What is the purpose of humming or blowing into a straw that is in or out of a glass of water and does it really help you create a better sound?
Singing/humming through a straw is called an SOVT exercise. Semi Occluded Vocal Tract.
The purpose of the straw is to create a back pressure on the vocal chords (as their is not much space for the sound to escape out of your mouth) and thus help them close more cleanly and accurately over their full length which results in a better sound.
Blowing through the straw into a glass of water will allow you to observe the bubbles so that you can aim for a continuous and steady flow of your air. Practice with different amounts of water in different sized glasses and inserting more of the straw into the glass. The more water, the deeper and narrower the straw the more back pressure you create.
Using correct support you will be able to create a steady and lengthy stream of bubbles which will in turn help you create a more stable and consistent sound throughout a phrase.
When humming through a straw close your lips gently around the straw and hum, it doesn’t matter what sounds you make it is the process of making them that helps.
When you start off using a straw use one with a big diameter and very little water in a glass. As you get better at the exercises then reduce the diameter of the straw and/or increase the amount of water in the glass. Do not overdo it and 5 min a day is more than enough.
Using a straw is a good warm up. You can also use a straw without a glass of water to just hum through.
Straw use is also good if you have had surgery on your throat or are recovering from a bad cold.
Exercise
Try the above exercises and see if you find them helpful. Can you feel your vocal chords closing when you hum? How does using a straw affect your sound?
