May 2012: Expand Your Throat – Open Your Heart (Part 1)

by Ramesha Nani

Something almost every singer has to work on is learning to sing with an expanded throat. I’m not talking about forcing your throat open, as if you were yawning, but a subtler, more gradual process of deeper and deeper relaxation that leads to you naturally singing with your throat open.

​In working with my students on this I have noticed that expanding the throat can go hand in hand with opening the heart. When we sing with an open throat our sound is deeper, more resonant, and richer in overtones. Also, the sense of putting out a lot of “effort” decreases dramatically, and singing feels easier and more comfortable. Definitely a desirable situation!

​But I believe that, beyond that, as singers work on expanding their throat and increasing their resonance, they can begin to experience more openness to understanding and accepting other people’s reality; more compassion; a greater awareness of others’ needs; and—ultimately—more empathy.

​As these qualities unfold they become much better performers, because what else is a good singer if not someone who’s able to tune into the audience’s needs and let the healing power of music flow through him or her to reach the listener?

​I’ll explore this more deeply in my next newsletter, but in the meantime I invite you to reflect on someone you know who has a particularly resonant singing and/or speaking voice, and ask yourself whether they seem like an open-hearted person…and why.

Read Part 2

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