Singing from throat/diaphragm

Hello

I've never done any singing before and though I'd give the begginer course a go. I've been through the first two lessons but found them really hard.

I will try to sing higher notes by squeezing my throat, I understand this isn't the right thing to do and my throat quickly feels sore like I have a cough.

I've seen comments about how you should relex your throat and sing from your diaphragm instead. I don't really understand how to do this though. Are there particular exercises I can do to help with this?

Thanks for any help!

Hi, Andrew! First, here's an hour-long lesson on breath support to help you understand and feel that low ab engagement when you sing (which is what people mean when they say to "sing from your diaphragm"). 

Second, watch this lesson to help you identify and sing in head voice. That will help you to "decompress" in your upper register instead of squeezing (compressing too much). Your head voice is helpful for range extension and flexibility, and it's crucial to developing a strong, balanced mix (below). 

Third, begin to familiarize yourself with the concept of mixed registration. The overall issue you're running into is common to almost every beginning singer: we tend to either shout or "flip" into head voice when we're singing very high in chest voice. Around D4/Eb4 (for tenors and basses) and G4/Ab4 (for sopranos and altos), we need to transition to a mix rather than full-on chest voice. This will allow us to carry some chest function up higher than we could safely do in full chest voice. Mixed registration is how most singers “belt” high, powerful notes without shouting or cracking. 

In that middle range where you're starting to feel strained, try using a tall + narrow mouth position (OH or UH shape, rather than a wide HEY or YEAH shape) to encourage more mix (head resonance along with chest). This will relieve some pressure and help you avoid the unstable "shouty" pulled-chest voice sound.

Here's a video with a singer using that kind of "tall and narrow" vowel modification: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVqS_BYsDBA. Listen carefully to the tone after he modifies the vowel. It goes from shouty chest voice to a strong but more balanced "mix". 

Here's an article on the kind of vowel substitution he used as well: https://www.thenakedvocalist.com/quick-fix-vowel-substitution/. 

And here's more instruction from us on mixed voice:

Article on mix - https://www.30daysinger.com/blog/mixed-voice-why-is-it-so-important-and-how-can-i-develop-it

3 favorite mix exercises (save this video!) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwiwZ3dS8mg&t=408s

Live lesson on mix - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0soCFM4YSIE

Hi Camille, thank you very much for the detailed reply. I'll go through those videos and articles 😃

You're welcome, Andrew!