Learning To Sing

Mac Anderson

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Exercises to relieve jaw tightness

In some cases, you may be able to relieve tight jaw muscles using targeted exercises and stretches. Here are three you can try:

1. Manual jaw-opening exercise

Repeat small mouth-opening and mouth-closing movements several times as a warm up. Then, place your fingers on the top of your front four bottom teeth.

Slowly pull down until you feel slight discomfort on the tight side of your jaw. Hold for 30 seconds, and then slowly release your jaw back to the staring position.

Start by repeating this stretch three times, and work your way up to 12 repetitions.

2. Jaw joint stretch

This exercise helps stretch the muscles of the jaw and neck.

Press the tip of your tongue onto the roof of your mouth, directly behind your top front teeth without touching them. Next, use your tongue to apply gentle pressure. Slowly open your mouth as wide as you can, then slowly close it shut.

Stop at the point where you feel discomfort. Repeat up to 10 times. However, you shouldn’t do this exercise if it causes you any pain.

3. Smile stretch

This stretch helps eliminate stress in the facial muscles, upper and lower jaw, and neck.

Smile the widest smile you can without feeling tightness or pain. While smiling, slowly open your jaw an additional 2 inches. Inhale deeply through your mouth, then exhale while letting go of the smile. Repeat up to 10 times.

[learningtosing]

my best singing voice feels absolutely effortless

honestly it’s harder to pee than to not sound like mariah carey if you stay on top of your game

[learningtosing]

Make notes when you practice

why the fuck you think i write a blog like this on a dying platform? fuck influencers - remember you are a rockstar and read your notes - it makes a great mindset for practice

[learningtosing]

I want to be an astronaught

if you think that i can’t be an astronaut: stop reading, become an alcoholic, make sure your entire family stops loving you, and come to my welcome back to planet earth party.

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be the most extreme version of yourself

today was like any other day - i sang into a mic and played it back for 14 hours without eating.

i am unhealthy i want this so bad - but i find my patience by recognizing i will never fail if i don’t think it’s possible.

so yeah let’s get it 🤟🏻

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singing is like talking with music

you think it’s obvious? try to sing right now in a mirror if you don’t look like your talking you suck.

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out your nose but in reverse

my nasal cavities and upper jaw vibrate like i just snorted a huge line of cotton candy ☠️

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Your entire chest should feel like a finely tuned bass drum

Think of your midsection as a resonator of sound - if the walls of your space around your breathe are tight it will give your voice a strong and powerful presence.

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Don’t take financial advice from a bartender

It will fuck you I promise.

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Stop singing in the shower

The shower is a place to get clean.

You might forget a spot? 🤣

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Get a voice coach if you were ever told you would never be a good singer

Chances are you are like me - naturally untalented.

Don’t worry natural talent only matters to losers who will never be anything.

I am not saying natural talent is not great - all I am saying is that phrase only comes out of the mouths of people who will never know what it takes to get to the top.

You are going to have to train muscles in ways you can’t imagine - call Florentina Banaga she was my teacher and I could not of done any of this without her.

Thanks Florentina!

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Don’t forget dead cats

What I really mean is warm up - my favorite is “Me, Meh, Mah, Mo, Moo” which when I first started sounded like the death rattle of a herd of cats.

Warming up does two things:

Prevents injury

Prevents reinforcing bad habits related to position of the mouth or how you use your breath.

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Tension below the neck releases tension above the neck.

Your abs should be sore the day after you practice singing but your voice should be clear.

Working the hell out of your abs is the easiest way to remove tension from your voice.

It literally should feel like you are going to the bathroom all the time.

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It’s okay to look like an idiot

You should still record your practices.

Chances are if you look stupid you sound stupid.

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Bite the apple

But don’t swallow it, or actually eat one either.

You will know your mouth position is correct when you sing when air moves freely on the roof of your mouth causing your entire facial bone structure to vibrate pleasantly.

The easiest way to do this is to sing with a position of your mouth similar to what you naturally do when you are about to bite an apple.

[learningtosing]

Relax your jaw

It will feel open but that’s because your muscles are so used to being tense around your jaw and mouth.

Don’t believe me?

Sing with a finger pressing firmly on either side of your cheek just below the point where your lower jaw meets your upper jaw.

You will instantly sound better I promise. You must practice this in order to get to the point where you understand what it means to “drop your jaw”.

If you don’t relax your jaw you will give yourself a hernia. I speak from experience.

[learningtosing]

Stop giving a fuck about what everyone else thinks.

Let’s pretend for a second you were in church and someone told you:

“Jesus doesn’t want to hear that shit”

What would you do?

I only found success with singing when I stopped giving a fuck about what everybody else thought.

If you don’t sing you won’t sound good for a while - it’s a long road - but even you can sound better than John Legend.

The real question is how bad do you want it?