Melissa Malde - What Every Singer Needs To Know About The Body-Plural Publishing, Incorporated (2020)

What Every Singer
Needs to Know
About the Body
Fourth Edition
Melissa Malde
MaryJean Allen
Kurt-Alexander Zeller
Mary Kelly Santos Da Silva - yllek_yram@hotmail.com - CPF: 349.971.388-86

S
PRAISE FOR THE FOURTH EDITION OF
WHAT EVERY SINGER NEEDS TO
KNOW ABOUT THE BODY
To successfully integrate all of the complex tasks performers are called upon
to embody in each moment of performance is a feat of staggering complexity.
What is the process involved in coordinating all of the elements of mindful-
ness while singing, acting, and living a performance before an audience or
a filming crew? The solid foundation must begin with the desire to own a
complete, rich, and expressive embodiment of the physical self, beginning
with the process of creating an accurate and detailed body map.
Michael Chekhov, the nephew of playwright Anton Chekhov and protégé
of Konstantin Stanislavski (the father of Method Acting), was powerfully
connected to the creation of an embodied acting pedagogy.
As actors and actresses, we must rejoice in the possession of our

physical faculties. We must experience joy in the use of our hands,
arms, body etc. Without this appreciation and realization of the
body and its many possibilities, we cannot perform as artists.
Compare the body without life and the body with life. Meditate on
this. See how helpless the dead person is, then contrast that with a
living person. You should feel a flow of joy because you are alive.
Your body will feel full of life. That is what you must give from the
stage. Your life. No less. That is art: to give all you have. And what
have you? Your life-nothing more. And to give life means to feel life
throughout your whole being.
Frequently, we as teachers and performers become focused on one

specific task such as modifying a vowel in the higher register to become more
acoustically viable and hope to simply “add in the acting later.” Certainly,
we must address individual elements specifically, but, as Michael Chekhov
stated, a performer must learn to “feel life throughout your whole being.”
MaryJean Allen, Melissa Malde, and Kurt-Alexander Zeller give us an exten-
sive, thoughtful, and discovery-filled approach to this journey, guiding us
every step of the way. If our body’s internal map is incorrect, both art and
the performer will suffer. But when the map is accurate, when we hone our
kinesthetic sense and work towards adopting an inclusive awareness, we
will thrive, and our performances will be full of life. The performer and the
audience will be powerfully transformed, and the joy of living is affirmed.

Beginning with MaryJean Allen’s foundational work in Chapters 1 and 2,
we learn to inhabit our body as a whole. Through extensive and loving
instruction, powerful guided explorations, and wonderfully curated external
video links, we learn how our skeletal and muscular systems are the tapestry
upon which all performance practices are expressed.
The journey continues with Melissa Malde guiding the reader on a path
from breath through resonance. Along the way we are given delightful explo-
rations to conceptualize and embody each aspect of respiration, phonation,
and strategies to find timbre and resonance options.
The journey concludes with Kurt-Alexander Zeller leading us through
the expressive fields of articulation, gesture, and performance practices. His
playful explorations of these principles are fully integrated with the material
from the previous chapters highlighting the need for accurate Body Mapping
practice at each step.
I am deeply grateful to these three authors for their powerful insights
and deeply thoughtful work, and I consider this text to be essential knowl-
edge for all singing performers and pedagogues. I highly recommend it.
Matthew Ellenwood, Voice and acting teacher at

Ellenwood Studios, co-founder Integrated Vocal
Pedagogy, and Artistic Director of Terra Mysterium

What Every Singer Needs to
Know About the Body
Fourth Edition

What Every Singer Needs to
Know About the Body
Fourth Edition
Melissa Malde, DMA

MaryJean Allen, MM, AD
Kurt-Alexander Zeller, DMA
Contributions by Barbara Conable and T. Richard Nichols

5521 Ruffin Road
San Diego, CA 92123
e-mail: information@pluralpublishing.com
Website: https://www.pluralpublishing.com
Copyright ©2020 by Plural Publishing, Inc.
Typeset in 11/14 Garamond by Flanagan’s Publishing Services, Inc.

Printed in the United States of America by McNaughton & Gunn, Inc.
All rights, including that of translation, reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
recording, or otherwise, including photocopying, recording, taping, Web distribution, or information
storage and retrieval systems without the prior written consent of the publisher.
For permission to use material from this text, contact us by

Telephone: (866) 758-7251
Fax: (888) 758-7255
e-mail: permissions@pluralpublishing.com
Every attempt has been made to contact the copyright holders for material originally printed in
another source. If any have been inadvertently overlooked, the publishers will gladly make the
necessary arrangements at the first opportunity.
Disclaimer: Please note that ancillary content (such as documents, audio, and video, etc.) may not be
included as published in the original print version of this book.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Malde, Melissa, author. | Allen, MaryJean, author. | Zeller, Kurt
Alexander, author. | Conable, Barbara, contributor. | Nichols, T.
Richard, contributor.
Title: What every singer needs to know about the body / Melissa Malde,
MaryJean Allen, Kurt-Alexander Zeller ; contributions by Barbara Conable
and T. Richard Nichols.
Description: Fourth edition. | San Diego : Plural Publishing, Inc., 2020. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020002316 | ISBN 9781635502619 (paperback) | ISBN
9781635502824 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Singing — Physiological aspects. | Singing — Instruction and
study.
Classification: LCC MT821 .M24 2020 | DDC 783.2071— dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020002316

Contents
Introduction by Barbara Conable ix

How to Use This Book by Melissa Malde xiii
Multimedia List xv
Acknowledgments xix
1 Body Mapping, Kinesthesia, and Inclusive Awareness 1

MaryJean Allen
2 The Core of the Body and the Places of Dynamic Balance 17

MaryJean Allen
3 The Singer’s Breath 69

Melissa Malde
4 Creating a Singing Sound 123

Melissa Malde
5 Resonating the Voice 165

Melissa Malde
6 Singing as Communication: Mapping the Structures of Articulation 213

7 Physical Expression for Singers 241

Appendix A. What to Do About Performance Anxiety 283

Barbara Conable
Appendix B. The Scientific Basis of Body Mapping 293

T. Richard Nichols
Glossary 295
Index 301
vii

Introduction
During the 25 years I taught the Alexander Technique and Body Mapping to singers, I witnessed more
unnecessary suffering than I care to remember. Singers do not ordinarily suffer the acute physical
pain of a poorly moving violinist, flutist, or pianist, although singers suffer more throat pain than
is commonly known. Many singing students and choir members do not admit that their throats are
hurting, so teachers need to learn to regularly inquire so that throat pain can be addressed. Singers
do suffer greatly from a profound disappointment that they can’t do what their musical imaginations
prompt them to do: frustration because they can’t improve their singing, and fear that they will fail to
do in performance even what they can do with luck on a good day in the studio. Many singers program
what they do not want to sing because they fear they can’t manage what they do want to sing. Many
singing teachers have given up singing altogether and carry in their souls an abiding grief as a result,
not to mention envy. Some teachers elaborately justify why they are no longer singing, claiming to be at
peace with it, but joyfully sing again when they are given the information they need to sing well.
Singers’ suffering is not from lack of technique. Classical singers, in particular, are awash in tech-
nique. Technique is the content of their voice lessons. Technique is what they practice. Technique is
what they read about. Technique is what is addressed at their conventions. Technique is what they are
hired by their universities to convey to the students. Technique is what they listen for when they judge
contests. If technique were the issue, every singer would sing beautifully and often.
No, movement is the reason singers suffer, that is to say, faulty movement, tense movement,
movement done without awareness and therefore without discernment. Singers who do not feel the
movement of their breathing can’t assess whether it is good movement or bad. They have to judge their
breathing by what they hear, and hearing offers them no remedy, only the isolated information that
something is not as desired. In the practice room, the usual response is to repeat the passage, hoping
for a better result. If a better result is achieved in the moment, it cannot be secured because the singer
does not know what caused it. Repetition of faulty movement continues and the poor singer finishes
the practice session as ignorant and helpless as at the beginning.
To gain mastery, these singers must learn to feel their movement, and constantly evaluate its effec-
tiveness. They must become profoundly acquainted with all the sensations of a fine singer’s breath, the
movement of the ribs, the movement of the entire cylinder of the abdominal wall, the flowing up and
down of the pelvic floor, the coordinated gathering and lengthening of the spine in breathing, and the
dynamic “up and over” of the head at the atlanto-occipital joint. They must learn to make all the proper
choices about the movements of breathing to get just the air they need and deliver it across the phrase
in the most musical and comfortable way. Singers must cultivate the best movement in breathing so
that they know instantly how to recover the best movement if they should lose it in performance, just
as they would recover intonation.
In order to feel the movement of breathing, singers must learn that they have a sensory mecha-
nism specifically for feeling the movement. The great natural singers know this instinctively, of course.
This movement sense is called kinesthesia and it tells us about our moving, our position, and our size.
Moment-by-moment kinesthetic awareness is as important for stately oratorio singing as it is for singing
while one dances. Singing is movement— pure and simple, nothing else — and it must be conceived and
perceived as such so that the best movement may be chosen in the moment.
ix

x WHAT EVERY SINGER NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT THE BODY
To breathe well, a singer must have an accurate and adequate body map of the structures and
movements of breathing. Any error in the body map will impair the breathing. When a teacher sees
impaired breathing, it just makes sense to ask the students about their mapping (their internal represen-
tation) of the structures that are not functioning well. If, for instance, a teacher observes inadequate rib
movement either on inhalation or on exhalation, the teacher should inquire, “Tell me about ribs. Where
are they and how do they work?” It would be usual for the student to put hands on the lower ribs,
those that surround the stomach, spleen, and liver, and speak of those. This student has not mapped
the upper ribs that surround the lungs. No wonder the upper ribs don’t move well! They are not even
in the student’s body map! Another student might tell the teacher with a perfectly straight face that ribs
move because the lungs are filling with air, and the teacher will have to question the student as to what
imagined miracle of nature is taking place. Another student might have no interest in rib movement
at all because he or she has imagined that air goes into the belly. The teacher will not know without
inquiring just what error in the body map is dictating that poor movement. Once the error is known,
the remedy is at hand. The remedy is learning, in the first instance, that upper ribs exist, in the second
that all of the ribs move to increase thoracic circumference so that air comes into the lungs, and in the
last that the lungs are not in the belly but in the upper torso.
In order to learn whatever singing technique is being taught, a singing student must have an
accurate and adequate body map of the vocal tract. This is something the late, lamented, Pat Berlin
(College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati) understood long before she met me, and
it was one factor in her success. If she encountered a student with tongue problems, she would hand
the student pencil and paper and say, “Draw me a tongue.” She and the student would then compare
the drawing with good pictures of the tongue in an anatomy book to discover what misconception
about the tongue was compromising the movement of the tongue. Sometimes the error was functional
rather than structural, in which case teacher and student would have to keep their detective hats on
a little longer and ask some questions. It often turned out that the culprit lay in having mapped the
whole tongue as working all the time, rather than just the fibers that take the tongue in this direction
or that. The tongue tension makes perfect sense in light of that misconception, but now the remedy
is at hand: Send the culprit off into oblivion and absorb the truth of the tongue into the body map so
that only the portion of the tongue that needs to be working at any moment is working, and the rest
of the tongue is just going along for the ride.
Body Mapping is not technique, but it is the basis for technique; the fertile ground out of which
good technique can grow. Some students will come into the studio with perfectly accurate and adequate
body maps and no mention will ever need to be taught about the student’s structure, function, or size.
However, more students will have inaccurate and inadequate body maps that will constantly frustrate
teacher and student alike by producing ineffective movement. A few minutes here and there of atten-
tion to mapping the structures of balance, gesture, breathing, accurate and adequate articulation, and
resonance, will correct the ground and promote proper growth of technique.
It is a sad fact that singing teachers and choral directors are often at odds about how singers should
be singing. Attention to the body map provides common ground as well as the information necessary
for singers to adjust appropriately to differing requirements. Singers learn that they can move differ-
ently in the choir than in the opera and meet the demands of each art form.
I remember a very frustrated young jazz singer who spoke passionately at a National Associa-
tion of Teachers of Singing winter workshop about her need for instruction to solve vocal problems.
She said she felt she couldn’t go to a classical singer for help because the training would “make her

INTRODUCTION xi
sound funny,” but she thought no one else would have the information she needed to get her voice
healthy and keep it that way. The young woman was in tears. What was she to do? Couldn’t singing
teachers learn to teach all singers without imposing their “elite” technique? I submit that any teacher
of classical singing can teach a jazz singer how to stay vocally healthy by addressing the body map,
especially with regard to accurate and adequate mapping of the vocal tract, and the structures and
movement of breathing.
I have the highest regard for the authors of the book you are about to read, both for their artistry
and the integrity with which they have learned and imparted the vitally important content of the book.
This book is a resource for solving vocal problems and for mastery on the stage and in the studio. Enjoy.
— Barbara Conable

How to Use This Book
When I was a young singer, I had moments of brilliance when music flowed from me to the audience,
establishing an effortless connection. I occasionally gave riveting performances. Then I had hours of
frustration trying to recreate that sensation. What was I doing wrong? Why was I so inconsistent?
The fact is that I had a natural sense of how to sing. When I lost myself in the music, that innate
coordination occasionally took over and I communicated with ease and aplomb. But when I concen-
trated on fixing things, which was most of the time, I got stuck.
When I began my work in Body Mapping I was able to pinpoint the problem. It was not with my
instrument, my musical understanding, my work ethic, or even my technique. It was that I had almost
no connection to my body, so that when things were working well I didn’t know why, and when things
weren’t working well, I didn’t know how to fix them. I would focus on the problem by isolating it,
instead of putting it in the context of my whole body, mind, and spirit. Body Mapping has helped me
correct misconceptions about the movements of singing, and has revolutionized my awareness of how
habits control that movement.
We have all had the humbling experience of trying to correct a musical habit ingrained during the
process of learning a new piece. Here is why those mistakes are so stubborn. When we make a move-
ment by singing a note, rhythm, or word, the neurons in our brain fire and a neural pathway is formed.
When we repeat the movement, the pathway is strengthened. The more we repeat the movement,
the stronger the pathway becomes. Soon, we have mapped that movement as part of the music. This
is great if the movement is one we want to keep. If we want to make a change, we have to dismantle
the old pathway (bad habit) and start a new one (good habit). This requires scrutiny, awareness,
and repetition.
The same is true of movement that results from an inaccurate body map. Intellectual understanding
of the changes necessary to make your body map adequate and accurate may happen quickly. Forming
new neural pathways that will change the new map into a habit can often take longer. Once the neural
pathways in your brain correspond with an adequate and accurate body map, you will move and sing
with integrity and consistency.
Correcting your body map, however, will not qualify you to teach Body Mapping. All three principal
authors have studied Body Mapping intensively with Barbara Conable, founder of the Association for
Body Mapping Education (ABME), formerly known as Andover Educators. We have incorporated this
information into our own performances and have been trained to help others do the same. We are
licensed to teach the course What Every Musician Needs to Know About the Body. After reading this
book, you may want to deepen your knowledge of Body Mapping or even train to become a member
of ABME. If so, we invite you to visit http://www.bodymap.org to find a teacher near you.
When I was a junior in college, I finally realized that I would learn more by admitting ignorance
than pretending I already knew everything. Reading your own writing for the fourth time, it is easy to
assume what you have written is complete and accurate. In preparing this edition, I kept complacency
at bay by asking questions. For instance, if the cricoid cartilage is fixed to the top of the trachea, how
can the larynx move up and down so much? If muscles always pull and never push, why do singers
describe the diaphragm pushing down on the viscera and pushing out on the ribs? Some of the answers
to these questions confirmed what I had written. Others led to changes that I hope will further clarify
the movements we use in singing.
xiii

xiv WHAT EVERY SINGER NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT THE BODY
We learn by questioning. As you approach this book, ask questions. You may have many moments
of recognition that affirm what you already know and correspond to the way you move. You may also
have those wonderful “aha” moments when you discover something new that makes instant sense and
corrects a long-standing problem. On the other hand, you may run into information that is so strange
that you think it must be wrong. If that happens, start asking questions: Why do I believe what I believe?
Does my instinct correspond to anatomical fact? What do other resources say? Are these authors right?
If you think we have made a mistake, contact us!
This book will not give you a technique or method. We hope it will guide your experimentation,
discovery, and questioning, whatever your style of singing. You may choose to sit and read it like
a textbook. Or you may pore over one page until it makes sense. You may work through a chapter
just studying the drawings. You may practice with the book open to one drawing until that image is
thoroughly incorporated into your body map. You may watch one of the videos many times until you
have embodied that movement. There is no wrong way to use this book except with a closed mind.
— Melissa Malde

Multimedia List
www L ook for this icon throughout the text, directing you to related materials available on the
companion website.
Chapter 1
Audio 1–1. Awakening the Kinesthetic Sense
Audio 1–2. Experiencing Micromovement
Audio 1–3. Using Inclusive Awareness with Kinesthesia
Audio 1–4. Experiencing the Three Forms of Attention
Video 1–5. Body Mapping Firsthand: Success Stories
Chapter 2
Audio 2–1. Embodying Powerful Substitutes for the Word “Posture”
Audio 2–2. Experiencing a Tense Muscle Versus a Released Muscle
Audio 2–3. Experiencing Appropriate Effort
Audio 2–4. Experiencing Support From Your Skeleton
Audio 2–5. Experiencing Compression and Release of Your Spinal Discs
Audio 2–6. Experiencing Spine Location and Function
Audio 2–7. Experiencing Head Balance Forward and Back
Audio 2–8. Experiencing Head Balance Up and Down
Audio 2–9. Experiencing Thoracic Balance
Audio 2–10. Experiencing Feet Tripods
Audio 2–11. Balancing the Arm Structure
Chapter 3
Video 3–1. Four Principles of Muscles
Audio 3–2. Inclusive Awareness of Breathing
Video 3–3. Mapping the Ribs
Video 3–4. Mapping the Diaphragm
Video 3–5. Mapping Rib Movement
Video 3–6. Rib Movements
Video 3–7. Rib and Arm Independence
Video 3–8. Breathing Exercises
Video 3–9. Mapping Abdominal Movement in Breathing
Video 3–10. The Movement of the Pelvic Floor in Breathing
Video 3–11. Normal and Forced Exhalation
Video 3–12. Pitch of Inhalation
Video 3–13. Mapping the Trachea
Video 3–14. Modeling Coordinated Breathing
Video 3–15. Five-Person Breathing Model
Video 3–16. Gathering and Lengthening
Video 3–17. Silent Inhalation
Video 3–18. Air Pressure Resistance
xv

xvi WHAT EVERY SINGER NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT THE BODY
Chapter 4
Video 4–1. Finding the Larynx
Video 4–2. Pitch Variation in Speech
Video 4–3. Head Balance and the Larynx
Video 4–4. Building a Larynx out of Modeling Clay
Video 4–5. Modeling the Cricoid Cartilage
Video 4–6. Modeling the Thyroid Cartilage
Video 4–7. Modeling the Relationship of the Cricoid and Thyroid
Video 4–8. Modeling the Opening and Closing of the Glottis
Video 4–9. Modeling the Contraction of the Cricothyroids
Video 4–10. Rubber Band Model A: Effect of Thickness, Tension, and Length on Pitch
Video 4–11. Rubber Band Model B: Color of Pitch due to Thickness
Video 4–12. Onsets and Offsets
Video 4–13. The Bernoulli Effect
Video 4–14. Degrees of Adduction
Audio 4–15. Finding Head Voice
Chapter 5
Video 5–1. The Effect of Head Balance on Resonance
Video 5–2. Mapping the Mandible and TMJ
Video 5–3. Common Mis-Mappings of the TMJ
Video 5–4. Mapping the Jaw Closers
Video 5–5. Mapping the Jaw Openers
Video 5–6. Jaw Movement in Articulation
Video 5–7. Mapping the Pterygoids
Video 5–8. Mapping the Tongue
Video 5–9. Mapping Tongue Tension
Video 5–10. Mapping the Independence of the Jaw and Tongue
Video 5–11. Mapping the Soft Palate
Audio 5–12. Raising the Soft Palate
Video 5–13. Mapping the Buccinators
Video 5–14. Mapping the Lips
Video 5–15. Mapping the Muscles that Move the Larynx
Audio 5–16. Relationship of the Extrinsic Muscles of the Tongue and the Larynx
Video 5–17. Mapping the Aryepiglottic Sphincter
Audio 5–18. Inclusive Awareness of the Vocal Tract
Audio 5–19. Movements of the Vocal Tract
Video 5–20. Normal Speech, Calling Voice, Operatic Resonance, Twang, Nasal Speech
Video 5–21. Vowel Modification
Video 5–22. Resonance and Intonation
Video 5–23. Efficient Resonance
Chapter 6
Video 6–1. Phonemes as Movements
Media 6–2. Articulation of Nasal Continuants

MULTIMEDIA LIST xvii
Media 6–3. Voiced/Unvoiced Cognates

Video 6–4. Pitch and Voiced Consonants
Media 6–5. Glottal Stop
Media 6–6. Aspiration
Video 6–7. Movement of the [aI] Diphthong
Media 6–8. Vive la Différence
Chapter 7
Video 7–1. Characterization
Audio 7–2. Collarbone Exploration
Audio 7–3. Exploring Humeroscapular Rhythm
Video 7–4. Humeroscapular Rhythm and Gesture
Video 7–5. Vocal Fold Independence from Eyebrows
Audio 7–6. Visual Focus Shifting with Thoughts
Video 7–7. Balance and Spontaneity
Video 7–8. Toes and Propulsion

Acknowledgments
My dear, departed teacher, Patricia Berlin, deserves my first debt of gratitude. It was she who started me
on the path that eventually led to my study of Body Mapping and licensure as a Body Mapping Educator.
Jacqui Goeldner taught me to write with precision and economy. I thank our mentor and the founder
of Association for Body Mapping Education, formerly known as Andover Educators, Barbara Conable,
for her commitment to musicians’ health and well-being, her patient training and her insight and input
in the writing of this book. Thanks also to the many Body Mapping Educators who have dedicated
themselves to the work of Body Mapping with creativity and fervor. Every author should wish for such
a community! This book would not have been possible without the generosity of David Gorman, whose
elegant illustrations grace its pages. The feedback of Bonnie Draina, Michael Ruckles, Kelly Wilson,
Jennifer Johnson, and my co-authors, MaryJean Allen and Kurt-Alexander Zeller, has helped me clarify
my writing and spurred me to explore new avenues of thought. My wonderful students have been
open to experiment; their commitment and enthusiasm have been an inspiration. Charles Hansen spent
hours poring through his theatrical photos to find appropriate shots for the cover. Videographer Steve
Jackson exhibited great patience and empathy in filming and finishing my videos. The constant love,
patience, and support of my partner Bob, my parents Carrie and Hal, and my sister Meg have given
me the confidence to be a better singer, a better teacher, and a better human being. Because of them
I have had the will and independence to complete this project. I dedicate my part of this edition to the
memory of my cousin, Scott, who was a joyful practitioner of the art of movement.
— Melissa Malde
Thank you to my coauthor and good friend, Kurt-Alexander Zeller, who started me on this journey
by encouraging me to take Barbara Conable’s week-long course in 2000, What Every Musician Needs
to Know About the Body. I am grateful to Barbara for creating that amazing 6-hour course, and for
training and licensing me to teach it. Barbara, you are an extraordinary person, teacher, author, and
poet. Special thanks to my coauthor, Melissa Malde, who was the driving force of all editions of this
book. Melissa’s tenacity in the pursuit of a goal is both splendid and admirable. I am grateful to my
friends, colleagues, and coauthors Melissa Malde and Kurt-Alexander Zeller, who provided their time
and valuable writing expertise during the creation of all four editions of this book.
I owe a great debt of gratitude to my teachers, colleagues, family, and friends who have supported
and inspired me over the years. Thank you to the late Edward Zambara, who truly taught me to sing.
Thank you to my voice teaching friends and colleagues, including my dear friend and most amazing
voice teacher and soprano, Lynn Eustis, and to the very talented voice teacher and tenor, Matthew
Chellis, founder of The Up North Vocal Institute Young Artist Program, where I was privileged to teach
voice, Body Mapping, and Alexander Technique for eight summers. Thank you to choral director Martin
Sirvatka for his excellent choral conducting talents and his time to create the Chapter One video, and
thank you to my wonderful friend and truly fabulous acting and voice teacher Matthew Ellenwood.
Many thanks to my fellow Body Mapping Educators, who along with me, strive to learn more about
Body Mapping every day, with special thanks to Amy Likar, Kelly Wilson, Lea Pearson, Shawn Copeland,
and Janet Alcorn. Heartfelt thanks to my excellent Alexander Technique teacher and director of The
North Carolina Alexander Technique Program, Robin Gilmore, and to my other influential Alexander
xix

xx WHAT EVERY SINGER NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT THE BODY
Technique teachers including Penny O’Connor, Meade Andrews, Lucia Walker, Michael Frederick,
Robert Britton, and Bob Lada. Thank you to my Alexander Technique colleagues including my dear
friend and talented voice and Alexander Technique teacher, Susan Dorchin. Much gratitude goes to my
parents, George and Jeannine Steinmetz, who always supported me in the field of music, my students,
past and present, who inspire me as a person and teacher every day, and my husband, John Allen for
his loving support, multiple creative talents, humor, and writing expertise.
— MaryJean Allen
It is humbling for an author to contemplate how much of the credit for the book in the reader’s hand
truly belongs to someone else. I would like to thank Jan Powell, Sarah Hoover, B.D. Stillion, and Kay
Hooper for kindling ideas that made their way into this book, as well as Jack Paulus, Amy Likar, Chris-
topher White, Chris Arrell, and Jeff Kayser for providing invaluable technical assistance. I am grateful
for the many ways the collective wisdom and indefatigable curiosity of the entire network of Body
Mapping Educators have deeply enriched my work, and I especially treasure the keen insight, open
enthusiasm, and warm friendship of my co-authors, Melissa Malde and MaryJean Allen. Repeatedly,
they have employed all three qualities to help me express what I have to say more clearly and vividly.
I owe still greater debts to the late Ellen Faull, whose example showed me that great teachers
teach the individuals in front of them rather than the subject in their heads, and to Barbara Conable,
whose perception and generosity of spirit have been transformative: Body Mapping is not only powerful;
it’s fun. Most of all, I thank all of my teachers and each of my students for everything I have learned
from them.
— Kurt-Alexander Zeller

1
Body Mapping, Kinesthesia,
and Inclusive Awareness
MaryJean Allen
THE BIG PICTURE
You are invited to attend a performance of an exceptional singer. She embodies the qualities of an
accurate and refined body map along with kinesthesia and inclusive awareness. Her tone quality is
beautiful and effortless, and she navigates easily throughout her vocal range. Her entire body looks
buoyant and flexible as she moves and gestures expressively. Even during the moments that she seems
still, we can observe her micromovement, which makes her look very graceful. For example, we see a
very small movement of her head, or a slight movement with her hand. Her larger gestures look elegant
as well. She has efficient breath management, excellent dynamic control, and outstanding musician-
ship. Her voice effortlessly fills the space. Her spine gathers as she breathes in and lengthens as she
sings. She has clear diction, her facial expression is genuine, and her delivery of the music and text is
heartfelt and moving. Her poise makes us relax and really enjoy her performance.
THE ESSENTIALS
Body Mapping, kinesthesia, and inclusive awareness are powerful tools that can help you achieve
a performance like the singer I just described. In this chapter, each of these tools is explained in detail
to help you learn how to move freely and smoothly so that your tone quality and expressiveness will
become even better. This book is designed to help singers, voice teachers, vocal coaches, and choral
conductors of all musical styles.
Because singing is movement, singers need and deserve training that creates an accurate body
map, a fine-tuned kinesthetic sense, and the conscious use of inclusive awareness. Even if you are not
naturally coordinated, you can learn how to move with freedom and elegance in singing. If you are a
singer who already moves beautifully, you may teach or coach a student who does not. Even the very
best singers continue to change and grow.

2 WHAT EVERY SINGER NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT THE BODY
ORIGIN OF BODY MAPPING
Body Mapping was articulated by William Conable, Alexander Technique teacher and former Professor
of Music at The Ohio State University. In 1998, Barbara Conable, Alexander Technique teacher, founded
Andover Educators, now known as the Association for Body Mapping Education, a not-for-profit organi-
zation that trains and licenses musicians to teach Body Mapping to promote facility and prevent injury.
She applied this concept in her six-hour course and accompanying book, What Every Musician Needs
to Know About the Body. Her three decades of teaching demonstrate that the body map has a profound
and direct effect on each musician’s success.
Barbara Conable’s course and her book are informed by the insights of F. M. Alexander (the
founder of Alexander Technique) as well as other somatic disciplines and current findings in the neuro-
science of movement. In her book How to Learn the Alexander Technique, Barbara Conable describes
the Alexander Technique as follows:
Alexander Technique is a simple and practical method for improving ease and freedom of movement,
balance, support, flexibility, and coordination. It enhances performance and is therefore a valued tool
for musicians. Practice of the Technique refines and heightens kinesthetic sensitivity, offering the
performer a control which is fluid and lively rather than rigid. It provides a means whereby the use of
a part — a voice or an arm or a leg — is improved by improving the use of the whole body (1992, p. 1).
Regarding Body Mapping and the neuroscience of movement, in the training manual for the Association
for Body Mapping Education, Barbara stated:
Bill Conable and I did not know when he discovered the body map practically (you may read that
story in an appendix of How to Learn the Alexander Technique) that it was also being named and
explored by neuroscientists. I learned about the scientists’ work fairly recently. It would have helped
us very much during our years of exploration to know about the scientists’ work, but we didn’t.
So Barbara’s development of her Body Mapping course was actually concurrent yet independent of
neuroscientific research. Since then, the Association for Body Mapping Education has incorporated that
research. This book is based on Barbara Conable’s work and her six-hour course. To read an article
by William Conable entitled “The Origins and Theory of Body Mapping,” go to http://bodymap.org/
main/?cat=34
To gain a more thorough understanding of the science of Body Mapping, read “The Biological
Basis of the Body Map” by the Association for Body Mapping Education’s Science Advisor, Dr. Richard
T. Nichols http://bodymap.org/main/?cat=34. You can also read Dr. Nichols’ article in Appendix B of
this book, The Scientific Basis of Body Mapping.
Due to continued brain and body research, there will be many more discoveries about the brain
and its connection to the body. This book is not intended to be the “final word,” although it is intended
to assimilate the knowledge of the brain and body connection as it applies to singing at this point in
time, and combine that knowledge with practical application of Body Mapping concepts so that our
readers may benefit from it.

1. BODY MAPPING, KINESTHESIA, AND INCLUSIVE AWARENESS 3
THE DETAILS
The Body Map and Body Mapping

Let’s begin with brief definitions of the body map and Body Mapping, kinesthesia, and inclusive aware-
ness. I explain them in detail later in this chapter.
n The body map is your mental representation of your body’s structure, size, location, and
function.
n Body Mapping is the process of refining, correcting, and embodying individual body maps.
n Kinesthesia is the sense that detects your body in motion. Singers who learn how to
perceive their bodies in motion with their kinesthetic sense will clearly discern movement
size, position, and quality, which is vital for beautiful, communicative, and healthy singing.
Kinesthesia is a fundamental component of Body Mapping.
n Inclusive awareness is conscious, simultaneous organized awareness of your inner and
outer experience. Inclusive awareness is also a fundamental component of Body Mapping
and includes kinesthesia.
According to Amy Likar, Body Mapping teacher and former president of the Association for Body
Mapping Education, your body map is your conception of your body, in whole or part (2008).
Although our brain contains many different maps of our body, such as a map of our jaw, and a map
of our ribs, etc., in the Body Mapping process we identify it as one body map. In the training manual
for the Association for Body Mapping Education, Barbara Conable explains:
By analogy to the visual maps, which are interdependent to a degree that justifies the singular, visual
map, if you had thirty maps of the terrain around your house: a street map, a topographical map, a
map of population, a map of rainfall, etc., and they were all bound together, you might very well say
as you begin a trip around your neighborhood, ‘Do we have the map?’
Next, here is the most important fact about Body Mapping; because your body map governs your
movement, you move according to what you believe about your body. For example, if you think only
your lowest ribs move during inhalation, you will try to move according to that map, even though all of your
ribs are designed to move during inhalation. Thus, the integrity of any movement that you want to make
depends on the integrity of the body map that governs it. The process of Body Mapping corrects and refines
your body map. When you correct and refine the map of your ribs, your rib movement will be smoother
because you will move in the way your body is designed to move, resulting in better breathing and singing.
Here’s another benefit of Body Mapping: Singers who bow before an audience can learn to do
so healthily yet elegantly. In order to bow and bend forward smoothly and gracefully, your body map
needs to reflect its anatomical design. However, some people inaccurately map their waist as a hinge,
causing them to bend forward in a manner that can irritate or injure their back. An accurate body map
reveals that you are not designed to bend forward from the waist; you are designed to bend forward
from the hip joints. Singers who learn to bend forward from their hip joints while they bow will feel
and look graceful.

