The Beautiful Art of Singing

I had my first voice lesson since about 6 months ago last night. It was amazing. Singing is an absolutely astounding phenomenon. For anybody who knows me they know that I have a very raspy, somewhat low speaking voice. However, when I sing an entirely different sound comes out---one that you would never guess listening to my speaking voice. I am a very high soprano and have learned over the years (through hours and hours of training, and some natural talent) how to amplify that sound into that of your everyday opera singer. The sound is thrilling to sing and to listen to , and I'm not just talking about my voice, I am talking about anybody who sings opera. The sound is amazing and incredibly powerful. For me, when I sing that way it feels like nothing I have ever felt. In fact, I don't even know how to describe it, I can feel the vibrations going throughout my body as I get higher and higher. For me, and for anybody who sings opera, the technique of singing eventually starts to feel and sound effortless and actually feels really good once you learn how to do it correctly. It feels effortless but it is nothing of the sort. Whenever I get done singing like that (last night it was for an hour) I am physically exhausted. My stomach feels a little sore and my body is drained. A lot of that is from all the adrenaline that is pumping through my body.

When a person sings correctly they are using virtually their entire upper body to produce that kind of sound. When people are first learning to sing or are just singing for a hobby and have never studied they tend to sing from their throats. That is a reasonalbe assumption and mistake to make cause you think, "my vocal chords are in my throat so that is where the sound comes from." Right, but to sing correctly and to use your voice to the full extent of what it is capable you have to sing with your stomach and you face. Interesting, I know. I will give you a brief idea of how this works: When people breathe normally everyday they are breathing from their chest and shoulders and typically when you ask somebody to take a deep breath they do so and you can see their chest puff out, their stomach suck in, and their shoulders raise. What a lot of people don't know is that this is not the most efficient way to get the most breath in. By sucking in your stomach you are limiting the amount of air that can get into your lungs. In singing you are taught a completely different way of breathing which involves breathing in and feeling up through your entire mid section. When this happens your diaphragm (which is right below your sternum) expands allowing your lungs to expand further. You'll notice when a singer is singing correctly (typically an opera singer because this requires the most control) that their stomach is moving quite a bit. This is the process of taking a breath correctly and then allowing the diaphram to control the amount of air that is being released in each phrase. You learn how to hold out notes longer at different volumes and to sing through entire phrases without taking a breath or, if need be, taking an extremely quick but very full breath that typically isn't audible to the audience but allows you to continue the phrase without having to stop. It's an incredible thing to learn and takes time but when you do learn it and continue to work on it your voice will slowly start to develop. You also have cut your risk in half if not more, of hurting yourself while singing.

When I said you sing from your face I do not mean that literally. Singing is extremely visual and mental. Your nasal cavaties are in your face and in order to produce a sound that is not breathy and with a lot of volume you must learn to utilize your nasal passages. In singing lessons a lot of your warm-ups use the vowel EE because that is the most nasal of the vowels and typically when you use that vowel singing you can feel vibrations in your face and nose. Then you learn to continue that feeling you get from the vowel EE into other vowels such A, Ah, Oh, Oo. You'll singers talk about placement a lot, and that is what they are talking about. Also, a lot of singers raise their eyebrows a lot, this is because they are mentally allowing the sound to come from their nasal passages so it is clear and vibrant. How else do you think opera singers can have their voices project to the back of a 2000 or more seat auditorium? It is an incredible art and a beautiful example of just how complex our bodies really are.

I cannot put into words how much I love to sing. For me it is the best way I know how, and the most powerful way to become completely in touch with my emotions, whatever they are. This might sound cheesy, but it is a very spiritual thing for me. In a nut shell, I just feel very lucky to have been given a gift as incredible as singing. For those of you who read all the way through, good job--I kind of went off their but I am so passionate about it that it's hard not to.