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an “old” sound. Singers need to be consistently reminded tinual process creates vocal sound. Breath support is the key
to hold their upper torsos in a higher position, in what the to moving maximum air flow through the vocal folds, the
Alexander Technique refers to as perpetual lengthening. only way the folds can work efficiently. The vocal folds act
This should be a fluid feeling as opposed to a rigid, stiff involuntarily, being activated not on their own, but only by
position. Heads should be facing forward instead of look- upward air flow. Discomfort in the vocal apparatus during
ing down toward the floor. Following is a procedure to help singing is most often caused by illicit physical effort center-
your amateur singers assume exemplary singers’ posture: ing in the vocal folds, instead of singers allowing the folds
to work involuntarily.
• Whether sitting or standing, have singers look up as if
into a tree, naturally bending their upper torsos slightly Breath Support Analogy #1
backward. The object of this is the resulting feeling of the After making sure your singers are in a healthy posture
lower back, which should be retained during the next steps. of perpetual lengthening, an efficient way to teach breath
(Editor’s note: The original article available at acda.org/choraljournal support is the “fire breathing dragon” analogy. Imagine
includes eight positioning photos.) a medieval dragon burning down a village with its fiery
breath. That fire would have emerged from an extremely
• Retaining the lower back in that resulting position, elevate open throat, gently and consistently spewing the fire up
the back of the top of the head straight up, as high as pos- from the belly and out the mouth. This is the physical sen-
sible. sation you should experience while singing. Be an actor and
imitate what this would feel like to an imaginary dragon.
• Now, while still elevating, bend the head slightly down Get accustomed to the idea initially by making a lot of
toward the upper torso, and then the upper torso slightly breath sound. Then do it again, but this time a little more
down toward the lower torso. This slight rounding of the gently and without making sound, being particularly aware
still elevated body is the perfect foundation for singing. Pro- of what is happening physically in your lower torso. Your
fessional opera singers have told me this slight rounding is tummy should feel as though it is pushing in the direction
critical. of your backbone.
Now repeat the “fire breath,” but do it without making
This posture is imperative, whether standing or sitting. any sound and pushing a bit more gently. Be careful not to
To countermand the tendency to slump forward, have sing- engage in the “fire breathing dragon” effect with too much
ers instead lean slightly back, keeping the upper abdominal force and jerkiness. Good breath support should result in
wall from tightening, a restriction that diminishes breath singing that is carried forward by a consistent, gentle stream
support. The upper torso must not be allowed to collapse of air flow. In the process exhibiting good breath support,
forward and down, but rather must retain this elevated po- the musculature of the lower torso should feel similar to the
sition. Sitting forward in your seats is not as crucial to good gradual gripping of a good handshake.
singing as staying elevated. As a reminder of this “fire breathing dragon” effect,
In order to be aware of the posture of singers, a conduc- place one fist on your sternum and your other hand on top
tor must look at them often. When there is a section of the of your fist.
music in which you don’t need to follow the score closely, Now using the gentle but solid breath support described
concentrate visually on your singers. above, hum a quiet, sad moan, aiming the sound into your
hands. Do not allow any effort to initiate in the vocal ap-
paratus.
Breath Support and Air Flow Have singers place a hand lightly over their throats as
The term vocal cords is misleading. Singers do not have a reminder not to allow effort there, and then, still utiliz-
vocal cords, but simply two flaps of skin in the larynx called ing the “fire breathing dragon” breath support, hum a few
vocal folds. The vocal folds are drawn together by upward medium-range pitches. The only noticeable physical effort
air flow, a phenomenon called the Bernoulli Effect. The should come from the lower torso, the sole basis for lifting
elasticity of the skin then pulls the vocal folds back apart, the air flow.
and the air flow brings them back together again. This con-

ChorTeach Volume 15 • Issue 2 19 Winter 2023