Better Tools Make the Job Easier

Better tools make the job easier! One of the hardest concepts for my younger singers to grasp is that of singing with LINE, keeping the sound continuously flowing throughout a phrase. They tend to push on the attacks of notes, which means that rhythmically busy phrases often sing better than those comprised of longer notes. Fewer attacks = less energy.

I tell them to visualize that each note is one chop of an axe as they attempt to cut down the “tree” of the phrase, and to sing that way. Then I tell them to sing like a chainsaw buzzing through the entire phrase, constantly cutting through the “tree.” We first sing the phrase on a lip trill to confirm air movement, then a second time on the lyrics with that amount of spinning air. 

Choir Bites Interactive Slides can enhance online/hybrid lesson plans or be used as supplemental assignments. Your singers’ awareness will rise as they engage with these simple, “sticky” concepts! Click here to learn more! 

After the success is obvious, we have a quick discussion of the Bernoulli Principle and its role in singing. That is to say that the movement of air does the work in tone production just as the chainsaw does the work in cutting down a tree. Here is a nifty article breaking down the Bernoulli Principle at work in singing: http://vibrantvoicetechnique.com/2015/08/21/the-bernoulli-effect-the-physics-behind-your-vocal-folds/