hello@monomo.com
Vocal lesson 2
Support
The Benefits of Effective Support
Support is a common element in all types of singing, regardless of musical style. Developing your singing technique often requires a deep understanding of support. Effective support offers many benefits. It can help you achieve:
• longer notes
• consistent sound production
• a wider vocal range
• freedom from hoarseness or strain
• greater volume
• control of vibrato
• control of pitch
Exhalation delay
Many singers think that singing is simply a matter of exhaling air. But if you let the air out too quickly, your singing will not last. Whenever you speak or sing, you need to hold your breath. For most people, exhalation is an unconscious process controlled by the diaphragm, which simply relaxes and releases air quickly. A singer, however, must consciously and actively participate in controlling the exhalation; this process is called support. Support requires both physical strength and control.
Feel the outflow of air
Place the back of your hand against your mouth and exhale. Feel the flow of air on your hand. Now add a note, exhaling as before. Listen to how weak and breathy the note is. Now sing a more powerful, resonant tone, and you will feel that less air is escaping onto the back of your hand. So, to produce resonant, powerful notes, you must hold the air rather than release it immediately.
Support is a common element in all types of singing, regardless of musical style. Developing your singing technique often requires a deep understanding of support. Effective support offers many benefits. It can help you achieve:
• longer notes
• consistent sound production
• a wider vocal range
• freedom from hoarseness or strain
• greater volume
• control of vibrato
• control of pitch
Exhalation delay
Many singers think that singing is simply a matter of exhaling air. But if you let the air out too quickly, your singing will not last. Whenever you speak or sing, you need to hold your breath. For most people, exhalation is an unconscious process controlled by the diaphragm, which simply relaxes and releases air quickly. A singer, however, must consciously and actively participate in controlling the exhalation; this process is called support. Support requires both physical strength and control.
Feel the outflow of air
Place the back of your hand against your mouth and exhale. Feel the flow of air on your hand. Now add a note, exhaling as before. Listen to how weak and breathy the note is. Now sing a more powerful, resonant tone, and you will feel that less air is escaping onto the back of your hand. So, to produce resonant, powerful notes, you must hold the air rather than release it immediately.
Compulsion
Attempting to produce powerful notes by expelling a large volume of air is known as ‘forcing’, ‘pushing’ or ‘blowing’. This is very tiring and, as a rule, puts an enormous strain on the voice. You can recognise ‘forced’ notes by the fact that your voice sounds hoarse, even if the note is quite powerful. You can usually also feel the air on your hand if you hold it up to your mouth whilst singing. If a singer ‘strains’ their voice, they usually cannot sing for very long without feeling ‘fatigue’ in their voice or experiencing pain.
Avoid ‘straining’; sing whilst holding your breath. You will feel the flow of air on your hand in front of your mouth decrease. Try to imagine that you are ‘singing inwards’ or that you are ‘drinking whilst singing’. At first, the notes will often be less powerful, but this is a natural stage. Keep practising, and soon you will be able to sing with a stronger voice without a noticeable flow of air.
Support when speaking and singing is, in essence, an extension of the natural ‘support’ you use in everyday life, for example, when you’re about to cough or shout at someone. Notice how you hold your breath, as if gathering extra energy, just before it all bursts out. In other words, singing and speaking have more to do with holding your breath than with exhaling.
Avoid ‘straining’; sing whilst holding your breath. You will feel the flow of air on your hand in front of your mouth decrease. Try to imagine that you are ‘singing inwards’ or that you are ‘drinking whilst singing’. At first, the notes will often be less powerful, but this is a natural stage. Keep practising, and soon you will be able to sing with a stronger voice without a noticeable flow of air.
Support when speaking and singing is, in essence, an extension of the natural ‘support’ you use in everyday life, for example, when you’re about to cough or shout at someone. Notice how you hold your breath, as if gathering extra energy, just before it all bursts out. In other words, singing and speaking have more to do with holding your breath than with exhaling.
The candle exercise
Early Italian singing teachers recognised the importance of support. They would place a lit candle in front of the singer’s mouth to check whether their support was correct. The test involved ensuring that the flame did not flicker whilst the singer was singing; in other words, as little air as possible should be exhaled. This is precisely how singers should control their breathing. The less air that is released, the better the singing will be. Natural support develops gradually into adulthood. In young children, the diaphragm dictates when to breathe in. When children begin to speak, they are not very good at holding their breath and therefore sound as if they are short of breath when they speak, and break off words in odd places.
