Description:
In which area of your body do you feel tension when you sing? For most singers, it’s either the jaw, tongue, neck, abdomen, or some combination. I encourage you to sing in front of a mirror and look for visible signs of tension in these areas. Often times, singers are so used to tensing when they sing, that they don’t really feel it, or they’ve accepted that squeezing and tightening their body is necessary.
Remember that extrinsic muscle tension is an outward sign that your voice is under stress. By relaxing our body, and maintaining energy in appropriate areas, we retrain the vocal mechanism to function in a healthy way.
First, make sure you’ve stretched out! If not, hit pause and take a few minutes to stretch and breathe.
Next, check in with your alignment. Always return to your tall, relaxed, but energized singer’s posture. When we come out of alignment, that’s another reason we strain: because now the muscles are working extra hard to hold our body in a position that’s not natural for it to stay in.
Now, we’re going to hit those four groups I mentioned, and use the same exercise for all of them, with different physical movements. Our exercise will be a sliding AH, OH, or UH on the pattern 1-5-1. Choose the vowel that’s easiest for you.
So, with each area in the body, we’re essentially relaxing those muscles by disengaging them. It doesn’t usually work if we just try to relax. That’s much easier said than done!
Starting with the jaw, let’s use “UH”. What we’re going for here is softness in the jaw, gently relaxed down and open. I encourage you place your fingertips on your cheeks. That way you can feel when your jaw wants to pull up or stay locked, and you can encourage it to relax with some gentle movement or massage. Let’s try it!
[Exercise: UH 1-5-1, Jaw Release]
Now for tongue tension. A tense tongue pulls up the larynx and results in an unpleasant, Kermit the Frog- like tone. To counteract this, we’re going to sing with the tongue resting on the bottom lip. As you sing, you’ll feel when your tongue wants to jump back. If you’re really struggling, you can take a washcloth and physically hold the tongue out. Again, on an UH vowel.
[Exercise: UH 1-5-1, Tongue release]
How about neck tension? We can use the OH or AH vowel, now. For the neck, we’ll prevent those muscles from gripping by slowly and continuously drawing the head from side to side. Another variation is to stay still, and give yourself a neck massage as you sing. Pick one, and here we go.
[Exercise: UH 1-5-1, Neck release]
Last, tension in the abdomen. We’re actually going to save this one for the next lesson, since it relates more to lower body support, which we’ll talk about there.
Great job so far!
Remember that extrinsic muscle tension is an outward sign that your voice is under stress. By relaxing our body, and maintaining energy in appropriate areas, we retrain the vocal mechanism to function in a healthy way.
First, make sure you’ve stretched out! If not, hit pause and take a few minutes to stretch and breathe.
Next, check in with your alignment. Always return to your tall, relaxed, but energized singer’s posture. When we come out of alignment, that’s another reason we strain: because now the muscles are working extra hard to hold our body in a position that’s not natural for it to stay in.
Now, we’re going to hit those four groups I mentioned, and use the same exercise for all of them, with different physical movements. Our exercise will be a sliding AH, OH, or UH on the pattern 1-5-1. Choose the vowel that’s easiest for you.
So, with each area in the body, we’re essentially relaxing those muscles by disengaging them. It doesn’t usually work if we just try to relax. That’s much easier said than done!
Starting with the jaw, let’s use “UH”. What we’re going for here is softness in the jaw, gently relaxed down and open. I encourage you place your fingertips on your cheeks. That way you can feel when your jaw wants to pull up or stay locked, and you can encourage it to relax with some gentle movement or massage. Let’s try it!
[Exercise: UH 1-5-1, Jaw Release]
Now for tongue tension. A tense tongue pulls up the larynx and results in an unpleasant, Kermit the Frog- like tone. To counteract this, we’re going to sing with the tongue resting on the bottom lip. As you sing, you’ll feel when your tongue wants to jump back. If you’re really struggling, you can take a washcloth and physically hold the tongue out. Again, on an UH vowel.
[Exercise: UH 1-5-1, Tongue release]
How about neck tension? We can use the OH or AH vowel, now. For the neck, we’ll prevent those muscles from gripping by slowly and continuously drawing the head from side to side. Another variation is to stay still, and give yourself a neck massage as you sing. Pick one, and here we go.
[Exercise: UH 1-5-1, Neck release]
Last, tension in the abdomen. We’re actually going to save this one for the next lesson, since it relates more to lower body support, which we’ll talk about there.
Great job so far!
Lessons:
- 1: Welcome
- 2: Strain and High Notes
- 3: Tension & The Body
- 4: Other Factors
- 5: Conclusion
Instructor: Camille van Niekerk
Camille van Niekerk is a singer, writer and vocal instructor in Southern California. Camille began studying voice and performing in musicals at age seven. In 2010, Camille began working towards her BA in Music Education at Azusa Pacific University. She then earned her teaching credential from San Diego State University and taught classroom choral and instrumental music. Shortly after moving to LA county, Camille began her private vocal studio, providing vocal coaching, ear training, and recording for students of all ages. She is constantly refining her skills and methods for greater versatility and effectiveness. When she is not teaching, Camille enjoys singing with the L.A. Choral Lab and Ensoma Creative. She lives in San Diego with her husband and loves going to the beach, practicing yoga, reading, and cooking.