Secret Paradox of Singing #1

Is it true? Are there paradoxes about the physics of singing? To the uninformed, absolutely! This one usually knocks the mental socks off new singers.

The secret is yours free, if you promise to return and help us out next week … okay, it’s yours anyway, but we really would like you to stop in and help us. We can’t pay you, and you won’t be paying us, but we pledge to make it worth your while in the long run.

So is it a deal?

Here’s the gem: how many amateur singers do you know— maybe including yourself — who tilt their chin up to reach high notes and tuck their chin in or tilt their head downward to reach low notes. That’s exactly backwards.

Honest truth. Vocal cords stretch across the opening leading to the lungs. When singing higher, the cords elongate and become thinner. (There’s more to it, but this is enough for now.)

The secret is that the cords stretch down in front. If you tilt your head back by raising your chin, you counteract a lot of the stretch already in progress, making the cords have to stretch even farther or do some other pretty nifty gymnastics to get you the note you’re wanting. — That leads to a lot of unnecessary fatigue.

Similarly, when singing lower, the vocal cords shorten and get thinner. If you “reach” for the note by dipping your chin, you actually stretch the cords out, once again making it harder on yourself.

So do we tip the chin in the opposite direction? You can if you want — it will save some fatiguing and will make the notes easier to reach. But it’ll confuse the heck out of your audience if you do it often or very far.

Better to keep your chin at a comfortable angle, slightly tipped downward, where you get a sense of your spinal fluid flowing freely up and down the spinal column. You might even feel more energized by it.

One last word: never lock your head in a single position. Tension anywhere in the body is contagious and can affect the flexibility of all the muscles you need for singing. So let your head move naturally but subtly, in response to the words, not the difficulty of the notes.

Think bouyant, think alive, and sing your heart into every note!

Okay, you’ve got the secret. Remember: keep your chin nicely down, and come back next week — promise?

Filed under Vocal range | Tags: flexibility in singing, how to sing, how to sing better, how to sing well, muscles for singing, paradoxes of singing, physics of singing, physics of vocal cords, secrets of singing, sing high, sing low, tension in singing | Comment (0)