“Vocal Advantage: Body Alignment (part 2)” by Dina Else

VOCAL ADVANTAGE: BODY ALIGNMENT (Part 2), by Dina Else

 

Last week we broke down what constitutes a beneficial body alignment for singers.  I’m a firm believer that if you stand with confidence, the emotion/mind-set is bound to follow!  I once heard Richard Miller liken body alignment to a flagpole saying, “If the flagpole is firm, the flag is free to wave!”  I love this metaphor! 

 

As we addressed last week, there is power in habit.  Our students have inadvertently developed some very poor habits in regard to their body alignment.  It’s our responsibility as choral directors to hold them accountable to creating more beneficial, efficient habits so they can use their instruments properly.  Many of your students haven’t thought in terms of the whole body as the instrument.  They’ve thought primarily from the neck up and if you’re lucky, maybe from the waist up. 

 

I’d like to be your cheerleader for a moment and encourage you to ‘fight the good fight’ with this issue! With accountability in place you and your students will experience benefits that will be worth the temporary daily struggle! And it will be temporary!  As an educator, you know that repetition is how new habits are formed.  The human brain is very adaptive, but each student’s brain and learning styles differ.  It might take some students 7-10 days to create a more efficient, beneficial body alignment, while it will take others 14-21 days of repetition and accountability!

 

My approach to teaching students to sing is to walk them through the physical components of how sound is created. Specifically, the science and anatomy involved.  Mind you, I don’t go crazy and overload them with more information than they need, but I feel it’s important to give them the basics. I don’t shy away from the anatomy, science and physics involved in phonation, respiration and articulation.  As a matter of fact, with the continued threat of our programs being cut, this is one more ‘co-curricular avenue’ you can pursue!

 

You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink!  Next week we’ll chat about the key that will have you witnessing that first, refreshing gulp!  We will also discuss ideas regarding formal assessment of body alignment in the classroom, as well as suggestions for other ways to explore this vocal concept.

 

(READ Part 1 of this article)

 

(original post date: August 12, 2013)