What Does “Placement” Actually Mean? (And Should You Be Worried About Sounding Nasal?)

How many times has your vocal coach or choir director told you to “bring the sound forward” or “put it in the mask”?

Same.

It sounds cool and mysterious: until you realize no one can really tell you what it actually means. 

Placement is one of those fuzzy vocal concepts that gets tossed around like confetti… but often without much clarity.

And sometimes, not to throw shade, but even coaches don’t fully know what they’re talking about.

So let’s unpack it, shall we?

“But won’t that make me sound nasal?”

Someone in our Singing / Straw™ Studio App community recently asked: 

“Isn’t bringing the sound forward a bad thing because it makes you sound too nasally?”

Great question. 

But also: welcome to the misunderstood world of nasality.

Here’s the truth: nasality is not inherently bad. 

It’s just a thing. 

A measurable thing, in fact. It’s about how much airflow is going through your nasal cavity while you’re making sound.

• A lot of nasal airflow? That’s hypernasal.

• Super low nasal airflow? That’s hyponasal.

• Somewhere in between? Totally normal.

Want to test your own? 

💡TRY THIS: Sing something and pinch your nose. If the sound changes dramatically or cuts off? Congrats! You’re sending airflow through your nose. (Not wrong. Just hyper-nasal.)

What about when I’m using my Singing / Straw™?

Quick sidebar: if you’re doing straw phonation exercises, you don’t want air going through your nose. 

Not because nasality is bad, but because you’re trying to channel all that air through the straw to maximize vocal benefits.

No sneaky nose-leaks. 

We just want pure, focused airflow.

So… what even is placement?

Glad you asked. Here's the hot take:

You don’t place sound. 

That’s not how sound works.

Your vocal folds vibrate, air flows, and sound reverberates through your vocal tract.

The end.

You’re not parking your resonance in a driveway labeled “mask.”

But you can influence how that sound feels, sounds, and resonates… through vocal tract shaping.

Think of it like vocal architecture:

• Raise or lower your larynx

• Widen or narrow your lips

• Lift your soft palate

• Move your tongue into different positions

All of that changes how your sound is perceived and how it feels in your body. Some singers call that sensation “placement,” but really, it’s just… science. With a little sparkle.

TL;DR: There’s no one right way to sound

Dark or bright. 

Forward or open. 

Nasal or not-nasal. 

It’s all valid! It just depends on the sound you’re going for.

The real goal should be to increase your “nasal awareness”.

Where and when you find yourself leaning more into nasality. 

And you can do this by trying to sing with different shapes. 

Notice how they feel across your range. 

Develop control so you can make artistic choices with confidence. (Something we help our singers do inside our Love Your Voice Course.)

I don’t tell my students to “place” their sound. 

I help them explore what’s possible.

Wanna go even DEEPER into topics like this?

You can watch the full video breakdown (plus all my fave warm-ups and the Q&A module) right now in the Singing / Straw Studio App. 

And if you're new? You can try it totally free for 7 days. No commitment, no pressure… just better singing.

Watch the Full Q&A in the App + Start Your Free Trial

See you (and your resonant face) inside.