While all musicians can learn to bow in a healthy manner, not all need the same level of body
map. The body map needs to reflect the particular requirements of each type of musician. A singer
would not need to have a detailed map of the wrist and forearm, as a violinist requires. However,
singers need a detailed, accurate map of the musculoskeletal structures of optimal stance, breathing,
resonance, articulation, and gesture.
It is vitally important to note that the body map can be effective whether it is conscious or uncon-
scious. This explains why there are excellent singers, instrumentalists, dancers, actors, and athletes who
move and perform beautifully but have not consciously mapped their bodies. Although their body map
is unconscious, it is still accurate, which is why they move so well.
Your body map began in infancy, developed in childhood, and is changeable throughout your
life. Your map is designed to grow and change as your body grows and changes, so your body map is
flexible and changeable. This is a wonderful and positive aspect of Body Mapping; your map is always
transformable. Even if you have had an unclear or incorrect map for many years, that map can still be
enhanced or corrected. When you change your map by correcting and refining it, your movement, and
therefore your singing, will improve.
Anatomy Applied to Movement

During the Body Mapping process, it is essential to apply anatomical facts to your movement as you
sing. As you learn the anatomical information to correct and refine your body map, your map will
change when you translate the anatomical information directly into movement. This book is not purely
an anatomy book; rather, it provides anatomical information so that you can create an adequate and
accurate body map, and apply it to your movement. You can use your kinesthetic and inclusive aware-
ness to move in ways that produce a healthy and graceful musical performance.
Sometimes, a body map may be corrected instantly, but often it takes multiple interventions to fully
correct and refine a body map. Develop your kinesthetic sense and inclusive awareness, your essential
mapping tools. Be patient and persistent, continuously experiment and explore, and enjoy the process
of Body Mapping. Remember that time taken to correct your body map is always well spent because
your body map governs your movement.
If you have an incorrect body map, your movement and your singing will be tense and could even
cause injury. If you have an unclear body map, your movement and your singing will be tentative or
awkward. When you have a correct and refined body map, and use that along with your kinesthetic
and inclusive awareness, your movement and your singing will be fluid, expressive, and healthy.
Elements of Your Body Map

Your body map contains several important and interconnected elements, which include:
n Structure (bone, muscle, tendon, etc.)

n Size
n Location
n Function (movement design and purpose)

Figure 1–1. Body Mapping elements. Created by MaryJean Allen.
In the process of Body Mapping, these elements are of equal importance and can be approached
in any order. I designed Figure 1–1 to illustrate the relationship of the four elements of a body map.
After you have viewed Figure 1–1, let’s look at examples of those mapping elements.
Mapping Size
Not accounting for bodily growth and change can lead to an incorrect map. For example, one of my
adolescent male voice students grew six inches during the summer. He also gained some muscle.
During a voice lesson the following September, John moved and sang as if he were still his previous
size. His body map had not yet “caught up” with his increased height and broader width and depth.
He slumped down, and he also moved with his shoulders slightly rounded forward toward his chest.
To address the problem, I asked John to go home and have one of his parents help him accurately
measure his height, his shoulder width, and his depth from the front of his body to the back of his
body. Those measurements helped John to use anatomical facts to correct his body map. But this was
only the beginning of the Body Mapping process. I needed to help John transfer those anatomical facts
to movement. At his next lesson, I asked John to study himself in a full-length mirror. I stood next to
him as he looked in the mirror to give him a frame of reference. With his corrected map, John moved
and sang with his actual height, width, and depth. Then I asked John to move again with his old body

map, with its shorter height and narrower width and depth. As he sang, I asked him to alternate back
and forth between his old map and his new map so that he could see and hear how his corrected
body map radically improved his movement and singing. My student John and I both found his Body
Mapping process informative, fun, and helpful.
Mapping Location and Structure
During my own training to learn how to teach the six-hour course “What Every Musician Needs to Know
About the Body,” I discovered that I had mapped my thoracic spine (the part of the spine in the chest
region) as situated completely on the outside of my ribs. My inaccurate body map caused me to tilt my
torso significantly back in space because I thought my thoracic spine held my ribs up from the outside.
Once I discovered that mapping error, I realized this might be one of the causes of my chronic
lower back pain. Next, I remembered the critiques I had received from several voice teachers and judges
urging me to work on my posture, despite the fact that I honestly felt that I was standing as upright as
possible. To counteract their criticism, I had tried positioning my sternum quite high, but I still received
poor critiques about my posture.
Sure enough, when I corrected my thoracic spine map by thoroughly mapping structure, and then
clearly mapped the location of the weight-bearing area of my thoracic spine inside my ribs, then I no
longer felt the need to lean back, and my torso moved a little bit more forward in space. My stature
and tone quality became freer and easier, and my chronic back pain disappeared. I was so happy and
excited to feel pain free and also to feel such ease in singing that I immediately signed up to train with
Barbara Conable to become a Body Mapping teacher. Although I have been teaching Body Mapping
since 2001, my map continues to change and become more refined. The Body Mapping process
is continuous, since our body maps are changeable, and there is always room for improvement. It is
invigorating and satisfying to teach Body Mapping to my voice and Alexander Technique students and
help their maps improve too.
Mapping Function
Mapping function identifies the purpose of each anatomical structure and how it is designed to move.
Let’s learn how to map function by examining a common mapping mistake: A singer who erroneously
believes he has an “upper jaw” will try to open his mouth with the nonexistent upper jaw. This mistake
in his structural map also leads to a mistake in function. Because he has mapped two jaws instead
of one, and tries to open his mouth as if he had an upper jaw and a lower jaw, his head must tilt
slightly back in order to open his imagined upper jaw. Therefore, his movement is awkward, and his
singing is tense.
Try that for yourself:

n Open your mouth as if you had both an upper jaw and a lower jaw, and sing an ah vowel.
How does it feel? How do you sound?
n Now, let’s correct this map. Accurate anatomical pictures and models of the skull and jaw
will show you that your upper teeth are attached to a lower bone of your skull, called

the maxilla. Your corrected map will include your skull and one jaw that can easily swing
down from your two jaw joints when you open your mouth. Consult Chapter 5, pages
173–184, for more detail on the jaw.
n Now with this corrected map, open your mouth and sing an ah vowel. How does it feel?
How do you sound?
Here is a progression of activities you can use to correct and refine your body map:
n Study accurate anatomical illustrations and three-dimensional anatomical models.
Be sure trained anatomists designed the illustrations and models. (Please see http://
www.bodymap.org for a list of recommended atlases of human anatomy and anatomical
models.) As you study each illustration or model, ask yourself: “Does anything I see here
differ from my map? If so, how?”
n Use the mirror. Begin by describing to yourself what you would expect to see before you
actually stand in front of a mirror. Think about height, width, and depth of your body. Be
sure to think about structure, size, and function. Next, stand in front of a full-length mirror
and ask yourself, “How does what I see differ from what I expect to see?” For example,
you may have mapped the bottom of your torso as ending at your waist. This is a common
mapping mistake and can cause all sorts of movement difficulties. Keeping in mind that
your waist is not an anatomical feature, when you study yourself in the mirror you will see
that your torso is vertically longer than you had thought, and that it ends at the bottom of
your pelvis — your sit bones. In fact, the word “torso” is defined in medicine as the part
of your body that is exclusive of your head and limbs. Now, with a clearer map of your
torso, sing as you look at yourself in the mirror, observing how you look, feel, and sound.
n Palpate (touch with your hands and fingers) the area to be mapped. So, as you are
mapping your torso, it is very helpful to palpate the entire area of your torso. As you
palpate, ask yourself: “How does what I palpate differ from my map?”
n Draw the area to be mapped. For example, draw your jaw. It is also helpful to draw other
parts of your body in relation to the area you are mapping. So try to draw your jaw, your
skull, and the rest of your body. Remember, you do not have to be a great artist to do this
very powerful exercise. You may draw a few simple lines, but you will still be able to see
a significant map. It is illuminating to date and keep each map that you draw so that you
can compare each new drawing with the former and then compare each drawing with
the anatomical facts.
n Ask specific questions. What is the structure and size of my jaw? Where is it located in
my body? How does it move? Be sure you answer each of these questions thoroughly in
order to discover every detail about your body map. Consult anatomical illustrations and
models to be sure you have all of the anatomical facts.
n Relate the part to the whole. Once you have corrected the map of a specific part of your
body, relate it to your entire body. For example, once you’ve clearly mapped your jaw, map
your jaw in relation to your skull, and finish by mapping your jaw and skull in relation to
your entire body.
n Move. After you have created an accurate body map, apply the knowledge of the anatom-
ical facts by moving and singing with your kinesthetic sense and inclusive awareness.

KINESTHESIA
For Body Mapping to be fully effective, you must use your kinesthesia and inclusive awareness. These
two skills are vital to the Body Mapping process. Let’s discuss kinesthesia first.
Kinesthesia is the perception of your body in motion: how it moves, where it moves, and the quality
of that movement (kinema means movement and esthesia means perception). The kinesthetic sense is
conveyed by sensory receptors located in joints, muscles, fascia, and connective tissue. The joints
are especially rich in these sensory receptors. When you use your kinesthetic sense, you will know the
position, balance, size, and quality of your movements. Your kinesthetic sense is as essential as your
other senses, and singers will benefit if they learn how to develop and use it.
Exercise 1–1. Awakening the Kinesthetic Sense

www
You may read this exercise, or listen to Audio 1–1.
n To awaken your kinesthetic sense, raise one of your hands over

your head where you cannot see it. Did you notice that, even
though you can’t see your hand, you know exactly where your
hand is located?
n As you wiggle your fingers, use your kinesthetic sense to perceive
information about your hand and your wiggling fingers: both
the location in space and the quality of the movements. Now stop
wiggling your fingers and notice you can sense that too.
n Next, bring your hand down as you wiggle your fingers and look
at it. Notice that when you add the visual sense, your kinesthetic
sense fades somewhat.
n Raise your hand over your head again where you can’t see it,
and resume wiggling your fingers. Notice how your kinesthetic
sense becomes heightened when your visual sense is not being
used.
n Finally, bring your hand down again and look at it while you
wiggle your fingers and notice that when you add your visual
sense, your kinesthetic sense fades again.
Exercise 1–1 illustrates the fact that our kinesthetic sense tends to be weaker than our other senses
because we do not consciously use it enough. By deliberately and continuously using your kinesthetic
sense, you can strengthen it so that it will not fade when you choose to include your other senses.
Here are three ways to strengthen your kinesthetic sense:
1. Awaken it.
2. Use it in your daily life.
3. Use it in your singing life.

Next, notice the similarity to what you already understand about your auditory sense. When you
use your auditory sense, you can benefit from the following three virtues of your kinesthesia: sensitivity,
discrimination, and responsiveness.
1. You are sensitive, so you hear the note you are singing.
2. You discriminate, so you notice that the note is sharp.
3. You respond by bringing the note back in tune.
So with your entire body, you can choose to be kinesthetically sensitive, so you perceive your
body in motion. Next, you can discriminate, noticing that you have gone off balance. Finally, you can
respond kinesthetically by bringing yourself back to balance.
Notice that you can also use your kinesthetic sense to perceive large-sized movements, medium
and small movements, and extremely small movements (micromovements). Furthermore, we are never
completely motionless; there are always small micromovements in our body. Singers who allow micro-
movement look and sound more flexible and expressive. To awaken your kinesthetic sense of your
micromovement, try the following exercise.
Exercise 1–2. Experiencing Micromovement

www
Stand in front of a full-length mirror and use your kinesthetic sense to

detect your micromovement.
n First, close your eyes and notice the small movements of your
breathing at rest. You may also feel your head or your arms
moving very slightly.
n Now open your eyes, look at yourself in the mirror, and use both
your kinesthetic and visual sense to detect micromovement.
n Next, try standing absolutely still. Sing a few notes, and observe
how you look and sound.
n Take a deep breath, and then let it out slowly. Now allow your
micromovement.
n Sing a bit more, noticing how you feel, look, and sound.
Using Kinesthesia to Determine Appropriate Effort
Your kinesthetic sense will also help you determine exactly how much effort is necessary for a partic-
ular movement. For singers and all performing artists, this is an important skill to develop and utilize.
Your joints, muscles, tendons, ligaments, and connective tissue provide vital kinesthetic information that
helps you move with freedom, from a place of balance, and with appropriate effort. This is of supreme

importance to singers: by determining the exact amount of effort necessary for each movement, we
will move efficiently and smoothly, thereby producing beautiful singing.
Using Kinesthesia to Determine Optimal Movement
Your kinesthetic sense will also help you discover how to choose the best movements for a particular
task. For example, as you read this chapter and if you notice your neck is tight and that your head is
jutting forward, you can choose to balance your head more comfortably on your spine so that your
neck muscles can release. Likewise, when you stand and sing you can use your kinesthetic sense to
discover that you are leaning forward from your hip joints. While you continue to sing, you can choose
to bring yourself back to balance.
Unfortunately, many of us unconsciously turn our kinesthetic sense off. For example, you may sit
for hours at your computer. Your kinesthetic sense may turn on too late, well after your leg is numb and
your neck hurts. You should not have to wait until you are uncomfortable or in pain to use your kines-
thetic sense. As I edit this chapter, I can use my kinesthetic awareness to perceive the size, position,
and quality of my movement. If I’m uncomfortable, I simply adjust my position. If I feel comfortable,
then I can simply enjoy how my body moves.
Try the following exercise to practice and fine-tune your kinesthesia:

1. First, choose a short phrase of a song or vocal exercise.
2. Next, while you sing, ask yourself the following questions:
n What parts of my body am I moving?
n Can I feel micromovement?
n Is the quality of my movement free or effortful?
n Is the quality of my movement light or heavy?
When you are using your kinesthesia, it is important to experiment with different movements of
all sizes. For example, you might notice that you can achieve better breath control when your hip joints
are free and when you allow micromovement. Or you might notice that your tone quality becomes
warmer and more vibrant when you move your head slightly so it is in a more balanced relationship
with the rest of your body. Or, you might notice your breath management improves when you allow a
larger excursion of your ribs when you inhale.
In training the kinesthetic sense, we must be sure that we are not only being sensitive and
discerning, but that we are responding to the situation. A cook making the perfect cake decides the
batter tastes bland, so he responds by adding more cinnamon. As you sing, you might notice your tone
quality is shrill, so you respond by choosing a different kind of movement to create a warmer tone.
Perhaps you will choose a movement that provides more space in your resonating areas, or perhaps a
lighter movement or a movement born from a sense of buoyancy created by your body in better balance.
Take a moment now to practice using your kinesthetic sense by answering the following questions
while you continue reading:

n Can I feel the movement of my breathing?

n Can I feel the movement of my eyes, head, and neck?
n What is the quality of that movement?
n Can I feel micromovement?
n How do my back, arms, and hands feel while I read?
n How does the rest of my body feel?
As you train and strengthen your kinesthetic sense, be sure you are fully perceiving your body
with your kinesthetic sense. Please read the following quote by Barbara Conable:
A significant minority of your students will have been greatly confused because they have not made
a clear distinction between imagining their bodies and perceiving them. Some musicians have based
everything on imagination. All the time they practice, rehearse, and perform they are imagining their
bodies. Of course, their perception of their bodies goes to zero if they are imagining fiercely enough.
They are creating a kind of “dream body,” which substitutes in their experience for their own real
body. This extreme condition will be true of perhaps only one in a hundred students, but some lesser
version will be true of more, maybe five or ten in a hundred. All will be frustrated artists, unable to
really do what they want to do. Most of these people will find real perceiving a terrific relief and will
easily make the transition to using their kinesthesia and integrating it with their other senses, but some
will be threatened by perception, and may bolt, or fight you, claiming that imagination is what art
and music are all about. Don’t fight back, just ask them to experiment in the privacy of their practice
room with what you are recommending. Assure them that there is a legitimate place for imagination
in music making, it’s just not imagining one’s own body!
INCLUSIVE AWARENESS
Inclusive awareness is the skill of perceiving self and world simultaneously. Inclusive awareness and
kinesthesia are equally important. Inclusive awareness will help develop your kinesthesia, and kines-
thesia will help develop your inclusive awareness. Inclusive awareness includes information from all of
your senses: seeing, hearing, moving, and so on. When you use the information from all of your senses,
it will provide the link between yourself and your environment. Some people think that inclusive
awareness produces too much information for our minds to handle. However, our brains are designed
to use inclusive awareness successfully and many excellent singers already do so.
Here is how you can do the same. As you sing in public, you can use your inclusive awareness and
kinesthesia to become simultaneously aware of yourself and your surroundings: your body in terms
of movement; the music; the text; other performers on stage; your performing space, whether it’s a
large auditorium or a small room or stage; the audience, the conductor, and if you are in a show, the
character you are portraying; your costume; the set; and your props. In other words, you can choose
to expand your awareness to include yourself and your environment. Remember that by using your
inclusive awareness you include other stimuli. You become aware of how all the elements relate to
each other.

Exercise 1–3. Using Inclusive Awareness with Kinesthesia

www
When I defined kinesthesia in the previous section, I asked you to raise

your hand above your head where you could not see it and to wiggle
your fingers.
n Do that again now. Note that you can use your inclusive aware-
ness as you continue to wiggle your fingers, expanding your
awareness to include the rest of your body.
n How does the rest of your body feel now?
With inclusive awareness, you can use your other senses to include
your chair, the room temperature, the color of the walls and size of the
room, the hum and also the color of the lighting, and the faint sounds
next door. You can always choose to expand your awareness.
As a young singer, I entered many voice competitions, and each first-round requirement was a
recording. I really loved making each recording. Because I did not know how to use my kinesthesia
or inclusive awareness, it felt much easier to sing during the recording process without the distraction
and anxiety I often felt with an audience. Every competition accepted me to the second round, which
required me to sing for judges and an audience. During each of those second rounds, although I was
well prepared, I did not sing my best, as I felt very anxious and distracted. So I did not advance to the
third round in many of those competitions. A colleague told me that my voice teacher attempted to
explain the problem, and said, “That’s because she only sounds good on a recording.” Although this
was not a kind or helpful thing to say, it certainly was true. At that time, I did sound much better on
a recording! Now that I use my kinesthesia and inclusive awareness when I sing or speak before an
audience, I feel more confident and am much more successful. (For further information about how to
use kinesthesia and inclusive awareness to help alleviate performance anxiety, see Appendix A, “What
to Do About Performance Anxiety,” by Barbara Conable.)
Types of Attention
In the process of Body Mapping, we define three forms of attention:
n Concentration
n Scanning
n Inclusive awareness
Now let’s discuss each of them. Concentration is an extremely limited tool for singers because it
is attention upon a single object. For example, as you sing, you might concentrate your attention like

a flashlight on your jaw, only to leave the rest of your body in the dark. Because you are narrowing
your attention on your jaw, you won’t notice that the cause of your neck tension is that your head is
off balance and jutting slightly forward of your body. You won’t notice that your breathing is restricted
because your arm structure is too low.
Scanning (sequential concentration) also falls short. When you engage in scanning, you rapidly
move your attention from one area of the body to the next. For example, while you sing, you might
concentrate exclusively on your jaw, then your rib movement, then your facial expression, and then
your tone quality. This is exhausting and unnecessary work for your brain.
Concentration and scanning alone do not provide enough awareness or relationship to the environ-
ment for singers to perform to their highest potential. Also, scanning and concentration are exercises
about isolation, whereas inclusive awareness is an exercise about relationship.
Therefore, the singer’s most effective mode of attention is inclusive awareness. Imagine that you
are holding the flashlight of your attention, and that you take several steps backward so that the beam
of light takes in everything necessary for singing all at once. Each part of your body relates to the other
parts because your inner awareness is integrated with your outer awareness. With inclusive awareness
you are not working hard to become aware of all these elements simultaneously. Nor are you trying to
exclude other elements. You are simply expanding your awareness to include yourself in relationship to
your world, and your world in relationship to yourself. With inclusive awareness your focus can easily
shift to what needs your attention the most: the conductor in one moment, how much air you need to
take in during the next moment, and the fact that the singer next to you has skipped a measure in the
next moment. When you use inclusive awareness, you are still in relationship with the other elements
even as you shift focus from element to element.
The finest singers, instrumentalists, actors, dancers, and athletes naturally use inclusive awareness.
Some of us simply need to expand this skill, and others need to relearn it. The reason we say “relearn”
is that most of us had this skill as children. So the good news is that the skill of inclusive awareness
can be relearned and refined. Inclusive awareness is highly beneficial to singers because it helps them
perform in relationship to the music, the text, other musicians, and the performance space.
Exercise 1–4. Experiencing the Three Forms of Attention

www
This exercise will help you to experience each of the three forms of
attention.
n Choose one part of your body and concentrate on that part. Now,
sing a few phrases and notice what happens to your moving and
singing.
n Next, rapidly scan different parts of your body as you sing and
notice what happens.
n Finally, use your inclusive awareness, which as you learned is
consciously including both your body and your environment.
Notice what happens to your body and to your singing.

If you expand your awareness to include yourself and your environment, you will likely notice
that inclusive awareness is easier and more beneficial than concentration or scanning. Furthermore,
you will notice that you can easily shift focus and can make any necessary adjustments to your body
and singing in order to attain the best performance.
As your inclusive awareness strengthens, you will be able to respond to your body and your envi-
ronment effortlessly as required. It takes time to develop and strengthen inclusive awareness. Don’t
give up. With regular practice of inclusive awareness, your movement and singing will benefit.
Complementary Somatic Disciplines
Barbara Conable created the course “What Every Musician Needs to Know About the Body” to put
music education on a firm somatic foundation. Some synonyms of somatics are: mind-body training,
movement study, and body training. Pioneers of somatic training include Mabel Todd, who wrote The
Thinking Body, F. M. Alexander, who founded the Alexander Technique, and Moshe Feldenkrais, who
founded the Feldenkrais Method. If you are fortunate enough to live near Alexander Technique or
Feldenkrais teachers, consider taking lessons. Somatic disciplines like Alexander Technique or Felden-
krais enrich Body Mapping, and vice versa.
www
Before you continue reading, please view Video 1–5. Then, after you have viewed Video 1–5, review
Chapter 1 by answering the following questions.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What is the body map?

2. What are the four elements of the body map?
3. List two examples of the process of Body Mapping.
4. List three activities to correct and refine your body map.
5. What is kinesthesia and how does it benefit singers?
6. What is inclusive awareness and how does it benefit singers?
CONCLUSION
Robin Gilmore, author of What Every Dancer Needs to Know About the Body, captures the essence of
Body Mapping: “This is not a ‘quick fix’ but a by-product of rethinking your approach to your body
and movement. Correcting your body map can be easy and fun, but it requires conscious thinking and
a willingness to change.”
As you read Chapter 2 and beyond, use your kinesthesia to explore the new material. Cultivate
your inclusive awareness. Compare those experiences with your current body map, and inquire if there

are changes you might make to your body map. Get up. Move around. Sing. Reread. Draw. Palpate.
Reflect. Move some more. Body Mapping is an active process, active in the brain and active in the
body. Let’s get moving!
RESOURCES
Association for Body Mapping Education: http://www.bodymap.org

The Complete Guide to the Alexander Technique: http://www.alexandertechnique.com/
Feldenkrais Resource: http://www.feldenkraisresources.com/life-in-movement-moshe-feldenkrais-reese-
biography-p/2257.htm
Robin Gilmore’s Alexander Technique website: http://www.chesapeakealexander.com
Todd, M. (2008). The thinking body. Gouldsboro, ME: The Gestalt Journal Press.
REFERENCES
Conable, B. (1998). What every musician needs to know about the body. Chicago, IL: GIA Publications.
Conable, B., & Conable, W. (1992). How to learn the Alexander Technique. Chicago, IL: GIA Publications.
Gilmore, R. (2010, 2005). What every dancer needs to know about the body. Chicago, IL: GIA Publications.

2
The Core of the Body and the
Places of Dynamic Balance
MaryJean Allen
THE BIG PICTURE
Just as your skeleton is the framework of your body, both Chapter 1 and this chapter are the frame-
work of this entire book. You will need to apply the skills you learn from Chapters 1 and 2 in order to
successfully apply the information in Chapters 3 through 7. Further, you will receive the most benefit
if you read and embody Chapters 1 and 2 before you read the other chapters.
This chapter will give you the framework to sing beautifully and expressively. The body of a singer
needs to be balanced and free in order to move in a range from a large, dramatic gesture to a tiny
micromovement. When your body is balanced, any movement that is inherent to the structure and
flexibility of your body will be available to you.
HOW WILL THIS KNOWLEDGE HELP YOUR SINGING?

This chapter covers the core of the body and the places of dynamic balance. A foundational concept of
Body Mapping is that your core is the weight-distributing portion of your spine, your body’s support
and weight delivery system, along with the deep support muscles and fascia surrounding the spine.
Your spine will be thoroughly discussed later in this chapter. For now, simply note that your spine is
comprised of the bony vertebral bodies and cartilaginous discs. And, your spine is supported by spinal
muscles, ligaments, tendons, connective tissue, and fascia.
Next, as you correct and refine your body map by learning how to embody the places of balance,
your singing will benefit in the following ways:
n Your muscles will release unnecessary tension.

n Your entire body will become more buoyant and flexible as you sing.
n Your tone quality will become more beautiful, full, and resonant.
17

n Your breath management will become more efficient.

n Your voice will move with greater agility.
n Your gesturing and acting will become more authentic.
To sing with beautiful sound and expression, we need to learn the body’s anatomical facts and
translate that knowledge into graceful and balanced movement. The movement exercises in this chapter
will help you achieve that goal. Be sure to complete each exercise because movement is an essential
component of Body Mapping.
THE ESSENTIALS
Mapping the Word “Posture”

Posture is a primary concern of all singers, so let’s begin with it now. Why do some singers who attempt
to sing with what is commonly considered to be “good posture” look rigid or caricature-like? They
also may complain they feel stiff and uncomfortable. These singers might be instructed to use more
“effort” in order to achieve good posture, or they may be told that their postural muscles are weak.
Let’s consider the meaning of the word “posture.” One root of the word is positura, meaning “a posi-
tion,” and another root is ponere “to place.” Therefore, the word “posture” implies stasis or standing
still. Singing, however, always requires movement and flexibility of our body, so the word “posture”
can sometimes be antithetical to excellent singing. Although the word “posture” will always be in our
vocabulary, here is an enjoyable and beneficial exercise to embody words that are powerful substitutes
for the word “posture.” Note that each of these words implies movement.
Exercise 2–1. Embodying Powerful Substitutes for the Word “Posture”

www
Stand in front of a mirror and think about what each word means to you
in terms of movement. “Try on” each word, and be sure to fully embody
each word while you stand, breathe, move, and sing. Notice how each
word affects your body and your singing.
n Let’s start with the word balance, which means a state of equi-
librium and poise. How does your body feel when you “try on”
that word? Sing a few notes. How do you look and sound?
n Next, try on the word buoyant, which means lightness and resilience.
Look in the mirror and sing. Notice how you feel, look, and sound.
n Finally, try on the word springy, which means moving as a result
of elasticity. How do you feel, sound, and look?
Be creative, and search for other words that imply movement to help you
move and sing with greater freedom.

2. THE CORE OF THE BODY AND THE PLACES OF DYNAMIC BALANCE 19
Singers need to understand how the skeleton serves as a structure of support, weight delivery, and
movement. Let’s continue by exploring and mapping the skeleton.
Mapping Your Skeleton
To map your skeleton, first take an inventory of your current assumptions and beliefs about it. Remember
that you need to clearly map structure, size, location, and function. As you learned in Chapter 1, each
of these elements is equally important in the Body Mapping process, and can be approached in any
order (Figure 2–1).
Figure 2–1. Body Mapping elements. Created

by MaryJean Allen.
Begin mapping your skeleton by answering the following questions:
n Structure: What is the construction of my skeleton?

n Size: How large are the various parts of my skeleton?
n Location: Where are the parts of my skeleton located in my body?
n Function: How does my skeleton move?
Next, study Figure 2–2. Then read the following list of additional ways to map your skeleton. Use
as many as you can. Note that you will need to apply some or all of these activities to map any part
of your body.

Figure 2–2. Full skeleton, front view.
From The Body Moveable (4th ed.,
Section I, p. 28), by D. Gorman,
2002, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand
Press. Copyright 2002. Reprinted with
permission.
20

1. Study Figure 2–2. Here are some beneficial ways to do that. Note that the vertical dotted
line in the center of the skeleton is a “plumb” line indicating gravity. The plumb line
is also a great reminder that both the skeleton and the ground support the body from
below. Next, you can color in any part or parts on the illustration that you discover were
not mapped at all, were mis-mapped, or were not mapped clearly. And you can make
notes about those mapping discoveries next to those parts on the illustration. Finally, it
can be very useful to try to draw your skeleton without looking at the illustration, and
then compare your drawing to Figure 2–2. Don’t worry about creating a drawing in great
detail, even a simple line drawing will tell you a great deal.
2. Examine medical-grade human skeletal models. As you touch and examine the model,
remember that just as every human body is different, every skeletal model is different,
too. This is manifested in bone length, distances between bones, etc. There is no skeletal
model in which the bones will be the exact same size or shape as your own bones. Still,
skeletal models are very effective in the Body Mapping process if you note the general
shape and size of each model as you compare it with your own skeleton. Next, as you
examine the model, ask yourself, “Is this how I thought I was constructed?” If not, be
sure to fully answer that question. For example, perhaps there were bones you left out
in your map, or bones that were not clearly mapped. You can also ask yourself how your
skeletal structure might differ in proportion or relationship to the model. The anatomical
models you purchase and/or study, whether life-size or smaller, must be medical grade
models. A skeleton from a Halloween shop most always has all kinds of errors. Although
medical-grade skeletal models can be expensive, they are enormously helpful in Body
Mapping. See the reference section at the end of this chapter for websites that sell
medical-grade skeletal models.
3. Study anatomical illustrations of the human skeleton (be sure to study atlases of human
anatomy illustrated by trained anatomists; see http://www.bodymap.org for a list of
recommended anatomy books). As you study the illustrations, ask yourself, “How do the
anatomical facts compare with what I previously thought about my skeleton’s structure,
size, location of its parts, and function? How does my skeletal structure differ in propor-
tion and relationship to the illustration?”
4. Cultivate tactile awareness of your own skeleton through palpating, which means to
examine by touch with your hands and fingers. Remember to compare what you palpate
on your own body with what you palpate on skeletal models. Also, compare what you
palpate on your own body and skeletal models with illustrations.
5. Use a mirror. Begin by describing to yourself what you would expect to see when you
stand in front of a mirror. Think about height, width, and depth of your body. Be sure
to ask yourself, “How does what I see differ from what I expect to see?” As you observe
yourself in a full-length mirror while you stand, breathe, and sing, try to observe yourself
from different angles, too. You can use a hand mirror along with a full-length mirror to
better see yourself in profile. Sometimes mirror work can cause us to feel self-conscious
or negative about our appearance or our movement, which obviously interferes with
receiving helpful feedback from what we observe in the mirror. When working with a

mirror, you can eliminate a judgmental response by looking into the mirror and thinking,
“How can I help that person who I see in the mirror come to a better balance and move
more easily?” The intention of helping the person we see in the mirror often frees us
from a judgmental response to what we observe, thus allowing us to move forward
successfully in the Body Mapping process.
6. Cultivate kinesthesia through movement. For example, explore hip joint movement by
palpating your right or left hip joint area as you kick out one leg. Next, palpate both hip
joint areas as you march in place, and also when you bow before an imaginary audience.
7. Sit in on a dissection at your local college or university.
8. Visit local museums and science centers.
9. Purchase and use The Anatomy Coloring Book and the Physiology Coloring Book by Wynn
Kapit and Lawrence M. Elson.
THE DETAILS
The human skeleton is comprised of about 270 bones at birth, and by adulthood some bones fuse,
creating a total of about 206 bones. The skeleton protects organs, produces blood cells, stores ions,
and regulates the endocrine system. Also, the skeleton comprises bones of many different sizes and
shapes. There are slight skeletal differences between males and females; for example, long bones are
generally larger in males. Next, people do not have the exact same size or density of bones, and some
people do not have the same number of bones. And finally, some people have skeletal anomalies, due
to injury or skeletal disorders, such as scoliosis (abnormal spinal curvature).
Therefore, it’s very helpful in the Body Mapping process to learn as much as you possibly can
about your own skeleton, and also to learn about your student’s skeleton. However, sometimes we
are so accustomed to our own skeletal anomalies that we do not even think about them, even if we
perceive the “result” of that anomaly with our kinesthesia.
For example, during my early years as a Body Mapping teacher, my voice student “Julie” looked
stiff as she stood, and she appeared to be overly locked in her knee and hip joints. Because Barbara
Conable trained me to teach Body Mapping by observing my student and then asking questions, instead
of offering Julie a solution to “fix” her stiff appearance, I asked her how she felt in her body while she
stood. Julie’s answer to my question gave me important information. She replied that standing with
“good posture” had always been a bit difficult for her because she had been in a car accident as a child,
and one of her legs was shorter than the other. So now I could help Julie cooperate with her skeletal
structure, yet help her discover the most comfortable and healthy way to stand.
It’s important to add, although I observed Julie looking stiff, I probably would not have learned
about her skeletal anomaly unless I had asked her how she felt in her body as she stood. Julie was so
used to her leg structure, and so accustomed to feeling uncomfortable when she stood, that she did
not even think of telling me about her leg. Therefore, in the Body Mapping process it’s important to
ask questions, especially pertaining to how one feels in the body while sitting, standing, breathing,
moving, and singing.

