#vocal tip

Heute schon genug getrunken?

By Robin Earl

Has anyone ever told you to open your mouth more when you are singing? Most of us FEEL like we are getting our mouth open more than we really are.

You’ve probably heard voice teachers say ‘open your mouth’ when you sing, but many singers feel like they are opening their mouth enough to create a good tone, but sometimes are not.

The YouTube video ‘Some Nights’ by F.U.N., with lead singer Nate Ruess, shows quite an example of a more extreme open mouth position.

It allows him to be amazingly efficient in his high note singing and seamless range. Not every singer has a style where they need to sing with their mouth this far open, but it proves a point in how important paying attention to mouth shape is for a singer, no matter the style or how open their mouth needs to be to create the tone and sound they want.

Is your tongue in the way, closing off the back of your mouth and creating a muffled tone? Are you paying attention to tongue shape, getting your ‘tongue groove’ on? Are you showing top teeth on high notes to create a ‘lift’ into the nasal area? Just like a guitar has a round space, as well as a saxophone, trumpet, etc., your mouth creates your unique sound, with resonance, pronunciation, timbre, placement, of your own.

Singers can, and should, vary in how much they open their mouths, depending on their personal style, musical style, their physical jaw structure, and technical awareness, thereby creating the best mouth shapes are a process!

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By Robin Earl

Today I had a singer ask me how to get rid of ‘tension in the upper chest area,’ which was interfering with her singing breathing… Someone had told her that the ribcage moved ‘out and up,’ but she was getting a lot of tension when she moved ‘up’ with the inhale of her breathing.

Yes it’s true, the ribcage moves out and slightly up on the inhale, but it is more of an ‘out and flare’ than an ‘out and lift up.’ The ribcage moves out to the sides as the lungs expand, but it is an upward flare from the lower part of the ribs, rather than a lift up of the whole ribcage for the singing breath.

If it helps, bring your arms slightly up from your sides and visualize the flare of an umbrella opening, ballet arms coming out to the side, or a jellyfish expanding out and then propelling through the water. The ribcage expansion is basically out, the diaphragm moves down, and the feeling is more of a balloon shape in the core and lung area and not the feeling of lifting the chest up. This causes constriction and tension in the upper chest and neck, and a feeling that you’re just not getting enough air. It’s cool how we invent and create items in our world that are similar to what nature has made, such as creating balloons that function similar to lungs.

I hope this helps with getting a relaxed, deep, tension-free breath for your performance! What images have helped you create an efficient breath?

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