Technique for Singing

There is a lot of technique involved for singing. It requires use of the vocal anatomy in the throat and mouth, as well as the muscles used to support your breathing.

This is the basic anatomy of the mouth/throat area:

When you sing, the air is pushed through the trachea and vibrates the vocal folds.

When you sing, the air is pushed through the trachea and vibrates the vocal folds. The air can be directed towards the hard or the soft palate. Aiming towards the hard palate increases the resonance of the sound and helps the singer stay within the chest voice. Whereas the soft palate decreases resonance and helps the singer stay in the head voice. You can also think about resonating through your nasal cavity in order to make more of a nasal sound. There are also techniques such as the roll of the R’s, also known as an alveolar trill, where the tongue essentially vibrates against the alveolar ridge in order to create the effect.

The following images show the vocal cords or folds from a bird’s eye view of the larynx/trachea:

When the vocal folds are apart, they are relaxed and just breathing. Whereas the vocal folds come together when you talk or sing. Shown below:

There is also chest and head voice. When singing in your chest voice, the vocal folds are horizontal. When you go into you head voice, looking at the vocal folds from side, they will raise up at the back, towards your head.

You can find out more about the voice here.