Let’s continue to map the skeleton. Our goal is free and healthy movement. We can achieve that
by mapping the skeleton and learning how it is designed to deliver our weight, and mapping how the
bones and skeletal muscles are designed to move.
The skeleton and the skeletal muscles allow your body to move in a variety of ways at the joints.
A joint is a place at which two bones, two cartilages, or a bone and a cartilage meet. Cartilage, a
tough, elastic tissue with a distinct shape but more flexible than bone, covers the ends of your bones
at your joints to protect the bone and permit movement. Bones are connected to each other at joints
via ligaments, short, flexible, tough fibrous connective tissue that connects bone to bone. Ligaments
also can connect bone to cartilage or cartilage to cartilage. Your skeletal muscles are connected to
your bones with tendons, cords or bands of fibrous connective tissue that connect muscles to bones.
Although there are three types of muscle — cardiac, smooth, and skeletal — this chapter discusses
skeletal muscle. There are 640 skeletal muscles that make up the majority of our muscles. Skeletal
muscles are elastic, fibrous tissue capable of movement. Skeletal muscles are voluntary; they move
when your brain tells them to move. And, they move your bones by pulling on them. Movement occurs
when a muscle contracts (shortens), which pulls on a bone.
Skeletal muscles usually work in pairs or groups. When they work in pairs, one muscle contracts,
and the other muscle releases. In order for a muscle to contract optimally, its reciprocal muscle must stay
relatively inactive, or released. And, muscles that are released can still maintain their elasticity or tonus.
To bend at the elbow, for example, your biceps muscle located on the front of your upper arm
contracts, while your triceps muscle located on the back of your upper arm releases. In order to
straighten your arm, your triceps muscle must contract while your biceps muscle releases. However,
some people try to move their arm while contracting both the biceps and triceps muscles simultane-
ously. This is called co-contraction. It produces tension, constricts movement, and can cause injury.
Co-contraction causes singers to look and sound awkward and tense. So mapping how skeletal muscles
are designed to move, along with discovering appropriate effort for each task, is paramount to free
and expressive singing.
Next, visit at least one of these videos to strengthen and enhance your skeletal muscle map.
1. Fast paced, witty, and clear video about how muscles work:
Muscles, Part 2 — Organismal Level: Crash Course A&P #22
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I80Xx7pA9hQ
2. Short informative video about the muscular system:
The Muscular System Explained In 6 Minutes by CTE Skills
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMcg9YzNSEs
3. Clear and informative video with excellent animations
[MEDICAL] 3D Anatomy and Physiology Animations : Bones and Skeletal Muscles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge7LK3h83f0
Let’s continue mapping your skeletal muscles. They cannot move freely if they are chronically
tense. Furthermore, tense muscles diminish our kinesthetic sense. Therefore, singers who learn how to
discern and release tension and also learn how to use appropriate effort for each movement will sing
with ease and efficiency. Try the next two exercises to learn how to achieve those two goals.

Exercise 2–2. Experiencing a Tense Muscle Versus a

Released Muscle
www
n This exercise will teach you how to discern the difference between
a tense muscle and a released one.
n Begin by clenching your right fist as tightly as you can. Using
your kinesthesia, feel the tension and stiffness in your hand and
arm.
n Next, as you continue clenching your right fist, use your inclu-
sive awareness to include your whole body. Notice how your
entire body feels.
n Now slowly relax the tension in your right hand and arm by
uncurling your fingers and loosening the rest of your hand.
Notice how your right arm muscles have released their tension.
Observe that your whole body has released the tension you
perceived earlier in this exercise.
n Next, clench your right fist as tightly as you can while you sing
a few lines of a vocal exercise or a song. Notice how your body
feels and notice how you sound.
n As you continue to sing, slowly relax the tension in your right
hand and arm by uncurling your fingers and loosening the rest
of your hand and arm. Notice how your entire body feels and
how you sound.
Exercise 2–3. Experiencing Appropriate Effort

www
Our goal in Body Mapping is for our muscles to work only as much
as necessary for any particular task. Now, try the following exercise to
determine the amount of effort needed for the following task.
n If you are currently reading from this book, you can use the book
for this exercise. If you are reading on a computer screen, please
pick up a book or a similar object. Now imagine the book weighs
more than it actually does, about ten pounds, like a large sack of
potatoes. Use your kinesthesia to note how your arms and hands
feel as you hold the book. Use your inclusive awareness to note
how the rest of your body feels.

n Next, change your thinking and feel the actual weight of the
book. Use your kinesthesia and inclusive awareness to determine
exactly how much effort you need in your arms, hands, and the
rest of your body to hold the book comfortably. Ask yourself if
you can find a way to hold the book even more easily. How do
your arms, hands, and the rest of your body feel when you use
the appropriate amount of effort to hold the book?
Along with discovering the appropriate effort necessary for each task, you will find it easier to
move and sing expressively when you allow your muscles to release and rest upon your skeleton. By
allowing your skeleton to support you, your muscles will not overwork. However, this does not mean
your muscles should be completely passive or so heavy that they “collapse” upon your skeleton. Rather,
the objective is to find a balance between support from our skeleton and a resilient vibrancy in our
muscles and other tissue.
Because I am a “high-energy” person, and since I suffered constant pain from a very old back
injury, I developed years of habits of “overwork” in my muscles and other tissue. At age 39 in the year
2000 with those habits firmly in place while I trained to become a Body Mapping Educator with Barbara
Conable, it was a revelation and relief to learn that my muscles, tendon, ligaments, connective tissue,
and fascia did not have to work so hard. My habits and mis-mappings were years old and therefore
quite ingrained, yet because the body map is changeable, I successfully corrected and refined my map.
I was able to change some aspects of my map instantly, some took months to change, and others took
years to change. I continue to enjoy the benefits of refining that map.
During my training to become a Body Mapping Educator, Barbara Conable asked us to draw our
bodies with a simple line drawing. Since I was an experienced singer and voice teacher, it was not
surprising to me that I drew a clear picture of my larynx, lungs, and diaphragm. However, my drawing
did not contain one single bone! Due to my chronic back pain, my muscles always felt like they were
overworking. Well, they certainly were. According to my body map, I didn’t have any bones to help
support me! When I carefully mapped my skeleton as a structure of support and learned how to allow
my muscles to release and rest upon my skeleton, I moved more freely and my back pain greatly
decreased. I continue to be fascinated by bones, and now I own many different skeletal models and
I use them to teach voice, Body Mapping, and Alexander Technique.
Some folks, however, may collapse too much upon their skeleton, and need to cultivate more
tone and elasticity in their muscular structure. So whether a person tends to collapse or overwork,
discovering the appropriate amount of effort necessary for each movement is vital in Body Mapping.
The search is worthwhile, since the results are liberated movement, easily produced tone quality, better
breath intake and breath management, and more vibrant singing.
Now that you have mapped your skeleton as a structure that supports and delivers the weight of
your body, let’s enhance that map with your kinesthesia and inclusive awareness.

Exercise 2–4. Experiencing Support from Your Skeleton

www
Earlier, you experienced a short exercise to distinguish the difference

between a tense muscle and a released muscle.
n Try the following experiment in thinking: Stand with an inac-

curate body map, using only your muscles and other tissue to
hold you upright. This stance is typical of a singer who has not
mapped her skeleton as supporting and distributing her weight.
Using your kinesthesia and inclusive awareness, perceive how
your body feels. Observe how you look in the mirror. Sing a few
phrases, and notice how you sound.
n Now try the exercise again, but this time allow your muscles to
release and rest upon your skeleton. Look in the mirror. What
changed? Notice how your body feels.
n Continue to stand, allowing your skeleton to support you. Look
in the mirror and sing a phrase or two, noticing how you feel,
look, and sound.
n Finally, allow the floor to support you as well. Did you feel
an additional release in your leg or back muscles? Sing a bit,
observing how you feel, look, and sound.
n Because singers often sit during vocal rehearsals, you will also
benefit from trying this exercise while sitting in a chair. If you
have a chair nearby, sit and repeat the above process.
Before you continue reading, visit this excellent video to view the skeleton in 3-D format while
you refine and strengthen your skeletal map.
General Skeleton Basic Tutorial (by AnatomyZone)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIoBoGSPkws
BIOTENSEGRITY
To fully embody our skeletal support along with the resilient vibrancy of our muscles and other tissue, it is
useful to understand the concept of biotensegrity. To accomplish that, we must first investigate the concept
of tensegrity. In the late 1940s, American architect and inventor Buckminster Fuller, inspired by his student
Kenneth Snelson’s sculpture, coined the word “tensegrity” (an elision of the words tensional and integrity).
A tensegrity structure is three-dimensional and contains rigid components, such as steel or wood,
that do not touch each other and function as discontinuous compression components, combined with
wires or strong elastic, that function as continuous tension elements. So a tensegrity structure is stable,
resilient, and fully integrated. For example, when you place pressure on any part of a tensegrity struc-

ture, the entire structure is affected. And when you remove the pressure, the entire structure springs
back to its original shape.
The late Tom Flemons, artist and inventor of many tensegrity structures, invented the Skwish Toy,
the first commercially available children’s toy that is a pure tensegrity. In Figure 2–3, you can see the
Skwish toy with its discontinuous compression elements, the colorful pieces of wood, along with its
continuous tension element, the elastic string. Note that in each instance when I push or pull on one
part of the toy, the entire toy is affected.
Figure 2–3. Skwish Toy. Photographs by John Allen. Used with permission.

Stephen Levin M.D., an orthopedic surgeon, coined the term “biotensegrity.” Rather than consid-
ering the skeleton and spine as a rigid, base-heavy vertical stack of blocks, to which muscles and other
tissue are attached, biotensegrity considers the body as a system of compression and tension. Thus,
our bones comprise the discontinuous compression components, and our muscles, tendons, ligaments,
connective tissue, and fascia comprise the continuous tension component.
Graham Scarr, chartered biologist, osteopath, and author of Biotensegrity: The Structural Basis of
Life, briefly defines biotensegrity on his website:
It is a simple re-evaluation of anatomy as a network of structures under tension and others that are
compressed; parts that pull things together and others that keep them apart; basic physics!
Scarr provides an in-depth explanation in his 2018 article “Biotensegrity: A Different Way of Thinking”:
Tensegrity structures are strong, light in weight, flexible and resilient. They can move with the minimum
of effort and always return to the same position of equilibrium. Each part is integrated with all the
others and has a mechanical influence on the whole system. When one part changes then everything
around it also changes, which means that forces, power and information can be efficiently transmitted
from one region to another.
Understanding our body as a tensegrity structure explains why Exercise 2–1 is so helpful. Exercise 2–1
encourages you to embody the words balanced, buoyant, and springy, which help you map your body
as a tensegrity structure.
To learn more about biotensegrity, consult Chapter 3 pages 71–73 and Dr. Stephen Levin’s website:
http://www.biotensegrity.com/
Before we move on to mapping the spine, which is a tensegrity structure in and of itself, remember
our spine functions well in many different positions. Although the process of singing often requires
standing, we also sit while singing, and sometimes we must lie down in order to portray the character, too.
CORRECTING AND REFINING YOUR MAP OF THE SPINE
Let’s continue mapping the skeleton by mapping the spine. When you map the structure, size, location,
and function of your spine accurately, your breathing, stature, and singing will improve. This is because
your entire body is dependent on your spine, which is one of the major support and movement struc-
tures of your skeleton. You will discover that when you correct and refine your spinal map, you will not
only sing better, but you will be able to do everything in your life with greater ease and efficiency, too.
Begin mapping your spine by taking an inventory of your current assumptions and beliefs about
it, answering the following basic Body Mapping questions. (Note that you need to ask questions like
these when you map any part of your body.)
What is its size?

n How big is your spine?
n What is the length and circumference?
n Are the measurements the same all along the structure or are they different?

What is its structure?

n What is it comprised of?
n Is it comprised of bone only?
n Is it comprised of one, several, or many bones?
n Does it also contain cartilage, and if so, what is it like?
n Is there synovial fluid between the joints, and if so, what is it like?
n What is its shape? Is it straight? If not, how does it curve?
Where is it located?
n Is your spine located along the front, the back, or in the center of your body?
n How high up and how far down does it extend in your body?
n Due to its natural curves, where is each part of the spine located in your body?
What is its function, and how does it move?

n What are the functions of the spine?
n How does it move when you twist, bend, or when you stand in balance?
n How does it move when you breathe in?
n How does it move when you breathe out?
Let’s continue our journey of mapping the spine. Please visit the first two minutes, 45 seconds
of the following video. Although this video was designed to educate patients about a spinal surgical
procedure, the first two minutes, 45 seconds of the video are a clear overview of the spine.
Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion Overview by Atlantic Spine Center:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okNJPMbh_W0
Let’s continue. Note that during the next section, you will need to alternate among viewing
four different figures. These are Figures 2–4, 2–5, 2–6, and 2–7. First, briefly study Figure 2–4. Then
continue reading.

Figure 2–4. Skeleton, side view.
By Tim Phelps. Copyright 2008.
Used with permission.
30

Figure 2–5. Side view, spine and pelvis with vertical axis. From The Body Moveable (4th ed., Section I,
p. 45), by D. Gorman, 2002, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press. Copyright 2002. Reprinted with permission.
31

Figure 2–6. Side view, spine with discs. From The Body Moveable (4th ed., Section I, p. 46), by D. Gor-
man, 2002, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press. Copyright 2002. Reprinted with permission.
32

Figure 2–7. Side view of spine outlining curves. From The Body Moveable
(4th ed., Section I, p. 45), by D. Gorman, 2002, Ontario, Canada: Amper-
sand Press. Copyright 2002. Reprinted with permission.
33

THE SIZE OF YOUR SPINE
Correctly mapping the size of our spine in our body can be difficult because the spine is deeper
from front to back than most people realize. The bumps we can palpate on the surface — the spinous
processes — are a very small part of the whole spine, as you can see in Figures 2–5 and 2–6. In Figures
2–4 and 2–7 you can see that the front of the spine is deep inside the torso. And, you will see that the
spine is also wide, taking up about half the neck and one-third of the abdominal cavity.
The spine is also long, extending all the way from the base of the skull at the atlanto-occipital joint
to the bottom of the tailbone. Its five sections run through four regions of the body: the cervical spine
in the neck region, the thoracic spine in the chest region, the lumbar spine in the abdominal region,
and the sacrum and coccyx in the pelvic region.
Skeletal measurements are relative to the size of each human being (and therefore each skeletal
model) so we do not map using one set of exact measurements. The lumbar spine (lower back area)
is the largest area of your spine. Many people underestimate its size. If you make a circle with both
index fingers touching each other and both ends of your thumbs touching each other, this is roughly
the size of one of your lumbar vertebra, including its protruding spinous processes.
Here is a great way to understand the circumference of your spine in relationship to the distance
between the front and back of your body. In a person with little to no body fat, such as shown in
Figures 2–4 and 2–7, the cervical spine takes up one-third of the body’s depth from front to back, the
thoracic spine one-fourth, and the lumbar spine one-half. As you study Figures 2 –4 and 2 –7, think
and reflect on those anatomical facts.
THE STRUCTURE AND LOCATION OF YOUR SPINE
Your spine begins at your top vertebra, the atlas, located right between your ears. It extends down
to your coccyx (tailbone). In Figure 2–4, the vertical line on the skeleton illustrates the central line
of balance when we are standing upright. The places of dynamic balance along this vertical line are
circled: atlanto-occipital joint (A-O joint), arm structure, thorax, hip joints, knee joints, and ankle joints.
We will cover these places of balance later in this chapter.
Mapping the location of our spine in our body can be confusing. This is because the parts of the
spine that we can easily see and palpate — the spinous processes — extend back from the bodies of
each vertebra along the back of our cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine. But there is much more
to our spine than the spinous processes, such as the vertebral bodies and cartilaginous discs, which
we will map later.
As we continue mapping the location of the spine, remember that your atlas (C-1) is located right
between your ears. Your lowest cervical vertebra (C-7) is located at the base of your neck. Your thoracic
spine (chest region) lies between the cervical and lumbar regions and covers the area below your lowest
cervical vertebra at the base of your neck to the bottom of your lowest ribs. It curves back in space in
order to allow room for the lungs and the heart. Your sacrum lies just below your lumbar vertebrae.
Your coccyx (tailbone) is located at the base of the spine behind the pelvis.
Your spine is segmented and flexible, with 24 individual bony vertebrae, 9 fused vertebrae, and 23
cartilaginous discs. There are 7 cervical vertebrae (C1–C7), 12 thoracic vertebrae (T1–T12), and 5 lumbar

vertebrae (L1–L5). The remaining 9 fused vertebrae comprise your sacrum (S1–S5) and coccyx (Co1–
Co4). Your 24 vertebrae and spinal discs are smaller in thickness and circumference near the top of
your spine and larger near the lumbar spine. You can see this on any medical-grade skeletal model
and in any accurate anatomical drawing, such as Figure 2–6. As you study Figure 2–6, notice the size
of each vertebra along the entire spine.
Your spine has four curves. Study Figure 2–7 to map the location and extent of each. The spine
curves slightly forward in the cervical area, then curves back away from center in the thoracic area, then
curves forward to center in the lumbar area, and, finally, curves away from center in the sacrococcygeal
area. The very base of the coccyx curves slightly toward the center.
Now let’s take a more detailed look at the construction of an individual vertebra. Please view
Figure 2–8. Note that it is a lumbar vertebra, and due to its large size, it is easy to see its three parts:
the body, the foramen (opening for spinal cord), and the spinous processes.
Figure 2–8. Vertebral

body. From The Body
Moveable (4th ed.,
Section I, p. 47), by D.
Gorman, 2002, Ontario,
Canada: Amper-
sand Press. Copyright
2002. Reprinted with
permission.

You can easily palpate the rear spinous processes, those protruding “bumps” right underneath the
skin all along your spine. Give it a try. The spinous processes function to protect the spinal cord, and
also function as muscle attachments. Each vertebra has four facet joints that allow your spine to be
both flexible and stable. One pair of facet joints connects to the vertebra above, and one pair connects
to the vertebra below.
The foramen (opening) is located in the center of the three spinous processes behind the body
of the vertebra. Since the bodies of your spinal vertebrae are located deep inside your body, it is very
important to map the vertebral bodies by studying and thoroughly palpating medical-grade skeletal
models and by studying medical-grade illustrations.
To enhance your map of your spinal vertebrae, visit the following video:
Human Anatomy Video: The Typical Vertebra

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwni5IwAtRk
Next, note that only your uppermost vertebra (atlas, C1) does not have a body. This is because your
second vertebra (axis, C2) has a post on the upper part of it that protrudes through the foramen of the
atlas. Thus, when you turn your head back and forth to indicate the word “no,” your atlas rotates on the
post of your axis. Please visit the following video to clearly map the atlas and axis vertebrae of your
spine. Although this video was designed to educate people about a chiropractic method, it will help you
clearly map the atlas and axis. At 2 minutes and 4 seconds, you can view the atlas, which is pictured
in blue, and the axis in white, followed by an animation of the atlas rotating on the post of the axis.
The AtlasPROfilax® method (English version, March 2012)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jajcvFOH6m0
Let’s continue mapping the spinal discs. First, please visit the following video, which is about lumbar
spine facet joints, yet mostly covers spinal discs:
Normal Lumbar Disc Facet by Atlantic Spine Center:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wetxtIGoCu4
Each of your 23 cartilaginous spinal discs is flat and approximately elliptical in shape. They func-
tion as shock absorbers, as cartilaginous joints to allow slight mobility, and as ligaments to hold the
vertebrae together. They are about one-fourth-inch thick in the upper areas of the spine and increase
in thickness in the lower areas of the spine. There are six discs in the cervical area, 12 in the thoracic
area, and 5 in the lumbar area. Because the atlas (C1, uppermost spinal vertebra) does not have a body,
there is not a disc in between the atlas and the axis (C2). Your spinal discs have a fibrous outer shell of
circular rings called the annulus. The center of each of these discs, the nucleus, contains a gelatinous
substance. Due to their hydraulic construction, the flexible discs will compress when they bear weight;
they spring back to shape when the weight is removed, as you can see in Figure 2–9.

Figure 2–9. Spinal disc at rest and compression. From The Body Moveable (4th ed., Section I, p. 51),
by D. Gorman, 2002, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press. Copyright 2002. Reprinted with permission.
Your vertebrae, discs, and facet joints are connected to each other with spinal ligaments. Ligaments
and tendons are strong yet flexible fibrous bands of tissue. Ligaments connect bone to bone. Tendons
connect muscles to bone. In your spine, for example, ligaments connect your vertebrae, and tendons
connect muscles to your vertebrae. Fascia consists of thin, strong fibers that connect and support all
of the structures in your body. Your bones, ligaments, tendons, muscles, and fascia provide a flexible
and elegant support and movement system for your spine and entire body.
Next, visit each of these excellent videos to enhance mapping of your vertebrae, facet joints,
and discs:
Cervical Spine Anatomy (eOrthopod):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNUpMNd_u1U
Lumbar Spine Anatomy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qR-Yfw9fOI

Function: What Does Your Spine Do? How Does Your Spine Move?
Now that you have mapped the location and structure of your spine, you can map its functions: to
deliver and distribute weight, to protect the spinal cord, to absorb the shock of impact, to allow move-
ment, and to provide attachments for the ribs.
Delivering and Distributing Weight
The front of your spine (vertebral bodies and discs) distributes the weight of your head and torso
and delivers it through the sacrum into the pelvis. Mapping the spine as delivering and distributing
weight helps you find the optimal stature, alignment, tone quality, and breathing for singing. When
we are upright, each vertebra supports what is above it, and distributes the weight to what is below
it. This is why vertebrae become progressively larger the lower they are located in your spine. The
weight-delivering parts of two of the five regions of the spine are on the line of balance, which make
your body both flexible and stable. These two centrally located spinal regions are the cervical and the
lumbar vertebrae.
Your cervical spine (C1–C7) distributes and delivers the weight of the head. Your head weighs 9
to 13 pounds. Pause for a moment, use your kinesthesia and inclusive awareness, and embody that
anatomical fact: Your head weighs from 9 to 13 pounds! The “average” head weight is about 10 pounds.
And fortunately, your spine and the rest of your body are designed to support your head elegantly
and easily. However, many singers unconsciously hold their head too far forward of their spine, which
tightens neck muscles and tightens the rest of the body as well. Some singers unconsciously hold their
head slightly in back of their spine, and some singers hold their head too high or too low. All of those
imbalances of the head on the spine cause tightening of neck muscles, which affects the entire body.
Learning how to balance your head is of enormous importance for singers and for everyone. We return
to this important aspect later.
Though slightly back of center, the thoracic spine still delivers weight along its curve. Your thoracic
spine (T1–T12) distributes the weight of your head, arms, and chest and delivers it to the lumbar spine.
Your lumbar spine (L1–L5) helps to support your torso, arms, and head and delivers their weight
to your sacrum. Many folks assume that the weight-delivering portion of our lumbar spine is located
along the very back of the spine, where we can both see and palpate the spinous processes. In fact, the
weight-delivering portion of our lumbar spine is located deep in the center of our body, about 3 inches
forward of our back. To map its location, find the top of your pelvis (iliac crests) on both sides of your
body (see Figures 2–18 and 2–19 on pages 52 and 53 to see illustrations of the iliac crests). Place one
index finger on the top of each iliac crest with each index finger pointing toward the center of your
body. Imagine that your index fingers are quite long and can go through your body, nearly touching
each other. Next, imagine a line extending from your index fingers to the center of your abdomen.
So where you are imagining your fingers would touch is the front, weight-delivering portion of your
lumbar spine containing the vertebral bodies and cartilaginous discs.
Your sacrum (fused vertebrae S1–S5) delivers the weight from your upper body to your pelvis at the
sacroiliac joints. Your coccyx is below these joints at the base of the spine (fused vertebrae Co1–Co4)
and has no weight-delivering function.

Your cartilaginous discs absorb shock and act as ligaments to hold the vertebrae together. The four
curves of your spine also help to absorb shock as well as distribute and deliver weight and enhance
stability. When you map the curves of your spine, you can take full advantage of its resiliency for
breathing and singing.
Housing and Protecting the Spinal Cord
Your vertebrae’s protruding spinous processes enclose and protect your spinal cord, which runs in the
foramen (opening) between them and the body of the vertebrae. The spinous processes also provide
attachments for ribs, muscles, and ligaments. However, they are not capable of delivering or distributing
your weight.
Allowing for Movement

Because your spine is segmented and cushioned by flexible cartilaginous discs, it is capable of an
impressive range of movement: bending, spiraling, gathering, and lengthening. The four curves of
your spine allow for a wide range of movement. Your discs allow bending and rotation. During spinal
movement, disc compression occurs. What singers need to avoid, however, is chronic disc compression,
which impedes movement and can also cause pain or injury. Figure 2–9 illustrates a spinal disc at rest
and a spinal disc compressed. When your body is balanced and aligned, your spine’s gathering and
lengthening will occur naturally; your tone quality, breathing, and expressiveness will become free and
easy. Spinal gathering and lengthening are covered thoroughly in Chapter 3.
Next, try the following exercise to experience your spinal discs compressing and releasing.
Exercise 2–5. Experiencing Compression and Release of Your

Spinal Discs
www
You may read this exercise or listen to Audio 2–5.
n To achieve a kinesthetic sense of your discs compressing and

releasing, assume a classic slump, compressing your spinal discs
downward as in Figure 2–9. How does your entire body feel? As
you look in a mirror, sing a few notes and ask yourself: How do
I look and sound?
n Now take the pressure off your discs by bringing your spine into
balance. This is a good moment to try on the words “buoyant”
and “springy.” Honor the four curves of your spine and allow
your muscles to rest on your skeleton. Does your body feel better?
Sing a few notes. Do you look and sound better?
Now complete Exercise 2–6 to experience your spine’s location and function.

Exercise 2–6. Spine Location and Function

www
The following experiments will help you to compare inaccurate and

accurate body maps of your spine to help you map both the location
and the weight-delivering function of your spine.
n Begin by trying on this inaccurate map: The location of your

weight-delivering spine is completely along your back. Stand
with your back against a wall, flattening your spine’s natural
curves (use your kinesthesia here). You will notice that most of
your weight will be on the heels of your feet. Observe how your
body feels and how your singing sounds when you take on this
inaccurate map.
n Now, correct the map by moving away from the wall and
changing your thinking. Kinesthetically sense the cervical and
lumbar portions of your spine in the center of your body. Now
sing, and notice how you feel and sound.
n Next, inaccurately map your back muscles or your front muscles
as the primary means of holding you upright. (Many singers
assume they are held upright by their backs, and others assume
they are held upright by their fronts.)
n Go ahead and try this both ways using your kinesthesia and
inclusive awareness. How do you sound and look?
n Finally, stand as best you can with an accurate body map by
kinesthetically sensing that the cervical and lumbar portions of
your weight-delivering spine are in the center of your body. This
accurate map will help free your back and front muscles for
expressive singing. How does your body feel now? Sing a phrase
or two, and notice how you sound.
THE PLACES OF DYNAMIC BALANCE

Accurately mapping the places of balance gives singers an extremely powerful set of singing tools. You
will enjoy excellent stature, tone quality, breathing, and expressiveness, allowing you to move freely
and sing beautifully. In the process of mapping the places of balance, Body Mapping Educators now
add the word “dynamic” to indicate constant change. Thus, as you learn how to embody the places
of dynamic balance, remember that each place is a location of continuously changing movement, and
each place of balance relates to the entire body.
First, study Figure 2–10. Notice that the circles on Figure 2–10 enclose six places of balance, which
must be mapped accurately in order for your movements to be free, healthy, and musically expressive.

Figure 2–10. Places of
balance skeleton, side view.
By Tim Phelps. Copyright
2008. Used with permission.
41

Five of the places lie at your main joints, which are rich in sensory receptors: the A-O joint, upper arm
joints, hip joints, knee joints, and ankle joints. One of the places of balance, the balance of your thorax
in relation to your lumbar spine, is not medically defined as an actual joint, but this area is also rich in
sensory receptors. If you use your kinesthetic awareness, you will be able to notice the quality, position,
and size of your movements at these locations of balance. Also, you may notice that you have excel-
lent kinesthetic awareness at some locations but not at others. Be persistent and continue practicing,
and as you learn to release your muscles, your kinesthesia in these locations will strengthen. Also, to
help train your kinesthesia and inclusive awareness, two excellent resources are listed near the end
of this chapter.
Before we proceed, note that your body can become balanced in life and in singing in multiple
positions; standing, sitting, lying down, doing the “plank” in Yoga, squatting, standing on one foot,
doing a plié, and so forth.
A-O Joint Balance
Your atlas (uppermost cervical vertebra) meets the bottom portion of your skull (occiput), forming your
atlanto-occipital joint (A-O joint). Your atlas helps to support your 9- to 13-pound head and deliver its
weight to the rest of the spine. Study Figure 2–11. Two condyles (rounded bumps) are located on the
underside of your occiput. These two occipital condyles fit into two oval depressions on the top of
your atlas, so when you nod, for example, the condyles glide and slide in the depressions on top of
the atlas as your head moves up and down. Your A-O joint also allows very slight motion of your head
to one side or the other. When you shake your head “no,” or tilt your head from side to side, the lower
cervical vertebrae are involved.

Figure 2–11. A-O joint, back view of skull with cervical vertebrae. From The Body
Moveable (4th ed., Section I, p. 153), by D. Gorman, 2002, Ontario, Canada: Amper-
Figures 2–11, 2–12, and 2–13 will help you map the location of your A-O joint, which is right
between your ears. Study each figure carefully. Also, be sure to view the entire AtlasProfilax Video listed
on page 36 of this chapter. Mapping the location of your A-O joint is crucial because balance at the
A-O joint allows the muscles in your neck and the rest of your body to release, thus allowing you to
move easily and expressively while you sing. You have numerous sensory receptors at your A-O joint
that tell you about the location, size, and quality of the movements of your head.

Figure 2–12. A-O joint location. By Benjamin Conable. Copyright 2001. Used with permission.
Figure 2–13. A-O joint location in

context. From The Body Moveable
(4th ed., Section I, p. 153), by D.
Gorman, 2002, Ontario, Canada:
Ampersand Press. Copyright 2002.
Reprinted with permission.
44

You will benefit enormously as a singer by becoming kinesthetically aware of movements at your
A-O joint. To map the location of your A-O joint clearly, along with studying the figures in this chapter
and viewing the suggested videos, you can apply suggestions 1 through 9 listed in the previous section
of this chapter on pages 21 and 22. Be sure to use medical-grade skeletal models, anatomical illustra-
tions, and so on.
Mapping the length, width, and depth of your neck muscles helps you to release and free them
along with the connective tissue and fascia that may have tightened around them. If your neck is tight,
these muscles will shorten. As your neck becomes free of unnecessary tension, the muscles will find
their natural resting length and your singing will become more free and beautiful.
Two important elements of mapping the neck muscles include mapping the full length of the
muscles, and mapping the multiple layers of the muscles. For example, if you have mapped your neck
muscles as shorter than they actually are, then it can be more difficult to free them. Or, if you think of
releasing only the external layer of neck muscles, then you are leaving out the deeper layers of neck
muscles. Including the deeper layers is important because those areas of the neck that offer reflexive
support might be overworking. So it’s helpful to learn to release all the way through the multiple layers
of neck muscle, so the neck muscles work only as much as necessary.
Please study Figure 2–14 to map the neck muscles. Note that the head is tilted back to clearly
demonstrate the vertical length of the neck muscles. This is not a movement used in singing as it pulls
up on the larynx. For more details on how the balance of the head affects phonation and resonance, see
Figure 2–14. Neck muscles. By

Benjamin Conable. Copyright 2001.

