More Support

I was asked by a student to revisit support. So, here we are. The concept is a very tricky one, no doubt about it. Once again, we end up with trying to use metaphors and examples, and sometimes none of it makes sense. For one student - I am not making this up - all I need to do now is tell her, in a really bad Pepe LePew French accent, that she needs more croissant, and she instantly provides more support, and the note is better. (What have I said about learning how each person thinks?)

But, sadly, for most people a shout of "Croissant" will not result in better singing. So here we go.

There are no videos in this blog. If you'd like some lovely, supported singing to listen to as you read. I offer this: Montserrat Caballe singing L'altra notte from Boito's opera Mefistophele. There's no pictures, (Which given the flowers she appears to be wearing, may not be a bad thing) just beautiful, well-supported singing to listen to.

Every house must have a foundation. That foundation must go down into the earth to a certain depth. My exhaustive research of the past 10 minutes tells me that most go down to a depth of at least 1 meter (roughly a yard). A house cannot be built just on the level of the ground. It has to have that deep foundation, or it will crack and fall over. The higher the house will be built - the more stories that are wanted - the deeper the foundation must be.

Voices are very similar to houses in this instance. Without a deep foundation, the voice will crack. The vocal equivalent to falling over. This is part of why it used to be thought that opera singers needed to be on the plump side. The thinking being that without the extra poundage, the voice simply could not have any volume. (SO not true, by the way!)

But, we cannot dig deep holes into the ground and sing out of them. (Although I can think of some singers who would be vastly improved if they would only sing from deep, deep holes in the ground!) Our foundation must come from somewhere else. And this is where the concept of support comes in. We must have the support from which to build the voice.

Which brings me back to the question: How do we support? I like to think of singing as a whole-body experience, not just something that involves the abdominal muscles. But that's a good place to start.

When we breathe, we need for the diaphragm to flatten. This allows the lungs to expand and air to rush in. We need to oppose the diaphragm's tendency to immediately return to its relaxed, dome-shaped condition. This is basic breath control, but it is also the beginnings of support. Often it helps to have a feeling of pushing against something in order to keep the diaphragm low for a longer period. Many female singers like to wear a corset or girdle to help with this feeling. (And it helps to hide any of that operatic plumpness!) The strong boning (that's what it's called!) in a corset assists in giving the singer something to push against. And that opposition - that pushing against something is an important part of support.

I've also likened it to wearing a weight-lifting belt.
My understanding of these belts is that it helps to support the back, while at the same time giving the lifter something to push against in the front. The same feeling of opposition that we need in singing.

But - along with that feeling of pushing down, or out, I also think that the legs have a part to play. The muscles in the thighs, inner thighs, and butt must be engaged. Just as an athlete or a dancer needs for all of their muscles to be involved anytime they are performing, so does a singer. By engaged, I mean that the muscles must feel so full of energy that they are ready for any movement at any moment. I still like the video of the boy getting ready to throw the basketball that I used in the earlier blog. I'll wait while you go back and review it.

I've heard that the sensation of pushing down actually balances the pressure of the air on the vocal cords. And while I'm not sure about the physiological truth in that, that does describe some of what I feel when singing.

Another way to keep the diaphragm flat and to increase support, is to lean into the back of a hard chair. Pressing down with your hands onto the back of a chair, can give that feeling of pushing down, since that's literally what you're doing. It's important to keep the back straight and not hunch over, or let the shoulders hike up, but to gently lean into the chair back. (Getting the right chair height is important!) It also diverts attention away from the voice, and provides a good counter-balance for what we're trying to accomplish.

The diaphragm is going to relax into it's contracted dome-shape. That's a given. And there is nothing that we can do to stop that, nor would we want to. If we could, we would stop breathing and die. Not what we're aiming for. It is even debatable whether by all of this work we are delaying that return or not. That's not really important, though, because it FEELS like we are, and those feelings are just about all we have to go on when it comes to singing. 

Feelings and the way each persons brain works. No one ever said this would be easy. Maybe we should all just try some croissants.