vocal tips

Lesson 1: Posture: The Basis For All Good Singing
Lesson 2: Breath: The Fuel For Singing
Lesson 3: Phonation: Creating The Sounds Of Music

Vocal Production Lesson 1
Posture: The Basis For All Good Singing

(This series was previously published in The Pitch Pipe during the mid-90s. The series was so popular during its first run we have decided to update and bring it back for an encore.)

By Betty Clipman, international board of directors

Every Sweet Adeline loves to sing. Whatever we derive from our membership, it is much more rewarding for us when we sing well. Thus, we have great drive throughout our organization to do so. The better each member sings, the better the quartet or chorus sounds and the more rewarding the experience for every member.

Vocal skills are the key ingredients for all performing groups, and individual vocal lessons are the ideal way to improve; however, many of us don’t have the time or money for individual vocal instruction. Even so, there is a way to become a better singer: do-it-yourself vocal production lessons!

With this article, we begin a journey that will continue over the next several issues of The Pitch Pipe. The goal of the series is to present information in such a way that each reader will be able to learn and practice improved vocal production techniques, even if it is not possible to take professional vocal lessons. So let’s begin …

Posture is the basis of all good singing. When you study a musical instrument, you are first taught to hold it correctly so that you have the ability to play it properly. The human voice is the most versatile and flexible of musical instruments. Since we sing with our whole body, it is important, and the basis of all good singing, to learn how to hold the body properly.

The ultimate goal in singing is a freely produced, rich, open and resonated sound. The vocal apparatus must be relaxed. The way the body is held –its posture– has a major impact on whether the vocal mechanism can remain relaxed and free.

Common posture problems:

1. Locking the knees – When the knees are locked, the body is off balance. This causes body tension, which creates a tense singer. Be sure to put the weight forward on the balls of the feet and keep the tail bone tucked under to help avoid inadvertent locking of the knees.

2. Swayback – Sometimes a singer tries to attain a lifted chest by pulling the shoulders back (and consequently tensing them) instead of using the muscles around the rib cage to lift the ribs out of the waistline. The intercostal muscles surrounding the ribcage are the muscles that should be used to lift the ribs and the sternum. When the shoulders are pulled back instead of the sternum being lifted high, and the buttocks are not tucked under but are thrust backward, swayback posture is the result. In this tense, unbalanced position, good vocal production is not possible.

3. Chest droop – As a musical phrase is sung and air is exhaled, it is easy to allow the chest to cave in and the rib cage to drop back into the waistline. At the end of the phrase, if this occurs, the singer has lost the height of the sternum. As you sing a phrase, consciously retain the height of the sternum and resist the collapse of the rib cage.

You might have other posture problems as well as these three common ones. To monitor your posture, look in a full-length mirror and compare your body alignment to the illustration here and the example photograph. Check each of the ten elements listed beside the illustration (feet, weight, knees, buttocks, etc.).

More information about proper singing posture is available from many sources; an excellent one is http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesArticle/id-2013%2Csubcat-ARTS.html, another one is How to Train Singers, a book and audiotape package by Larra Browning Henderson. Both sources include many good exercises as well as vocal production theory. The book package is available through international sales.
If all singers in a chorus will practice and attain good posture, it will make a noticeable difference in the overall sound of the group. So I challenge you to master correct singing posture. When you do, you will notice a significant improvement in the quality of your voice. And you will be prepared to begin work on the next key ingredient of vocal production: breathing. We will take up that subject in the next issue of The Pitch Pipe.

Sample Exercise

Since posture is a key ingredient and the basis for all good singing, it is important for every singer to practice often enough and long enough to make correct posture a habit. Even after you consider yourself an expert, it is vital to continue to monitor your posture, because it is extremely easy to lapse into incorrect body alignment. Maintaining correct posture even for the length of one song requires considerable muscle strength and control. Regular practice sessions help build strength and endurance as well as reinforcing the techniques themselves.
Here is a simple exercise that will help you develop strength and endurance in the intercostals muscles, so that they are more able to hold the rib cage high and wide more efficiently and for longer periods of time:

• Take in a full breath through the nose, inhaling as much air as possible but without creating any tension in the chest or shoulder area. Expand the rib cage to its capacity.

• Now exhale, using a hissing sound like air escaping from a tire, as you count slowly from one to eight. Resist the inclination to allow the rib cage to collapse while exhaling; use the intercostal muscles to keep the rib cage high and wide.

• Continue to perform the exercise on a daily basis, gradually building up your exhalation time to 16 counts while maintaining the position of a high, wide, open rib cage.

• Note that the danger in this exercise is tension and overexertion. It is easy to become tense about not allowing the rib cage to collapse. Remain conscious of keeping free of tension, constriction and tightness in the shoulder and chest areas.

Proper singing posture, from the toes up:

• One foot slightly in front of the other, feet comfortably apart for good balance

• Weight forward on the balls of the feet, heels on floor

• Knees relaxed and flexible

• Buttocks tucked under

• Chest (sternum) lifted high and spread wide

• A feeling of the ribs being lifted up out of the waistline

• Shoulders relaxed, as if hanging on a coat hanger

• Neck relaxed, head able to move freely

• Head remains level

• Chin parallel to the floor, neither lifted nor lowered

More information can be found at www.sweetadelinesintl.org