VVOCAL LESSONS

POSTURE1) Stand Straight Standing straight will help you breath as much air as you can because your lungs will have the maximum space for air which is very important for breathing.

The proper posture for singers involves standing so their back, neck and head are straight; focusing their weight on the heels or balls of their feet; and situating their body into a comfortable position. Poor singing posture could lead to many bad effects. Poor singing posture -- in which the body is slouched over -- can tighten the stomach and cramp the lungs so that the body cannot smoothly inhale and exhale breaths of air. This restricts the airflow and inhibits a person's ability to use the diaphragm to sing.

Hitting NotesFor singers to hit the correct notes and strike the right melodies, they must stand with good posture so the body is straight, the limbs are comfortable and the lungs and diaphragm are free to stretch and breath. When the diaphragm is tightened by poor posture, the voice might miss notes or hit the wrong notes during melodies. Inadequate postures can also impair a singer's ability to strike very high notes that are difficult to reach.

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Power

The strength and power of a voice depend largely on posture. Tilting the body back and forth, positioning it at

an awkward angle or slouching the back can all muffle resonance. In turn, even when a singer using poor

posture hits the correct notes, the notes and melodies might have a relatively weak sound, soft volume and low

resonance. Furthermore, bad posture can inhibit a singer's ability to hold notes for long periods of time.

2) Stand tall and stand wideStanding tall means standing thinking that you are I inch taller than your real height. Standing tall will pull the lungs upward giving more room for air that you breath. Standing wide means you should feel free t o move at your sides. Have an illusion of “wideness.”

The shoulders should be back, the chin should be level with the floor or higher to make it easier for the air to travel from and to the mouth. The head should be at a comfortable speaking position. It is important to maintain proper chin posture when singing very low or very high notes. The chin that is comfortably positioned will ensure that the jaws remain properly aligned for the best vocal training. This is singing with an open throat.

The shoulders should be held back down and the chest held high but not in a strained position. When singing the shoulders should not go up and down but it is the abdomen that expands and relaxes.

Abdomen should be flat and firm, held in an expandable position. The diaphragm is a large muscle sheath that stretches across the bottom of the rib-cage, nearly cutting the body in half, separating the lower organs from the heart and lungs. During normal breathing, the diaphragm naturally flexes (or flattens) and contracts drawing air in and out of the lungs.

Supporting the voice” and “singing from the diaphragm” means flattening the diaphragm more deeply than during normal breathing and maintaining the diaphragm in that flattened position to control the release of air and the air pressure that streams across the vocal cords for phonation. To sing better, a vocalist must learn to preserve a reservoir of air in the lungs that supports and holds up a small amount of air released across the vocal cords.

When breathing inhale just enough air. If you inhale too much air, the other organs will stiffen depriving the muscles of elasticity. Inhale just as much air to a comfortable degree. What is important is not how much air you inhale but how you emit the smallest possible amount of breath. Fill your lungs with breath. You will feel your ribcage expand. Your shoulders should not rise. Raise your chest comfortably high and force the breath against it and hold it fast there.

Raise your palate high and prevent the escape of the air through the nose. The diaphragm beneath reacts against it and it furnishes pressure from the abdomen. Chest, palate, the closed epiglottis and the raised palate all form a supply chamber for the breath.Only in this way is the breath under control of the singer, through the pressure against the chest tension muscles. From now on the breath must be emitted from the breath supply sparingly.

but with uniformity and strength, without once being held back to the vocal cords, which will further regulate it as far as possible. The more directly the breath pressure is exerted against the chest, the less breath flows through the vocal cords and they are less overburdened.

• Thus, in shaping the passage for thebreath, the larynx, tongue, and palate, whichcan be placed at will, are employed. Thevocal cords, which can best be imagined asinner lips, we have under control neither asbeginners nor as artists. We do not feelthem. We first become conscious of themthrough the controlling apparatus of thebreath, which teaches us to spare them, byemitting breath through them in the leastpossible quantity and of even pressure,whereby a steady tone can be produced. Ieven maintain that all is won, when we regard themdirectly as the breath regulators, and re-lieve them of all overwork through thecontrolling apparatus of the chest-muscletension.

• Through the form prepared by the larynx,tongue, and palate, we can direct the breath,previously under control and regulation,toward the particular resonating surfaces onthe palate, or in the cavities of the head,

• which are suitable to each tone. This ruleremains the same for all voices.

• As soon as the breath leaves the larynx,it is divided. (Previously, in inhalation, asimilar thing happens; but this does notconcern us immediately, and I prefer to direct the singer's chief attention to the second occurrence.) One part may press toward the palate, the other toward the cavities of the head. The division of the breath occurs regularly, from the deepest bass to thehighest tenor or soprano, step for step, vibration for vibration, without regard to sex or individuality. Only the differing size or strength of the vocal organs through which the breath flows, the breathing apparatus, or the skill with which they are used, are different in different individuals. The seat of the breath, the law of its division, as well as the resonating surfaces, are always the same and are differentiated at most through difference of habit.

If you raise your soft palate, you're opening up your throat. Try it out, and you'll feel your throat opening wider. This allows more air passage, and for more complex notes to come out. It also helps with the development of louder and stronger notes, with the help of breath control, and it helps maintain the "round" sound you're supposed to work towards, which makes you sound more rich and full. This can't hurt you at all, if you're singing relaxed and just opening up. In fact, it's just about the best thing you can do for your voice and feels really great, like a good run in the morning.

Raise your eyebrows when you sing. It's not so you look alive, it's because if you raise your eyebrows it pulls your throat muscles higher. Work on your breath techniques to control how much breath you are letting out.

Position of the feet: The feet should be shoulder level. The feet should not be close to each other because the person will be swaying back and forth to maintain balance. The feet should be slightly apart and one foot should be a little forward to ensure perfect balance.

Position of the arms and hands:In choral singing the hands just dangle freely at the sides. However in solo singing, the hands are used for expression and emphasis.

Position of the Mouth:Do not pronounce vowels in singing like in speaking. Position the mouth in a oval shape. Do not tense the jaw or the tongue. Drop your jaw freely and do not try to control it. It is important to keep these areas relaxed. This will give you a smooth and rich tone with tension. Before the sounds are released into the air, it bounces back and forth on the walls of the mouth giving it a richer more beautiful tone.