Throaty tone

Hello ! I have a question.

I think I'm using my breath correctly, but the problem is that my tone is mainly throaty, especially when singing middle to low notes (F4-G3). It happens mainly during the warm-ups but sometimes when I'm singing songs. I know it's unhealthy and it hurts my throat in the long run. I know (a vocal teacher told me so) you're supposed to send chest voice notes forward to the front teeth, mixed voice notes where the hard palate is and high notes in head voice back where your soft palate is. My only problem is with the chest notes : I can't help but send them back, not forward.

I'm already doing the lesson "Vocal tone" in Jonathan's 30-day beginner, but what else can I do to not sing so far back in my throat ? 

Thanks !

Great question, Elise! 

I'd train on syllables that encourage a more lifted, "forward" tone: vowels like OO and EE, and consonants that contain some nasal resonance (M/N) or action at the front of the mouth (D, B, etc). One of my go-to exercises for low chest voice is singing on the syllables DOO-BEE-DOO. You can make up your own pattern or see lesson 3 of my "How to gradually sing lower" tutorial for a DOO-BEE-DOO exercise and others you may find helpful: https://www.30daysinger.com/tutorial/how-to-gradually-sing-lower/4. 

This lesson on YT also covers low range extension with the principle of keeping the sound light and lifted: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXqiqTyxoBM. Hope that helps!

Doo-bee-doo is the best exercise for low chest. Bar none.