Chapters 4 and 5. Now turn to page 126 and study Figure 4–2, to see the neck muscles along with the head
in balance. Return to Figure 2–14, and notice the multiple layers of neck muscle and connective tissue.
To amplify and embody what you just learned, visit this video:
Muscle Anatomy of the Neck — Everything You Need to Know, Dr. Nabil Ebraheim:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrItOoELlZg
The Balance of the Head
If you are balanced at your A-O joint, your neck muscles will release and allow other muscles of your
body to release as well. So if your head is balanced and your neck is free, then very likely you will be
free in other areas of your body.
You can approach your head balance from two perspectives: As you learn how to release your
neck muscles, it will be easier to balance your head and become balanced in other areas of your body.
Likewise, as you learn how to balance your head, your neck muscles will release and the rest of your
body will release tension too.
Now, study Figures 2–13, 2–15, 2–16, and 2–17. Study the head balance in each figure. When we
learn how to balance at the A-O joint, it is important to note we are not searching for a certain “position.”
Figure 2–15. Balance of A-O joint, Aaron

M. Johnson.

Figure 2–16. Balance of A-O joint,

Lester Lynch.
In fact, when we try to “place” our head in a certain position, this can tighten our neck and the rest of
our body. So we need to search for a balanced relationship at our A-O joint and the rest of our body.
Importantly, if you try to balance your head and jaw as one unit, you may balance your head
inaccurately: either too high or too low. Remember that your jaw is a separate entity, suspended from
the rest of your head. It is an appendage, just like your arm or leg. So, think in terms of balancing
your skull without your jaw, and then allow your jaw to be appended to, and take advantage of, your
balanced head.
Next, use your kinesthesia and inclusive awareness to determine where your head is located in
relation to the rest of your body. If your neck muscles feel released, your head most likely is balanced.
Use your kinesthesia and inclusive awareness to be sure your head is balanced. Also, use a hand mirror
and a full-length mirror so you can view yourself in profile without having to turn your head to the
side. Next, video yourself while you sing, and study the videos carefully. Finally, ask for feedback from
your colleagues, teachers, and coaches.

Exercise 2–7. Experiencing Head Balance Forward and Back

www
n To help train and enhance your kinesthetic sense of your head

balance, slowly move your head slightly forward of your spine.
Perceive with your kinesthesia and inclusive awareness what
happens to your body. How do your neck and body feel?
n Next, allow your head to balance easily on your atlas, to help
release your neck muscles. This is called neutral, a place of no
work. Observe in a full-length mirror how you look. Notice how
you feel, and then sing a few notes. How do you sound?
n Next, slowly pull your head slightly back of your spine, as if you
were pulling your head back in distaste. How do your neck and
body feel, and how do you look and sound?
n Now restore the balance of your head centrally on the atlas,
returning to neutral. Sing a few notes, and observe how excel-
lent balance positively impacts your movement and singing.
You can also try this same set of exercises with upward and downward
movements of your head, returning to neutral each time.
Singing requires balance for a large variety of head and neck movements that dramatically affect
your singing. Achieving balance at your A-O joint is not stasis or rigidity. As we have seen with our
study of the body’s anatomical facts, balance is achieved in the natural and flexible dynamics of move-
ment. As you sing, act, and gesture, you will be moving in and out of balance. When you balance at
your A-O joint, any movement of your head and neck is available to you in an efficient and expressive
way as you sing and perform.
Notice how Aaron M. Johnson displays excellent balance at the A-O joint in Figure 2–15. He
respects his cervical curve rather than trying to sing with a straight neck. Because Aaron’s neck muscles
are released, they have their full natural length. Next, it will be helpful to review Figures 2–11, 2–12,
and 2–13, to review the location of the A-O joint (right between the ears), and compare those figures
with the photograph of Aaron in Figure 2–15.
Exercise 2–8. Experiencing Head Balance Up and Down

www
Here are two exercises to help you balance your head.
n First, feel the bottom chewing surfaces of your upper molars with
your tongue. This part of your upper molars should be roughly

parallel to the floor as you balance your head, consistent with

the entire base of the head (excluding the jaw) being roughly
parallel to the floor when at rest.
n The second exercise demonstrates how your neck muscles tense
and overwork when your head is poorly balanced and how your
neck muscles release and move easily when your head is prop-
erly balanced at the A-O joint. In this exercise, your hands, not
your neck muscles, must accomplish all the movement. Be sure
to encourage your neck muscles to release.
n Let’s begin: put your right thumb on the tip of your chin and your
left index finger on the base of your head, your occiput. Rock
your head up and down with your hands. When you make this
movement, you might notice a lot of tension and a jutted-out jaw.
n Next, stand comfortably at balance with your entire body, then
put your right thumb on the bottom of your top front teeth and
your left index finger on the base of your head, and rock that
unit up and down. When you make this movement, you should
notice that your neck releases and your head easily rocks up and
down. Notice that your head comes to rest roughly parallel to
the floor. Now your head is able to move freely balanced on the
fulcrum of its atlas just like a teeter-totter.
Lester Lynch (see Figure 2–16) also has excellent balance at the A-O joint and a wonderfully free
jaw. Because his head is balanced and his neck is free, his arm and hand gestures are very graceful.
Thoracic Balance in Relation to the Lumbar Spine
We defer discussing arm balance for now because your arm structure cannot balance until the rest of
your body has become balanced. Let’s continue, then, with thoracic balance. Your thorax, located from
the base of your neck to your lowest ribs, is designed to balance in relation to the lumbar spine. Your
thorax is comprised of the sternum, thoracic vertebrae, ribs, heart, lungs, and diaphragm. Your lumbar
spine (lower back area) is below your thorax. Singers who chronically tilt their thorax back put a great
deal of pressure on the muscles and nerves of their lower vertebrae and discs. Other singers tend to
chronically tilt their thorax forward while performing. Both breathing well and gesturing easily and
eloquently requires thoracic balance. So what does good thoracic balance look like, and how do we find
thoracic balance? First, as you can see in Figure 2–17, Aaron exemplifies wonderful thoracic balance,
the kind you will achieve with accurate Body Mapping. His thorax is beautifully balanced in relation
to his lumbar spine (see also Figure 2–10, page 41). Again in Figure 2–17, visualize the location and
structure of Aaron’s spine. You might even want to make several copies of this page and draw his spine
on the photo. Next, complete Exercise 2–9.

Figure 2–17. Balance of thorax,
Aaron M. Johnson.
50

Exercise 2–9. Experiencing Thoracic Balance

www
n Lie down on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat
on the floor. Some people feel more comfortable with one to three
thin paperback books under their head until their neck muscles
and fascia are used to releasing. In this position, the floor fully
supports you, and your thorax is balanced in relation to your
lumbar spine quite naturally. If your habit is to tilt your thorax
back, this exercise can help correct that habit because the floor
allows your thorax to balance accurately in relation to your
lumbar spine. Spend a few moments allowing your muscles to
release toward the floor, and be sure to allow the floor to fully
support you. Use your kinesthesia and inclusive awareness to feel
this balance.
n Now stand up and search kinesthetically for balance.
n Continue further balancing your thorax by doing the following:
Using your kinesthesia and inclusive awareness, slowly walk
backward (first be sure that the path behind you is clear). Walking
backward will often bring the thorax to accurate balance in rela-
tion to the lumbar spine because walking backward makes it
nearly impossible for your thorax to be too far back or forward
of the lumbar spine.
n Now slowly walk forward, maintaining the same balance you
gained in walking backward. You may feel that you are leaning
forward, but a good look in the mirror will tell you that you
are not.
n If you are still confused, try walking slowly backward again a
few steps.
n Finally, using your kinesthesia and inclusive awareness, find
the best thoracic balance you can, and sing a few phrases. How
does your body feel, and how do you sound?
HIP JOINT BALANCE AND YOUR PELVIC ARCH
Your pelvis is designed to deliver the weight of your upper body to your legs. When you stand, your
pelvis delivers the weight of your upper body through the wide pelvic arch and your hip joints, and
then outward to your thighbones. When you accurately map the arch design of your pelvis as deliv-
ering weight to the legs, your hip joints will become more mobile and your singing will become more
expressive. The area of your pelvis that distributes the weight of the torso and sends weight into your

hip joints is thick. Study Figure 2–18. The arrows drawn around the wide arch indicate how weight
is delivered to the thighbones when you stand. The arrows drawn around the narrower arch indicate
how your weight is delivered to your sit bones when you sit.
Figure 2–18. Hip joints and pelvis, front view, weight delivery. By
Benjamin Conable. Copyright 2001. Used with permission.
Your pelvis contains two bones on either side that mirror each other. The top of your pelvis is
called the iliac crest. Between the two pelvic bones lies your sacrum, comprised of five fused vertebrae.
The upper part of your sacrum connects to your lowest lumbar vertebra, and the bottom part connects
to your coccyx, which is comprised of four fused vertebrae. Your sacrum curves deeply back in space,
increasing the depth of your pelvic cavity (Figure 2–19). As you map this area, make sure you palpate
your sacrum, pelvis, and hip joints; use medical-grade skeletons to palpate the internal areas.

Figure 2–19. Hip joints and pelvis, front view. From The Body Moveable (4th ed., Section 3,
p. 16), by D. Gorman, 2002, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press. Copyright 2002. Reprinted
with permission.
The top of your sacrum is thicker than other areas of your pelvis to provide the strength needed
to deliver the weight from your upper body and spine. Below your sacrum, your coccyx (tailbone) is
thinner because it is not designed to bear weight.
Now let’s map the location of your hip joints. Study Figure 2–19. Note that each of your upper
thighbones has a neck that angles up and in toward your pelvis. The bulbous projection at the outside
end of each neck is called the greater trochanter. Choose either the right or left side of your body, and
find the top of your pelvis (the iliac crest); work your way downward until you can feel the bulbous
end of your greater trochanter. Notice that your hip joint is located 2 to 3 inches deeper and higher
than your greater trochanter. Although it can be difficult to actually palpate your hip joint, you can feel
it kinesthetically by moving your leg at the hip joint in all directions: forward and back, side to side,
and full rotation. March in place and palpate the hip area.
It is very important to clearly map that your hip joints are located outside of your pelvis, and above
your sitting bones. Study Figures 2–18 and 2–19 to clearly map this. Many singers, voice teachers, choral
conductors, and vocal coaches also play the piano or organ. When sitting at either instrument, be sure
to accurately map your hip joints so that your weight is delivered through your spine and pelvic arch
to your sit bones (Figure 2–20).

Figure 2–20. You can sit

easily on your sit bones, which
simultaneously give you stability
and mobility. By Benjamin
Conable. Copyright 2001. Used
with permission.
Mapping the Torso and Bending Forward from the Hip Joints
Now that you have clearly mapped your hip joints, you can clearly map your torso. Your torso is the
portion of your body that excludes your head, arms, and legs. Therefore, your torso begins at your top
vertebra (atlas), located between your ears, and continues down to the bottom of your pelvis, your
sit bones. Think and reflect on this anatomical fact for a moment. For singers, mapping the torso’s
vertical length is of tremendous importance for movement, which includes breathing, gesturing, and
bending forward. Your waist is flexible, so you can twist or bend from side to side. But your waist is

not designed as a hinge: you are not designed to bend forward efficiently from your waist. Instead,
we are designed to bend forward efficiently from our hip joints. By clearly mapping your hip joints,
you have accurately located where you should bend forward when you bow for applause or pick up
something from the floor. Try bending forward from your hip joints, keeping your entire torso as one
unit. It is important to feel dynamically poised for any type of expressive movement at your hip joints
whether you are standing or sitting.
Knee Joint Balance
Your knee joint is located behind and slightly below the kneecap (patella). That sentence needs
rereading, because the actual location of the knee joint is a revelation to people who have mistakenly
mapped the kneecap as the knee joint itself. Your kneecap, however, is in front of the knee joint; it is
connected with ligaments to the top of the larger lower leg bone (tibia) and the bottom of the thigh-
bone. The knee joint has three conditions: locked, balanced, or bent (Figure 2–21). If your thorax is
too far back in relation to your lumbar spine, your knee joints will lock to protect you from falling
over. Unfortunately, many singers have to lock their knees because they have not balanced their thorax
over their lumbar spine. To solve this problem of locked knees, some voice teachers and directors tell
those students to simply bend them. However, since the students are locking their knees in response
to their thorax not being balanced, they will not be able to safely unlock their knee joints until their
entire body is in balance.
Figure 2–21. Knee joints. By Benjamin Conable. Copyright 2001. Used with permission.

Notice that your knees do not need to bend in order to be balanced. To feel the difference between
bent and balanced knees, lock your knees and then release and balance them. Notice how your knee
joints and entire body feel when you release the muscles surrounding the knee joints. Then bend your
knees, noticing the additional muscular work in your thighs. Finally, allow your knees to be at balance
again, but be sure you balance your thorax in relation to the lumbar spine (try walking backward a
few steps to find this place of balance). When you successfully balance your thorax, your knee joints
will balance, helping you to stand and move with greater freedom.
Ankle Joint Balance and Weight Delivery to the Floor
The ankle joint is located where your two lower leg bones (tibia and fibula) meet the talus bone of your
foot. The talus bone lies on top of the large heel bone, the calcaneus. To accurately map the location of
your ankle joint, study Figure 2–22. Note that this illustration is the front view of your talus and your
two lower leg bones on the right side of your body, and does not include an illustration of your toes.
Figure 2–22. Right ankle joint,

front view, toes excluded. From The
Body Moveable (4th ed., Section 3,
p. 103), by D. Gorman, 2002, Ontario,
Canada: Ampersand Press. Copyright
2002. Reprinted with permission.

The large bony “lump” at the bottom and outside your lower leg is actually the bottom of your fibula,
the thinner and longer of the two lower leg bones. The other bony lump at the bottom and inside your
lower leg bone is the bottom of your tibia, the thicker lower leg bone. Your body’s weight is delivered
through the larger of your lower leg bones, the tibia. The ankle joints require the same upper body
balance as the knee joints: The ankle joints will stiffen if the thorax is not balanced in relation to the
lumbar spine, and fluid, free movement will not be available to you.
There is also a direct relationship between balance at your A-O joint and balance at your ankle
joints. Therefore, first balance at your A-O joint, then balance your thorax in relation to your lumbar
spine. Next, balance at your hip and knee joints, and then you will be ready to balance at your ankle
joints. Thus, in order to deliver weight efficiently and easily to the floor, the ankle joints require upper
body balance as described.
Study the location of your heel bone in Figure 2–23. People often miss the fact that the heel bone
extends farther back from the line of balance behind the ankle joint. This is a common and destructive
mapping mistake, causing the mapping error of an L-shaped foot and also results in mis-mapped ankle
joints, creating poor balance and movement difficulties. This mis-mapping is especially detrimental
for those who play piano or organ. The fulcrum at the ankle joint allows free movement of the foot
for pedaling at the piano and playing the pedal bass notes on the organ. To accurately map this area,
study Figure 2–23 and palpate your heel bone.
Figure 2–23. Foot, side view. From The Body Moveable (4th ed., Section 3, p. 100), by D. Gorman,
2002, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press. Copyright 2002. Reprinted with permission.

Now, study Figure 2–24. We are looking at the foot from the top, but it is transparent. The shaded
area indicates the outlines of the sole of the foot. The black plus signs are also on the sole of the foot,
whereas the black plus sign with a white circle around it indicates the location of the ankle joint at
the top of the foot. The oval line around the ankle joint indicates the points of contact of the talus
with all the structures it meets. Your feet each have three arches, which help to deliver the weight of
your body from the center of the arches outward. Note that your toes are not part of the arches, so
there is no need to “grip” the floor with your toes. The foot arch that people think of first is the medial
longitudinal arch. This arch spans from your heel to the head of your first (big) toe. The lateral arch
spans from the ball of your foot near your fifth toe to your heel, and the transverse arch spans across
the ball of your foot. Chapter 7 discusses movement of the feet in depth.
Figure 2–24. Foot tripod. From The Body Moveable (4th ed., Section 3, p. 151), by D. Gorman,
2002, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press. Copyright 2002. Reprinted with permission.

Finally, notice that the three black “plus” signs indicate that the head of your big toe, the head
of your fifth toe, and your heel form a tripod. When you deliver your weight equally on these three
areas of the foot tripod, the balance of your entire body will be optimal for singing. Try the following
Exercise 2–10 to apply the balance of the foot on the foot tripod kinesthetically.
Exercise 2–10. Experiencing Your Feet Tripods

www
n Stand in front of a full-length mirror with most of your weight

shifted back on your heels.
n Take a breath in preparation to sing and notice how it feels. Sing
and observe how you look and sound.
n When you are ready to move on, stand with most of your weight
shifted forward on the balls of your feet. How do you feel, breathe,
look, and sound?
n Now for the final exercise: Stand on both feet, kinesthetically
sensing your foot tripods, with your weight equally delivered to
the forward balls of your feet and backward to your heels. Make
sure you have mapped the weight delivery of your body through
the arches of your feet. Take in a breath and notice how it feels.
You will likely notice that standing balanced on each foot’s tripod feels
much easier than having your weight shifted backward or forward as in
the previous two exercises. You will likely notice too, that you look and
sound much better as you sing.
Arm Structure Balance
Although the arm structure and its movements are thoroughly covered in Chapter 7, we cover it briefly
now. To balance your arm structure, the rest of your body must already be in balance. For example, if
your thorax is not balanced in relation to your lumbar spine, it will be impossible to balance your arm
structure. So if you aren’t sure where your arms should “go” (meaning forward, back, up, or down),
then you need to check your balance at the A-O joint, thorax in relation to the lumbar spine, hip, knee,
and ankle joints, foot arches, and foot tripods. Once balance has been restored in those areas, you are
ready to balance your arm structure.
The structure of each arm contains a collarbone, shoulder blade, upper arm bone, two lower arm
bones, a wrist, and hand (Figure 2–25). The four arm joints are: sternoclavicular, upper arm, elbow,
and wrist.

Figure 2–25. Arm structure. By Benjamin Conable. Copyright 2001. Used with permission.
60

Your sternoclavicular joint connects your entire arm structure to your sternum (breastbone). This
is a tremendously important joint for arm movement, since it enables you to move your arm structure
up, down, forward, back, and rotate it in circles. Be sure you clearly map this joint and its available
movements. (Read Chapter 7 for further information.) When you move at this joint, the entire arm
structure goes along for the ride: As you raise your collarbones up, your shoulder blades and the rest
of your arm structure moves, too.
Next, study Figure 2–26, and note that the composite structure of your collarbones and shoulder
blades, known as the shoulder girdle, is designed to center over your weight-delivering spine, with
your collarbones roughly parallel to the ground. Chronically holding your arms back, forward, up, or
down causes muscular tension that significantly impairs your breathing and singing. When your arm
structure is out of balance, it also can put pressure on the nerves that run under your collarbone and
between the arms and ribs. Therefore, the arm structure needs to balance lightly and centrally over
your ribs in order to allow free and expressive movement.
Front
Back
Figure 2–26. Balance of arm structure, view from above. By Benjamin Conable. Copyright 2001.

Exercise 2–11. Balancing the Arm Structure

www
Try this exercise to find your arm structure balance kinesthetically.
n Stand in front of a full-length mirror with your arms at your

sides. Check all the places of balance, making sure they are
indeed balanced.
n Using your kinesthesia, raise both shoulders as close to your ears
as possible. How do you look? Try to sing with your arms in this
location.
n Next, slowly lower your arms until they feel “neutral” or at a
place of no work. Take in a breath and sing. Observe how you
look and sound.
n Next, slowly lower your arms as if you were holding heavy buckets
of water. Take in a breath and sing. How does your body feel?
How do you look and sound?
n Now allow your arms to slowly float upward until you can feel
the place of neutral, or no work. Take in a breath and sing.
Observe how you feel, look, and sound.
n Next, try this exercise with your shoulder areas far forward of
your body. Breathe, sing, and observe.
n Now move your arm structure far behind your body. Breathe,
sing, and observe how you feel, look, and sound.
n And finally, move your arm structure back to neutral. Breathe,
sing, and observe.
When you can find neutral and balance your arm structure, fluid and
free movement will readily be available to you.
KINESTHESIA AND INCLUSIVE AWARENESS RESOURCES
As you learn how to dynamically balance at your main joints, you will be more successful if you continu-
ously train and enhance your kinesthesia and inclusive awareness. Here are some excellent resources:
n Kay S. Hooper, licensed Body Mapping teacher and certified Alexander Technique teacher,
has written a wonderful book: Sensory Tune-ups. It is a guided journal of sensory experi-
ences for all ages. http://www.allsensepress.com

n David Nesmith, licensed Body Mapping Teacher and certified Alexander Technique teacher,
created many excellent audio guides for Constructive Rest, a beneficial Alexander Tech-
nique practice. Constructive Rest, when practiced regularly, greatly enhances kinesthesia
and inclusive awareness. http://www.constructiverest.com
TO ACHIEVE DYNAMIC BALANCE, ELIMINATE THESE POSTURE MYTHS
Here are some “posture myths” that interfere with free and expressive movement and singing.
n Stand against the wall to achieve good posture.

Many singers are told to stand with their backs against a wall to achieve good posture.
First, as we learned earlier in this chapter, the word “posture” can be antithetical to
accurate Body Mapping and beautiful singing. Instead, consider substituting words that
imply movement, such as “buoyant” or “springy.” Furthermore, the “stand against the wall”
method organizes uprightness around the back half of the spine and back muscles, and
flattens the spinal curves. And finally, the word “backbone” can cause this unfortunate
activity because “backbone” implies that the spine is a single, straight bone at the back
of the body instead of a series of segments located mostly at the center of the body. You
know now that your spine has 24 individual vertebra, 9 fused vertebrae, 4 curves, and that
much of your spine is located in the center of your body. Unfortunately, this wall exercise
teaches singers to think, “My spine and back muscles hold everything up in front of them.”
Instead, we need to map the spine more clearly and accurately: “My spine and my postural
muscles that surround it support my back and my front, freeing my back and my front
for expressive movement.” Singers who raise their sternum too high are organizing their
posture around the back of their body. Singers who collapse forward are organizing their
posture around the front of the body. Instead, singers need to organize and balance them-
selves around the center of their body, the accurate location of the weight-delivering spine.
n Stand “straight” as if the spine were a straight, solid broomstick.
Because the spine has curves and is segmented, the straight, solid broomstick map is not
only inaccurate; it is destructive as it causes enormous tension in the singer’s back and
entire body.
n Lift the sternum high.
When the body is in balance, the sternum may rise and fall slightly in respiration. The
natural and balanced movement is very different from raising the sternum artificially high
and holding it in a “superior” stance. That particular posture shortens the back and stiffens
the neck, causes the entire upper body to arch slightly backward, creates locked knee
joints, and places excess weight on the heels. Therefore, holding the sternum high can
seriously compromise the movements of breathing, singing, and gesturing. If the sternum
is low due to a collapsed stance, learning how to balance your thorax and arm structure
will bring the sternum into a more natural balance.

n Roll the shoulders back and/or hold them down.

Chronically holding your shoulders back, forward, up, or down puts pressure on your
nerves, reducing or even cutting off sensation and blood flow to the arms. If you cut off
sensation, your kinesthesia is reduced or negated, so your movements will not be free or
expressive. Holding the shoulders back or down also shortens the back and puts unneces-
sary pressure on the upper ribs, interfering with breathing and singing.
n Tuck the pelvis under.
This impedes the rebound of the abdominal wall and pelvic floor and prevents spinal
gathering and lengthening. It also tightens the hip joints as well as the buttock and leg
muscles, compromising the movements of breathing and singing and all leg movements.
There are some singers who seem to have too deep a curve in their lumbar spine. Instead
of treating the effect as a cause, and asking the singer to change the orientation of the
pelvis by tucking it under, try the following: Teach the singer how to balance the thorax
over the lumbar spine, which will help free the hip joints and create a healthy relationship
of the spine, pelvis, and hip joints.
n Suspend your head by an invisible string from the ceiling.
In What Every Dancer Needs to Know About the Body, author Robin Gilmore notes that
many well-meaning teachers have told their students to imagine an “invisible string” above
their heads as a way to achieve good posture (the imaginary string will supposedly help
pull the head and body upward and lengthen the neck). Not only does this string image
cause neck tension; it mis-maps how the body moves at the A-O joint, and denies the laws
of gravity, which our bodies are designed to embrace. The support and movement of your
head on your atlas occurs below your head, in your neck area and the rest of your body.
When you accurately map your A-O joint, then your neck will become much freer, and
you will move and sing with greater freedom and beauty.
THE PLACES OF DYNAMIC BALANCE: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

Mapping the places of balance releases your muscles from unnecessary tension when you sing. And,
as you learn how to embody the Places of Dynamic Balance, remember that each place is a location
of continuously changing movement, and also that each place of balance relates to the entire body.
Further, by practicing the exercises in this chapter, and by recruiting your kinesthesia and inclusive
awareness, you will achieve a quality of dynamic balance that creates a more beautiful, healthy, and
expressive vocal quality.
Study Figure 2–27 as you consider the following: Your weight-delivering, weight-distributing spine
has 4 curves, 24 individual vertebrae, 9 fused vertebrae, and 23 cartilaginous discs. You can learn to
release your muscles and allow them to be supported by your skeleton. In other words, your skeleton
will be better balanced when your muscles are not being recruited to do the work of your skeleton.
By allowing your skeleton to support you, your muscles are free to work efficiently, only as much as
necessary for any movement. Use your kinesthesia and inclusive awareness to assess the appropriate
amount of effort necessary for each movement. With practice, you will easily perceive the quality of
your movements, be able to move freely, and sing beautifully. When your body becomes balanced,
more movement choices are available to you.

Figure 2–27. Places of
balance skeleton, side view.
By Tim Phelps. Copyright
65

The Places of Dynamic Balance
n A-O joint
n Thorax in relationship to lumbar spine
n Hip joints
n Knee joints
n Ankle joints (include arches of the feet and foot tripods)
n Arm structure
REVIEW
Remember that this chapter and Chapter 1 both function as the framework of this entire book. In this
chapter we covered the following:
n Mapping your skeleton, skeletal muscles and other soft tissue, and your spine
n Experiencing a tense muscle versus a released muscle
n Experiencing appropriate effort
n Biotensegrity
n Mapping the Places of Dynamic Balance
CONCLUSION
The goal of Body Mapping is improving our movement. And even in perceived stillness there is always
micromovement. Also, you are not striving for a certain “position.” Instead, you are striving for a
dynamic relationship of your skeleton, muscles, connective tissue, and fascia. Use your kinesthesia and
inclusive awareness, too (see Chapter 1). When you are in dynamic balance, you will move and sing
with greater freedom and expression.
RESOURCES
[MEDICAL] 3D Anatomy and Physiology Animations : Bones and Skeletal Muscles:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge7LK3h83f0
Association for Body Mapping Education website: https://www.bodymap.org
Cervical Spine Anatomy (eOrthopod) by Randale Sechrest, MD:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNUpMNd_u1U
David Nesmith: www.constructiverest.com
Dr. Stephen Levin’s website: http://www.biotensegrity.com/
General Skeleton Basic Tutorial by Anatomy Zone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIoBoGSPkws

Human Anatomy Video: The Typical Vertebra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwni5IwAtRk

Kay Hooper: Sensory Tuneups: https:// www.allsensepress.com
Lumbar Spine Anatomy by Randale Sechrest, MD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qR-Yfw9fOI
Muscle Anatomy of the Neck, Everything You Need to Know, by Dr. Nabil Ebraheim:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrItOoELlZg
Normal Lumbar Disc Facet by Atlantic Spine Center:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wetxtIGoCu4
Muscles, Part 2 - Organismal Level: Crash Course A&P #22 by CrashCourse:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I80Xx7pA9hQ
The AtlasPROfilax® method (English version, March 2012):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jajcvFOH6m0
The Muscular System Explained In 6 Minutes by CTE Skills:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMcg9YzNSEs
Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion Overview by Atlantic Spine Center:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okNJPMbh_W0
Skeletal Model Websites
As of 2019, these are some of the largest and most reputable websites that sell medical-grade (anatomi-
cally correct) skeletal and musculoskeletal models.
https://www.a3bs.com
https://www.anatomywarehouse.com
https://www.shopanatomical.com/
Article Rating Skeletal Models
Article dated December 19, 2019: https://alternative.me/anatomical-skeletons
REFERENCES
Scarr, G. (2018). Biotensegrity: A different way of thinking [Conference paper]. In A. Pilat (Ed.), Fascia:
Scientific advances (pp. 167–180). Proceedings of the 28th Jornadas de Fisioterapia Conference,
March 1–3, Madrid, Spain: Escuela Universitaria de Fisioterapia de la Once.
Scarr, G. (n.d.). Biotensegrity: Tensegrity in Biology. Retrieved from http://www.tensegrityinbiology
.co.uk/biology/

3
The Singer’s Breath
Melissa Malde
THE BIG PICTURE
The average person takes between 17,000 and 23,000 breaths each day. Breathing happens whether
we are conscious of it or not: while we sleep, while we eat, while we read. So why is breathing for
singing fraught with so much anxiety and associated with so many myths?
Singers are not average breathers. We breathe to sustain tone as well as life. Although the muscle,
bone, and cartilage used in breathing are essentially the same for everyone, they can be coordinated
in different ways. Consequently, there are almost as many breathing methods as there are singers.
This can be confusing and frustrating. This chapter does not promote any method; instead it will help
you map the anatomical structures that may be used in breathing. When you have an adequate and
accurate breathing map, you will have the tools to ensure that your method of breathing is effective
and expressive.
Mapping breathing is vital for singers. Breath is the source of our sound and we must be able to
use it efficiently. The way we breathe also conveys many messages to the audience, both aural and
visual, both conscious and subliminal. A slow, quiet inhalation conveys a very different emotion than a
sudden gasp. Our breathing must be so well mapped that it expresses every nuance of our emotions.
It is at the core of our artistry.
The Nature of Air
Air is a gas and, like all gases, its natural tendency is to maintain equal pressure. Given access, it flows
from areas of high pressure into areas where pressure is lower. The movements of inhalation decrease
the air pressure in the lungs by increasing the size of the chest cavity. When the air pressure inside
the lungs is lower than the air pressure outside the body, air flows into the lungs. The movements of
exhalation increase the air pressure in the lungs by decreasing the size of the chest cavity. When the air
pressure in the lungs becomes higher than the air pressure outside the body, the air in the lungs flows
out. If this concept is confusing to you, it may help to think of an accordion. Outside air is drawn in
69

when the ends are pulled apart to enlarge the air chamber, creating a vacuum (an area of low pressure).
When the handles are moved back together, the air in the chamber is pressurized and flows back out.
To see how creating a vacuum can inflate the lungs, you can watch How To Make a Simple Lung Model
with Balloon by The Dad Lab (https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=H62wTF9vKPQ).
Prerequisite: The Body in Balance
For breathing to work effectively, the body must be in balance. When we are in balance, we can rely
on the suspension system of bones, fascia, ligaments, tendons, and deep postural muscles to keep
us buoyant. The muscles used for breathing are then free to make the movements of inhalation and
exhalation. If we lock any part of the body, this elastic, balanced system is compromised and breathing
becomes less effective.
Basic Principles of Muscle Activity
Here are four basic principles that govern how muscles work.
n Muscles always pull. They never push. When muscles engage, they contract and the fibers
become shorter and thicker. The extent to which this contraction moves the muscle and/
or the surrounding structures away from the resting state is called the excursion.
n Contracted muscles naturally release to their resting state once their work is done. It
should be noted, however, that many of us overwork our muscles. This can become so
ingrained that it is difficult to release them. Instructing a muscle to soften and lengthen
along the direction of its fibers may help you to release it. Releasing is distinct from
relaxing, which means to become lax or loose. In singing, we depend on our bodies to
remain elastic and responsive. Therefore, our muscles must be in a state of springiness,
ready to respond. This is known as muscle tone or tonus. Muscles may be released and
still maintain tonus.
n Muscles are elastic and may be stretched by any force that acts upon them. When that
force is removed, they spring back to their original state because of their elasticity. This
is called elastic recoil. If the muscle is released when something stretches it, then it will
recoil to a released state. If the muscle is contracted when something stretches it, then it
will recoil to its contracted state.
Elastic recoil also occurs with other springy structures in our bodies. Cartilages
experience recoil after being bent or compressed. Ligaments, tendons, and fasciae experi-
ence recoil after being stretched. Membranes and tissues experience recoil after being
stretched or compressed.
n Opposing muscles act either in dynamic equilibrium or co-contraction. Opposing
muscles are muscles that pull in opposite directions. When a muscle releases while its
opposing muscle contracts, they are working together in dynamic equilibrium. If two
opposing muscles are contracting simultaneously, they are working against each other

3. THE SINGER’S BREATH 71
in co-contraction. To understand this, imagine that the effort of two opposing muscles
acting in dynamic equilibrium will add up to 100%. The ratio of effort between the two
muscles might change, but not the total effort. The effort of two opposing muscles acting
in co-contraction will add up to more than 100%.
www
Exercise 3–1. Video 3–1. Four Principles of Muscles shows this exercise
in action. To explore the four principles of muscle activity, try this.
n Contraction: extend your right arm forward, parallel to the floor

with the palm up and elbow slightly bent. Put the fingers of your
left hand on the biceps of the extended arm. Bend the elbow
and feel the fibers of the biceps thicken and shorten. Release the
contraction of the biceps and the arm will return to rest.
n Elastic recoil: with the right arm resting palm up on a table, push
the biceps with the fingers of your left hand. Take your left hand
away and watch the biceps recoil to its resting state. Repeat this
exercise bending the right elbow and making a fist, contracting
the biceps. Then push the biceps with your left hand. Take your
left hand away and watch the biceps recoil to its contracted state.
n Opposing muscles in dynamic equilibrium: extend your right
arm again with the palm up and the elbow slightly bent. With the
left hand, circle the biceps and triceps of the right arm, fingers on
the biceps and thumb on the triceps. Bend the forearm up to feel
the contraction in the biceps and the stretch in the triceps. Release
the arm to neutral. Keeping your right hand loose, engage the
triceps to completely straighten the elbow, feeling the contraction
in the triceps with your left thumb and the release of the biceps
with your left fingers.
n Co-contraction: with your right arm extended as described
above, engage both the triceps and biceps, straightening your
arm completely and curling your right hand into a tight fist. Feel
the co-contraction of the biceps and triceps with your left hand.
Biotensegrity and Fascia
To understand the process of breathing for singing, it is helpful to understand the concept of biotenseg-
rity. Tensegrity (tensional + integrity) is an architectural term coined by Buckminster Fuller referring to
structures that maintain their structural integrity by combining continuous tension with discontinuous
compression. Conventional compression structures rely on gravity and load distribution for structural
integrity. In a compression structure, such as a brick wall, each layer distributes its weight through the

layer beneath, all the way to the ground. A true tensegrity structure also has compression elements,
but they do not touch each other, or distribute weight to each other. Rather, the compression elements
are suspended in a continuous web of flexibletension. While a compression structure is vulnerable
to forces that disrupt the load distribution, a tensegrity structure absorbs and distributes these forces
throughout the resilient and flexible system. Figure 3–1 shows two tensegrity models. One is a basic
icosahedron and the other is a tensegrity model of the spine.
Figure 3–1. A tensegrity icosahedron and a

tensegrity model of the spine.

