This week I received this question from one of my subscribers and students.
“Would you talk more about some of the basics of singing like posture, breathing, diaphragmatic support, lifting the soft palate or the back of the throat to create space for resonance. It seems these and other singing basics are not widely discussed in this method.”
You’re exactly right. They aren’t discussed much. Inside this video, find out why!
Hi, I’m Chuck Gilmore with Power To Sing.
A few years ago, I asked Seth Riggs what changes he would make to his book “Singing for the Stars” if he were to rewrite it. He said he’d add a little more about breathing for singers.
He thought most people would already have the basic foundation for proper breathing. He’s seen through the years that many do not. In recent years his private lessons and teacher training camps have included more information about proper breathing for singers.
In two of my previous Episodes 15 and 16 you’ll find a lot of helpful information about diaphragmatic breathing and it’s benefits to you as a singer.
Singing Basics Will Good Posture Help Me Sing Better?
Let’s talk about posture and then I’ll talk about lifting the soft palate.
Correct posture is a real advantage for singers, especially when you’re first learning good technique.
Generally here’s the ideal. Lead with your ribcage. Find your rib cage and stand erect so you’re leading your body with your rib cage. Your shoulders should be back and aligned with your ears.
This expands your rib cage and enables your lungs to easily fill to the brim with air.
Tuck or roll your hips in slightly so they align with your spine. No swayback or camel back. Your feet should be about shoulders width apart.
Standing relaxed with this posture is a perfect setup for learning to sing. This is great posture to maintain when you take your lessons or practice, especially when first learning and developing your technique.
Obviously when you’re performing perfect posture isn’t always realistic . But until you’re confident and secure in your technique, good posture will help you progress faster.
Avoid over doing any of this and introducing unwanted physical tension. Relaxed good posture will help you sing your very best, added tension will not.
Singing Basics – Will Raising the Soft Palate Help Me Sing Better?
This brings me to the subject of raising the soft palate. I’ll also include other vocal directions such as, “Place the tone forward”, “Put it in the Mask”, “Open your throat”, “Sing from the Diaphragm” or “Keep your Tongue Down”.
These are things many singers have been told to do through the years to improve their singing. Usually they’re directions given by a well meaning voice or choir teacher, who’s trying to help the singer sound better.
Unfortunately this too often results in confusion for the singer. This introduces more unwanted vocal tension which makes singing harder, not easier.
The technique I teach uses vocal exercises known as cause and effect. That means the exercises cause the singer’s larynx to stay down, the vocal cords to adduct appropriately and the resonance to shift easily from chest to head without the singer trying to direct it.
The results is less confusion for the singer and less tension in the voice. This yields faster results.
Just this week, a professional singer was taking his first lesson with me. As he got into his head voice connected and very little tension he said, “This is amazing. Usually I’m told to lift the soft palate or something else.” His comment implied that that was more confusing than helpful.
His positive result came because the vocal exercises caused the voice to balance quickly all without any directions to raise this, open that, or put it somewhere.
Exercises to Balance Your Voice
You can experience similar results using free exercises you’ll find inside PowerToSing.com
Go to PowerToSing.com and take the vocal test and discover your vocal type. Then go to the Knowledge Center and watch all the videos about your vocal type.
Download the free exercises for your vocal type and start improving your voice rapidly.
I’m Chuck Gilmore with Power To Sing. You can sing higher with beauty, confidence and power.
I’ll see you inside the next video.
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