Singing For Dummies. Pamelia S. Phillips
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Название: Singing For Dummies

Автор: Pamelia S. Phillips

Издательство: John Wiley & Sons Limited

Жанр: Музыка, балет

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isbn: 9781119843160

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СКАЧАТЬ work better or because you thought you may look better? For singing, you evaluate your posture for both reasons. Aligning your body properly puts all the muscles that help you sing in the right position. Proper alignment gets you singing better and also makes you appear confident and professional.

As you continue to evaluate your own posture, notice the posture of others. Observe their movements to better understand what you need to do to change your own alignment.

Schematic illustration of ideal alignment of the skeleton.

      © John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

      FIGURE 3-1: Ideal alignment of the skeleton.

      Creating ideal posture means finding out what ideal posture looks like and feels like so that you can quickly make whatever changes you need. By changing your posture, you control what kind of impression you make on others — whether you’re on the stage singing or at the audition vying for the show’s lead. Good posture keeps energy flowing instead of trapping it in one body part, and it also aligns your body for efficient breathing. See Chapter 4 for more information about breathing for singing. Read on for ways to align your body for great singing.

      

Nervous ticks, such as constant finger wiggling, frequent shifting of weight from one foot to the other, and roaming eyes, are examples of energy that isn’t freely flowing throughout the body. If you catch yourself twisting your hands or wiggling your fingers frequently while singing, watch yourself in the mirror to become aware of the movement. Then allow yourself to move around as you sing to use that excess energy. After you move around, stand still but maintain that same freedom in your body, as if you may move at any moment. Freely flowing energy keeps you looking confident and singing well. Using your acting skills also gives your body something specific to do, so the random wiggles and twitches often subside. See Chapter 18 for more on acting and singing.

      Feeling grounded on your feet

      The root of good posture is the position of your feet and the balance of weight on your feet. Seems like the feet are a long way from the singing process, but equal distribution of weight on the feet allows all the muscles to stay released so you can make gorgeous sounds. Try this sequence to find the balance of weight on your feet.

      1 While you’re standing, roll your foot to find the tripod.Roll your foot on the floor to make a circle that moves from your heel through the outside of your foot, across your toes, and down the inside of your foot. As you roll the foot, you feel the heel bone in the back of your foot, a bone or protrusion under your little toe, and another protrusion or bone under your big toe. Roll among these three points several times so that you really feel the points. Some people call these three points the tripod.If you aren’t sure whether you felt the tripod when you rolled your foot, sit down and feel along the bottom of your foot to find the three points. Take your time and feel each point. Look at the skeleton in Figure 3-1 and take special notice of the bones that make up the foot.

      2 When you’re confident that you feel the three points on the foot, balance your weight on those three points.The phrase that the three-legged table is always level applies here. You want your weight evenly balanced on the three points. If you intentionally lean back and put your weight on your heels, you feel the front of your body tighten to hold you up. Likewise, if you lean forward and put your weight on the front of your feet, you feel the back of your body tighten. Watch yourself in the mirror or observe the tension in your body. Try to find the center, or the position where you’re neither forward nor back; you’re evenly balanced on your feet and aligned.

      3 When you find the three points and your balance on one foot, find them on the other foot.

      

Practice standing with your weight balanced on the three points to make sure that you’re not rolling your weight to the outside of your feet. Some people unconsciously stand with the inside of their feet raised and the outside of their feet pressed into the ground. This stance creates tension in your body. You can feel the tension on the outside of your legs when you press the outside of your feet into the floor. Watch yourself in the mirror to check that your feet are balanced on the three points.

      Putting your feet in position

      After you find the balance of weight on the feet, place your feet beneath your hips. If you place your hands on your hips, you can feel the muscles of your hips on the sides of your body and you can also feel your hipbone in the front. Directly under the hipbone is your foot (find the hipbone in Figure 3-1).

      A lot of people tend to put their feet at shoulder width, which may or may not work for you. Women tend to have narrow shoulders and wider hips, whereas men tend to have wide shoulders and narrow hips. Regardless of the width of your shoulders, you want to align your feet under your hips.

      I recommend that you place the feet parallel under your hips so that you feel the equal balance of weight on your feet. When that stance feels familiar to you, change the position of your feet and maintain the balance of weight in your body. You want equal distribution of weight and effort in the body. You can also stand with your toes pointed out, to feel the tension created in the legs. Likewise, you can stand with your toes pointed in and notice that effect on the muscles in your legs. You want to explore the feeling of toes pointed straight and the feeling of parallel feet.

Your toes may seem like cute little extensions of your feet, but they also play a role in your balance. Stand with your weight balanced on the three points. Now lift your toes and notice the sensations of the three points. Most people find that lifting the toes helps them feel the three points. You can put your toes down and feel the same sensation of balance on the three points. Push your toes into the floor and notice the sensation in your feet and your legs. Pushing them down creates tension. Practice without your shoes on so that you can observe your feet and toes while you practice. During your practice sessions, wiggle your toes occasionally to make sure that they aren’t tight and that they’re ready to help you stay balanced. Notice the bones in the toes on the skeleton in Figure 3-1.

      

Pretend that you have a tube inside your body that runs all the way from your head down to your feet. Open this tube all the way into your feet each time you inhale. Opening this imaginary tube helps you feel grounded and ready to sing the next phrase of your song. Each time you inhale, you want to open and release all the way into your feet. It may feel as if your feet open or widen as you take the breath.

      Flexing your ankles

      You want your ankles open and flexible when you’re standing. СКАЧАТЬ