Biotensegrity applies this concept to the body. Instead of defining the skeleton as a pure compres-
sion structure, biotensegrity conceives of bones as discontinuous compression elements connected by
a continuous tensional web of soft tissues, especially fascia. These elements are integrated in a springy
and responsive system that operates ideally when each part of the web has equal tonus. Tom Myers
explains this eloquently in What Is Tensegrity? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuMHAZ3ync0).
Fascia is integral to the tensional element of biotensegrity. There are several kinds of fascia, asso-
ciated with skin, organs, muscles, and even bones. In muscles, fascia surrounds and separates muscles
from each other, it surrounds and separates each muscle bundle, and it surrounds and separates each
muscle fiber within a bundle. To visualize this, you can think of an orange. The skin is one layer of
fascia, each section is surrounded by fascia, and each individual juicy sac is surrounded by fascia. For
a description of muscle fascia, read Brad Walker’s short article Stretching and Muscle Fascia (https://
stretchcoach.com/articles/stretching-fascia/).
In the body, this web of fascia is integral to all soft tissues, including muscles, tendons, ligaments,
and membranes. Unlike muscle fibers, fascia does not contract. It supports movement by providing the
flexible, elastic, and responsive network that can keep us in balance, even when we are not upright. If
kept immobile, some fascia becomes sticky and can inhibit movement. We notice this after sitting too
long, or protecting a joint after surgery. Unless this immobilization is chronic, fascia can be restored
to flexibility through movement. For an in-depth discussion of fascia, visit the Anatomy Trains website
(https://www.anatomytrains.com/fascia/).
THE ESSENTIALS
Below is a description of the process of breathing for singing that you may use as an inclusive aware-
ness exercise. Good breathing is possible when lying down or even hanging upside down, but this
description assumes that the breather is standing or sitting upright. Don’t worry if you don’t understand
every part of this right now. Simply read or listen a few times and then proceed to the detailed descrip-
tions of the structures and movements involved in respiration.
If you are unfamiliar with breathing anatomy, it might be helpful to review the following glossary
of anatomical names used for common breathing structures.
n Diaphragm: The main muscle of breathing, located between the chest and
abdominal cavities.
n Viscera: The contents of the abdominal cavity.
n Sternum: The breast bone.
n Costal Cartilage: The rib-extending cartilage that connects the ribs to the sternum.
n Thorax/Thoracic: The chest/referring to the chest.
n Pharynx: The throat.
n Velum: The soft palate.
n Trachea: The tube that carries air to and from the lungs.

www
Exercise 3–2. Audio 3–2. Inclusive Awareness of Breathing provides a
recording of this exercise. When we need oxygen, the brain sends a signal
to the diaphragm, which contracts. The diaphragm is a dome-shaped
muscle that attaches to the front of the lumbar spine and to the lower
ribs all the way around. When it contracts, it pulls down on the central
tendon, located in the dome of the diaphragm just under the heart.
This exerts pressure on the viscera, which are displaced out against the
muscles of the abdomen and down against the muscles of the pelvic
floor. The contraction of the diaphragm also swings the lower ribs up at
the sides, changing their orientation to the spine and the sternum, and
slightly bending the costal cartilage. This action is assisted by many
other muscles that help lift the ribs. The vertebrae of the spine gather
together with the contraction of the diaphragm and the movement of the
ribs, slightly compressing the spinal discs. The muscles of the abdomen
and pelvic floor remain toned, but stretch to allow the contraction of the
diaphragm and rib lifters. This dynamic equilibrium among these four
muscle groups is vital to good breathing.
The spongy, elastic tissue of each lung is connected to the inside
of the thoracic cavity by a membrane called the pleural sac. Therefore,
as the thorax expands during inhalation, the lungs expand with it.
The contraction of the diaphragm pulls down on the lungs, expanding
them vertically. As the ribs lift at the sides, they pull out on the lungs,
expanding them horizontally and from front to back. Thus, as we inhale,
the lungs get taller, wider, and deeper, increasing their volume.
As the volume of the lungs increases, the air pressure inside them
decreases. In order to equalize the pressure, outside air rushes in through
the nose or mouth. The muscles of the pharynx, velum, and tongue
release to provide a clear passage for inhalation. The air travels through
the pharynx and the larynx to the trachea and then on to the lungs. The
amount of air we inhale depends on the excursion of the diaphragm and
the ribs, which in turn depends on the extent of release in the abdominals
and pelvic floor.
At rest, exhalation begins as soon as the diaphragm and rib lifters
begin to release, responding to the elastic recoil of the pelvic floor, abdom-
inal muscles, costal cartilage, and spinal discs. The elastic recoil of the
pelvic floor and the abdominals exerts gentle upward pressure on the
diaphragm through the viscera. As the diaphragm releases in response to
this pressure, the dome of the diaphragm rises, exerting upward pressure
on the lungs. The muscles that lift the ribs release in response to four

forces: the elastic recoil of the abdominals, the elastic recoil of the costal
cartilage, the release of the diaphragm, and, when we are upright, the
force of gravity. As the ribs descend, they exert inward pressure on the
lungs. With the release of the diaphragm and the rib lifters, the spinal
discs recoil to their full height, lengthening the spine.
These movements decrease the volume of the thoracic cavity,
increasing the air pressure inside the lungs. As soon as the air pressure
inside the lungs becomes greater than the pressure of the outside air,
breath flows out to equalize the pressure. At rest, this happens quickly.
In singing and speaking, we regulate the exhalation by choosing how
quickly to release the diaphragm and the rib lifters. The vocal folds close,
and the outgoing air sets them into vibration to make sound. Movements
in the vocal tract shape that sound into words and resonance.
At rest, our breathing is involuntary. That is, it occurs without our conscious direction. However,
when we sing, we decide the timing, extent, and pace of the inhalation and exhalation. Therefore,
breathing for singing is voluntary to some degree. There are various levels of voluntary breathing.
Forced inhalation and forced exhalation are medical terms used to describe the process of taking in
and expelling the maximum amount of breath. It is almost never necessary to do this in singing because
we tailor the amount of air we inhale to the demands of the phrase. However, singers use more breath,
and have more control over its release, than the resting breather. Therefore, we may choose to guide
structures beyond their normal movement when we sing. In this book, we will call this active breathing.
THE DETAILS
The Bony Framework of Breathing

The ribs and the spine form the bony framework that houses the heart and lungs. This is not a static or
rigid structure, as the term “rib cage” implies. In fact, the ribs and the spine move with every inhalation
and exhalation. This skeletal movement is integral to the process of breathing.
The 12 vertebrae below the neck, and the ribs that connect to them, define the thorax. The
thoracic vertebrae are numbered from top to bottom: T1 is at the top, T12 is at the bottom. As you
can see in Figure 3–2, the thoracic spine forms a gentle curve toward the back to make room for the
heart and lungs.
There are 24 ribs, 12 on each side of the body. Like the corresponding vertebrae, they are numbered
from top to bottom. Anatomical terms referring to ribs use the Latin root cost-. Therefore, the joints
where the ribs connect to the vertebrae are called the costovertebral joints (see Figure 3–2). These joints

Figure 3–2. The ribs and spine viewed from the right side showing the costover-
tebral joints. From The Body Moveable (4th ed., p. 118), by D. Gorman. Guelph,
Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press. Copyright 2002. Reprinted with permission.
are located on the back of the vertebral bodies on each side. Most of the weight-distributing part of
the spine is in front of the costovertebral joints. The top rib and the bottom 3 ribs connect directly to
their corresponding vertebrae. The rest of the ribs connect to 2 vertebrae, spanning the disc between
them. The ribs also connect with joints to the transverse processes of the vertebrae. These connections
are shown in the detail of Figure 3–3. Because of these many connections, movement of the ribs causes
movement in the thoracic spine.

Figure 3–3. The ribs and spine viewed from the back showing
the costotransverse joints (1) and costovertebral and joints (2–3).
By Holly Fischer. Copyright 2015, Association for Body Mapping
Education. Used with permission.
From their connection to the spine the ribs arc back, as they curve down and around to the
sides. At the front, the bones of the ribs become cartilage, called costal cartilage. The cartilage in turn
connects to the sternum. As you can see in Figure 3–4, the costal cartilage of the first rib is united with

Figure 3–4. The ribs, spine, and costal cartilage viewed from the front. From
The Body Moveable (4th ed., p. 119), by D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Canada:
Ampersand Press. Copyright 2002. Reprinted with permission.
the top of the sternum, the manubrium. The costal cartilage of ribs 2 through 6 connects with joints
to the body of the sternum. Ribs 7 through 10 join into one cartilage before connecting to the sternum
with a single joint. These sternocostal joints are gliding joints, permitting a swiveling movement. The
bottom two ribs (11 and 12) do not curve all the way around to connect to the sternum and for this
reason are sometimes called floating ribs. Some of the rib movement during breathing results from the
springiness of the costal cartilage.

Because of the nature of the sternocostal and costovertebral joints, and the flexibility of the costal
cartilage, we can change the orientation of our ribs to the spine and the sternum. When we breathe, we
can raise and lower the ribs at the sides without causing the entire rib cage to rise and fall. There are
no joints between the ribs and the bones of the arm, as you can see in Figures 3–3 and 3–6. The ribs
are therefore free to change orientation beneath the arm structure without causing the shoulders to rise.
To see an animation that shows the independence of the arms and ribs, watch Scapulohumeral Rhythm
Shoulder Abduction by Muscle and Motion (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VygGuBObVc).
The ribs are wider near the hips than they are near the neck. Measured from spine to sternum,
each rib (except the floating ribs) is longer than the rib above. The ribs slope down at the sides. The
angle of the slope in back is uniform for all the ribs (Figures 3–2 and 3–3). The slope up to the sternum
in front becomes progressively steeper with each rib. As you can see in Figure 3–4, the costal cartilage
of the second rib is virtually horizontal, but the slope of the costal cartilage for the 10th rib slants at
a steep angle.
Exercise 3–3 below will help you map the ribs. An adequate, accurate map of the ribs and spine
is essential for good breathing, so take the time to embody this information before you move on.
www
Exercise 3–3. Video 3–3. Mapping the Ribs shows this exercise in action.
To map your ribs, start by simply exploring them with the touch of your
hands.
n Begin at the sternum (breast bone). Explore from the top of your
sternum at the notch located at the base of your neck down to
the lower tip where the abdominal wall begins.
n Now, work your way around the lowest edge of your ribs from
front to back. Notice the steep slant of the costal cartilage in the
front. Notice that your bottom ribs are lower in back than at
the front.
n Returning to the front, explore the costal cartilage that connects
the ribs to the sternum.
n Explore your ribs all the way up to the top: the first rib is directly
under the collarbone in front and above your shoulder blade
in back.
n Explore the sides of your ribs. Find the distance between your
bottom rib on the side and the top of your hip bone.
n Put your right thumb on the ribs nearest your right arm pit and
your left thumb on the ribs nearest your left hip. Notice that the
circumference of the ribs is narrower at your underarm than it
is near your hip bone.

Review: Bony Framework of Breathing
n There are 12 thoracic vertebrae. There are 24 ribs, 12 on each side.

n The ribs connect with joints to the vertebral bodies of thoracic spine.
n The ribs arc back and away from the spine.
n The ribs slope down at the sides.
n The ribs turn into costal cartilage in front, which connects to the sternum with joints.
n The ribs and arms move independently; there are no joints between the ribs and the arm
structure.
The Muscles of Inhalation

The primary muscles that are active during inhalation are (1) the diaphragm and (2) the muscles that
lift the ribs. In efficient breathing, these muscles engage in dynamic equilibrium with the abdominal
muscles, and the muscles of the pelvic floor. For an easy inhalation, the abdominal and pelvic floor
muscles must release to allow the full excursion of the diaphragm. The abdominals must also release to
allow the rib lifters to contract and raise the ribs. Though they release during inhalation, the abdomi-
nals and the pelvic floor must maintain their tonus in order for breathing to be balanced and elastic.
The Diaphragm
The Structure, Size, and Location of the Diaphragm. The diaphragm is the principal muscle of
inhalation. It is a dome-shaped muscle that arches up inside the ribs, dividing the thoracic cavity
from the abdominal cavity. The top of the dome is the central tendon, located directly under the heart
(Figure 3–5).

Figure 3–5. The diaphragm in context viewed from the front

(lungs not shown). From The Body Moveable (4th ed., p. 136),
by D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press.
Copyright 2002. Reprinted with permission.

The diaphragm covers a large area. It is thin but its fibers, though only about 5 millimeters thick,
are quite strong. The lungs connect to the top of the diaphragm via the pleural sac on both sides of
the heart. The liver, stomach, spleen, and kidneys nestle inside its dome, as you can see in Figure 3–6.
These organs, along with the intestines, are known as the viscera.
Figure 3–6. An outline of the diaphragm viewed from the

front with lungs and viscera. From The Body Moveable (4th ed.,
p. 146), by D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand
Press. Copyright 2002. Reprinted with permission.

From the central tendon, the muscle fibers of the diaphragm radiate downward and outward. In
back, the fibers converge into tendons that attach to the front of the lumbar vertebrae on both sides
of the aorta. These structures are sometimes called the stem or pillars of the diaphragm. The rest of
the fibers arch downward from the central tendon to connect with the lowest ribs all the way around.
Figure 3–7 shows the diaphragm from the right side with the ribs cut away for a better view. The dark
arrows show the direction of contraction. The outline of the heart is shown with a dotted line.
Figure 3–7. The diaphragm viewed from the right

side (ribs cut away). From The Body Moveable (4th
ed., p. 138), by D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Can-
ada: Ampersand Press. Copyright 2002. Reprinted
with permission.

Figure 3–8 shows the diaphragm from below. The central tendon is the lighter area in the middle
of the dome. You can notice an elliptical opening in back of the central tendon for the esophagus
(food tube) to pass through and a round hole in the right side of the central tendon for the passage
of the vena cava as it carries deoxygenated blood to the heart. The aorta passes through behind the
diaphragm along the spine, carrying oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the lower body. Healthline
Body Maps provides an interactive diagram of the diaphragm (http://www.healthline.com/human-
body-maps/diaphragm#6/12 Click and drag on the drawing to see the diaphragm from all angles).
Figure 3–8. The diaphragm viewed from below showing psoas

muscles. From The Body Moveable (4th ed., p. 135), by D. Gor-
man. Guelph, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press. Copyright
As you can see in Figures 3–8 and 3–9, the psoas muscles are intimately associated with the
diaphragm because they connect to the spine in very close proximity to the stem of the diaphragm.
The psoas muscles are leg movers that originate from the 12th thoracic vertebra and all of the lumbar
vertebrae. From there they span the pelvis to attach to the femur (thigh bone). Because of this connec-
tion among the leg movers, the spine, and the diaphragm, any locking of the legs or hip joints will
inhibit free breathing.

Figure 3–9. The diaphragm, psoas, and pelvic floor viewed from the front.
By Holly Fischer. Copyright 2018, Association for Body Mapping Education.
The Function of the Diaphragm. The contraction of the diaphragm pulls the central tendon down-
ward and pulls the lowest ribs upward. Because of its connections to the surrounding structures, the
diaphragm’s contraction has multiple effects. (1) It exerts downward pressure on the viscera, (2) it
widens the circumference of the lower ribs as they swing up at the sides, (3) it pulls down on the
lungs and heart, and (4) it slightly compresses the discs of the lumbar spine. Figures 3–10 and 3–11
show the diaphragm in two states: domed high at rest (exhalation) and somewhat flattened on contrac-
tion (inhalation). Notice especially the effect of the diaphragm’s contraction on the ribs, and that the
diaphragm never becomes concave, even during the deepest inhalation.

Figure 3–10. The diaphragm at rest and during inhalation. From The Body Moveable (4th ed.,
p. 127), by D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press. Copyright 2002. Reprinted with
permission.

Figure 3–11. Frontal view of the diaphragm during exhalation and inhalation. By Holly Fischer. Copy-
right 2015, Association for Body Mapping Education. Used with permission.
For animations of the movement of the diaphragm, ribs, and associated structures, watch 3D view
of diaphragm by 3D Yoga (3D Yoga: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp-gCvW8PRY), Diaphragm –
3D Medical Animation by AnimatedBiomedical (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23-KAubf-js), and
Respiration totale animation by Roger Fiametti (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JqFWUjxI1Q).
It is impossible to palpate the diaphragm because it domes up inside the ribs. In addition, we
have no sensory receptors in the diaphragm so we can’t feel its movement directly. However, you can
certainly feel the effects of its contraction and you can get a fairly accurate model of its movement
using your hands as described below.

Exercise 3–4. Photos of the model are shown below in Figure 3–12.
www
Video 3–4. Mapping the Diaphragm shows this exercise in action.
n Round your fingers and spread them out. Put the tips of the three
middle fingers together to form a dome. With your palms facing
down, move the dome so that its top is just below the level of your
heart. Tip the dome slightly so that your pinkies are higher than
your thumbs.
n Inhale, and as you do, flatten the dome slightly, allowing your
pinkies and thumbs to draw farther apart. Notice that the circum-
ference of your dome widens and rises slightly as it flattens. That
is exactly what the diaphragm does as it contracts, pulling up on
the lower ribs. Don’t forget to restore your hands to the original
dome as you exhale.
Repeat this exercise until the movement of your hands is completely coor-
dinated with your breathing and you have thoroughly mapped the action
of the diaphragm.
Figure 3–12. Model of diaphragm at rest and upon inhalation.
Rib Movement
Rib movement is central to good breathing and, for the ribs to move freely, the head, arms, and torso
must be balanced and flexible. If you are not completely clear on the balance of your upper body,
review Chapter 2. The action of the diaphragm will move the ribs enough for some singing. However,
you may choose to lift the ribs actively for more vigorous singing. Cultivating rib movement will allow
a fuller inhalation and more flexible regulation of the exhalation than diaphragmatic breathing alone.
We will consider how the ribs move during inhalation first. Then we will go into detail about the
muscles that move them.

How the Ribs Move. When we engage our rib lifters during inhalation, the ribs change orientation by
gliding in their joints at the spine and the sternum and bending slightly at the costal cartilages. This
changes the slope of the ribs, making it less steep. Therefore, though each rib bone maintains its shape,
the thoracic cavity as a whole becomes wider. In addition, the thoracic cavity becomes slightly deeper
from front to back. This happens because the ribs arc back from the spine as they slope down. As the
ribs change orientation, the arc of the ribs rises, slightly deepening the thoracic cavity. The sternum may
also move slightly outward. For a 3D animation of rib movement during breathing, watch Will Lawson’s
Ribcage Movement During Respiration (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ph9tlaUSfo).
Exercise 3–5. Photos of the model are shown below in Figure 3–13.
www
Video 3–5. Mapping Rib Movement shows this exercise in action. To
model the action of the lower ribs with your arms, try this.
n With your palms facing your chest and your elbows at your sides,
put the tips of your pinkies and fourth fingers together, angling
your forearms down like the slope of the costal cartilage from the
sternum to the 10th rib. Adjust the position of your hands until
they are at the low end of the sternum.
n Now, as you breathe in, lift your elbows, swiveling your arms
where the humerus (arm bone above the elbow) makes a joint
with the shoulder blade near your armpit. Keep your shoulders
balanced and released. As you exhale, let your elbows return
gradually to their resting place at your sides.
Repeat this exercise until the movement of your hands is completely

coordinated with your breathing and you have thoroughly mapped the
movement of the lower ribs.
Figure 3–13. Model of lower ribs at rest and upon inhalation.

Muscles that Move the Ribs. Now let us consider the daunting list of muscles that can lift the ribs.
They are the latissimus dorsi, the pectoralis muscles (major and minor), the serratus muscles (anterior
and posterior superior), the intercostals, the levatores costarum, and the scalenes. If your eyes just
glazed over from information paralysis, don’t be alarmed. I did not learn about rib movement at all
until I took my first lesson with Patricia Berlin at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of
Music in the spring before I started my doctorate at the age of 32. Ms. Berlin sent me on my way for
the summer telling me to get my ribs moving for breathing. She explained that the intercostal muscles
lift the ribs during inhalation. With this basic information, I gradually developed a fundamental map
of rib movement during breathing. Now that I know more about the other rib lifters, my breathing has
become more refined and my movement more efficient.
I include a detailed description of all the rib lifting muscles below. All of these muscles are paired
muscles (muscles that occur on both sides of the body, one the mirror image of the other). You will
not need to engage all of them actively. However, one or more of them might be the key to unlocking
more movement in your ribs, so I encourage you to experiment with all of their movements. If you
would like more detail, consult Blandine Calais-Germain’s excellent book, Anatomy of Breathing.
For a breathing animation that shows the action of the rib lifters, watch What Muscles Are Used for
Forced Inspiration Breathing? by Muscle and Motion (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3nLJgRO-
d8). Though the pace and excursion of these movements is not appropriate for singing, it provides a
good visual tool for mapping the muscles that lift the ribs.

Latissimus Dorsi. The latissimus dorsi muscles are wide, strong muscles that originate at the back
of the pelvis, the spinous processes of the lower vertebrae, and the bottom four ribs. The long fibers of
these muscles converge to insert in the back of the humerus (upper arm bone) near the glenohumeral
joint (Figure 3–14). These muscles are used to pull the arm toward the hip (during swimming) or to
pull the body up (during chin-ups). When not engaged in these activities, the contraction of the nearly
vertical fibers that connect the humerus to the bottom four ribs lift those ribs during inhalation.
Figure 3–14. The latissimus dorsi muscle. Note that not all the ribs are shown
in this drawing. By Holly Fischer. Copyright 2015, Association for Body Map-
ping Education. Used with permission.

Pectoralis Major and Minor. There are two pectoralis muscles on each side: the pectoralis major
and the pectoralis minor. Both are primarily arm movers. The pectoralis major muscles attach at the
clavicle, sternum, and top six ribs in front and insert into the top of the humerus (upper arm bone).
When the arm is at rest, the contraction of the diagonal lower fibers of the pectoralis major muscle
raises ribs 5 and 6. In Figure 3–15 you can see the muscle drawn solidly on one side and drawn with
more transparency on the other side to show the ribs.
Figure 3–15. The pectoralis major. From The Body Moveable (4th ed., p. 36),
by D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press. Copyright 2002.

More important as rib movers are the pectoralis minor muscles, which are deeper than the pecto-
ralis major. Their fibers connect ribs 3, 4, and 5 to the coracoid process at the front of the scapula
(shoulder blade). When the arms are in balance, the contraction of the pectoralis minor raises ribs 3,
4, and 5. In Figure 3–16 you can see the pectoralis minor from the right side drawn in outline in the
first drawing. The second drawing shows the muscle from the front drawn both solidly and with more
transparency to show the ribs.
Figure 3–16. The serratus anterior and pectoralis minor. From The Body Moveable (4th ed., pp. 37–38),
by D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press. Copyright 2002. Reprinted with permission.

Serratus Anterior and Serratus Posterior Superior. The serratus anterior muscles originate at the
front edge of the shoulder blades and fan forward to attach to ribs 1 through 8 or 9. Like the pectoralis
minor, the serratus anterior can move the arms. When the arms are in balance, the contraction of the
serratus anterior will raise the lower ribs. The right serratus anterior muscle is pictured in Figure 3–16
with the pectoralis minor.
Where the top ribs connect to the spine in back, there are four bellies of the serratus posterior
superior muscles on each side. They arise from the posterior process of vertebrae C7 through T3.
They extend downward diagonally to attach to the second rib below the process where they originate
(Figure 3–17). When they contract, they lift the upper ribs during inhalation.
Figure 3–17. The serratus posterior muscles. From The Body Moveable
(4th ed., p. 133), by D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand

Intercostals. The external and internal intercostal muscles connect each rib to the rib below.
They consist of two thin layers of short, diagonal fibers. The external intercostals are the outermost
layer. They start at the spine and their fibers slope down and away from the upper rib to the rib below
(Figure 3–18). They extend around the sides and almost to the costal cartilage in front. The internal
intercostals are deeper inside. They start at the sternum and their fibers also slope down and away
from the upper rib to the rib below. The internal intercostals extend around the sides to the back of
the ribs, but not as far as the spine. Where the fibers of the external and internal intercostals overlap
at the sides, they cross each other at roughly right angles.
Figure 3–18. The external intercostal and levatores costarum muscles.

From The Body Moveable (4th ed., p. 132), by D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario,
Canada: Ampersand Press. Copyright 2002. Reprinted with permission.

It is generally accepted that the external intercostals raise the ribs during inhalation and that the
internal intercostals depress the ribs during exhalation. The truth may be more complicated than that,
but researchers do not agree on the exact function of these muscles in respiration. A detailed discus-
sion of current research on this topic is beyond the scope of this book. For our purposes, it is enough
to map the external intercostals as rib lifters.
Levatores Costarum. The levatores costarum muscles run diagonally to connect the transverse
process of 12 vertebrae (C7–T11) to the rib below (see Figure 3–18). There are 12 muscles on each
side. Of these, the muscles connected to vertebrae T7 through T10 have two parts. The shorter of these
connects to the rib immediately below and the longer part extends down to the second rib below. When
the levatores costarum muscles contract, they raise the ribs during inhalation.
Scalenes. There are three scalene muscles on each side. They arise from the middle six cervical
vertebrae (C2 through C7) and extend downward to the first two ribs (Figure 3–19). These muscles flex
the neck to the side; however, if the neck is in balance, their contraction raises the top two ribs. Since
singers are so prone to neck tension, it is not advisable to cultivate the contraction of the scalenes in
respiration. They will make their contribution to breathing without our conscious guidance. For an
animation of the actions of the scalene, watch Cervical Spine Muscles Scalenes by Medilaw.TV (https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MygDJtu8EtA).
Figure 3–19. The scalene muscles. From

The Body Moveable (4th ed., p. 183), by
D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Canada:

The muscles that lift the ribs during inhalation may work together or individually. How much you
cultivate their movement will depend on the type of singing you do, the demands of the phrases you
are singing, your artistic and acting choices, and any number of other factors. Mapping all of these
muscles will give you the greatest flexibility to tailor your breathing to your specific needs.
www
Exercise 3–6. Video 3–6. Rib Movements shows some of many possibili-
ties for using rib movements in breathing. Follow along, trying on the
movements yourself.
Though there are many muscles that connect the ribs to the arm structure, there are no joints
between the ribs and the arms. Arms and ribs move independently. You may make the movements
of breathing without moving your shoulders, and move your arms to gesture without moving your
ribs. As you can see in Figure 3–16, the arm structure connects directly to the sternum with a joint at
the collarbone. In Figure 3–3, notice that there are no joints connecting the scapula with the ribs. Rib
movement is inhibited by tension in the arm structure, especially if the arms are pressing down or in
on the ribs. For more information on the arm structure, consult Chapter 7.
www
Exercise 3–7. Video 3–7. Rib and Arm Independence shows this exercise
in action. To map the independence of arm and rib movement, try this.
First map the independent movement of your ribs when your arms are
in balance.
n Stand or sit so that your shoulders are as wide across the front
as they are across the back. Soften the muscles of your neck and
arms. Put one hand on the collarbone of the same side and the
opposite hand flat on the ribs just below it.
n Now move that shoulder. Notice that the collarbone moves a lot
but the ribs do not.
n Leaving your hands in place, bring your arms back into balance
and take a deep breath cultivating the action of the pectoralis
muscles. Notice that the ribs move considerably more than the
collarbone.
Now that you are aware of your rib movement during inhalation with
balanced arms, you can notice the difference when your arms are tense.
n Press your shoulders down on your top ribs and inhale again.
Exhale and release that tension.
n Now pull your upper arms close to your sides and inhale again.
Release that tension as you exhale.

If you are sure your arms and thorax are balanced and you are still having trouble finding move-
ment in your ribs, make sure you are mapping the ribs as slanting downward at the sides and being
lifted by the actions of the muscles. Many people think the ribs are horizontal and try to expand the
chest cavity by pushing them out horizontally at the sides. You could also do some vigorous exercise
and notice the movement of the ribs when you are breathing heavily. Finally, if you know people who
have excellent rib movement, you could ask to feel their movement with your hands and then try to
emulate it.
www
Exercise 3–8. Video 3–8. Breathing Exercises shows this exercise in
action. You may find it is easier to cultivate rib movement when draped
over a physio ball or when lying on your side.
n Kneel in front of a physio ball and drape your upper body over
it, softening your neck and arms as the ball supports you. Inhale
deeply, noticing the feeling of expansion in your back as your
ribs move during inhalation.
n Lie on your side with your head resting on your arm. Inhale
deeply, noticing the ribs resting on the floor moving down into
the floor and your ribs on the ceiling side rise.
If you have never cultivated rib movement, it may take several months
before you can find the full excursion of your ribs.
Review of Muscles of Inhalation
The following muscles help create the vacuum in the lungs that draws air in.
n The diaphragm contracts, pulling down on the lungs and pulling up on the lower ribs.
n The latissimus dorsi muscles pull up on the sides of ribs 7 through 10.
n The serratus anterior muscles pull up on the sides of ribs 1 through 8.
n The serratus posterior superior muscles pull up on the back of ribs 1 through 4.
n The pectoralis major muscles pull up on the front of ribs 5 through 6 and the pectoralis
minor muscles pull up on the front of ribs 3 through 5.
n The levatores costarum muscles pull up on the back of all the ribs.
n The external intercostals are thought to lift all the ribs during inhalation.
n The scalenes can pull up on the top three ribs in front, but will do any necessary work
beyond our conscious control.

The Role of the Abdominal and Pelvic

Floor Muscles During Inhalation
Abdominal Muscles
Structure and Location of the Abdominal Muscles. The four abdominal muscles are the external
obliques, the internal obliques, the transversus abdominis, and the rectus abdominis. As you can see
in Figure 3–20, the abdominal muscles extend all the way down to the pubic bone on the bottom
and overlap the lower ribs on the top. Note that Figure 3–20 shows different layers of the abdominal
muscles on each side. All abdominal muscles are paired (occurring on both sides of the body). In
front, the abdominals are centered on the linea alba, a seam of fibrous connective tissue that connects
the base of the pelvis with the bottom of the sternum. As they approach the linea alba, the external
Figure 3–20. The abdominal muscles viewed from the front (partially dissected to show
different layers on different sides). From The Body Moveable (4th ed., p. 94), by D. Gorman.
Guelph, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press. Copyright 2002. Reprinted with permission.

obliques, internal obliques, and transverse abdominis form the rectus sheath (layers of tendon that
house the rectus abdominis muscle). In back, the abdominals are centered on the spine. They encircle
the abdominal cavity on the front, back, and sides, as is shown in Figure 3–21, a lateral cross section of
the abdomen. Unlike in Figure 3–21, the cavity is not empty. It is filled with internal organs, collectively
known as the viscera.
External Obliques
Rectus Abdominis Internal Obliques
Transversus Abdominis
Figure 3–21. A cross section of the abdomen (viscera not shown). From The Body Moveable (4th ed.,
Section 3, p. 16), by D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press. Copyright 2002.

