# Help with my singing

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-my-singing/686001>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [April 13, 2014, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-my-singing/686001 "2014-04-13T08:09:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Molotok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Molotok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molotok)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-my-singing/686001/1 "2014-04-13T08:09:41Z")

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Hello everyone, especially singers. I’m primarily a songwriter, and also a musician and, if need be, a singer. I can usually sing quietly/softly quite well… but when I try to singer more powerfully, my throat just clenches and it sounds and feels horrible. There are odd times when I can magically sort of fluke singing that way, but I can’t do it at will. I’m convinced it has something to do with relaxing muscles in the throat and maybe the face. I’m trying to record some demo vocals, and it’s not going well - any help would be greatly appreciated!

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**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-my-singing/686001/2 "2014-04-13T13:11:02Z")

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Well, it really depends on what kind of singing you want to do. The healthiest (as in, for your vocal chords) is classical style, but you may want more of a pop or rock sound depending on what kind of music you write. The “easy” way to make your voice louder is to belt it out, but again, over time that’s not the best choice. Instead, try some breathing exercises using you diaphragm - put your hand on you stomach and really concentrate of breathing there rather than in your chest. Some helpful tips can also be found [over here](http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/singing-exercises-for-dummies-cheat-sheet.html).

Another thing is just confidence. If you don’t like your voice, or are a shy person, it’s going to be harder to sing powerfully (if people often tell you to “speak up” when you’re talking, this may be the case).

And if you’re really serious about wanting to improve your voice, a good voice teacher can be really, really helpful.

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**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-my-singing/686001/3 "2014-04-13T14:09:41Z")

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Calling **fachverwirrt** -

> **[Ask the voice teacher](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=717396)**
>
> We’ve done an “Ask the opera singer(s)" thread, but I don’t believe we’ve had a voice teacher thread, so here goes. I’ve been teaching voice at the university level since 2003. I also teach privately and have had various community music school jobs...