How to Not Sing From Your Throat: Expert Tips

Lara Ziff
Vocal coach, Vocalist
08/18/25 | Last modified: 12/22/25

If you’ve ever felt sore, out of breath, or hoarse after singing – chances are, you might be singing from your throat. It’s one of the most common mistakes that early-stage singers make. This habit can cause strain, limit your range, and flatten your tone. 

However, it’s completely fixable with the right technique and awareness. You can learn how to not sing from your throat and replace it with healthy, supported vocal delivery. In this article, you’ll discover what causes throat-heavy singing, why it’s harmful, and exactly how to stop it. You’ll also pick up some beginner-friendly exercises that will free your voice and improve your technique.

What Is Throat Singing?

You may be wondering what ‘singing from your throat’ actually means, as it makes sense that any kind of sound we make vocally, would obviously come from our throat regardless. However, in the context of singing correctly, it refers to overusing your throat muscles to create sound instead of letting your breath support and resonance do the work.

When you sing solely from your throat, your voice can sound tight and lack control. You might notice that high notes feel like a struggle and your throat dries out quickly. Risks of singing from your throat can include: 

• vocal strain 

• possible injury over time

• a limited range and reduced flexibility

• poor tone quality

• faster vocal fatigue
  

A lot of the time some people don’t even realise that they are singing from their throat, and are therefore questioning why they experience these symptoms. Just in case you’re wondering how to know if you’re singing from your throat, here are some signs that you may be:

• Tightness in your neck or jaw when singing

• A sore or scratchy feeling after performing, or needing to cough

• Hoarseness after a short session 

• The sensation of “pushing” notes out uncomfortably 

• A lack of richness or resonance in your sound
  

Your throat is simply just a channel for airflow and vibration. Real vocal power comes from controlled breath support, specifically using your diaphragm alongside resonance, which amplifies the natural tone in your chest, mouth, and head cavities.

Why Singing From the Diaphragm Matters

When we sing, it’s not our throat that should be doing the heavy lifting, it’s our diaphragm. This is a large, dome-shaped muscle under your lungs that separates the chest cavity from the abdominal cavity. Its primary function is to aid in breathing by contracting and flattening during inhalation, increasing the volume of the chest cavity, and drawing air into the lungs.

Imagine your diaphragm is a balloon – as you breathe in, the balloon inflates, and as you breathe out, the balloon deflates. Honing in on your diaphragmatic breathing when singing allows for deep, steady breaths and gives you more control over your airflow. It also provides you with greater projection without shouting, less tension in your throat, and better stamina for longer performances. Your throat can stay relaxed, and your vocal folds can vibrate comfortably without strain.

Best Techniques to Stop Singing From Your Throat

Below are eight effective methods to help you replace throat-heavy singing with healthy, supported vocal delivery. These tips will naturally encourage you to start introducing diaphragmatic breathing also. 

1. Breath Support Exercises

Breath support is the foundation for learning how to stop singing from your throat. If your airflow is weak, your throat will overcompensate.

Try this exercise – The Farinelli Breathing Technique (you can use this video as a guide) 

• Inhale slowly through your nose for a count of 4 letting your belly expand

• Then suspend this breath for another count of 4

• Then exhale with a gentle “sss” sound for a further 4-count, letting out all of the air

• You can then continue this pattern up to a 10-count, and so on

2. Understanding Vocal Placement 

Vocal placement refers to where you focus the sound of your voice so it resonates in the most efficient and vibrant way. Instead of pushing from the throat, you can also direct your tone to resonate in areas like the front of the face, chest, or head, depending on the style and pitch. Good vocal placement will reduce strain and create a richer, more-defined sound.



To tap into your placement, try this exercise: 



• Start by making a humming sound like “mmm” and pay attention to the vibrations in your lips, nose, and cheekbones.

• Without losing that buzzing feeling, open into a vowel like “ahh” or “eee” while maintaining the forward resonance.

• Repeat this at different pitches to explore how the placement shifts as you go higher or lower. 

• You will start to feel the placement location rise to your head as your pitch goes higher.

Being familiar with vocal placement helps singers connect the physical sensation of resonance with the sound they produce. 

3. Keeping The Mouth Relaxed

Something that a lot of people underestimate the importance of when it comes to singing overall is the focus on your mouth cavity. Incorporating mouth exercises into your warm-up routine is crucial to ensure that you avoid throat strain.

Just like stretching your legs before running a marathon, stretching out your mouth and relaxing your muscles before a vocal workout is vital. You can do this in the most simple ways including: 

• Massaging your jaw hinge gently

• Pretending to chew a piece of gum

• Stretching your mouth wide a few times

• Completing some lip trills 

This way, you are ensuring that your mouth is moist and flexible. Thereby avoiding cracked lips, a dry mouth, or any aching!

4. Posture and Alignment

Another important element of the physical side to singing is your posture. Poor posture can compress your airway and force your throat to overwork. Always bear in mind the following checklist when getting ready to sing to ensure that you are well-positioned. 

• Feet shoulder-width apart

• Head up, looking ahead

• Knees relaxed and not bent

• Spine tall, shoulders relaxed

• Chest open but not stiff

5. Siren Slides



Sirens are an exercise where you glide smoothly from your lowest comfortable note to your highest, and then back down, imitating the sound of a siren. You can do them to any vowel or preferred sound – some common examples are to the word “woo” or a “zzz” sound.