In order to understand how the abdominal muscles connect to the structures around them, we
need a brief tour of the pelvis, seen in Figure 3–22. The pelvis is composed of two bones. These bones
connect to the sacrum (base of the spine) at the sacroiliac joints and are joined together in front by
strong connective tissue at the pubic bones (pubic symphysis). The strong bones you feel near the sides
of your waist are called the iliac crests. The inguinal ligament runs from the front of the iliac crest to
the pubic bone.
Figure 3–22. The pelvis showing places of attachment of abdominal muscles.

From The Body Moveable (4th ed., p. 89), by D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Can-
ada: Ampersand Press. Copyright 2002. Reprinted with permission.

The external obliques form the outermost layer of abdominal muscles. They originate at the sides
of ribs 5 through 12, just where the serratus anterior muscles connect to these ribs (Figure 3–20).
From there, their fibers run diagonally down and in, connecting to the iliac crest and the rectus sheath
(Figure 3–23).
Figure 3–23. The external oblique

muscles viewed from the right
side. From The Body Moveable
(4th ed., p. 96), by D. Gorman.
Guelph, Ontario, Canada:

The internal obliques form the middle layer of abdominal muscles. They have several origins: a
band of fascia in the back, the iliac crest at the sides, and the top half of the inguinal ligament. From
there, most of their fibers run up and in toward the center, where they connect at the bottom edge of
ribs 10 through 12. Some of the fibers run down to connect to the pubic bone. The fibers split into
two layers at the rectus sheath. The center portion of the rectus abdominis lies between these layers.
In Figure 3–24, the lighter muscles on the left side of the drawing show the outer (superficial) layer of
the internal obliques and the darker muscles on the right side of the drawing show the inner (deep)
layer. The rectus abdominis is the nearly vertical muscle shown in white. Where the fibers of the internal
and external obliques cross each other, they meet at roughly right angles.
Figure 3–24. The internal oblique muscles with the rectus abdominis. From The Body
Moveable (4th ed., p. 99), by D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press.

The transversus abdominis muscles form the deepest layer of abdominal muscles. They have
similar origins to the internal obliques (fascia in back, iliac crest, inguinal ligament) with additional
attachments to the costal cartilage of ribs 7 through 12. The fibers run horizontally, running deep to
internal obliques to connect to the rectus sheath (Figure 3–25).
Figure 3–25. The transversus abdominis muscles

with the rectus abdominis. From The Body Move-
able (4th ed., p. 100), by D. Gorman. Guelph,
Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press. Copyright

The rectus abdominis muscles connect the pubic bone with the sternum and the costal cartilage
of ribs 5 through 7 (see Figure 3–25). They each have four bellies that are clearly visible in very fit
people. Each of these bellies is capable of independent movement. For an excellent tutorial on the
abdominal muscles, watch Abdominal Wall Muscles by Anatomy Tutorials (https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=5Dl5RBTTBRg).
Role of the Abdominal Muscles During Inhalation. Although we occasionally refer to the abdominal
muscles collectively as the “abdominal wall,” it is not a rigid structure. The contraction of the abdomi-
nals can flex the spine forward, twist the torso, bend the torso from side to side, tilt the pelvis, pull
in on the contents of the abdominal cavity, and pull down on the ribs. None of these movements help
us inhale. As the diaphragm contracts during inhalation, the abdominals release at the front, sides and
back, stretching with the movement of the displaced viscera. As the rib lifters contract to raise the ribs
during inhalation, the abdominals release to allow the excursion of the ribs. Thus during inhalation
the abdominal muscles release in all directions in dynamic equilibrium with the diaphragm and the rib
lifters. Locked or contracted abdominal muscles interfere with efficient breathing.
Though the abdominal muscles release during breathing, they do not become lax or loose. Toned
abdominal muscles are integral to singing. The elasticity of toned abdominal muscles causes them
to spring back to their original shape after being stretched, supporting exhalation. They may also be
engaged in varied and subtle ways to articulate accents, aspirate consonants, or sing staccato notes in
a phrase.
In Figure 3–23, you can see that this skeleton has significant distance between the lowest rib and
the iliac crest. This is not always the case. Some people have a gap of 3 to 5 inches between the ribs
and the iliac crest. Others have only a half-inch gap. Mapping that distance in your own body will help
you map the amount of expansion and stretching you will feel in the sides and back of your abdominal
muscles in response to the contraction of the diaphragm and rib lifters.
www
Exercise 3–9. Video 3–9. Mapping Abdominal Movement in Breathing
shows this exercise in action. Figure 3–26 below shows photographs of
this model.
n To map your abdominal muscles, palpate from your pubic bone

all the way around the iliac crest to your spine. Now palpate the
upper reaches of your abdominal muscles along your ribs.
n Form a circle with the tips of your fingers meeting in front and
your thumbs meeting in back. Allowing your hands to sepa-
rate, widen this circle to approximate the circumference of your
abdominal region at rest.
n As you inhale, widen the circumference by stretching your
fingers and thumbs wider as well as expanding the distance
between your hands. As you exhale, the circumference becomes
smaller again.

Repeat this exercise until the movement of your hands is completely

coordinated with your breathing and you have thoroughly mapped the
stretch of your abdominal muscles.
n To understand how the abdominal muscles can interfere with

free breathing, try this. Consciously lock your abdominals and
take a breath.
n Compare that sensation with the breaths you were taking in the
first part of the exercise. If you don’t feel a significant difference,
your abdominal muscles were probably quite tight to begin with.
Keep experimenting until you feel the difference between muscle tone
and excess muscle tension in your abdominals.
Figure 3–26. Model of the abdominals at rest and upon inhalation.
Pelvic Floor
The top of the abdominal cavity is defined by the diaphragm. Its front, sides, and back are defined by
the abdominal muscles. Its base is defined by the pelvic floor, a flexible group of muscles that span the
opening at the bottom of the pelvis (Figure 3–27). The muscles of the pelvic floor form a shallow bowl
shape, roughly mirroring the dome of the diaphragm (Figure 3–28). When we inhale well, the pelvic
floor is in dynamic equilibrium with the diaphragm. While maintaining tonus, it releases and stretches
downward as the diaphragm displaces the viscera.

Figure 3–27. The pelvis
and pelvic floor viewed
from above. From The Body
Moveable (4th ed., p. 75), by
D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario,
Canada: Ampersand Press.
Copyright 2002. Reprinted
with permission.
Figure 3–28. The diaphragm,

pelvic floor, and abdominal
muscles in cross section
viewed from the front
(viscera not shown). From
The Body Moveable (4th ed.,
p. 113), by D. Gorman.
Ampersand Press. Copyright
permission.
107

The movement of the pelvic floor is not as large as the movement of the abdominal muscles, but
awareness of the pelvic floor is essential to excellent breathing. The pelvic floor defines the bottom
of the torso, so including its movement in our awareness ensures that we involve the whole torso in
breathing for singing. Additionally, because of its proximity to the hip joints, awareness of the pelvic
floor helps us to relate the legs to the torso so that we can cultivate a buoyant, springy foundation for
our breathing.
Exercise 3–10. Figure 3–29 below shows photographs of this model.

www
Video 3–10. The Movement of the Pelvic Floor in Breathing shows this
exercise in action.
n To model the movement of the pelvic floor, cup your hands with
your palms facing up, interlacing your rounded fingers. Adjust
your hands so that they are at the low end of the pelvis.
n As you inhale, deepen the cup by straightening your fingers
slightly. As you exhale, the cup becomes shallower again.
n Now lock your pelvic floor and try to inhale. Notice the difference
in the breathing system. Release this excess tension, allowing the
pelvic floor to stretch as you inhale.
Figure 3–29. Model of the pelvic floor at rest and upon inhalation.

Review: Process of Inhalation
The movements of inhalation are distributed throughout the entire torso and are interrelated. Because
the whole torso is involved, each individual movement can be subtle and still result in a full, energized
inhalation.
n As we inhale, the muscle fibers of the diaphragm contract. Because of its anchor at the
front of the lumbar spine, the contraction pulls down on the central tendon, displacing
the viscera as it pulls down on the lungs.
n The contraction of the diaphragm also pulls the lower ribs up. The other muscles that lift
the ribs contract simultaneously with the diaphragm. As the ribs rise, they swivel in their
joints with the spine and sternum, and the costal cartilage may bend slightly.
n These actions combine to expand the thoracic cavity, making it taller, wider, and deeper.
n This expansion creates an area of low pressure in the lungs and air flows in to equalize
the pressure.
n The abdominal muscles and pelvic floor remain toned as they release and stretch to allow
the contraction of the diaphragm and rib lifters.
n The movements of breathing are independent of the arm structure.
The Movements of Exhalation
As soon as we breathe in, the elastic recoil of the abdominals and pelvic floor exerts upward pressure
on the viscera. The elastic recoil of the costal cartilage and abdominal muscles encourages the ribs to
descend. To exhale, we release the contraction of the diaphragm and rib lifters in response to these
forces. These actions decrease the volume in the thoracic cavity, exerting pressure on the air in the
lungs so that it flows out of the body. The abdominals do not need to contract to force the air out of
the lungs. They may engage slightly for articulations, staccato and marcato for instance, but their role
in exhalation is otherwise passive. Thus, exhalation is essentially a regulated release of the work of
inhalation.
Forced Exhalation
After that release has expelled most of the air in the lungs, it is possible to expel more air by contracting
the abdominal muscles, the muscles that depress the ribs, or both. When the abdominal muscles
contract they force the viscera farther up into the dome of the diaphragm and pull down on the ribs.
The contraction of the muscles that depress the ribs pulls the ribs downward and inward. These actions
should be used with caution because they require extra effort and recovery time. If the abdominals
and the rib depressors are contracted during exhalation, they must release before the next inhalation
can take place.

www
Exercise 3–11. Video 3–11. Normal and Forced Exhalation shows this
exercise in action. To evaluate the effort of these actions, try this.
Inhale, and then breathe out normally by releasing the activity of inhala-
tion. Now expel more air by contracting your abdominals and pulling
your ribs in. Try those actions sequentially and then simultaneously,
noticing the amount of effort each action takes and the effect on the
ensuing inhalation. Repeat the exercise while singing a vowel as you
exhale. Notice the effect on your singing.
Organs and Membranes
Some singers expend extra effort by imagining they can draw air into the body by doing work with the
lungs. However, the lungs are organs made of spongy tissue and cannot expand or contract by them-
selves. They conform to the shape of the thoracic cavity and fill the spaces defined by the ribs, spine,
heart, and diaphragm. The only way to bring air into the lungs natur ally is to create low air pressure
inside them by increasing the size of the thoracic cavity using the rib lifters and diaphragm.
The lungs conform to the shape of the thoracic cavity. They are higher than many people imagine.
The top of the lungs extends slightly above the collarbone and the bottom of the lungs rests on the top
of the diaphragm. Therefore the lungs reach only to the seventh rib in front and the tenth rib in back
(Figure 3–30). They are attached to the ribs and diaphragm by a membrane called the pleural sac. Like
the ribs, they are wider at the bottom than at the top. They are also deeper from front to back than
some people imagine. As you can see from Figure 3–31, they surround the sides of the thoracic spine.
Figure 3–30. Views of the lungs from the front, back, and side. By Holly Fischer. Copyright 2015, Asso-
ciation for Body Mapping Education. Used with permission.

Figure 3–31. A cross section of the right lung. From The

Body Moveable (4th ed., p. 145), by D. Gorman. Guelph,
Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press. Copyright 2002.
The Neck and Vocal Tract in Breathing
The head must be balanced and the neck must be free for effective breathing. Two muscles in the
neck play a limited role in inhalation: The scalenes elevate the top two ribs and the sternocleidomas-
toids elevate the sternum. However, their activity in breathing happens automatically and need not be
cultivated. Several other muscles in the neck can lower the larynx and open the glottis wide during
inhalation. These will be discussed in Chapters 4 and 5. The rest of the neck muscles do not have any
role in breathing. Their function is to move the head and the shoulders. Yet, for many singers, the
neck really wants to “help” with inhalation. For some, the head tilts backward on every inhalation. For
others, the chin tucks or the whole head comes forward. All of these movements are visually distracting,
interfere with good breathing, and often have a negative impact on the ensuing tone.

The primary function of the vocal tract (the spaces of the throat, mouth, and nose) in breathing
is to provide sensory information about the air we inhale. The sensory receptors in the vocal tract can
tell us about the temperature, volume, and speed of the air we are drawing into our bodies. Other-
wise, the vocal tract has little function during inhalation. It is simply the passageway for the air. The
pharyngeal constrictors (muscles of the throat) must be released for the throat to be open. When they
contract, they constrict the throat for swallowing. Inhaling with a narrowed pharynx is inefficient and
noisy. Similarly, the tongue has no role during inhalation. Silent inhalation is possible as the tongue
forms any vowel. More information on the pharynx and the tongue can be found in Chapter 5. The
glottis (the opening between the vocal folds) must be open when we inhale. For breathing at rest, or
when little breath is needed, this takes no work at all. For a large, silent, quick inhalation, the glottis
may open wider. For details, see Chapter 4.
Usually singers want to inhale silently. Any constriction in the vocal tract will make noise when we
inhale, whether it is caused by the lips, nostrils, tongue, velum, throat, or glottis. If unwanted sound is
occurring during inhalation, it can be diagnosed by sensation and by pitch. Constriction of the nostrils,
lips, and tip of the tongue will produce a high hiss. When the tongue is too close to other parts of
the vocal tract, it will make a hiss corresponding to the vowel shape. Mapping these movements will
allow singers to identify where the constriction is occurring. Singers occasionally choose an audible
inhalation for cueing or dramatic effect. Mapping the possible ways of making sound on inhalation
will allow them to choose how to make the sound they want and they will quickly find the movement
that has the least harmful impact on the following vocal tone.
www
Exercise 3–12. Video 3–12. Pitch of Inhalation shows this exercise in
action. To sensitize yourself to the sounds that are frequently made during
inhalation, try this. Inhale while constricting the inhalation in sequence
with the following movements: nostrils, lips, tip of tongue, ee vowel, eh
vowel, ah vowel, oh vowel, ooh vowel. You can easily hear the difference in
the sound created by these constrictions. In general, the farther forward
in the vocal tract the constriction is, the higher the pitch.
Some singers think they should draw or pump air all the way into their stomachs when they
breathe. This idea causes extra effort, usually in the neck muscles. If you have been trying to pump air
all the way down to your stomach, it can be a real relief to know that the air only has to travel a short
distance to your lungs. As you can see in Figure 3–32, the trachea (air tube) is relatively short, only
about 4 to 6 inches long, and it branches out into the lungs just above the heart. It is about an inch in
diameter. It consists mostly of cartilage, with a thin strip of muscle in the back where it connects with
the esophagus. Because of its fixed size and shape, it cannot do any work in the breathing process. It
simply provides an open passage from the larynx to the lungs. The trachea is in front of the esophagus
(food tube), which is made of muscle and travels through the diaphragm to connect the pharynx to
the stomach (Figure 3–33).

Figure 3–32. A simplified representation of the

lungs, vocal tract, trachea, bronchia, and heart.
From The Body Moveable (4th ed., p. 140), by D.
Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand

Esophagus
Trachea
Figure 3–33. The vocal tract in cross section, by Benjamin Con-

able. Copyright 2001. Used with permission.
www
Exercise 3–13. Video 3–13. Mapping the Trachea shows this exercise
in action. It’s easy to palpate the upper part of the trachea. Simply place
your finger in the notch at the top of your sternum and press in lightly.
The ridged structure you feel is the cartilage of the trachea. Inhale with
the knowledge that the trachea is short and right behind the sternum.
Now inhale as if the trachea went all the way to the abdominal cavity
and was behind the esophagus, nestled against the spine. If that feels at
all familiar, keep working on your map of the trachea until you are clear
that it is short, forward, and incapable of contraction.

To ensure an easy, silent breath, we stop recruiting the work of the neck muscles and vocal
tract and put the activity of breathing where it belongs: in the contraction of the diaphragm and the
muscles that lift the ribs. It is not easy to change habits that interfere with free breathing. We get a lot
of sensory feedback from the neck muscles and the vocal tract. If we are used to that feedback, it is
hard to trust that we are inhaling enough air when we breathe without those movements. In addition,
these movements are habits formed over months or years. Replacing them with new habits requires
diligence, patience, and motivation. Remember, if you free your neck and vocal tract from responsibility
for breathing, they will respond to your artistic ideas of gesture and glorious sound.
REVIEW
Now that you have mapped all the structures and movements of breathing, return to Exercise 3–2 at the
beginning of the chapter. Read or listen to it again and evaluate what has changed in your breathing
map. Is there anything that still seems unclear? If so, try Exercise 3–14 below.
www
Exercise 3–14. Video 3–14. Modeling Coordinated Breathing shows this
exercise in action. To refine and coordinate your breathing map, review
the exercises in the gray boxes above that describe how to model the move-
ments of the diaphragm, the ribs, the abdominals, and the pelvic floor
with your hands and arms. Try doing two motions at once. For instance,
one hand can imitate the diaphragm pulling down during inhalation
while the other imitates the pelvic floor stretching down. Or one arm
can imitate the ribs lifting as the other hand shows the stretching of the
abdominals. Remember to coordinate these motions with your breathing
during both inhalation and exhalation. Keep trying different combina-
tions until all of them feel easy and familiar.
Exercise 3–15. If you can collect a group of four or five people together,
www
you can model all the breathing structures at once. In Video 3–15,
5-Person Breathing Model, students show the coordinated movements of
breathing, including opening of the glottis wide for a deep inhalation
and closing it for phonation.
Gathering and Lengthening
One of the most profound sources of buoyancy in our bodies is the gathering and lengthening of
the spine that happens during breathing. Gathering, the drawing together of the vertebrae, occurs all
along the spine as we inhale. Consider all the muscles that are active in breathing and their various

connections to the spine. The scalenes connect the cervical spine to the top ribs. The levatores costarum
and serratus posterior superior muscles connect the ribs with the thoracic spine. The psoas connects
the legs with the spine near the diaphragm. The diaphragm attaches to the front of the lumbar spine
and to the bottom ribs. Many other muscles move the ribs during breathing, changing their orientation
in relation to the spine.
When we inhale, all of these connections act together to subtly modify the curves of the spine and
to bring the vertebrae slightly closer together along its entire length. As the vertebrae gather together,
the springy discs of cartilage between them are slightly compressed (Figure 2–9). As we exhale, we
release the muscles of inhalation, the discs of cartilage spring back to their full height through elastic
recoil, and the spine lengthens.
This phenomenon of gathering during inhalation and lengthening during exhalation occurs in
all vertebrates. You can notice it in the gait of a horse. If you look at a cheetah on the prowl, you will
notice it gathers and inhales just before unleashing a dazzling burst of speed. In their upright stance,
this movement is less noticeable in humans. It is easiest to see and sense when we are seated or draped
over something like a stack of pillows or a physio ball.
Exercise 3–16. To map the gathering and lengthening of your spine,

www
try these exercises. Video 3–16. Gathering and Lengthening shows this
exercise in action.
n Place a physio ball in front of a floor-length mirror laid on its

side. Drape your torso over the ball in such a way that you can
deliver your full weight and feel completely stable. If the ball is
so big that your knees and hands can’t touch the floor, deflate it
slightly.
n Turn your face toward the mirror and soften your neck muscles,
letting the ball support your head. Watching yourself in the
mirror, take several deep, slow breaths, being sure to allow plenty
of rib movement.
n Try varying the amount of breath you take in and the speed of
exhalation to notice the effect on your spinal movement.
n Once you notice this movement consistently in the prone posi-
tion, move to sitting in balance and then to standing in balance.
n When you notice the spine gathering and lengthening consis-
tently in your breathing, try singing.
Continue working on this until you can sense the spine gathering
with every inhalation and lengthening with every singing phrase.
Variations: If you do not own a physio ball, you can use a stack of
pillows. You can also work on lengthening and gathering lying on
your side. See Exercise 3–8.

Most people notice the gathering and lengthening first in the relationship of the head and neck
as the head gathers toward the torso during inhalation and springs away during exhalation. However,
movement is visible all along the spine. Remember, you must allow this gathering and lengthening, not
try to make it happen. If your breathing structures are coordinated in dynamic equilibrium and your
neck is released, the spine will begin gathering and lengthening naturally. Cultivating the awareness
of this movement will add flexible control to your breathing, helping you sustain long phrases, soar
into high notes, and fine-tune your dynamics.
Support
Singers like to talk about support, but how many have a really good working definition of it? What does
“more support” actually mean? The concept of support can be divided into two categories: structural
support and breath support.
If you have mastered the material in Chapter 2, you already have a good sense of structural
support. When we stand or sit in alignment, our weight is distributed through our skeleton to the surface
below. Biotensegrity teaches us that our bones are also integrated with springy, resilient connective
tissues that allow us to be in balance even when we are not upright. When in balance, we can rely on
this wonderfully efficient system of bones and connective tissue to support us so that the muscles are
free to move for singing.
Breath support is about how the movement of breath facilitates the sound. If you keep your
abdominals and pelvic floor toned while allowing them to release and stretch during inhalation, the
elastic recoil of these muscles continually contributes to, or supports, the flow of breath during exhala-
tion. Likewise, if you lift your ribs during inhalation, the springy recoil of the costal cartilage supports
the expiratory breath flow. In other words, if you inhale well, your exhalation will enjoy constant
support from the abdominal muscles, the pelvic floor, and the costal cartilage.
Where singers get into trouble with breath support is in the regulation of the exhalation. We may
not exhale as we would at rest: We have to shape the exhalation to our artistic needs. We do this by
regulating the release of the muscles of inhalation. If we allow our rib lifters and our diaphragm to
release quickly, the breath flow will be fast. If we slow down that release, we slow down the breath
flow so that it may be sustained over a long phrase.
Of course, when we speak or sing, the muscles in the larynx bring the vocal folds toward the
center, creating the slight resistance to the breath flow at the glottis that sets the vocal folds into vibra-
tion. Even how we shape the resonance in the vocal tract can contribute to breath support. No matter
how finely tuned the breathing mechanism is, inefficient phonation and resonance can undermine the
regulation of the breath, as we will see in Chapters 4 and 5.
When we sing, we engage in a continual dance of dynamic equilibrium among the structures of
balance, breathing, phonation, and resonance, allowing more breath to flow for some phrases and less
breath to flow for others. Instead of asking yourself if you need more support, you can ask if you need
to allow the breath to flow more quickly or if you need to regulate that release so that the breath flows
more slowly. You can ask if your phonation and resonance are responsive and efficient. Many singers
spend so much energy controlling the flow that they become locked and can’t use the breath they have.
There is a final, crucial element of support that many singers fail to optimize: the gathering and
lengthening of the spine. The spine provides structural support as it bears and distributes the weight

of our upper body. It also provides support for the breath. Like the cheetah who gathers himself to
pounce, we gather ourselves to sing with each inhalation. The resulting release of the muscles of inhala-
tion, in response to the recoil of the spinal discs, allows the spine to lengthen, lending great buoyancy
to our exhalation and consequently our singing. Without this spinal movement, breath support will
never work optimally.
Common Breathing Errors
Noisy Inhalation
It is common for singers to make sound during inhalation. The tactile and auditory feedback of a noisy
inhalation is comforting because it provides evidence that we have drawn air in. We have no sensory
receptors in the diaphragm, so it is difficult for some singers to trust that the diaphragm is working. To
wean yourself of craving the feedback of a noisy inhalation, try the exercise below. This is especially
important for conductors. While it is convenient to cue your choir with an audible inhalation, you are
unintentionally training the members of your ensemble to breathe noisily.
www
Exercise 3–17. Audio 3–17. Silent Inhalation provides a recording of
this exercise. With your body in balance, form an ee vowel. Noticing the
movement of your diaphragm and rib lifters, inhale making an ee sound
for two slow counts. Exhale, sustaining a hiss for eight slow counts.
Inhale again with your tongue in an ee shape, but without the constric-
tion. Exhale, sustaining a hiss for eight slow counts. Notice that you had
at least as much breath for the silent inhalation as for the noisy one.
Repeat on other vowels (eh, ah, oh, ooh). When you can inhale slowly
and silently, try a quick, silent breath.
Tanking Up
It is tempting to take the maximum amount of air for each phrase. We certainly don’t want to run
out of breath. However, inhaling more deeply than necessary leads to excess effort. Matching the air
we need to the phrase we are singing is a skill that singers develop over time. If we take in too little, we
won’t be able to complete the phrase. If we take in too much, several things may happen. We may
expel the breath forcefully creating an overblown sound with excessive air flow and glottal resistance.
We may sing normally and then have to blow air out at the end of the phrase in order to take in a
fresh inhalation. We may store air at the end of the phrase and then inhale more. In this case, each
ensuing inhalation will bring in less and less fresh air, we become light-headed and may eventually
hyperventilate, or even faint.
The body’s instinct to release the breath is in proportion to the extent of the inhalation, as you
will see in Exercise 3–18 below. As singers, we gradually learn to balance this instinct with the control
necessary to sustain long phrases. Only take in the breath you need. Fully use the breath you have.

www
Exercise 3–18. Video 3–18. Air Pressure Resistance shows this exercise in
action. You can easily feel the difference in air pressure of a small and a
large inhalation. Take a shallow breath and hold it for 10 seconds, and
then release. Now take a deep breath and hold it for the same time. With
the shallow inhalation, you may notice your body clamoring for air,
but your breathing muscles will not need to use much effort to suspend
the exhalation and your glottis can easily remain open. With the deep
inhalation, you will have plenty of air, but your breathing muscles will
be working hard to resist its release and you will be tempted to close your
glottis tightly to hold the breath in.
Keeping Your Ribs Out During Exhalation
At the beginning of the exhalation, the descent of the ribs may be so gradual as to be imperceptible.
However, your ribs must return to their resting place after every phrase or phrase complex (string of
connected phrases). If you keep breathing in without fully exhaling, you will be storing deoxygenated
air in your lungs and will grow light-headed. The muscles that raise the ribs may release slowly to
regulate exhalation for long phrases. However, they do release. Use the air you take in, so that you can
start the next phrase with new, fresh air.
Confusing the Diaphragm With the Upper Abdomen
Many people think that the diaphragm is at the front of the abdomen directly below the ribs. This confusion
often happens because a well-meaning teacher has demonstrated diaphragmatic breathing while resting a
hand there. It is helpful to remember that the movement you feel in the upper abdomen is the result of the
diaphragm displacing the viscera against the abdominal muscles, not the movement of the diaphragm itself.
The Ribs Are Immovable
This idea usually comes from the term “rib cage.” Though it may seem convenient, this term gives the
impression that the framework of the ribs is rigid and static like a bird cage. In optimal breathing,
the ribs are free to move with every breath. This may also be associated with “belly breathing” (see
Breathing Imagery below), where diaphragmatic and abdominal movement is cultivated to the exclu-
sion of rib movement.
Pushing Out the Abdominals Will Bring About Inhalation
It is possible to distend the abdominals outward with muscular work without inhaling. If this is
happening, usually your glottis will close and your ribs will be dragged downward. This might feel
like “belly breathing” (see Breathing Imagery below) but if no air is coming in, it is merely mechan-
ical manipulation of the muscles. Remember, the abdominals release during inhalation so that the
diaphragm and ribs may move freely to create a vacuum in the lungs.

Breathing Imagery
Images help some singers. Other singers will take them literally and get confused. Never assume that
an image that makes sense to you will make sense to others. Any image that goes against the laws of
anatomy and physiology may produce movement that defies nature and induces inefficiency or injury.
Belly Breathing or Getting a Low Breath
There is movement in the “belly” because the diaphragm pulls down, displacing the viscera down and
out, which stretches the abdominal muscles and pelvic floor. The resulting inflow of air all goes into
the lungs, however, not the belly. A literally minded singer might hear the instruction to breathe
into the belly and try to force air down through the esophagus to the stomach.
Drinking in the Breath or Sipping Breath Through a Straw
The muscles used in drinking are the swallowing muscles (the tongue and the pharyngeal constrictors).
These muscles contract to squeeze liquid down into the esophagus, which pushes it to the stomach.
When we swallow, the larynx closes to keep liquid out of the lungs and channel it into the stomach.
Try swallowing and you will immediately sense that the contraction of these muscles is not helpful in
breathing for singing. When we breathe well, the tongue and pharynx release to provide a clear passage
for the air, and the larynx opens to allow air into the lungs.
Column of Air
This is an image that encourages singers to imagine a vertical column of pressurized air extending
from the abdominal area to the vocal folds. There is air pressure in the trachea beneath the vocal folds
when we sing. However, the trachea is only 4 to 6 inches long. Since it is made primarily of cartilage,
it cannot assist with pressurizing the breath. The entire torso from the pelvic floor to the top of the
ribs is involved in creating the pressure that brings about exhalation.
Breathing Down to Your Toes
It is an excellent idea to include the springiness of your feet and legs in your awareness as you breathe.
Breathing is connected to the legs through the psoas muscles. However, the literally minded singer
may hear this image and strain to bring air down into the feet. The air that is drawn into the body is
confined to your lungs.
Filling an Inner Tube Around Your Waist
This image comes from the laudable desire to stretch the abdominal muscles in every direction during
inhalation. It encourages singers to feel the elasticity of the abdominal muscles. However, the literally
minded singer may think that air is pumped into the abdomen under pressure, often recruiting the
vocal tract or neck to do the pumping. The abdominal muscles stretch in every direction because the
diaphragm displaces the viscera against them, not because the abdominal cavity is filling up with air.

Filling Up From the Bottom
Unlike liquids, air is a gas and expands in all directions. The lungs do not fill from the bottom up. They
fill out from the middle, where the bronchial tubes enter the lungs just above the heart. The literally
minded singer might keep thinking about air as a liquid during exhalation. Expelling liquid would take
much more effort than expelling air, which flows easily to an area of less pressure.
Surprise Breath
This image evokes the startle reflex to cultivate an instinctive inhalation and help singers raise the soft
palate. Unfortunately, it often causes singers to constrict the vocal tract and make a gasping sound
during inhalation. More information about raising the soft palate is found in Chapter 5.
Breathe Through Your Belly Button
Air goes into the lungs through the nose or mouth. Trying to breathe through your belly button into
your abdominal cavity often encourages excess work of the abdominal muscles.
Back Breathing
Breathing into the back can mean two things. It can mean the feeling that the thorax is expanding, or
it can mean that the back portion of the abdominals is expanding. Both of these are good, as long as
the source of the expansion is understood. With the thorax, the expansion happens as the arc of the
ribs changes orientation, rising during inhalation. With the lower back, it happens when the abdominal
muscles are allowed to release and expand in circumference as the viscera are displaced down and out
by the diaphragm during inhalation. In neither case is the air itself causing the expansion.
CONCLUSION
Good breathing is the foundation for all other aspects of singing. An adequate, accurate map of the
structures and movements of breathing will help singers reach their full potential. As we refine our
breathing map, we also refine our phrasing, tone, and diction so that we can follow our innate artistic
impulses to new heights of expression.
RESOURCES
YouTube Videos
3D-Yoga.com. 3D view of Diaphragm:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp-gCvW8PRY&feature=related
Anatomy Tutorials. Abdominal Wall Muscles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Dl5RBTTBRg
AnimatedBiomedical. Diaphragm — 3D Medical Animation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23-KAubf-js

Fiametti, Roger. Respiration totale animation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JqFWUjxI1Q

Lawson, Will. Ribcage Movement During Respiration:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ph9tlaUSfo
Medilaw.TV. Cervical Spine Muscles Scalenes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MygDJtu8EtA
Muscle and Motion. What Muscles Are Used for Forced Inspiration Breathing?:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3nLJgRO-d8
Muscle and Motion. Scapulohumeral Rhythm Shoulder Abduction:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VygGuBObVc
Myers, Tom. What Is Tensegrity?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuMHAZ3ync0
The Dad Lab. How To Make a Simple Lung Model with Balloon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=H62wTF9vKPQ
Books and Articles
Calais-Germain, B. (2006). Anatomy of breathing. Seattle, WA: Eastland Press.
Websites
Anatomy Trains. Fascia: https://www.anatomytrains.com/fascia/

Healthline Body Maps. Diaphragm Overview:
http://www.healthline.com/human-body-maps/diaphragm#6/12
Walker, Brad. Stretching and Muscle Fascia: https://stretchcoach.com/articles/stretching-fascia/

4
Creating a Singing Sound
Melissa Malde
THE BIG PICTURE
Vocal sounds originate in the larynx. You already have a map of your larynx. Otherwise, you would
not be able to speak or sing. For most people, this map resides in the subconscious. Many singers sing
well without conscious knowledge of the inner workings of the larynx. Often it is enough to bring
the body into balance, release the neck, and learn to regulate the functions of the larynx through
experimentation and aural feedback. If the body is in balance, the larynx should be free to respond to
impulses of imagination.
Why would you want to bring your laryngeal map into your conscious mind? There are at least
three reasons. You may have misconceptions about your larynx that are interfering with effective phona-
tion. Some symptoms of this are persistent hoarseness, a tight sound, difficulty in negotiating register
changes, problems with initiating the tone cleanly, and inconsistent vibrato. Or you may be a teacher
who wishes to refine your own laryngeal map in order to be a better vocal diagnostician. Or you may
simply be curious to know how it all works in order to explore your artistic choices.
Some singers think the map of the larynx can’t be made conscious because we have no sensory
receptors in the larynx and therefore can’t feel movement of the laryngeal muscles directly. However,
though the laryngeal nerves carry only general sensations from the larynx back to the brain, they carry
very specific impulses from the brain to the larynx. The brain guides muscle movement whether we
can feel it or not. As your map of the larynx becomes more refined, you can be more intentional about
your choices in generating sound. This chapter will provide the tools to help you on this path.
Overview
The larynx (plural: larynges) is at the front of the neck (Figure 4–1). Its base attaches to the top of
the trachea, the tube through which air flows to and from the lungs. Above, the larynx is attached to the
hyoid bone, which is located at the base of the tongue. The larynx itself is made mostly of cartilage and
muscle and is about the size of a walnut. Just as walnuts vary in size, so do larynges. Women tend to
123

Figure 4–1. The larynx from the right side in context. From The Body
Moveable (4th ed., p. 179), by D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Can-
have smaller larynges than men. The larynx is suspended in the neck by a network of extrinsic muscles
that connect to it from outside and move the whole larynx up and down in the neck. These will be
described in detail in Chapter 5. The intrinsic muscles, which connect the laryngeal cartilages, are
responsible for the delicate movements within the larynx. For a rotating view of the larynx in context,
visit Neck Anatomy by Healthline Body Maps (https://www.healthline.com/human-body-maps/neck#1).
Use the slider on the right to peel away layers until you see the larynx clearly. Zoom in using the
magnifying button on the left, then click and drag on the image to see the larynx from multiple angles.
www
Exercise 4–1. Video 4–1. Finding the Larynx shows this exercise in
action. To locate your larynx, place your fingers lightly on the front of
your neck and swallow. The knobby thing you feel bobbing up and down
is the thyroid cartilage at the front of the larynx, often called the Adam’s
apple. Now place your fingers lightly on the knob and hum. You will feel
vibration as you make sound.

