Good Singing Posture 101
So I’ve been spending some time answering some basic singing questions online lately and while giving lessons. This has prompted me to take a few blog posts and write about singing basics. You might be thinking, “boring.” Well, try not too and I’ll make this as fun and informative as possible. :-) Let’s face it, we all forget parts of good technique all the time. I can be singing and right in the middle of a song having this thought, ”wow, I am super uncomfortable up here. It would be nice to feel taller, have more room to breathe, and look a little more confident right now.” Here’s to better posture. . .
The whole idea behind having decent posture while you sing is to allow your diaphragm and rib cage more room to breathe as well as creating a look of confidence. Try this – plant your feet shoulder width apart with one foot slightly in front of the other. Bend your knees ever so slightly. Next, stretch out with your hands over your head then lower your arms slowly to your sides. Do this stretching a couple of times. Well – you just gave yourself probably about 15 – 20% more room to breathe. Huge other advantage – you now are taller, plus your head and neck are more in alignment and upright!
Tip – check out your posture in the mirror and pretend you are someone else in the audience or congregation watching this person sing. As you look at yourself, slump your shoulders slightly forward and lower your head and neck a little, also put your feet closer together, oh and put your arms in front of you with your hands together. Does this person in the mirror give any indication that you would want to hear them sing AND be relaxed while they sang? No way! Yes, I just did this to test this out again too - scary, no confidence, not good. Now head back to the mirror and get into good singing posture – tall, upright, head and neck in alignment, hands by your sides, plenty of room to breathe. Wow – what a difference! Aim to sing with this posture all the time.
There is another bonus to you but mostly to your audience - they can relax and listen to you when your body position is not a distraction to them. Really. When I’m visiting various churches, attending my own church, at a musical, or other performance and I’m watching/listening to singers, I am either made comfortable or distracted by the way they present themselves. Do they make me feel like I need to pray for them constantly so they will make it through the song? Can I receive what they are singing and let the Lord minister the words of the song to me? Can I enjoy their performance and have a good time listening? Better question – do they allow me to get past the way they look so I can hear what they are singing?
So even if you are, “shaking in your boots”(for those of you not familiar with this expression – it means super nervous!) get your body to help you out. Stretch and find a positive, effective posture that allows you to appear confident. Hint – this will actually help your confidence too. By the way, this doesn’t mean that you have to stand there the whole time you are singing and never move (please move and express the song!) but that’s another blog post down the road on expression.
A quick note on neck and head alignment – try talking and keep going while you lift up your head and look to the ceiling. Now keep talking and look way down, now over to one side and then the other side. Did you notice that it was harder to talk with ease when your head and neck were not straight forward? If you didn’t, try that again because it definitely ads strain to your vocal folds and whole neck area if your head is not properly forward and in alignment. So much for tenors trying to raise up their head and neck to hit higher notes. J It may look like they are trying but this is actually NOT helping them sing higher, in fact it’s hurting. Instead learn to raise the inside of your mouth – your soft pallet needs to be raised to help higher notes resonate and not sound pinched (more on this at some point down the road).
I regularly practice good posture when I’m warming-up and going over a song. If you choose to work your posture, just like you would your breathing and the timing of phases on a song, then it will become a habit for that particular piece of music. It will become normal for you to appear confident AND have more room to breathe – such nice benefits!
Happy singing and great posture,
Kris
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Hi there, I hope you enjoy the Vocal Blog! Please feel free to ask questions and make comments on the posts. It's my desire to help singers use their voices more effectively and step out in confidence in whatever place (as a soloist or as part of a group) that God has called them to sing. Over the years I have had so many people ask me questions pertaining to singing after classes that I have taught. I thought this might be a better way to communicate so everyone can join in on the discussion. I look forward to hearing from you!Don't see what you are looking for? Have a question you would like addressed? Please email me at:
Kris@SingersResource.net
Thanks for the encouragement :-)
Great reminder Kris. You’re so right about the things we tend to forget when we just keep on keeping on. Blessings of Grace to you.