Drink It In
I’m all wet. I mean literally wet. Water has run down my face and all over the front of my shirt. The class is laughing hysterically. The things I won’t do for my singers.
Before we go any further, let’s just remember - your mileage may vary. Choir Bites are just tips... tricks you can pull out of your bag to help when you need a new solution to an old problem.
Many of my new (read: inexperienced) singers struggle with the basics of tone shaping. You know... drop the jaw, arch the soft palate and all that. One aspect that eludes them is mouth shape. They try to sing like they talk. Their mouth shape is essentially a wide slit.
One trick I have used with much success is called DRINK IT IN. I fill a cup with water, and tell the class I’m about to take a drink. I drink. And again. I ask them to raise their “pretend glass” and take a drink with me. And again. I ask them to pay attention to what their mouth is doing. As the cup is raised, the jaw drops and the corners of the mouth pull inward. The lips are forming more of a circle in anticipation of the water.
Then I demonstrate some singing, both with a rounded mouth shape and then with the wide, flat, slit shape. I point out the difference in tone.
How do I end up wet? The culmination of this demonstration comes when I tell them, “If you don’t change the shape of your mouth when you drink...” (taking a drink, water goes everywhere, I am now wet, the class erupts into laughter) “...water will go everywhere. That’s how it is with your tone. Unless you shape your mouth properly, it goes everywhere.”
Today, I taught 60 middle school girls how to DRINK IT IN. And it worked. It worked well. And then... a wet choir director cheered with glee!