4. CREATING A SINGING SOUND 125
The survival function of the larynx is twofold: (1) to prevent food and liquid from entering the
trachea, and (2) to close the airway to create the pressure needed for heavy lifting, elimination of waste,
and giving birth. A third function is to make sound for communication. It is this function that we use
in singing. Singing is simply enhanced vocal communication.
www
Exercise 4–2. Video 4–2. Pitch Variation in Speech shows this exercise
in action. Most people don’t realize how much pitch variation they use
in everyday speech.
n Try speaking the following phrase in a robotic monotone without
any inflection at all: “How are you today?”
n Now try emphasizing different words: “How ARE you today? How
are YOU today? How are you TODAY?” Notice the change in pitch
on the emphasized words. Do you notice any different sensations
on the stressed word?
n Now emphasize the word “are” and sustain it over several
seconds. What do you notice? Do you speak that word on one
pitch or glide through several? Finally, sing the phrase, jumping
up an octave on the word “are” and sustaining it. How is singing
different from sustained speaking?
At rest, our exhalation is silent, and the glottis (the space between the vocal folds) is open. When
we want to communicate, the glottis closes as we exhale. Air expelled from the lungs sets the vocal
folds into vibration. This process is called phonation. The pitch created depends on the rate of that
vibration. The scientific term for the rate of vibration is frequency, and pitches are identified by the
number of cycles per second (cps) or hertz (Hz). The faster the frequency, the higher the pitch created.
For instance, the frequency of middle C is 261.5 and the frequency of the octave above is 523. A typical
person is able to produce a wide range of pitches, usually spanning over two octaves and sometimes
over three octaves. The vibration of the vocal folds creates a sound wave that travels through the air
in the vocal tract to the outside air.
Pitch is the most obvious component of that sound wave. Other components of the sound wave
generated in the larynx include some aspects of color, the initiation, duration and cessation, the ampli-
tude (strength), and the fluctuation, known as vibrato. All of these are regulated to some extent by
movements of the larynx in conjunction with breath flow.
THE ESSENTIALS
In order for the larynx to function optimally, the body must be in balance. This is especially true of the
balance of the head at the atlanto-occipital joint. Notice in Figure 4–2 how the hyoid bone is connected
to the jaw with multiple muscles. It is also connected to the larynx with muscles, a membrane, and two
ligaments. The hyoid bone is not stabilized by a joint to the rest of the skeleton. Therefore, when the

Figure 4–2. The neck muscles with the head in balance. From
The Body Moveable (4th ed., p. 178), by D. Gorman. Guelph,
Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press. Copyright 2002. Reprinted
with permission.
chin is raised, or jutted forward, it pulls up on the hyoid bone, which, in turn, pulls up on the larynx.
Tucking the chin and pulling the head back pushes down and in on the larynx. Both of these actions
affect the delicate intrinsic laryngeal muscles and may eventually lead to vocal damage. Whatever effect
a singer is trying to achieve can be better attained by other means. For instance, a tenor may be able to
extend his high range slightly by raising his chin, but he will sound better and sing more healthily if he
learns to sing his high notes using the muscles intrinsic to the larynx. Note that it is possible to raise and
lower the chin while maintaining balance at the atlanto-occipital joint, as you can see in Figure 2–13.
These are perfectly good movements but they must be very subtle while singing or speaking. This
does not mean that the head must be kept in a fixed relationship to the spine. Slight adjustments to
the balance of the head in relation to the spine are integral to expressive singing.

www
Exercise 4–3. Video 4–3. Head Balance and the Larynx shows this exer-
cise in action. To understand how the balance of the head affects the
larynx, try this exercise. As you do, be gentle with your movements. If
you sense any strain, go back to balance.
n With your whole body in your awareness and your head in balance,
sing a note in a comfortable part of your range. Sustaining the
note, tilt your head back, raising your chin slightly. How does it
feel? What happens to the pitch? The tone quality?
n Bring your head back into balance and sing the note again.
Sustaining the note, press your chin into your neck. How does it
feel? What happens to the pitch? The tone quality?
n Bring your head back into balance and sing the note again.
Sustaining the note, bring your head forward from the balance
point. Still sustaining the note, pull your head back from the
balance point.
Try this exercise at different pitch levels and with different degrees
of excursion away from the point of balance until you have thoroughly
mapped the relationship of head balance and phonation.
All the movements of phonation occur using the intrinsic muscles of the larynx. These muscles
are contained entirely within the larynx itself. There are several muscles in the neck that regulate the
position of the larynx as a whole. These extrinsic muscles will be discussed in Chapter 5. Most neck
muscles move the head and shoulders and have no role in phonation except to maintain the balance
of the head. Still, some singers feel that effort in the neck muscles helps them produce a better sound.
Unlike the intrinsic laryngeal muscles, the neck muscles have many sensory receptors. When we engage
the neck muscles, we get immediate feedback to the brain, so we feel like we are doing something.
Unfortunately, that “something” often interferes with the healthy function of the larynx. Learning to
trust the absence of effort in the neck can be difficult, but the resulting ease of phonation is the reward.
If you feel that your subconscious laryngeal map is adequate and accurate for your singing needs,
the remainder of the chapter may not be necessary for you. However, if you wish to bring your laryngeal
map into your conscious mind, read on!
THE DETAILS
Guidelines for Refining Your Laryngeal Map
n Small as it is, the larynx is a complex structure and it may take a significant investment
of time to map it well.
n If the descriptions contradict your current perception, pay special attention and correct
or refine your map as necessary.

n Thoroughly map each structure before adding the next.

n Relate each structure to the ones you have already mapped.
n Continually relate your map of the larynx to your whole body.
n As you work on refining your laryngeal map, you will find some things are helpful for
you and some things simply lead to information paralysis. If you find yourself frustrated
and overwhelmed, focus on the big picture first and fill in the details later.
n Keep in mind that you cannot feel the work of the laryngeal muscles. However, you will
be able to hear and sense the effect of their movement on your sound.
Anatomical Terminology Associated with the Larynx
There are few common names for the structures found in the larynx. Those that exist are often
confusing or misleading. You can map the structures without memorizing the anatomical names.
However, in order to describe the structures accurately, the anatomical names will be used in this book.
The following glossary may be helpful to you.
Glossary of Laryngeal Anatomy
Tissue: A collection of cells of a similar type that form an anatomical structure.

Bone: A hard substance composed largely of calcium that forms the skeleton.
Cartilage: A tough, elastic tissue with a distinct shape like bone but that is more flexible.
Ligament: A tough, flexible, fibrous tissue that connects bone to bone, bone to cartilage,
or cartilage to cartilage.
Membrane: A thin, elastic tissue that covers or lines a structure.
Muscle: Elastic fibrous tissue in the body that is capable of contraction.
Muscle insertion: The point of attachment of a muscle that moves most during contraction.
Muscle origin: The point of attachment of a muscle that remains relatively fixed during
contraction.
Process: A protrusion that projects outward from the main body of a structure. On bones
or cartilages, processes are often points of attachment for muscles or ligaments.
Horn: Like a process, only longer.
Glottis: The opening between the two sides of the larynx, each edge being defined by one
side of the vocal folds and the corresponding arytenoid cartilage.
Inferior: Below (when referring to anatomical structures).
Superior: Above (when referring to anatomical structures).

Epi-: Upon or atop (the epiglottis is atop the glottis).

Inter-: Between (the interarytenoids run between the arytenoid cartilages).
Lat-: Side (the lateral cricoarytenoid muscles originate at the sides of the cricoid cartilage).
Post-: Back (the posterior cricoarytenoid muscles originate at the back of the cricoid
cartilage).
Trans-: Across (the transverse arytenoid muscle spans the arytenoid cartilages).
Oblique: At an angle (the oblique arytenoid muscles run diagonally across the opening
between the arytenoids).
Vocal folds: The vibrating structures of the larynx composed of muscle, ligament, and
membrane. For a discussion of the difference between the terms vocal fold and vocal cord,
consult Frequently Asked Questions at the end of the chapter.
Decoding Muscle Names
The muscles of the larynx have especially complex, multisyllabic names. These become less intimidating
if you remember the following:
n Most muscles are named for the structures they connect. For instance, the cricoarytenoid
muscles connect the cricoid cartilage to the arytenoid cartilages.
n The first structure indicated in the muscle name is usually the point of origin, while the
second is the point of insertion. As you read above, the point of origin remains relatively
stable, while the point of insertion may move significantly. For instance, the cricoarytenoid
muscles move the arytenoids, while the cricoid remains stable.
n Muscle names often include words that describe their location or the direction of their
fibers. For instance, the lateral cricoarytenoids connect the cricoid to the arytenoids on
the side, and the fibers of the oblique arytenoids run at an angle.
Overview of the Structures of the Larynx
Laryngeal Cartilages
There are five principal cartilages that form the framework of the larynx.
n The cricoid cartilage forms the base of the larynx.

n The thyroid cartilage forms the front of the larynx and anchors the front of the vocal folds.
n The pair of arytenoid cartilages sits on the back of the cricoid cartilage and anchors the
back of the vocal folds.
n The epiglottis cartilage attaches to the back of the thyroid cartilage and covers the glottis
during swallowing.

Intrinsic Muscles of the Larynx
There are six principal sets of muscles intrinsic to the larynx:
n The posterior cricoarytenoid muscles open the glottis.

n The lateral cricoarytenoid muscles partially close the glottis.
n The transverse arytenoid muscles, also known as the interarytenoids, pull the arytenoid
cartilages together to continue the closure of the glottis.
n The oblique arytenoids pull the tops of the arytenoids toward center, contributing to the
closure of the glottis.
n The thyroarytenoid muscles form the body of the vocal folds and affect pitch and register.
n The cricothyroid muscles stretch the vocal folds, affecting pitch and register.
Other Structures Intrinsic to the Larynx
There are several other kinds of structures found in the larynx.
n The conus elasticus is a strong membrane that lines the trachea and extends upward to
support the underside of the vocal fold.
n The vocal ligaments are the thickened upper edges of the conus elasticus and strengthen
the edges of the vocal folds.
n Epithelium membranes cover the vocal folds.
n The lamina propria is a flexible layer of membrane that is between the conus elasticus
and the epithelium membranes.
n The hyoid bone connects the larynx to the structures above it. As described above, the
position of the larynx depends on the position of the hyoid bone. However, the hyoid
bone has no direct role in phonation and it will not be discussed in detail in this chapter.
www
Exercise 4–4. Video 4–4. Building a Larynx out of Modeling Clay shows
this exercise in action. One way to work on mapping the structures of
the larynx is to build a model out of modeling clay or dough. The video
linked to this exercise will take you through the steps so that you can
build your own model before, during, or after reading the detailed
descriptions below. You will need three full-sized tubs of modeling dough,
in contrasting colors, two popsicle sticks, and the template included with
the video.

Detailed Description of the Laryngeal Cartilages and Ligaments
All of the descriptions below assume the body is in an upright stance with the head in balance and the
larynx at rest. We will start our tour with the base of the larynx and move upward.
The cricoid cartilage connects to the top of the trachea with a flexible ligament. The cricoid is
round with a hollow space in its center and therefore is sometimes called the “ring” cartilage. The
diameter of the space is small: 9 to 17 millimeters in women and 11 to 21 millimeters in men. When at
rest, the bottom of the cricoid cartilage is level, parallel to the floor. The back is taller than the front.
Figure 4–3 shows the cricoid cartilage from the front and above, as if you were looking at the cricoid
cartilage of someone facing you.
Figure 4–3. The cricoid cartilage viewed from the

front and above. From The Body Moveable (4th
ed., p. 201), by D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Can-
ada: Ampersand Press. Copyright 2002. Reprinted
with permission.

Exercise 4–5. For many, it is difficult to imagine a three-dimensional

shape from a two-dimensional drawing. To approximate the shape of
the cricoid cartilage, try this hand model. The model is pictured in
www
Figure 4–4 below. Video 4–5. Modeling the Cricoid Cartilage shows this
exercise in action.
n Make a ring with the tips of your pinkies and thumbs together.
Place the ring on a flat surface. Interlace your remaining fingers
to form a round wall roughly perpendicular to the surface.
n Your thumbs represent the front of the cricoid cartilage, and
your fingers represent its back. Your model is facing the opposite
way from the cricoid cartilage in your larynx. You can imagine
that you are looking at the larynx of a person facing you or at
your own larynx in a mirror.
n This model is much bigger than your actual cricoid cartilage.
Figure 4–4. A hand model of the cricoid cartilage with a scale draw-
ing. From The Body Moveable (4th ed., p. 201), by D. Gorman. Guelph,
Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press. Copyright 2002. Photo by and of
Melissa Malde. Reprinted with permission.
The thyroid cartilage is the part of the larynx commonly known as the Adam’s apple, which you
can easily palpate at the front of your neck. The thyroid cartilage extends over the sides of the cricoid
cartilage and is open in back. Figure 4–5 shows views of the thyroid cartilage from several angles.
There are two pairs of horns at the back of the thyroid cartilage. The superior horns extend upward,
connecting through ligaments to the hyoid bone. The inferior horns extend downward, connecting at a
joint to each side of the cricoid cartilage near the back. These joints allow the thyroid cartilage to rock
forward in relation to the cricoid cartilage. The relationship of the thyroid cartilage and the cricoid
cartilage is seen in Figure 4–6.

Figure 4–5. Three views of the thyroid cartilage. From The Body Moveable (4th ed., p. 201), by D.
Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press. Copyright 2002. Reprinted with permission.
Figure 4–6. The relationship of the cricoid and thyroid car-

tilage viewed from the right side. From The Body Moveable
(4th ed., p. 201), by D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Canada:
133

Exercise 4–6. To approximate the shape of the thyroid cartilage, try this
www
model. The model is pictured in Figure 4–7 below. Video 4–6. Modeling
the Thyroid Cartilage shows this exercise in action.
n Hold your hands parallel so that the eight fingers are straight
and pointing away from you. Bring your eight fingers together
at the tips forming a rounded “v” shape and extend your thumbs
straight up.
n You are approximating the shape of the thyroid cartilage. Your
model is much bigger than the actual thyroid cartilage.
n The extended thumbs represent the superior horns at the back of
the thyroid cartilage. You could also represent the inferior horns
pointing down to the cricoid cartilage, if you had a set of thumbs
next to your pinkies.
n The tips of your fingers represent the front of the thyroid carti-
lage, and your thumbs represent its back. Your model is oriented
in the same way as the thyroid cartilage in your larynx.
Figure 4–7. A hand model of the thyroid cartilage viewed from the
back with a scale drawing. From The Body Moveable (4th ed., p. 201),
by D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press. Copyright
2002. Photo by and of Melissa Malde. Reprinted with permission.

Exercise 4–7. If you have a friend who is interested in laryngeal

anatomy, you can put the thyroid model together with the cricoid model
www
to show the relationship. Video 4–7. Modeling the Relationship of the
Cricoid and Thyroid shows this exercise in action. Facing each other,
have one person make the cricoid model and the other person make the
thyroid model. Put the thyroid model on top of the cricoid model. This
models the larynx of the person making the thyroid cartilage.
The two arytenoid cartilages sit on top of the back of the cricoid cartilage. They connect to the
cricoid cartilage with flexible joints that allow them to swivel and slide. Each arytenoid cartilage is
shaped roughly like a pyramid built on a right-angle triangle. At the base of the pyramid, the arytenoids
are rounded at the right angle, which is toward the center back of the cricoid. The two acute angles of
the triangular base form processes. At rest, the process at the front of each arytenoid cartilage points
toward the front of the thyroid cartilage and is called the vocal process. The process at the side of each
arytenoid cartilage points toward the horns of the thyroid cartilage and is called the muscular process.
The apex of each arytenoid is formed by the corniculate cartilage. This cartilage will not be discussed
further in this book. Figure 4–8 shows the cricoid with the arytenoids from three different angles.
Figure 4–8. Three views of the cricoid cartilage with the arytenoid cartilages. From The Body Move-
able (4th ed., p. 201), by D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press. Copyright 2002.
The final laryngeal cartilage is the epiglottis. It is shaped like a two-dimensional teardrop with the
point oriented downward (Figure 4–9). This point connects via a short ligament to the posterior surface
at the center of the thyroid cartilage. In Figure 4–10 you can see the relationship of the thyroid cartilage
and the epiglottis cartilage. The epiglottis cartilage itself is swathed in membranes that surround the
space above the glottis. The epiglottis plays an essential role in survival: The muscles around it draw it

Figure 4–9. The epiglottis cartilage viewed
from the back. From The Body Moveable
(4th ed., p. 201), by D. Gorman. Guelph,
Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press.
Epiglottis Cartilage
Hyoid Bone
Figure 4–10.
The epiglottis
Thyroid Cartilage
cartilage viewed Superior Horn
from the back
in the context
of the whole
larynx. From The
Body Moveable
(4th ed., p. 201), Arytenoid Cartilage
by D. Gorman.
Guelph, Ontario,
Canada:
Ampersand Muscular Process of
Press. Copyright Arytenoid Cartilage
2002. Reprinted
with permission.
Thyroid Cartilage
Inferior Horn
Cricoid Cartilage
136

down over the glottis to prevent food and liquid from entering the trachea. Its role in singing is limited
to resonance and it will be discussed further in Chapter 5.
The conus elasticus membrane arises from the inside edges of the cricoid cartilage. The membrane
is paired, connecting to the posterior surface of the thyroid cartilage in front and to the vocal process
of the arytenoids in back on each side of the larynx. The free upper edges thicken slightly, forming
the two vocal ligaments. The vocal ligaments thus span the distance between the vocal processes of
the arytenoid cartilages and the thyroid cartilage (Figure 4–11). They form the strong, flexible edges
of the vocal folds.
Before reading further, continue working on mapping the size, shape, orientation, and connections
of these structures until they are quite clear in your mind. For a detailed tutorial on the cartilages and
ligaments mentioned so far, watch Larynx – Cartilages – 3D Anatomy Tutorial published by Anatomy
Zone (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3S2dD9BrSY). You may also test your knowledge of the
laryngeal structures with the Interactive Atlas of the Larynx by Ahmet Sinav, M.D. (https://www1
.columbia.edu/sec/itc/hs/medical/anatomy_resources/anatomy/larynx/).
As you work on mapping the framework of phonation, make sure you are relating the location
and orientation of your larynx to your whole body.
Figure 4–11. The laryngeal cartilages and ligaments viewed from above. From The Body
Moveable (4th ed., p. 204), by D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press.

Review: Laryngeal Framework
n The cricoid cartilage connects with a flexible ligament to the trachea and forms the base
of the larynx.
n The thyroid cartilage connects to the side of the cricoid cartilage through its inferior horns
and forms the front of the larynx.
n The arytenoid cartilages sit on top of the back of the cricoid cartilage.
n The conus elasticus membrane arises from the inside of the cricoid and extends up to the
level of the arytenoids in the larynx.
n The vocal ligaments are the thickened upper edge of the conus elasticus and connect the
vocal processes of the arytenoid cartilages with the center back of the thyroid cartilage.
Detailed Description of the Laryngeal Muscles
When we breathe at rest, the intrinsic muscles of the larynx are released and the glottis is slightly open.
When we sing or speak, the muscles engage. The pair of posterior cricoarytenoid muscles opens the
vocal folds wide for a singing breath. The pair of lateral cricoarytenoid muscles, the pair of oblique
arytenoid muscles, and the transverse arytenoid muscle act together to close the glottis for phonation.
The combined actions of the thyroarytenoid and cricothyroid muscles change the thickness, tension,
and length of the vocal folds to vary the pitch.
Each muscle and its movement will be described in this section. There are several exercises and
links to videos to help you visualize the muscles in action. You will not be able to feel the action of these
muscles directly. However, you will be able to hear the effects of the movement in the resulting sound.
Glossary of Terms Describing Muscle Movement in the Larynx
Recognizing these terms will prove helpful in the following discussion.
Abduct: Separate. The vocal folds abduct for inhalation.

Adduct: Bring together. The vocal folds adduct to make sound.
Co-contraction: When opposing muscles are working against each other; both are contracting
simultaneously.
Dynamic equilibrium: When opposing muscles are working with each other, one is
contracting as the other releases.
Offset: The termination of phonation.
Onset: The initiation of phonation.
Opposing muscles: Muscles that pull in opposite directions.
Paired: Structures that occur on both sides of the body, one the mirror image of the other.

The Muscles That Open and Close the Glottis
The posterior cricoarytenoid muscles originate from the back of the cricoid cartilage and insert into
the muscular processes of the arytenoid cartilages. When they engage, they pull the muscular process
toward the center back of the cricoid cartilages. This action swivels the arytenoids so that the vocal
processes spread apart in front. Because the vocal ligaments connect to the vocal processes, this action
abducts (opens) the vocal folds further than their resting position, forming a wide V shape, with the
opening in the back. The posterior cricoarytenoid muscles are active during deep inhalation, enabling a
quick, silent breath for singing. They are inactive during phonation, releasing so that the vocal folds can
close completely. Figure 4–12 shows a simplified view of larynx from above. The arytenoid cartilages
are shown in white. The resting position of the vocal ligaments and arytenoids is shown with dotted
lines. The black arrows represent the work of the posterior cricoarytenoids, which are not shown.
Figure 4–12. The action of the posterior cricoarytenoid muscles viewed from above. From The Body
Moveable (4th ed., p. 208), by D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press. Copyright

The lateral cricoarytenoid muscles also insert into the muscular processes of the arytenoid carti-
lages, but they originate from the sides of the cricoid cartilage. When they contract, they pull the
muscular processes toward the front, rotating the arytenoids so that the vocal processes meet. This
action adducts (closes) the vocal folds but leaves an opening at the back of the glottis between the
arytenoid cartilages. Phonation is possible in this position but it creates a breathy sound. Figure 4–13
shows a simplified view of the larynx from above. The arytenoid cartilages are shown in white. The
resting position of the vocal ligaments and arytenoids is shown in dotted lines. The black arrows
represent the work of the lateral cricoarytenoids, which are not shown, rotating.
Figure 4–13. The action of the lateral cricoarytenoid muscles viewed from above. From The Body
Moveable (4th ed., p. 208), by D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press. Copyright

The transverse arytenoid and oblique arytenoid muscles connect the arytenoid cartilages to each
other. The transverse arytenoid muscle (also called the interarytenoid muscle) connects straight across,
and the oblique arytenoid muscles connect at an angle crossing each other in the center. When they
engage, these muscles pull the arytenoid cartilages snugly together, eliminating the opening between.
When the lateral cricoarytenoids are also engaged, this completely closes the glottis. Figure 4–14 shows
a simplified view from above. The arytenoid cartilages are shown in white. The resting position of the
arytenoids and vocal ligaments is shown in dotted lines. The black arrows represent the work of the
transverse arytenoid and oblique arytenoid muscles, which are not shown.
Figure 4–14. The action of the transverse and oblique arytenoid muscles viewed from above.
From The Body Moveable (4th ed., p. 208), by D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Canada: Amper-

For an animation of the action of the posterior cricoarytenoids, lateral cricoarytenoids, and trans-
verse arytenoids, watch Vocal Cords Adductor and Abductor Muscles by 3dmedicalillustrations (https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXZZpMwPeJ4).
Exercise 4–8. You can model the opening of the glottis with your fingers.
www
The model is pictured in Figure 4–15 below. Video 4–8. Modeling the
Opening and Closing of the Glottis shows this exercise in action. To map
the abduction and adduction of the vocal folds, try this.
n Hold one hand parallel to the floor with the index and middle
fingers extended and the rest of the fingers curled under with
the thumb. Separate the index and middle fingers until they are
slightly apart, forming a very narrow V shape. Now point the
opening of the V straight into your larynx, keeping your hand
parallel to the floor. Breathe normally. This is similar to the shape
of your glottis at rest.
n Now, take a deep singing breath, opening your fingers to form
a wide V shape. Bring your fingers together and make sound
as you exhale. Repeat until you can picture the activity in the
larynx while breathing at rest, while breathing in preparation
for singing, and while phonating.
Remember, the glottis is much smaller than your fingers.
Figure 4–15. A hand model of the glottis at rest, during deep inhala-
tion and phonating.
Figures 4–16 and 4–17 show the muscles that open and close the glottis in the context of the whole
larynx. Both drawings show the larynx at rest, which means that the glottis is slightly open. Take some
time to study these intricate drawings, referring back to the simpler drawings and descriptions above.
Figure 4–16 shows the larynx from the back, as if you were looking into the larynx of someone
facing away from you. The glottis is hidden by the oblique and transverse arytenoid muscles. The poste-
rior cricoarytenoid muscles are clearly visible. For a singing breath, the posterior cricoarytenoid muscles
would contract, swiveling the vocal processes of the arytenoid cartilages apart to open the glottis.

Thyroid Cartilage
Oblique Arytenoids
Transverse Arytenoids
Muscular Process of
Muscular Process of
Arytenoid Cartilage
Arytenoid Cartilage
Posterior Cricoarytenoids
Cricoid Cartilage
Figure 4–16. The laryngeal muscles viewed from the back. From The Body Moveable (4th ed.,
permission.
Figure 4–17 shows the larynx from the back at an angle from the right side, as if you were standing
behind someone’s right shoulder and looking at the larynx. Here you can see the lateral cricoarytenoid
muscle on the right side. This would normally be hidden by the thyroid cartilage and the cricothyroid
muscles, both of which have been cut to expose the lateral cricoarytenoid muscle. Look at the direc-
tion of the muscle fibers in the lateral cricoarytenoid muscle. When we sing, they contract, swiveling
the vocal processes of the arytenoids together to close the glottis. At the same time, the oblique and
transverse arytenoid muscles contract to slide the arytenoid cartilages close together, closing the space
at the back of the glottis.

Aryepiglottic Muscle
Thyroid Cartilage (Cut)
Transverse Arytenoids
Muscular Process of Left Muscular Process of

Arytenoid Cartilage Right Arytenoid Cartilage
Lateral
Posterior Cricoarytenoids Cricoarytenoid
Cricoid Cartilage
Cricothyroid (Cut)
Figure 4–17. The laryngeal muscles viewed from the back of the right side. From The Body Move-
able (4th ed., p. 206), by D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press. Copyright 2002.

The Muscles That Determine Pitch
There are two muscle pairs that affect the pitch produced by the vocal folds. They are the thyroaryte-
noid muscles and the cricothyroid muscles. These are opposing muscles: the action of the cricothyroids
lengthens the vocal folds and the action of the thyroarytenoids shortens the vocal folds.
The pair of thyroarytenoid muscles connects the posterior surface of the thyroid cartilage to
the arytenoid cartilages. Each side is divided into two parts. Though the fibers of the two parts are
continuous with each other, they can act independently. The two parts are called the vocalis muscle
(also known as the internal thyroarytenoid muscle) and the external thyroarytenoid muscle. The vocalis
muscles form the body of the vocal fold. They lie snug next to the vocal ligaments on either side of the
glottis. The external thyroarytenoid muscles are on the outside of the vocalis muscles. In a view from
above, Figure 4–18 shows all the laryngeal muscles described to this point. Note that the drawing is
not symmetrical. It shows some muscles only on one side, though they all occur on both sides.
Figure 4–18. The laryngeal muscles viewed from above. From The Body Moveable (4th ed., p. 207), by
D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press. Copyright 2002. Reprinted with permission.

Figure 4–19 shows the vocal folds in cross section in the context of the whole larynx. Here you
can see the vocalis muscles nestled against the vocal ligament. The conus elasticus membrane forms
the base of the vocal fold and its thickened upper edge, the vocal ligament, defines its top edge. An
epithelium membrane covers the surface. Between the epithelium and the conus elasticus is the lamina
propria. The lamina propria contains many blood vessels and together with the epithelium forms the
covering of the vocal fold. Because of their moisture content, these two membranes are highly flexible.
This whole structure is the vocal fold.
Figure 4–19. The larynx in cross section viewed from the back with a detail of the vocal fold. From
The Body Moveable (4th ed., p. 205), by D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press.

Figure 4–20 shows the effect of the action of the thyroarytenoids as they pull the arytenoid carti-
lages closer to the thyroid cartilage, shortening the vibrating edge of the vocal folds. This is a simplified
view from the right side. The resting position of the right arytenoid and vocal ligament is shown in
dotted lines. The black arrow represents the action of the thyroarytenoids, which are not shown.
Figure 4–20. The action of the thyroarytenoid

muscles viewed from the right side. From The
Body Moveable (4th ed., p. 208), by D. Gorman.
Guelph, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press.
The paired cricothyroid muscles arise from the sides of the cricoid cartilage at the front. From there,
they extend back at an oblique angle to attach to the bottom of the thyroid cartilage at the sides. Each
side has two parts, or bellies. As the cricothyroids contract, they change the relationship of the thyroid
cartilage to the cricoid cartilage. The thyroid cartilage rocks forward and the cricoid cartilage tips back,
pulling the front of these cartilages closer together. The effect of this is to increase the distance between
the thyroid cartilage and the arytenoid cartilages, stretching the vocal folds. Figure 4–21 shows the two
bellies of the right cricothyroid muscle.
Figure 4–22 shows how the action of the cricothyroid muscles stretches the vocal folds. The posi-
tion of the larynx at rest is shown in dotted lines. Unlike all the similar representations above, the black
arrows in the drawing do not correspond to the direction of contraction in the muscle fibers. Rather,
they represent the resulting movement of the cartilages. The cricothyroid muscles are not shown in
this drawing.

