The Integrated Singer:

Finding Vocal Freedom in

Coordination, Movement and Sound
(based on the Alexander Technique)

––––––––––
Peter Jacobson, Director & Founder
Total Vocal Freedom for Singers

Starting Point: Four Foundational Principles

1. You are psychophysically WHOLE–not separated into mind and body

2. Your instrument is all of YOU–your entire mind–body Self
3. Your thinking about how you move affects your functioning (i.e. performance)
4. Your system functions perfectly according to the information it has

The Design of Your Instrument

Because YOU are the instrument that does the artistic work, it’s crucial that you
understand how you are designed.

YOU are designed around an upright ‘anti-gravity’ support system. See Figure
2. That support system can be divided into two main parts: an axial skeleton and
an appendicular skeleton. (Even though we are looking at separate parts of you
remember that YOU are one WHOLE piece.)
Axial Skeleton (head and torso)

• Your basic design–’a long curvy spine with a head on top.’ ALL the structures you
use to sing are built around this basic design. If this basic design is compromised,
functioning (and performance) will be adversely affected.

• Your spine (Fig. 1):

• Consists of 32-34 individual vertebrae
• Is a central supporting structure–the ‘vertebral body’ bears the weight. (Fig. 4)
• Has 5 natural curves. These curves give your spine its flexibility and power.
Trying to stand up ‘straight’ usually creates excess tension!

Your spine has 5 parts:

• Cervical–7 small vertebrae. Also known as the ‘neck.’ Think of it as the upper
part of your whole spine, not a separate part of you.

• Thoracic–12 medium vertebrae. Attached to each of these vertebrae are 2

ribs, creating 24 ‘rib joints’ in your back. They are designed for movement–let
them move!

• Lumbar–5 large vertebrae. These can be as large as your fist and together
they create what is essentially a ‘third leg’ in the center of you.

• Sacrum–5 vertebrae. Fuses completely into one unit by age 34.

• Coccyx–3-5 fused vertebrae. Your vestigial tail and the bottom of your spine.

• Your head is basically everything above your cheekbones (your head isn’t your
face!). Your head is roughly weighs 10-12 lbs, roughly the weight of a bag of
oranges. It is delicately poised on…

• Your nodding joint (Fig. 3)–this is where your head balances on your spine. It is
inside your head, between your earlobes at the level of your cheekbones. It’s the
most important joint in the entire body.
Appendicular Skeleton (five appendages)

• Your jaw is an appendage (like your arms and legs) and can move independently
of your head.

• Your arms–shoulders have four joints and are only attached at the center of your
body at the sternoclavicular joints. See Fig. 6.

• Your pelvis is attached to your spine and is the bottom of your torso. It connects
to your legs in the hip joints, which is where you fold (not your waist!). When you
sit, use your sitz bones for support. They are the feet of your torso! See Fig. 9.

• Your legs have three main joints–hips, knees and ankles.

• Your feet have three points of contact–heel, ball of big toe, ball of little toe. When
standing balance your weight evenly among this ‘tripod.’

• Your lungs are housed in the upper part of your torso. The top of your lungs is
above your collarbone. Right below your lungs is your diaphragm, an involuntary
muscle of inspiration. See figure 6.

Why Learn The Alexander Technique?

Top 7 Reasons to Learn the Alexander Technique:

1.) Dramatically improves functioning and therefore performance
2.) Helps restore natural, reflexive breathing
3.) Creates the conditions for psychophysical freedom
4.) Alleviates pain and tension
5.) Increases energy and stamina
6.) Offers a practical solution to deal with performance anxiety
7.) It can be used any time, any place and in any activity

The Alexander Technique is taught at almost every major performing arts institutions
in the world, including Julliard, the Royal College of Music, Peabody and many
more!
 What is the Alexander Technique?

“The Alexander Technique is the tool for constructively organizing the human
instrument doing the artistic work. The Alexander Technique facilitates integrated
function for every activity of our lives. With practice, its clear repeatable process
allows performers to more reliably access the coordination to accomplish any
and all discipline-specific techniques.”
–Cathy Madden

“The Alexander Technique is constructive, conscious kindness to ourselves,

cooperating with our design and supporting our dreams and desires.”
–Cathy Madden

“The hallmarks of the Alexander Technique are creativity, spontaneity, and

adaptability to change.”
–A.R. Alexander (F.M. Alexander’s brother)

The Alexander Technique addresses your underlying coordination to support and

enhance movement in your skill/activity.