They teach you how to stop singing from your throat as the continuous sliding encourages your vocal folds to stretch and adjust gradually, rather than forcing. In addition, using a light, connected tone through the slide keeps the throat relaxed and shifts the work to your breath support and resonance.



Have a go with this exercise using the video here.

6. Gentle Falsetto Work

Singing in your head voice naturally takes weight off the vocal folds, which reduces tension in the throat. By practicing this way, you learn to rely on breath support and resonance rather than tightening your neck muscles. Over time, this strengthens control in your upper range, allowing you to hit higher notes without throat strain. It also trains your voice to transition smoothly between chest voice and head voice, preventing harsh “throat pushing” moments.

Start by choosing a song in a comfortable pitch in your upper range. Then sing a few lines, lightly in falsetto, keeping the sound airy, soft, and effortless. Avoid pushing the sound – let it float naturally. You can try sliding up and down in falsetto or holding single notes for a few seconds also.

7. Chewing While Vocalising



Many singers subconsciously lock their jaw or hold their tongue when trying to produce notes, which leads to tension in the throat. When we chew, we are naturally relaxing the jaw and tongue, creating more space in the oral cavity and throat. Practising chewing whilst singing allows your sound to resonate freely without relying on throat muscles. It’s especially helpful for beginners or those who tend to “push” high notes from the neck and raise their heads.

How to do it: 

• Hum or sing a simple melody while exaggerating a slow chewing motion with your jaw.

• Keep your tongue relaxed and move it slightly with the jaw. 

• You can even combine this with vowel sounds like “ahh” or “eee” while chewing.

8. Straw Phonation (Straw Vocalisation)



Straw phonation creates backwards pressure that gently balances the vocal folds. This reduces throat tension, improves breath support, and helps you feel how sound should flow without pushing from the throat. This can involve either singing or sliding notes through a narrow straw while blowing gently.

Take a small straw, and hum or sing a simple scale through it. Try to focus on steady airflow and smooth transitions between notes. You can also experiment with slides up and down the scale.

How to Know if You Are Singing From Your Throat

It’s actually quite easy to spot the signs of singing from your throat – you just need to tune into your body. When you’re singing predominantly from your throat, your neck and larynx muscles are taking over the work that should be shared between your breath support and resonance spaces. Take a read of some of these self-check tips to be able to identify when you’re singing too much from your throat: 

Physical Sensations: 


• A tight, pinching or restricted feeling in your neck or throat while projecting.

• Feeling like you’re pushing the sound out rather than letting it flow.


• Throat dryness, irritation or soreness after only short periods of singing.


• Sometimes, you can even notice your neck veins or tendons bulging during higher or louder notes.



Record and Review Yourself:


A simple way to determine whether you are singing from your throat is to actually record yourself and watch/listen back carefully. On an audio recording for example, it can reveal any tightness or strain that you didn’t notice in real time. You can listen closely and jump back to different points in a song where you may notice more strain or force.


In addition, if you want to explore the option of filming yourself you can look out for visual cues that you are over-singing from your throat too. An example of these may be your posture i.e., your jaw, shoulders or chest tensing up. Another visual cue could be if your facial expression is strained, i.e., your forehead is wrinkling or your eyebrows are furrowing when singing challenging parts.


Common Mistakes That Lead to Throat Singing

Beginners often fall into throat-heavy habits because of a few different reasons. Some examples of this can be shallow breathing from the chest instead of the diaphragm, a tight jaw or rigid tongue, and a slouched posture.



Another big mistake that singers can get into the habit of is neglecting vocal warm ups. Jumping straight into singing without warming up can do much more harm than good. This can cause the voice to feel stiff forcing you to rely on the throat for power rather than tuning into your breath support. Lack of awareness of correct techniques can also lead to throat singing, which is why vocal tuition is vital for beginners to help them avoid damaging their voice. 

How Forbrain Can Help You Avoid Singing From Your Throat

Forbrain headset is a powerful coaching tool for singers who want to break free from unhelpful singing habits. Using bone conduction technology, Forbrain transmits the sound of your voice directly through the bones of your skull to your inner ear. It then bypasses some of the muffling that happens when you only hear your voice through the air. This gives you an ultra-clear, real-time version of your own sound, making it far easier to detect tension, pitch, and tone.

Ways to effectively use Forbrain:

• Warm-Up Exercises: Wear a Forbrain headset while humming, doing lip trills, or singing scales. The direct sound feedback helps you release throat tension and focus on your resonance.

• Focused Song Practice: Pick out the challenging parts of a song, especially sustained phrases, and use Forbrain to monitor and avoid any strain in real time.

• Pair with Pitch Detection Apps: Combine Forbrain with pitch-monitoring apps to get both auditory and visual feedback on your phone, so you can see and hear exactly what’s happening with your tone and placement.

Final Words

To conclude, learning how not to sing from your throat comes down to a handful of considerations. These include: self-awareness, consistent breath support, practice, and healthy habits. With focus and persistence, and tools like Forbrain to keep you on track, you’ll be able to sing with more ease, confidence, and precision. Your voice will thank you for years to come.