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Outer muscle movement in my throat - is this okay?

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miss pk

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So I have always been a very throaty, chesty singer with a lot of muscle movement going on. I began taking lessons as i started having hoarseness and wanted to figure out how to sing "properly" and in a heathy way. The lessons have been great and my hoarseness has been reduced to almost never, but when i practice singing while in front of a mirror, i still notice a lot of movement in the outer muscles of my throat. After singing for an hour or so, i noticed that if i massage the muscles around my adam's apple/larynx, they feel very mildly achey. My question is: if i'm not experiencing "pain" or hoarseness inside my throat - is the outer throat muscle movement and accompanying achiness ok to have?

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  • 1 month later...

agree with Robert! Sounds like you are using swallowing muscles - need to find more anchoring of that larynx - shorter spurts of practice!!! Think athleticly!!! You are building balance into the intrinsic muscles and they don't enjoy overwork! It's like lifting weights - form and balance and give yourself rest days between so settling can happen.

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Thats an excellent answer Susala... well said. Not all laryngeal fatigue is bad... there is muscle work that is being done and it takes a workout sometimes, especially when your new to vocal training... be sure to rest though... do NOT over due it. Some students make this mistake... a good rest for 2-3 is the best thing you can do for a new voice in training sometimes... the extrinsic massage your referring to is probably fine.

See you at your next lesson PK.

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Sometimes it is helpful to do vocalise while moving the head, to interrupt those external muscles. Easiest is to lie on your back and let head roll easily side to side. Not a stretch, & doesn't need a steady rhythm, just easily-lazily keep it moving. Then start some familiar vocalise while continuing the head movements. Let jaw and tongue be really sloppy too.

Ignore the quality of sound; goal is for your nervous system to recognize that voicing is independent of neck muscles. And the nervous system only learns through repetition! So take your time & let it be a 2-week project, at least.

Intermediate step would be crawling around on hands & knees, head dropped low & still moving, like a very sleepy dog, still doing vocalise and keeping jaw loose (=tolerate drool!). When you finally stand up and sing, things will feel a LOT different. 10-15 minutes of this daily, while otherwise giving your voice a break (NOT pushing to sound "right," NOT reinforcing your old habits) can make a huge difference. Body-oriented training systems like Feldenkrais and Fitzmaurice Voicework can also be very helpful for this kind of probem.

I'm having deja-vu writing this, so if it is a repeat for anyone please forgive!

cheers, Joanna

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