What did my vocal teacher mean by this?

Question:

What did my vocal teacher mean by this?

We were practing a song, until she told me to lip buzz the song. Then she told me to hum it but instead of feeling the vibrations in my nose, I had to feel them on my cheeks. While I was humming she also told me to keep my lips closed, but my jaw wide and tongue down. She said that "my tone is stuck in the back of my throat and we need to pull it out". I was going to ask her what that meant, but it was time to leave and I won't see her for the next 3 weeks. What did she mean by that?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Ah, well I'll have a go at explaining in words without demonstrations. This is another one of those reasons you have a vocal teacher! ;-)

When you produce sound it should not come from your throat. It should be supported by your diaphragm (gut breathing, breathing from the belly, I've heard it called several things) and the mouth should be nice and open - a cavern of sorts for the sound to come from.

The purpose of lip buzzes and humming is so that you begin to literally feel that sound in your head, your mouth, along the front of your face. It tingles and there is a soft pressure there. When you sing you want that same tingling, soft pressure.

I hope that helped you understand! As I said, it is a bit tricky to put into words sometimes - it is far easier to show, complete with sound effects! ;-)