Throat feeing tight while singing? It could be your constrictor muscles. Try this exercise...

(We will finish up vowels in the next lesson but this week I wanted to sneak in a short lesson packed with important info…) If your singing voice feels tight, squeezed, grabbed, or stuck it could be your constrictor muscles. In this video, I show an image of the constrictor muscles, share how they may be impacting your singing and give you an exercise to help release these muscles. _________________________ The constrictor muscles surround the larynx and assist the tongue to move food down the esophagus when you swallow. Awesome when you are eating and drinking not so awesome when you are singing. Let’s remember that the reason why humans have vocal folds in the first place is to protect the airway from choking on material in the throat and to regulate the flow of air into our lungs…vocal development and singing came later. So the primary function of the throat area is to aid in breathing, eating, and drinking… Moving food and hydration into the body is helped by the constrictor muscles. Sometimes - when we are singing - we unconsciously activate the constrictor muscles by tightening the back of the tongue and raising the larynx. This makes the body think you are swallowing and the constrictor muscles come in to help. This activation can make the voice feel squeezed, grabbed, tight and many other sensations that don’t feel or sound good. When the constrictor muscles are active it can just make it tough for the larynx to move or tilt…. to stretch the vocal folds to the notes we want to sing. Watch this video to learn a new way to practice releasing those muscles when warming up or problem-solving certain notes in your song… _______________________________ WEBSITE: www.tricialeines.com FACEBOOK:   / rejoiceinyourvoice   INSTAGRAM:   / tricialeinessings