FIVE MOST
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS - Part 1 of 5
I have been working as a voice teacher and vocal coach
for more years than most of you have been alive. I directed
my first choir at age 13 (fifty-two years ago). I've
traveled many, many miles and worked with thousands
of voices in those travels. I never tire of my job because
each person is unique and each voice a challenge. People
are all so different. Each student has a different body
type, mouth shape, resonating capability, learning style,
and experience level. Even if I see the same person
on a weekly basis for vocal training, the circumstances
of that person's life change, therefore changing how
he or she can absorb information and how his/her voice
sounds.
Think about it. Don't you have days when you feel wonderful
and days when, though not sick, you just don't feel
like yourself? That phrase always amuses me. I can't
think whom else you might feel like, and indeed how
can we know how anyone else really feels. I personally
would like to wake up thirty years younger and thirty
pounds lighter. But enough fantasy. You don't feel the
same everyday and your voice does not sound the same
everyday. Since, as singers, our body is our instrument,
we are dependent on a healthy well-maintained body to
have the best vocal experience and outcome possible.
Taking all these facts into consideration I have always
found it interesting that there is such a common thread
of questions among singers. Certainly there are exceptions
but without a doubt the Five Most Frequently Asked Questions
are:
1. Can you help me find more air?
2. Can you help me to sound bigger/louder?
3. Can you help me increase my range?
4. Can you fix the "break" in my voice?
5. Can you tell me how long I should practice?
The next five articles will address each of these FAQ’s.
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FAQ #1 - Can You Help Me Find MORE AIR!!?
Every voice teacher in America, and probably the world,
could make a living doing nothing but teaching people
to breathe correctly. The issue of ”more air”
is foremost in every singer's mind. Air is essential
to us to maintain life and breathing air is an involuntary
reflex. When the body feels the need for air, we breathe.
As singers, though, we are asked to override what the
body reads as a need for air. We are asked to take quick
breaths and then use the air over a longer period of
time. It takes a different mindset and some physical
training to manage the singer’s demand for and
use of air.
How to have more air: Take time to adjust your posture
so that your body weight is evenly distributed between
your two feet. Ensure your shoulders, hips and knees
are aligned, and your head is floating on the stack
centered over your spine. There is no tension in this
alignment, and you should feel a sense of buoyancy.
Make yourself tall between your shoulders and waist.
Open up the chest cavity so that you provide the maximum
space for your lungs to hold air.
Next you need to explore and find out how much air you
can hold, or discover what your maximum capacity is.
Tank up like you are blowing out the candles on a birthday
cake and feel the expansion that is maximum capacity.
What you do with that air is the management portion
of the breathing experience. If you simply explode the
air out and tank up again you will not sustain a musical
phrase. Instead, we ask you to fill with air and then
use it slowly (hiss it out) while maintaining good posture,
with only that tension that occurs abdominally as you
lift out the air.
It does take self-discipline to practice breath management
without singing, but that is the most effective way
to improve your skill at managing air. Make breath exercises
a part of your daily workout for your voice.
If you need more ideas, please check the archives of
this site and see two articles on Breathing. I also
highly recommend Lori Lyford's DVD on Breathing available
from Sweet Adeline's International and the exercise
CD's by Chris and Carole Beatty on Breathing.
Please keep these things in mind on your journey:
1. AIR IS FREE!
2. Take the air in with artistry.
3. Take what you need (not a full tank every time).
4. Personalize your breath plan and alter it as you
grow.
5. Make breath exercises a part of your daily workout
for your voice.
By:
Darlene Rogers
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