#3 Singing with closed vocal chords

I've gotten pretty good at "releasing" the tone, that is singing without straining by engaging the throat muscles we use to swallow. I've trained those rogue muscles to relax, but at the expense of having my vocal chords properly. So my tone is light and free throughout my range, but it isn't very powerful and it sounds a bit light and operatic. Turns out pop music is the hardest to sing correctly because it requires the vocal chords to come together securely to create a tone that has very little vibrato and is very close to speech. Most singers, to get that sound, strain their voice and engage their swallowing muscles: that closes the vocal chords without fail, but the tone is tight. Releasing the tone (not using the swallowing muscles) but still keeping the vocal chords tight is a real trick that few singers have mastered. Maybe only the greats. But, at the risk of sounding cocky, I'm gonna get there. To drill, I sing a loud "Aaaaa" throughout my range. It's ugly as hell, but saying "aa" as in "bat" or "cat" forces the vocal chords to stay closed.

By the way, keeping the vocal chords closed and tight together is what it means to "press in" . . . a term some singing teachers love. Pressing in is not exclusively about singing louder or pumping more air through your body, although that's part of it. The foundation of it is keeping those vocal chords tight together, which results in volume and proper breath support.