Don’t breathe in too much air
The diaphragm works hard to expel air, especially if you have taken in too much. Of course, you need to inhale enough air to sustain a long note or phrase, but if you inhale too much, you will not benefit from the extra air, as the pressure on the diaphragm will increase accordingly. Although inhaling a large amount of air makes it easier to achieve greater volume, you must be physically very strong to control the pressure of the diaphragm. Only some Wagnerian singers benefit from filling their lungs with such a large amount of air, because they aim to achieve maximum volume and possess the necessary strength to hold the air. You must be aware of how much air you need and how much physical strength you have to hold the air. You may notice that different songs require different levels of support. Practise breathing with an amount of air that feels comfortable to you until it becomes natural.
If a singer has breathing problems, this may be because the air in the lungs is not fully used up before new air is inhaled. This often causes uncontrolled constriction due to increased pressure on the diaphragm, because there is too much ‘old’ air in the lungs. Sing a few phrases of the song and, when you feel the need to breathe in, breathe out instead. Notice if there is any excess air left that you haven’t used.
The diaphragm works hard to expel air, especially if you have taken in too much. Of course, you need to inhale enough air to sustain a long note or phrase, but if you inhale too much, you will not benefit from the extra air, as the pressure on the diaphragm will increase accordingly. Although inhaling a large amount of air makes it easier to achieve greater volume, you must be physically very strong to control the pressure of the diaphragm. Only some Wagnerian singers benefit from filling their lungs with such a large amount of air, because they aim to achieve maximum volume and possess the necessary strength to hold the air. You must be aware of how much air you need and how much physical strength you have to hold the air. You may notice that different songs require different levels of support. Practise breathing with an amount of air that feels comfortable to you until it becomes natural.
If a singer has breathing problems, this may be because the air in the lungs is not fully used up before new air is inhaled. This often causes uncontrolled constriction due to increased pressure on the diaphragm, because there is too much ‘old’ air in the lungs. Sing a few phrases of the song and, when you feel the need to breathe in, breathe out instead. Notice if there is any excess air left that you haven’t used.
How does it work?
- The diaphragm, ribs and their supporting musclesTo control your exhalation, you need to control your diaphragm. When the diaphragm contracts and moves downwards, the lungs fill with air. When the diaphragm relaxes and moves upwards, the lungs empty. The aim is to keep the diaphragm lowered so that the air remains inside.Continue
The diaphragm is attached to the lower ribs. During inhalation, it contracts and lowers, whilst the ribs move outwards further. If you can keep your ribs protruding for as long as possible whilst exhaling, you will have a better chance of preventing the diaphragm from relaxing and thus expelling all the air. To locate the muscles that help keep your ribs protruding and help you hold your breath, you need to understand the anatomy of the body. - Abdominal musclesHold your breath and notice that when you push your stomach outwards, you can feel your ribs moving inwards. Conversely, when you pull your stomach in, you can feel your ribs moving outwards. Thus, the stomach must move inwards to keep the ribs outwards. When you pull your stomach in, you are using the four abdominal muscles (see illustration).Continue
- Back musclesThe large muscles on either side of the back extend from the armpits to the tendons that attach to the hip bone and the spine, and are known as the ‘latissimus dorsi’. These muscles help to keep the ribs in an upright position at the back of the body.Continue
- Lower back musclesThe muscle groups known as the ‘quadratus lumborum’ are located in the lower back. They connect the pelvis to the lowest ribs, preventing them from rising and allowing the diaphragm to work more effectively. When these muscles tense, they tilt the pelvis forwards, causing the back to arch. This is only possible when the abdominal muscles are relaxed. When the abdominal muscles contract at the same time, a struggle begins between the quadratus lumborum muscles, which want to tilt the pelvis forwards so that the back curves, and the abdominal muscles, which try to pull the pelvis under the body so that the back straightens. This struggle is an important part of the stabilising work and is a key component of internal support. You can feel this by tilting your pelvis forwards so that your back curves, and then tensing your abdominal muscles and pulling your pelvis towards your body so that your back straightens. Feel how your lower back and abdominal muscles are working. Make sure both muscle groups are working equally hard, but do not push your pelvis forward so that your back does not archContinue
When we use these three muscle groups (abdominal, back and lumbar) together, the ribs are drawn outwards and the diaphragm descends. We refer to the interaction of these three muscle groups as ‘support’.
