time a teacher manipulated my laryngeal area.
    Lindquest first presented the fact that I needed to 'breathe my larynx downward at inhalation'
    using the 'ng' tongue position so that the tongue released forward in the mouth space. Many
    singers depress the larynx with the tongue-root at inhalation. Considering this, I believe that
    many teachers become afraid of the laryngeal release because of past experience with the
    'depressed-larynx' technique. Of course this is not healthy, but it should not stop us from
    helping singers to find their fullest potential of resonance. 

    North-South Space: Direction #1: Lindquest had me feel the space between the hyoid bone
    and the thyroid cartilage when I took a breath. At first, it would not descend or open. Then,
    after several attempts, I succeeded in releasing the larynx at inhalation. This was my first
    success at beginning to open my throat. However there are several spaces to achieve in
    opening the throat including north-south, east-west, and front to back. Only covering one
    direction in instruction is incomplete and will not help the singer to find full vocal potential. As
    an instructor, it can be greatly helpful to cover all directions in order to help the singer
    successfully find a fully and healthily opened throat.

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