Projecting your voice is achieved by accessing the body’s natural resonating chambers. These are empty spaces in your body through which the vibrations move before reaching the listener. Some of these spaces are located within soft tissue and some others are located within boney cavities. Resonance is passive because it receives the vibrations from the vocal cords, which are active. When singers push their voice, we could say that they are trying to "make active" something which by nature, is passive.

The primary resonance is a much disputed point among singing teachers and on the internet. I'm not sure why this is so, as it is so obvious. Some teachers claim the primary resonance is in the head or the chest, but these are too far away from the vocal cords to be considered primary. Logically speaking, resonance would be an empty space located in the area closest to the vocal cords, would it not?

Located in the neck, just above the cords themselves is an area called the pharynx and it is made up of soft tissue. The pharynx can change shape based on how you hold your neck. Likewise, your vocal resonance changes in quality in relation to your neck positioning or alignment (see Pharynx).

If you crane your neck forward to reach your microphone or if you raise your head up for that ‘big finish’ you are collapsing this crucial resonating chamber and losing your best tone qualities.

When you are able to both align the soft tissue spaces of the neck and relax them, they will provide more resonance or projection. Resonance, therefore, has more to do with neck alignment than any manipulation of the tongue or soft palate, or pushing your voice: play around with this idea while speaking and you will find it to be true. Now that you know where your primary resonance is, you will begin, perhaps, to access it naturally. If not, there are techniques which can be learned to maximize the warmth of your voice. These are techniques that go beyond what is needed in ordinary speech and exclusive to singers.