Shift the pressure off my throat and onto the diaphragm

[NoobOnZone]

Hey guys..I've been singing for some time now...And i've been taught to breathe with my diaphragm..

But, even though i feel my stomach, back and sides all expand as i breathe, my voice still sounds very throaty and constricted...

I just can't seem to shift the pressure off my throat and onto the diaphragm...As in, all vibrations are still at my throat and not at the diaphragm, which is what i've been taught to be the correct method...But the main thing is, i just can't seem to shift the support from my throat to my diaphragm, even though i'm already breathing with my diaphragm...

What am i doing wrong? I've tried flexing my stomach muscles and forcing the air out by urging my stomach inwards, all of which i have recently found out doesn't only not help but damages my vocal cords...

Can't anyone help me out?

 

[darkclaw3000]

got diz from somewhere i cant remember where.


The secret to correct breathing is to sing from your stomach, with
concentration on the diaphragm. But the trick is to learn how to correctly place
the pressure upon the diaphragm without excessively forcing air out of the
lungs. The secret is to apply a steady downward pressure with your stomach
and back muscles, like going to the bathroom, while visualizing breathing
inward. I know this might sound a little confusing, so let’s start all over again
and pretend you don’t know the first thing about breathing or singing.

The first step to learning to breathe correctly is to lie on your back, flat on the
floor and place a book on your stomach. Begin to inhale and exhale at a slow
steady pace. As you breathe in, allow the book to rise by visualizing breathing
down into your belly below the navel. Physically feel your stomach rise, your
side ribs expand and your back push down against the floor, with each intake
of breath. This is the natural way to breathe. All babies breathe this way. Just
watch a baby breathe sometime. Notice how their little bellies swell whenever
they inhale. So you see, you were actually born with correct breathing habits;
you just lost them along the way to adulthood.

I want you to understand that you aren’t actually breathing into the stomach.
This is for the sake of visualization to enable you to make use of your
maximum breath potential and ensure the maximum use of your breath.
When you have accomplished breathing on the floor, stand up and allow your
stomach to expand again. Did you happen to notice that your shoulders
couldn’t rise while you were lying down? This is very important, because the
shoulders should remain relaxed because rising shoulders will only constrict
lung expansion. Now, while standing, inhale and allow your stomach, back
and sides to expand outwards in a 360° direction all around the body.

Breathing is a natural act; it should never be forced, so remember, don’t allow
your shoulders to rise. If you do, you are filling the upper one-third of your
lungs first, and that is essentially chest breathing. This mistake will prevent
you from filling your lungs from the bottom up.

To make sure that your midsection is fully expanding, put your hands in
against your sides, with your thumbs pointing towards your back. As you
breathe in, your hands should widen, with the fingers moving forwards and
thumbs moving backwards.


hope this helps. =)

 

[NoobOnZone]

yeah i'll try it out, thanks! Though now i've kinda lost my voice because of shouting...

I'm still able to talk pretty much fine, but i notice my voice being more croaky...could it because of shouting?

 

[darkclaw3000]

continue wrecking ur 'instrument'. u will get laryngitis. same as playing guitar wit rusty strings, waiting for dem to snap. take care of ur instrument bro. warmup 1st everytime b4 u sing. n dont rush tru da warming up. if u feel ur singing voice isnt ready to go, means u did not warm up enuff. its all in urself. u can find lotsa warmup instructions online.

drink lotsa plain water. NOT COLD. doesnt help. any drinks dat are sweet, alcoholic, dairy doesnt help da throat.
sweet drinks rob off energy from ur body, u need em to sing.
alcoholic makes ur throat hot n dry, bad coz u need dehydration.
dairy puts too much mucus into ur throat, ur throat wont get much flexibility.

note: some ppl thinks dey sing better wit alcohols. its a well known placebo effect. i can tell u plain water is magic water for singers, but it really is. coz derz nothing in plain water cept good hydration.

after singing, do warmdowns. just like exercising, u dont straight away sit down after a good run. i usually do lipbubbles from a high pitch to a low pitch. do it till u found ur voice is back to normal speaking tone. u shud noe. u been talking for years.

one more thing: if any note dat u try to sing forces u to 'squeeze' or put some 'strain' anywhere, simply isnt ready to go. u can try to sing hard, but it should nvr be hard to sing.


hope this helps. =)

 

[jerek85]

forget the sickening techniques....throw it out of the window.....

sing the way you think you should feel comfortable in and keep recording yourself to improve....

i dunno if it will work but it definitely works for me...haha

 

[edmltw]

Let me guess, you do mostly rock covers?

 

[ezekielkok]

@jerek85- bro would you rec warm ups then?

 

[jerek85]

Let me guess, you do mostly rock covers?

no i do pop and R& B ....
and i do love to sing with a little more range too....

 

[Aunt.mall]

Just feel the song and sing ! haha forget trying to understand the techniques .. What i do is i monitor my microphone through headphones and sing . Sometimes i record myself singing and then listen to it . If its not good enough for me ill rerecord it again until i get a near perfect one before ill be satisfied . For warm up i like to do scat singing from falsetto all the way to the low keys .

 

[chickenfoot]

Jerek, I think you are pretty good, you got the chops for RNB and ballads but if to do songs like Queen or Daughtry we definitely need proper breathing exercise n technique

no i do pop and R& B ....
and i do love to sing with a little more range too....

 

[jerek85]

yeah i guess u can record ur warm ups if u really have the time to do so....den u can see where u wanna have a bit heavier or lighter....etc...

@jerek85- bro would you rec warm ups then?

 

[jerek85]

Jerek, I think you are pretty good, you got the chops for RNB and ballads but if to do songs like Queen or Daughtry we definitely need proper breathing exercise n technique

awwww....thanks.....hahaha nice of u...

maybe we should find some truths in techniques and after that let the rest come to u naturally hmmm...