When embarking on new and challenging training, singers often tense muscles other than those required. It is not uncommon to see raised shoulders, clenched toes, tense buttocks or clenched fists. They tense these ‘auxiliary’ muscles in the hope of activating the necessary ones — ‘If it’s difficult to isolate a specific muscle, I’ll tense them all,’ seems to be the general idea. This is comparable to a situation where a weak person is arm-wrestling a strong one.
They tense as many muscles as possible, whilst the stronger person does not waste energy tensing muscles that are of no use. In singing, it is often helpful to tense these ‘auxiliary’ muscles until the singer becomes more experienced and learns exactly which muscles to tense. Later, they can focus on not using the ‘auxiliary’ muscles.
When embarking on new and challenging training, singers often tense muscles other than those required. It is not uncommon to see raised shoulders, clenched toes, tense buttocks or clenched fists. They tense these ‘auxiliary’ muscles in the hope of activating the necessary ones — ‘If it’s difficult to isolate a specific muscle, I’ll tense them all,’ seems to be the general idea. This is comparable to a situation where a weak person is arm-wrestling a strong one.
They tense as many muscles as possible, whilst the stronger person does not waste energy tensing muscles that are of no use. In singing, it is often helpful to tense these ‘auxiliary’ muscles until the singer becomes more experienced and learns exactly which muscles to tense. Later, they can focus on not using the ‘auxiliary’ muscles.
Some singers are advised to become aware of their muscles by focusing on specific parts of the body. Awareness of one’s muscles varies from singer to singer, so rather than concentrating on a specific spot in the body, it is often more helpful to know which muscle to use and how to locate it. You can then find another spot within that muscle where it is easier for you to feel it. It doesn’t matter which part of the muscle you focus on; the main thing is that you are working the right muscles. Generally speaking, it is harder for high-voiced singers to feel muscles that are distant from their points of attachment than it is for singers with lower voices. If a singer is having difficulty sensing the contraction of a particular muscle, I suggest they focus ‘higher’ up in the muscle, closer to its upper point of attachment.
• Support involves holding your breath. This is achieved by:
-keeping the diaphragm low
-keeping the ribs extended
-the interaction of three muscle groups:
1) Drawing the abdomen in around the navel, which pulls the pelvis upwards towards the body, straightening the back (using the abdominal muscles: the rectus abdominis, the internal/external obliques, and the transverse abdominis).
2) Contraction of the back muscles, which hold the ribs in an extended position at the back (using the latissimus dorsi).
3) Activation of the lumbar muscles, which attempt to tilt the pelvis forwards, trying to arch the back (using the quadratus lumborum).
• There is a struggle between the lumbar muscles, which try to arch the back, and the abdominal muscles, which try to straighten the back.
• The interaction between these three muscle groups should take the form of a steady, gradual, continuous movement, as if you were working against resistance.
-keeping the diaphragm low
-keeping the ribs extended
-the interaction of three muscle groups:
1) Drawing the abdomen in around the navel, which pulls the pelvis upwards towards the body, straightening the back (using the abdominal muscles: the rectus abdominis, the internal/external obliques, and the transverse abdominis).
2) Contraction of the back muscles, which hold the ribs in an extended position at the back (using the latissimus dorsi).
3) Activation of the lumbar muscles, which attempt to tilt the pelvis forwards, trying to arch the back (using the quadratus lumborum).
• There is a struggle between the lumbar muscles, which try to arch the back, and the abdominal muscles, which try to straighten the back.
• The interaction between these three muscle groups should take the form of a steady, gradual, continuous movement, as if you were working against resistance.
Manfred Schmitz
When the Boogie-Fan Begins
Piano
Artist Vlad Eremeev
The audience won’t tire of dancing
and singing along with you!
Contact us
Join in the harmony!
+447729759359
eremeyuk@gmail.com
eremeyuk@gmail.com
:
All photographs, text and video material belong to their respective owners and are used for illustrative purposes only. Please do not use this content for commercial purposes.
All photographs, text and video material belong to their respective owners and are used for illustrative purposes only. Please do not use this content for commercial purposes.
