You’ve probably heard the phrase, “singing with heart”. It’s great to sing with heart, or to sing with guts, but why stop there?
Today, we’re going to sing with our hands and arms! I’ll teach you three very simple ways to recruit the hands and arms to help with two technical objectives:
- Re-delegating the muscular work of singing AWAY from the neck muscles and DOWN into the low belly muscles
- Maintaining air flow and speed by modeling continuous flowing motion
How to do it:
These are great ways to shake things up on any musical figure – I’ll use a simple 9-note scale in the video (do to high re and back), but you can use this anywhere you feel stuck or neck-y, on any type of vocalise or phrase of repertoire.
TIP #1: Put a finger on the belly button and, when you begin to sing, engage your belly button gently against your finger. Don’t push the finger against the belly button or pooch the belly out, just engage gently to “turn on” the abdominal muscles surrounding the belly button.
TIP #2: Stand beside a piano or heavy table and squat slightly so you can place your hands under the edge. When you begin to sing, use the legs and core to lift slightly just until you feel muscular engagement (take it easy – no need to hurl your furniture around the room!).
TIP #3: Move the arms in a windmill or flowing tai-chi-esque motion as you sing. Your air flow will match the motion of your arms – flowing continuously. Watch out for the arms slowing or becoming jerky. This is a sign that the air is chopping up, too! If you can keep the arms moving, your air will flow as well – it’s magic.
Thanks for practicing!
