Opening the throat when singing?

Are you supposed to or normally have to keep an open throat while singing?

• what i mean is...well i know that we all need to raise our soft palates and open our throats because itll be easier and safer to hit high notes...am i right?..but because ive only seen vocal teachers talk about opening the throat for only high notes im confused wether we need to open throat only for high notess or keep an open throat all the way to sing a song...so how do we keep an open throat all the way..i know how to open the throat but its pretty hARd to sing cuz i sound like an opera singer..i wanna sound normal...so how do we keep it all the way..please help..and thank you for answering:D

• Answer:

  You are supposed to keep your throat RELAXED. That's the "openess". Tightening or straining is never a good idea. And maybe you should sound like an opera singer. A lot of pop singers use auto-tune these days because they can't sing at all. Is this what you call "normal"? You say you've only "seen" vocal teachers talk about open throats for high notes? Does that mean you've been relying on Youtube videos or something in attempt to learn how to sing? Bad idea. You can see how easy it is to completely misunderstand something. If videos seem to all focus on hitting or singing high notes, it's because that seems to be an obsession among amateur singers who think that the ability to sing high notes (the higher the better) is a sign of being a good singer. It's not. It just means you can sing high notes. Anyone want to take a guess how high these babies are shreiking? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrlntIcw-j0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMXfTprZQL8&feature=related Take voice lessons. From a real voice teacher. Face to face. That's the only way you are going to learn how to sing safely. There are teachers with music degrees that still teach non-classical styles of singing, if you want to learn to sing jazz, pop, rock, etc. Voice lessons aren't cheap but they are much less than most people think they are (actually prices are all over the place, so look before you decide you can't afford any). Next thing to remember to keep open is your mind! You have the right to decide the style of music you want to sing--but you shouldn't come with a preconceived notion of what "normal" is---everyone's voice is different. You are going to sound like you--not anyone else. And that is as it should be. These are some tips for locating a proper voice teacher or coach (it's not an endorsement of this particular teacher and/or program--I don't have the faintest idea who they are. http://vocal-coaches.com/ http://www.vocalsplendor.com/teacher.html