The Alexander Technique is:

• Dynamic–it’s about ‘thinking in activity’
• Integrated–works with your technique (as long as your technique cooperates with
the design)
• Reliable–something you can always rely on. It is based on irrefutable principles of
nature–which are universal and constant.
• Constructive–generative and supports you to create what you DO want
• Fun and Playful–it’s learning how to move with the same freedom as young
children move (there is an important correlation between the joy, spontaneity and
efficient movement)
• Practical–can be used in any activity
 Who was F.M. Alexander?
F.M. Alexander (1869 – 1954) was an Australian actor who developed a vocal
problem–he kept losing his voice in performance.
After exhausting all his medical options, he set out to discover for himself
what he was ‘doing’ to himself that was causing his problem. With the assistance of
several mirrors, he spent 2-3 years painstakingly observing himself in the act of
speaking. He made several key discoveries about himself that he used to solve his
problem for good.
Alexander quickly figured out that his discoveries didn’t just solve vocal
problems but could be used to improve coordination and performance in any activity.

What was Alexander’s Main Discovery?

While Alexander made many important discoveries, the most important and
useful discovery was this:

The relationship between our head and spine in movement governs the quality of
our overall coordination. When excessive work enters into this relationship, causing
the head to pull down toward the body, it throws the whole coordination out of
optimal function.

Alexander called this the ‘primary control.’

The poise of the head on the spine has a decisive impact on how the voice
functions.

What is Coordination?

Coordination is thinking and moving in a way that cooperates with nature’s design.
When you are well-coordinated you are able to conceive of an idea and accurately
carry out that idea as you conceived it.

Because our thinking is so powerful, we have the power to override our innate
design. In other words–our belief about how we are designed trumps nature’s
actual design. When this happens, we create excess tension and pain.

Therefore, the Alexander Technique is a really a thinking technique.

 How to Use The Alexander Technique

You can use the Alexander Technique to learn how to stop doing needless work.

It all begins with a wish, desire or intention. When we disconnect from our desires,
both big and small, we lose our coordination.

So, choose an activity.

At first, do that activity using ‘reverse’ Alexander Technique by scrunching your neck
and compressing your head into your spine. What did you notice?

Now do that same activity and use the Alexander Technique.

Here is the suggested phrase to begin using the Alexander Technique:

I ask myself to COORDINATE

so that
My head can move
so that
All of me can follow
so that
I can do what I want to do

Was the activity easier?

Here is the principle at work:

• When you interfere with the natural design, movement and performance is
adversely affected.
• When you cooperate with the natural design, movement and performance is
optimized!

When you disagree with nature, you lose. But only 100% of the time!

You can also use the head-hand, finger-body model to illustrate this to your students
as described by Cathy Madden:
• Put one finger up to represent your body and use the other hand to create a very
large head for the body (it is important to acknowledge that the proportions are
wrong).
• The design of the head/spine relationship in human coordination is for the head to
more freely in relationship to the spine so that we can, for instance, walk down the
street.
• When we interfere with our coordination, the head is pulled down toward the spine.
• Push your head-hand toward the finger-body and take your little hand puppet for
walk down the street noting that the little human model’s walk is less efficient/less
comfortable.
• Now restore the head/spine relationship of this hand/finger model and notice how
it’s much easier and more efficient to move your finger/hand puppet.

Next Steps: Coordinating the Parts into an Integrated Whole

The Integrated Singers coordinates their entire coordinated Self with:

The Music
• The score and the sound serve as a guide for psychophysical and creative
freedom

The Ensemble
• Cathy Madden says, “When performers acknowledge their mutual presence
onstage, their work becomes exponentially more effective.”

The Audience
• Two quotes by Cathy Madden:

“As soon as performing artists insist on using the Alexander Technique to establish a
unified field of attention, the audience becomes part of the formulation of self in an
environment with an audience – what Frank Pierce Jones calls the ‘single integrated
field in which both the environment and the self could be viewed simultaneously.’”

“Conscious inclusion of the audience is both skillful and respectful. These patrons
have organized their lives to attend, and their presence in the space is a gift to you.
They want to participate in creating an event – a journey that is significant as well as
entertaining. Their presence is the truth of the moment.”
 Closing Thoughts

Cathy Madden writes: 

“The Alexander Technique is the tool for constructively organizing the human
instrument doing the artistic work. The Alexander Technique facilitates integrated
function for every activity of our lives. With practice, its clear repeatable process
allows performers to more reliably access the coordination to accomplish any and all
discipline-specific techniques.”

If you have any questions please feel free to contact Peter Jacobson
at peter@BaltimoreAT.com.
Fig. 1 – The Spine
Fig. 2 – The Skeleton
Fig.3 – The Nodding Joint

Fig. 4 – Vertebral Body

Fig. 5 – The Spinal Braid
Fig. 6 – Thoracic Cavity (Front)
Fig. 7 – Thoracic Cavity (Back)
Fig. 8 – Throat Structure
Fig. 9 – Pelvis and Sitz Bones