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It's not the end of the world if you don't do scales, but at least warm up with easy songs; don't rush into anything you really have to reach for.
But yeah.
Pitch is, in simple and general terms, the standard notes you hear. You know, A through G on the piano, etc. A lot of people don't realise that they may actually be singing something wrong, so it's important to learn your pitches exactly.
Of course, one person is bound to have a different pitch than the next, and some have dramatically higher or lower pitches than others. In this case, whenever, for example, a very high pitched voice tries to sing a song that requires very low pitch, a key change is probably needed. This means, basically, to change the pitch to a different set of notes, so that your voice can try to match. It's like a compromise between the song's pitch and your voice. It's important, however, to choose a correct key change, and not just randomly change the pitch, so that it's still the same song. Key changes are usually done in fifths. Or in other words, for example, a C would raise to a G; you count five notes, including the first and last (C, D, E, F, G).
Sorry, that was a little confusing. :X I tried, hah. ^^'
But uh... Registers!
A music register is pretty much a section of your voice. There are four registers:
1. pulse (a.k.a. vocal fry/glottal register) - this is the lowest register; it barely has any volume to it, because it's more of the sound of your vocal chords beginning to vibrate, rather than "normal" sound
2. modal - this is the register you use for your "normal" voice; it's the register that is most comfortable to use
3. falsetto - both males and females have a general falsetto, technically; though, some vocal teachers argue whether or not it exists in singing for females...
4. whistle - this is, of course, the highest register, and usually by far the hardest to use and control
So yeah, like I said, the registers are different sections of your voice. Learning how to use and switch between the different registers is crucial in singing, especially for increasing your range to its maximum.
If you want to know anything else about them, just let me know. I'll try my best to explain them simply. ^^'
Now, your throat tightening... Since it's only with extremes on high or low notes, there's good and bad news.
The good news: You're probably singing correctly in at least your modal register, which is a great start. The bad news: You probably don't know how to effectively control your voice and throat muscles in order to achieve the proper techniques needed to sing in other registers, or to hit more difficult notes. Of course, maybe you're just pushing yourself too far. Do you know what your exact range is? Like, two and a half octaves, or three? Have you ever tried seeing how far you can go? (B before Middle C through High C, etc.)
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