How To Overcome Yawning While Singing?

Yawning is a natural phenomenon that triggers us to take a deep breath. It’s the body’s actual way of rejuvenating the brain, so that it can function more effectively. By yawning, we are stimulating a neural area of the brain that plays a huge role in keeping you more conscious and self-reflective, this also aids in alertness, relaxation and good memory power.

How Yawning Affects Your Singing?

Everyone likes to sing- be it for fun, formal or religious performances, informal singing or humming in the shower etc. Whatever be the mood, we often face this problem of yawning while singing. And it’s not uncommon to yawn while singing. Singers who are new to singing or those who haven’t undergone professional singing training may find it difficult to overcome yawning while singing.

We usually think that we are too tired or not interested to sing. But the main cause is that singers need lot of oxygen and lung power while singing. This is actually a proper sign of breathing and good throat position while singing. The throat and mouth position while yawning takes care of vocal cords and surrounding tissues.

As a part of proper vocal training, a singer has to open the throat and raise rear palate. This is similar to what happens inside us while yawning. With this, we can overcome overly nasal voice or sound. You can successfully become a better singer as you gain control over yawning.

Stages Of Yawning

If you keenly notice, as you yawn, you can feel what exactly is happening to your body while yawning. There are two stages to it:

This knowledge is very much needed for a singer as the activity of abdominal muscles is primary for singing activity. So imagine that you are yawning before you start singing.

Do remember or note that you should not push your belly outward while singing. During performance and especially as you sing higher notes, relax jaw and throat to initiate the feeling of yawning; this will help you to relax your throat.

What Techniques Help You Control Yawning?

Before you sing, breathe deeply for few minutes. Try and inhale for few lesser seconds and hold the breath for a second and exhale for around few seconds. This will help your lungs intake good amount of oxygen and reduce yawning while singing. You can repeat this technique whenever you feel like yawning.

You can also overcome this by not thinking about yawning as its contagious (you feel like yawning when you see other's yawning) and even if you think about yawning you will practically experience yawning at that time and more frequently.

Before you sing long notes or a fast paced song, take more breaths and be relaxed, take note of short breaks or phrases in the song and utilize the time to breathe and exhale the old air which has less oxygen before taking in fresh air filled with oxygen. This will help you prevent yawing.

To pump up sufficient amount of oxygen while breathing, follow breathing exercises. As and when required, you can pause between phrases and exhale old air and inhale oxygen. This will maintain good vocal strength and also avoid yawning.

Mold Your Routine For Effective Singing

You can improve your singing voice fast as you make changes in your daily routine by drinking more water, eating healthy, by following few relaxation exercises like meditation, walking, reading a favorite book, playing any musical instrument or watching any good show and enough sleep.

Distortion is the twist or alteration from the original nature of sound, early singers should not worry about singing in distortion. How to sing with distortion is the question for many. To achieve it, you will need a real proper technique, complete ability to apply the concept and learn distortion. Otherwise you will end up losing your singing career.