Worship Arts July August September 2022

Torso and head positioning and spinal alignment

Without realizing it, seniors tend to slump forward with their upper torso and slightly drop their heads. When they sing in this posture, ten sion is created in the upper abdominal wall which slows the amount of air flowing upwards, creating what we assume is an “old” sound. Seniors must be continuously reminded to hold their upper torso in a higher position with heads facing forward and slightly up, instead of looking toward the floor (an Alexander Technique concept of perpetual lengthening of the spine, as opposed to using a set, rigid posture). Singers should keep the lower torso Breath support is a means of lifting the maxi mum amount of air flow into the vocal folds, allow ing them to work at maximum efficiency. Contrary to public opinion, we do not have vocal cords, but simply two flaps of skin that are drawn together by upward air flow, creating vocal sound. These vocal folds act involuntarily, being activated not on their own, but by the upward flowing air. After helping seniors assume a better posture of perpetual lengthening of the spine, have them put one hand lightly over their throats. Then have them sing simple pitches, asking them to be aware of the movement of air into their voices, but not allowing any muscular effort in the area below their hand. The vocal folds should initiate involun tarily from the air flow, a phenomenon called the Bernoulli Effect, without any effort being initiated in the throat area. The only physical effort should come from the lower torso in the process of bring ing the air flow upwards. Next, have the singers place their fists on top of one another on their sternums and then sing any pitch, imagining that the sound is initiating from directly under their fists. Still in their imaginations, have them try to push their sound into their fists, which will result in better breath support and a solid connection between the voice and the torso. Another useful analogy is to have singers think about the physical effects of jumping on a tram poline or pogo stick in their youth. That sense of springing upward is what the initiation of vocal sound should feel like within the torso. That image also reminds singers to continually “trampoline”

involved in the process of moving the air up to the vocal folds, with the upper torso remaining in a high position. The primary physical effort is the breath support from below, but the upper torso positioning must not collapse forward and down during the act of singing. These are habits that even seniors with mobility concerns can accomplish. Seniors don’t necessarily have to sit forward on their chairs, but simply elevate up with their upper torsos, shoulders slightly back but not elevated, arching the lower back forward just a bit, and holding the head (not the chin) higher. the first note of a phrase, and “re-trampoline” im portant notes in the phrase or whenever it feels that the pressure is creeping up into their throats. In all vocal work with senior singers, avoid old fashioned staccato warm-ups or glottal attacks of voice part entrances. Singing for seniors must always be about linear flow, never about horizontal punching. Even the initiation of the first note should already be a part of the journey through the melodic phrase, not a separate thing one does before at the initiation of the melody. Increased air flow and breath support help solve the problem of singers running out of air. The more air you try to use, the more efficiently the air is used, and more is left over. It also is an asset in develop ing better agility, the ability to sing fast moving notes, and helps singers move with more confidence between registers. Breath support analogies: • Singing should feel like long distance speaking, rather than talking on the phone. It needs to project, and if one thinks about projection, it happens automatically. • The muscles of the lower torso should stabilize breathing with a lower torso gripping sensation similar to the gradual gripping of a good hand shake. • Breath support under the singing voice is like pulling back an archery bow to build the mo mentum which makes the arrow fly forward with unobstructed momentum.

Breath support and air flow

__________________________________________________________________________________________________ July-August-September 2022 • WorshipArts • umfellowship.org 19