Figure 4–21. The cricothyroid muscles viewed
from the right side. From The Body Moveable
(4th ed., p. 207), by D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario,
Canada: Ampersand Press. Copyright 2002.
Figure 4–22. The result of the action of the cri-

cothyroid muscles viewed from the right side.
From The Body Moveable (4th ed., p. 208), by D.
Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand
148

www
Exercise 4–9. The model is pictured in Figure 4–23 below. Video 4–9.
Modeling the Contraction of the Cricothyroids shows this exercise in
action. To visualize the movement of the cricothyroid muscles, try this.
n With your head in balance, bring the base of your palms and
your thumbs together under your chin with your fingers point-
ing up.
n Put your thumbs slightly below your thyroid cartilage. If you
can’t find your thyroid cartilage, just swallow. The thyroid carti-
lage will move up and down.
n Next, put your index fingers on either side of your neck upon the
sides of the thyroid cartilage.
n Now, bring the thumb and index fingers closer together. You are
approximating the contraction of the cricothyroid muscles.
n Now try singing a slide or siren starting low and going high.
Don’t worry if there are some awkward places — just let your
voice jump right through them. As you ascend in pitch, bring
your fingers and thumbs closer together to model the contraction
of the cricothyroids.
You may feel the thyroid cartilage rock slightly down and forward under
your fingers as you go up. This is excellent — it’s the healthiest way to
access your upper range. Your larynx may rise as you ascend in pitch.
If this is happening, don’t worry about it right now. You will learn how
to balance the internal and external muscles of the larynx in Chapter 5.
Don’t try to keep the larynx completely stationary. It moves all the time
as we sing.
Figure 4–23. A finger model of the cricothyroid muscles.

To review cartilages and view the actions of the intrinsic laryngeal muscles, watch How the Larynx
Produces Sound by Bethea Medical Media (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b89RSYCaUBo).
Review: Intrinsic Muscles of the Larynx and the Vocal Folds
Intrinsic to the larynx, there are two sets of opposing muscles and one set of complementary muscles.
n Openers and Closers

n The posterior cricoarytenoids swivel the vocal processes of the arytenoid cartilages
away from center, opening the vocal folds.
n The lateral cricoarytenoids swivel the vocal processes of the arytenoid cartilages toward
the center, closing the vocal folds.
n Shorteners and Lengtheners
n The thyroarytenoids pull the arytenoids closer to the thyroid, making the vocal folds
shorter and thicker.
n The cricothyroids rock the thyroid cartilage forward, pulling the front of the thyroid
cartilage and the cricoid cartilage closer together, stretching the vocal folds longer and
thinner.
n Complementary Muscles
n When the transverse and oblique arytenoids are released, they allow the posterior
cricoarytenoid muscles to completely open the glottis.
n When the transverse and oblique arytenoids contract, they pull the arytenoid cartilages
together, completing the action of the lateral cricoarytenoid muscles to close the glottis.
n The Composition of the Vocal Folds
n The conus elasticus forms the lower surface.
n The vocal ligament forms the edge.
n The vocalis muscle forms the body.
n The entire structure is covered with the lamina propria and epithelium membranes.
Watch Vibration of the Vocal Folds by Mélanie Canault and Olivier Rastello to see an animation of these
muscles in action (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfkFTw3sBXQ).
Coordinated Movements of Laryngeal Muscles
Pitch
Pitch is determined by the frequency of vibration. The faster the vibration, the higher the pitch. In
singing, the frequency of vibration depends on the length, thickness, and tension of the vocal folds. To
understand how these qualities affect pitch, consider the four strings of a violin. The vibrating length
of the strings is the same, so why do they produce different pitches? It is partly because the strings

differ in thickness. The E string is the thinnest and makes the highest pitch. The G string is about three
times thicker than the E string and makes the lowest pitch. Now consider tension. If we stretch the
string by tightening the tuning peg, the pitch will get higher because it has more tension. If we loosen
the string, the pitch will get lower because it has less tension. Finally, consider differences in length.
If we decrease the vibrating length of the string by damping it against the fingerboard, the shorter
vibrating length of the string will produce a higher pitch.
From the example of the violin, we can deduce these three physical laws governing the pitch a
vibrating string produces:
n The thinner the string, the higher the pitch.

n The more tension on the string, the higher the pitch.
n The shorter the string, the higher the pitch.
What does this mean for the voice? The vocal folds are much more complex than the strings of
a violin. First, unlike strings, the muscles of the vocal folds have the ability to contract, thus adjusting
their own length, thickness, and tension. Second, they are free to vibrate only on one edge. Finally,
they have multiple layers: muscle, ligament, and membrane.
However, the string analogy can be helpful. The innate length and thickness of the vocal folds
determine the total compass of pitches a singer may produce. A bass has a lower range than a soprano
because he has longer, thicker vocal folds. You may compare the size of vocal folds for four singers by
watching Cords (hear us and have mercy), which shows the vocal folds of a quartet singing a Kyrie by
Tomás Luis de Victoria (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=km5ZccQsqE4).
While length is an important factor in determining the compass of an individual singer’s vocal
range, within that range, pitch is mostly regulated by changing the thickness and tension of the vocal
folds. Just like strings, when they are loose and/or thick, the pitch is low. When they are thin and/or
taut, the pitch is high. Following is a simplified description of how the intrinsic muscles act to change
pitch. Other factors, including breath pressure and the action of extrinsic muscles, may also contribute
to pitch.
In the lowest part of the range, the external thyroarytenoids reduce the distance between the aryte-
noids and the thyroid cartilage while the vocalis muscles (internal thyroarytenoids) release, making
the vocal folds thick and relatively loose. In the highest part of the range, the cricothyroids rock the
thyroid cartilage forward, increasing the distance between the arytenoids and the thyroid cartilage,
thus stretching the vocal folds and making them thin and taut. In between these two extremes, the
cricothyroids, vocalis, and external thyroarytenoids interact in varied and complex ways to create not
only pitches but the color aspect of the voice known as registers.
Review: The Actions That Change Pitch
n The external thyroarytenoid muscles make the vocal folds shorter, thicker, and looser
when they contract. This lowers the pitch.
n The vocalis muscles add tension to the vocal folds when they contract. This raises the pitch.
n The cricothyroid muscles stretch the vocal folds when they contract, making them longer,
thinner, and tenser. This raises the pitch.

www
Exercise 4–10. Video 4–10. Rubber Band Model A: Effect of Thickness,
Tension, and Length on Pitch shows this exercise in action.
n The effect of thickness, tension, and length on pitch can be

demonstrated with a rubber band stretched over a glass. Give
the rubber band just enough tension so that it will create a
pitch when plucked. Now pinch the rubber band where it meets
the rim of the glass on one side. Stretch it away from the glass
and pluck again. The pitch is higher because the vibrating part
of the rubber band is thinner and has more tension. This is
analogous to the vocal folds being stretched by the action of the
cricothyroid muscles.
n If you want to raise the pitch without increasing the tension, you
can return the rubber band so that it touches both sides of the
rim. Pluck it to hear the pitch. Then damp the rubber band by
pinching it in the middle and pluck again. Because the vibrating
length is shorter, it will make a higher pitch. This is analogous
to the innate difference in vocal fold length between a soprano
and a bass.
Registration
Just as the innate shape of the vocal folds determines the total compass of pitches a singer may produce,
it also determines innate weight of the voice. Singers with innately slender vocal folds will produce
a lighter sound than singers with robust vocal folds. However, all singers may adjust the thickness of
their vocal folds to vary the weight of their sound to some extent.
Throughout much of the range, individual pitches can be produced with multiple configurations of
the vocal folds. That is, the vocal folds may vibrate at the same rate, thus producing the same pitch, but
have a very different shape and amount of tension. These configurations, regulated by the actions of the
thyroarytenoids and the cricothyroids, determine the element of color commonly known as register. A
register can be defined as a series of tones that have similar vocal production. A pitch produced with
thick vocal folds will sound very different from the same pitch produced with thin vocal folds, even
when they are produced by the same singer.
www
Exercise 4–11. Video 4–11. Rubber Band Model B: Color of Pitch Due
to Thickness shows this exercise in action. Take a thin rubber band and
a thick rubber band and stretch them across a glass. Adjust them until
they make the same pitch when plucked. Notice the tone color difference
produced by the rubber bands. Even though they are vibrating at the
same rate, the thicker rubber band makes a more robust sound than the
thin rubber band.

There are three distinct register delineations in the voice. The terminology describing these regis-
ters varies but in this book we will use the following labels: modal voice, falsetto/flute, and glottal
fry. In modal voice, both the thyroarytenoids and the cricothyroids are active to some degree. In
falsetto/flute, only the cricothyroids are active. In glottal fry, the cricothyroids are completely inactive.
Within the modal voice and falsetto/flute, colors can be produced that, confusingly, are also
called registers. The modal voice can be divided into three registers. Again, there is variation in the
terminology, but in this book, we will use chest voice, mixed voice, and head voice.1 Falsetto/flute
also includes whistle tone. The actions of the thyroarytenoids and cricothyroids associated with these
registers and sub-registers are described in detail below.
Most singing takes place in the modal voice. Throughout this register, both the thyroarytenoid
and the cricothyroid muscles are active to some degree. These opposing muscles cooperate to change
the thickness and tension in the vocal folds. Therefore, there is always some degree of contraction in
both muscles. This is good tension, just enough to do the work of creating the pitch and color, not
enough to strain.
When the thyroarytenoids and cricothyroids are working in perfect dynamic equilibrium, one
releasing incrementally as the other engages incrementally, the modal voice can be considered one
unified register. However, many singers experience distinct registers within the modal voice. When the
action of the thyroarytenoids predominates, the vocal folds are thick, producing a register commonly
known as chest voice. Typically this register is associated with a low pitch range. When the action of the
cricothyroid muscles predominates, the vocal folds are stretched thin, producing a register commonly
known as head voice. Typically, this register is associated with a high pitch range.
Because the vocal folds are thickened in chest voice, we perceive the sound to be “heavy.” Because
the vocal folds are thinned in head voice, we perceive the sound to be “light.” Keep in mind that the
terms “heavy” and “light” are independent from “loud” and “soft.” Though tones produced with thick
vocal folds have a robust color, they may be soft if the breath pressure is low. Though tones produced
with thin vocal folds may be pure and clear, they may be loud if the breath pressure is high. “Heavy”
and “light” refer to registration and thus are independent from the terms “bright” and “dark.” These
terms refer to resonance and will be discussed further in Chapter 5.
Between chest voice and head voice, there is a part of the range where the contraction of the
thyroarytenoids and cricothyroids is more or less equal. Because this register combines the color
elements of chest voice and head voice, it is called mixed voice.
Throughout the modal voice we can produce the same pitch in multiple registers. We can carry
the thyroarytenoid-dominated production (chest voice) up in pitch or carry the cricothyroid-dominated
production (head voice) down. The higher you carry chest voice up, the more strident it becomes. The
farther you carry head voice down, the weaker it becomes. Any register carried to extremes makes
the transition into the next register more noticeable. In classical singing, a transition between registers
is called a passaggio. A transition area may also be called a break, especially if there is an abrupt
change between registers.
Falsetto/Flute and Glottal Fry. The discussion above concerns the various ways of producing the tone
within the modal register, where thyroarytenoid and the cricothyroid muscles are always engaged to
some degree. There are two registers in singing that are produced without the concurrent use of the
1
Other registration terminology includes Mode 1 and TA-dominated for chest voice and Mode 2 or CT-dominated for head
voice. Whistle Tone is sometimes called flageolet. Glottal fry is sometimes called Pulse Register or Vocal Fry.

thyroarytenoids and the cricothyroids. They are falsetto/flute (with the sub-register of whistle tone)
and glottal fry.
As we ascend in pitch, at a certain point, the action of the cricothyroids cannot produce higher
pitches as long as the thyroarytenoid muscles are providing a countering pull. The point in the range
where the thyroarytenoid muscles release completely is called falsetto in men and flute in women.
Only the vocal ligament and the surrounding membranes vibrate in this register. The vocal folds are
taut and thin and produce an ethereal quality. The pitch is adjusted within this register by the degree
of contraction of the cricothyroid muscles stretching the vocal ligament.
Within flute/falsetto, some singers have yet another register. When the cricothyroids have reached
their maximum contraction, the back of the vocal folds may be damped (kept from vibrating). This
effectively shortens the length of the vibrating edge, just as a violin string is shortened when a finger
presses it against the fingerboard. This can happen within the falsetto/flute register of both men and
women. However, not everyone can achieve it. This register is called whistle tone in women. For men
it sounds like a lighter register within falsetto and is often used by countertenors.
For a fun romp through all the singing registers of the female voice, listen to this recording
of Yma Sumac singing “Taita Inty” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcGJQInBmdQ). For a male
version of registration, watch Franco Fagioli singing “Vo solcando” from Artaserse Vinci. Within the
first few phrases you can hear him sing in his falsetto, modal voice and whistle registers. His whistle
register is most apparent in his final cadenza near the end of the video (https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=rXmF6h3Yd_A).
The lowest register is glottal fry, sometimes called the pulse register. This register is produced
when we disengage the cricothyroid completely. In a glottal fry, the vocal folds are thick and completely
released and the air that passes through them produces a rattling sound very different from other
phonation. Glottal fry is sometimes used in speech and in popular singing styles but is generally
avoided in solo classical singing. However, it can be very useful in choral situations for those low Cs
the basses can’t quite reach in modal voice.
Review: Vocal Registers
n Glottal fry: The cricothyroids are completely released.

n Modal voice: The cricothyroids and thyroarytenoids are engaged concurrently. There are
three possible delineations within this register.
n Chest voice: The action of the thyroarytenoid muscles predominates. The vocal folds
are short and thick. The tone is robust/heavy.
n Mixed voice: Both the thyroarytenoid and cricothyroid muscles are active, engaging
and releasing in dynamic equilibrium. The tone is balanced.
n Head voice: The action of the cricothyroid muscles predominates. Vocal folds are long
and thin. The tone is pure/light.

n Falsetto/flute: The thyroarytenoids are completely released. The pitch is determined solely
by the contraction of the cricothyroids. The vibrating edges of the vocal folds are at their
thinnest, producing an ethereal quality.
n Whistle Tone occurs within Falsetto/Flute: The thyroarytenoids are completely released
and the cricothyroids are fully engaged. Pitch is determined by damping the back of
the vocal folds, shortening their vibrating length.
Some singers dislike the word “register,” because it imposes distinct labels on what is essentially
a fluid process. Other singers find register terminology useful because it gives a name to the different
sensations they experience throughout the range. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what you call these differ-
ences in color as long as you can use them for artistic purposes. If you want a heavy or lusty sound,
you will engage your thyroarytenoids more. If you want a pure or ethereal sound, you will engage
your cricothyroids more. In classical singing, blending the actions of these two muscle pairs seamlessly
in dynamic equilibrium is of paramount importance. In styles like blues and folk, the cricothyroid is
less engaged because the singing range is generally lower. In jazz, pop, and country singing, more
extreme differences in timbre may actually be cultivated. Those who yodel, for example, must be able
to switch from one register to another in an instant, and the juxtaposition of timbres is part of the
charm of their art.
Onset and Offset
The way a singer initiates the pitch (the onset) and releases the pitch (the offset) is an important
expressive tool. There are three types of possible onsets and offsets: coordinated/balanced, glottal/
hard, and aspirate/soft. Within these basic types, variation is a matter of degree. A glottal may either
be gentle or forceful, for instance.
In a coordinated onset, the air flowing from the lungs meets the glottis just as it is closing setting
the vocal folds into vibration immediately. During a glottal onset, vibration is delayed momentarily
because the folds are already closed when the air flow reaches them. It takes a moment for the air
pressure beneath the glottis to set the vocal folds into vibration. When they do start vibrating, there is
an audible “click” in the sound. In an aspirate onset, the phonation is also delayed momentarily. In this
type of onset, the air flow reaches the glottis before it closes. Air escapes before the vocal folds come
into vibration, sounding like an [h].
In a coordinated offset, the vocal folds separate just as the air ceases to flow from the lungs. In a
glottal offset, the vocal folds close tightly to damp vibration before the air has stopped flowing from
the lungs, making an abrupt end to the sound, rather like the grunt we make when lifting something
heavy. In an aspirate offset, the vocal folds separate while air continues to flow from the lungs, sounding
like a final [h] or a sigh.
Though the balanced onset is the most standard and healthy, all of these onsets may be useful.
In some languages, such as German, the glottal onset is often required. Glottals may also be used in
moments of anger or fear. An aspirate onset may be required for an [h] sound or to denote a sigh.

Exercise 4–12. To practice the different types of onset and offset, try this.
www
Video 4–12. Onsets and Offsets shows this exercise in action.
n Aspirate: Exhale while closing your glottis slightly, making an

[h]. Now repeat this movement but allow your vocal folds to close
and produce a tone after the airflow has started. This is an aspi-
rate onset. Next, sing a tone and stop the vibration of your vocal
folds while continuing to allow breath to flow from the lungs to
make an [h]. This is an aspirate offset.
n Glottal: To achieve a glottal onset, prepare to cough lightly
without actually coughing. Or grunt as if you are lifting a some-
what heavy object (not too heavy!). Your glottis will close. Then
initiate the air and sing a vowel. You will feel a noticeable tug or
click as the vibration starts. This is a glottal onset. For a glottal
offset, sing a vowel and cut off the tone with a grunt, as if lifting
the heavy object again. Be careful with this movement, using
only enough force to stop the vibration that makes sound.
n Balanced: Finally, practice repeated balanced onsets and
offsets, closing the vocal folds just as the air reaches them for the
onset and opening the folds just as the breath stops flowing for
the offset. Sometimes it is easier to start work on balanced onsets
using a voiced consonant like [n], [m], or [ l ]. When the onset
of those consonants feels effortless and balanced, try different
vowels.
If an exercise with text is easier for you, say the following phrase: “Uncle
Eddie eats eggs.” Practice this phrase with hard or glottal onsets, with
aspirate onsets (“Huncle Heddie heats heggs”), and with balanced onsets.
Summary of Types of Onsets and Offsets
Onsets
n Coordinated/Balanced: airflow begins as glottis closes.
n Aspirate/Soft: airflow begins before glottis closes.
n Glottal/Hard: glottis closes before airflow begins.
Offsets
n Coordinated/Balanced: airflow stops as glottis opens.
n Aspirate/Soft: airflow continues after glottis opens.
n Glottal/Hard: glottis closes, stopping the airflow.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
How Do the Vocal Folds Come Into Vibration?

The interaction of the vocal folds with the breath flowing from the lungs causes the vibrations of phona-
tion. When the vocal folds are adducted (closed) by the intrinsic muscles, breath pressure builds up
beneath the glottis. This is called subglottic pressure. When the pressure is high enough to overcome
the closing action of the vocal folds, it pushes them apart and a puff of breath escapes. The vocal folds
come back together because of (1) elastic recoil, (2) aerodynamics, and (3) inertia.
First, we will consider the contribution of elastic recoil. The vocal folds are made of ligaments,
membranes, and muscle, all of which are elastic. During phonation, the glottis closes and the intrinsic
laryngeal muscles engage to create the desired pitch. As soon as a puff of air escapes, subglottic pres-
sure subsides and the muscles, ligaments, and membranes snap back to their closed position. Subglottic
pressure builds up again and the cycle repeats: about 261 times per second at middle C.
Aerodynamics also play a role in vocal fold vibration. In 1738, Daniel Bernoulli published a theory
about fluid dynamics. As it applies to the vocal instrument, the Bernoulli principle recognizes the
tendency of gases and liquids to flow faster through narrow spaces. For instance, when you are river
rafting, you notice that the “rapids” are always in a narrow part of the river. The same amount of water
must flow through the constriction (where the river banks are close together) as it does through the
broad part of the river above and below. Therefore, it flows faster. Water pressure builds in the broad
part of the river and drops in the rapids.
Air, which is a gas, behaves in the same manner in the larynx as water does in a river. As
you can see in Figure 4–19, the trachea and the laryngeal cavity are wider than the closed glottis.
When the breath flow meets this constriction, it slows down and subglottic pressure builds. As the
pressure pushes the vocal folds open, air molecules speed through the narrow glottis and the pressure
drops. The low pressure in that space draws the flexible epithelium membrane and lamina propria
surrounding the vocal folds toward the center in a rippling pattern. This phenomenon is referred to
as the mucosal wave.
Inertia may also be an important factor in vocal fold vibration. Inertia can be defined as the
tendency of matter, such as air, to continue doing what it has been doing. Here is how that might func-
tion in the larynx. Subglottic pressure builds beneath the closed glottis until it is high enough to push
the vocal folds apart. Air speeds through the opening, the pressure drops, and the folds close because
of elasticity and the Bernoulli effect. As the air reaches the top of the vocal folds, it encounters a wider
space. You would expect the air to slow down and pressure to increase. However, because of inertia,
the air continues to move quickly. This creates an area of low pressure above the vocal folds that helps
draw the top of the glottis closed.
To see an animation of the vocal folds in vibration, watch Process of Phonation Small on Vimeo
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aoa_N1vQS4M). Vocal fold vibration – slow motion (http://www
.youtube.com/watch?v=Drns_eV9wWg) shows actual vocal folds in phonation filmed with a high speed
digital camera so that you can see the mucosal wave. As you can see from these videos, the vocal folds
do not need to be closed tightly in order to vibrate. The vocalis muscles respond to the breath flow
with elasticity. The flexible membranes covering the vocal folds are drawn into a mucosal wave due to
Bernoulli’s principle. This combination of air flow and vibration is sometimes called flow phonation.

www
Exercise 4–13. Video 4–13. The Bernoulli Effect shows this exercise in
action. To demonstrate the effect of the Bernoulli principle on the vocal
folds, you can use two sheets of paper. Make an [u] shape with your lips.
Take two sheets of paper and, aligning them so that they are parallel and
perpendicular to the floor, press a sheet to each side of your mouth. Blow
fairly forcefully between the two sheets of paper. They will not blow apart
as you might expect but will instead be drawn together into vibration.
For several other demonstrations of Bernoulli’s principle, watch Physics Project “Bernoulli’s Principle”
by Amy McBeth (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuAUJPUupfE).
What Causes a Breathy Sound?
Resonance and phonation can both contribute to a breathy sound. For the ways resonance contributes
to breathiness, see Chapter 5. The larynx will produce a breathy tone when the vocal folds are either
closed too loosely or the space between the arytenoids remains open. Usually when a breathy quality
is deliberately cultivated, the first is true. The second condition is often prevalent in adolescence, and
most singers grow out of it as they mature. Learning to close the glottis with gentle firmness may take
time and practice if it does not happen naturally. It is vital that singers do not recruit neck muscles or
excessive tension in the vocal folds themselves to close the glottis. Such practices do not help and can
often lead to injury. To find appropriate glottal closure, it is helpful to relate the larynx to the body in
active balance. For instance, gentle lunges that explore springiness in the hip joints and that increase
tonus in the abdominals may assist in proper adduction.
www
Exercise 4–14. Video 4–14. Degrees of Adduction shows this exercise in
action. To experiment with different degrees of closure, try this.
n Without singing, sustain a glottal [h]. Notice the sensation as your

vocal folds come close together without touching. Try phonating
with that lax adduction.
n Now go to the opposite extreme and grunt as if lifting something
heavy. Notice the sensation as your vocal folds close forcefully.
You will probably notice other muscles engaging, especially your
abdominal muscles and neck muscles. Try phonating briefly
with that tight adduction.
Neither of these extremes is desirable for singing! The first will lead to an
extremely breathy tone. The second will lead to an extremely tight tone
and can cause damage to the vocal folds. Keep experimenting gently

with the degree of glottal closure until you have an adequate, accurate
map of the movement involved. Remember, this does not mean you need
to sense the movement in the muscles that close the glottis. That is impos-
sible. However, you may begin to regulate differences in degree of effort
consciously.
What Causes a Strident Sound?
Like breathiness, a strident sound can be the result of resonance. When it is caused in the larynx, it
is usually because the voice is produced too heavily. This often happens when we carry chest voice
up into the range where use of mixed voice or head voice would be more appropriate. As we do this,
the muscles of vocal folds keep increasing their tension in order to raise the pitch and the sound gets
increasingly harsh as we sing higher. Head voice might seem weaker at first, but it gets stronger as you
use it and it is important to be able to sing in head voice for most styles.
www
Exercise 4–15. For a recording of this exercise, listen to Audio 4–15.
Finding Head Voice. Some singers have difficulty engaging their cricothy-
roid muscles and discovering the lighter register within the modal voice
commonly called head voice.
n To experiment with your high voice, try making non-singing

sounds like whoops and sirens. Start low in your range and
swoop high. Start high in your range and swoop low. If you can
make a sound in falsetto (men) or flute (women) you can start
there and glide down into your modal voice.
n When you are first experimenting, don’t worry if one part of your
voice feels much stronger than another or if there are notice-
able transitions between different parts of your voice. These
will smooth out with practice. As you whoop, scoop, and glide,
notice the balance of your head. If it starts tilting back as you
swoop higher, you are making it harder for the cricothyroids to
do their job.
Keep experimenting with different levels of breath pressure and different

vowels. Some singers find head voice more easily on a lip trill, tongue trill,
or an “ng” sound. You can also try making your tone slightly breathy. If
your head continues to come out of balance, or your larynx rises with
the pitch, come back to this exercise after you have read Chapter 5. Don’t
give up! Everyone can learn to sing in head voice.

What Causes a Tight Sound?
When a sound is tight, it is usually because the laryngeal muscles are working too hard to close the
glottis. Remember, the closure should be gentle, not pressed. If you feel your sound is too tight, experi-
ment with the degree of glottal closure as described in the box about breathiness above. A tight sound
can also result from excess tension in the neck or throat.
What Does the Larynx Have to Do With Dynamics?
Loudness and softness are regulated by the speed of the breath flow and the reaction of the vocal folds to
that flow. When we wish to sing softly, we release breath slowly, creating minimal air pressure beneath
the glottis. When we wish to sing loudly, we release breath quickly, creating high pressure beneath the
glottis. The intrinsic laryngeal muscles react to the resulting difference in air pressure, subtly adjusting
tension and the degree of closure of the vocal folds. Unfortunately, some singers try to control dynamics
with the neck and throat muscles, straining to sing louder and constricting to sing softer. It is healthier
and more effective to use the rate of breath flow to regulate dynamics.
How Can I Fix My Intonation?
There are degrees of problems with intonation. People who are “tone deaf” can’t tell if the pitch they
are making is accurate or not. That is, the brain does not translate accurately between the pitch they
desire to hear and the number of vibrations needed to make that pitch. Discussion of this condition is
beyond the scope of this book.
Then there are people who have a “bad ear”; that is, they sing pitches that are close to the desired
pitch but are often flat or sharp. This is not uncommon in beginning singers and improves as they
perfect their understanding of the harmonic function of the pitches they are singing.
Even singers with “good ears” sometimes sing out of tune. The way we produce the sound dramati-
cally affects the overtones of the sound. This can make a pitch sound sharp or flat, even when the actual
rate of vibration is correct. Here are some things to consider when experimenting with intonation:
n It is easier to stay in tune when we sing within a narrow range. The wider the range of the
phrase, the more difficult excellent intonation becomes. Shifting back and forth between
heavy and light registers will often make a singer sound out of tune because different
harmonics are emphasized in different registers.
n Registration has another effect on intonation: If heavy production is brought high into the
range, the muscles become increasingly strained. It is likely that the singer will sing flat
because of the effort involved in sustaining that rate of contraction. If light registration is
brought low into the range, sometimes singers sing sharp.
n Singers who are used to singing with a certain registration in a part of their range may
go sharp or flat when they try to sing in a different register until the mechanism and ear
adjust to the new color.
n Resonance also plays a part in intonation. For further details, see Chapter 5.

What Causes Vibrato and How Can I Control It?
Vibrato is an important style element in vocal music. In classical singing, it is constant in most music.
However, in Renaissance and Baroque music it may be used as an ornament and in contemporary music
using extended techniques, it is just one of many vocal colors. In styles based on spoken sounds, like
folk or country music, the vibrato may be unobtrusive, but it is rarely completely absent. Vibrato can
be used as a color choice in jazz. In Broadway styles, it is frequently delayed, allowed only at the end
of long notes.
Vibrato is an oscillation of frequency, amplitude, and timbre in a musical tone. If you listen to
old opera recordings, you can hear vibrato rates as fast as 7 cycles per second. The currently accepted
standard vibrato rate ranges from 4.5 to 6.5 cycles per second. The currently accepted extent (pitch
variation) is up to 100 cents, or one quarter tone above and below the intended pitch.
It would be nice if the source of vibrato was as well understood as its definition. Unfortunately,
despite extensive research, the exact cause of vibrato is unknown. Since the cricothyroid is active in
all phonation except in the glottal fry, where there is no vibrato, it is logical to assume that the activity
of that muscle contributes to vibrato. It may be that the extended work of that muscle triggers the
body’s natural physiological tremor rate. You might experience your body’s physiological tremor rate
when your muscles start shaking while holding the same position for an extended time. If this tremor
happens in the big muscles of the body, imagine how quickly it happens in the delicate laryngeal
muscles. Other contributing factors in creating vibrato may be the way the intrinsic muscles work
in simultaneous contraction and the way they react to subglottic pressure. It is generally accepted
that when the intrinsic muscles are appropriately engaged in response to subglottic pressure, vibrato
happens naturally.
Almost nothing makes a singer more self-conscious than comments about vibrato. We feel power-
less to correct it when we think it is too fast, too slow, too wide, or inconsistent. There is a daunting
list of things that can cause trouble with vibrato. The short list includes (1) too much vocal effort, (2)
uneven breath pressure, (3) lack of coordination in register transitions, (4) inefficient resonance, (5)
insufficient tonus in the extrinsic laryngeal muscles, and (6) too much or too little engagement of the
intrinsic laryngeal muscles.
To sing with effortless and natural vibrato, singers put phonation in the context of the whole body.
When the body feels springy and responsive, the breath will be regulated appropriately and dynamic
equilibrium in both the intrinsic and extrinsic laryngeal muscles is likely to be achieved. Under these
conditions, a vibrant tone occurs naturally.
If you are trying to cultivate optimal vibrato, one way to start is to notice when it occurs naturally
in your singing. This might be on a particularly resonant pitch-vowel combination, or at the very end of
a long, sustained tone. Once you sense the conditions where it naturally occurs, you can start creating
those conditions in every part of your voice.
There are varying opinions about how to suppress vibrato without tension. This so-called “straight-
tone” singing is necessary in many styles. Experimenting with the degree of glottal closure and breath
pressure will often bring about the desired sound. Vowel modification, discussed in Chapter 5, may
also help. Those interested in further reading on the possible causes of vibrato and how to control it
may consult the thorough article in the Journal of Singing by John Nix listed in the reference section
at the end of this chapter.

What Are Nodules and How Can I Prevent Them?
The vocal folds are remarkably resilient. We can cheer loudly at a soccer game one day and be ready to
sing a few days later. However, extended abuse, especially if it is part of a singer’s technique, is likely
to produce injury. One kind of vocal injury is the development of vocal nodules. Nodules are calluses
on the epithelium membrane covering the vocal folds that disrupt the vibration of certain pitches. They
are usually treated with vocal therapy and retraining technique.
A more serious injury is vocal hemorrhage, a rupture in a blood vessel in the vocal fold. Singing
when vocally exhausted or hoarse, especially if the technique tends toward heaviness, can bring about
a hemorrhage. A vocal hemorrhage may also be caused by very forceful coughing, especially if the
vocal folds are already swollen. Some pain relievers, like aspirin, may increase the risk of hemorrhage
because they widen the blood vessels to increase blood flow. A hemorrhage is a very serious injury
and a singer who experiences it may never regain full function.
Singers must take great care of themselves and their vocal folds. If you are frequently hoarse after
singing, this is an indicator that your phonation is not in balance. Stay hydrated and avoid singing when
tired or stressed. Talking over loud background noise, especially in a smoky environment, may also
cause damage. Pushing beyond what feels natural can lead to serious, even career-ending conditions.
The only way to avoid injury is to pay attention to your larynx in the context of your whole body. If
you suspect you might be suffering from a vocal injury, you should stop singing and see a voice care
professional immediately.
What Is the Difference Between Vocal Folds and Vocal Cords?
Among voice scientists, the term vocal cord has fallen out of favor and has been replaced by vocal fold.
Since the vibrating bodies in the larynx are actually folds of tissue, this term is more accurate. The term
vocal cord is confusing because it can refer to the whole structure, to the vocalis muscle alone, or to
the vocal ligament. Should you decide to adhere to the term vocal cord, make sure you are thinking of
a cord (like a thick string), not a chord of several pitches!
Can Raising My Eyebrows or Rising Up on

My Toes Help Me Sing High Notes?
Pitch results from the speed of vibration of the vocal folds. It is hard to imagine a physical connection
between faster frequency and raising your eyebrows or coming up on your toes. Yet these tactics do
seem to have a psychological benefit for some people. As you gain more finesse in your phonation,
you will be able to rely on the intrinsic laryngeal muscles to refine intonation so that your feet and
facial muscles can do the work of communication and characterization.

CONCLUSION
We can’t sense the muscles of the larynx directly, but we can guide them with amazing sophistication.
For some, a subconscious map of the larynx is sufficient. Others will benefit from conscious refinement
of their laryngeal map. However, no laryngeal map will lead to artistic phonation unless the body is
springy and balanced.
There are many more aspects of singing determined by the actions of the larynx than most singers
realize. The creation of the pitch is only the most obvious. The larynx is also responsible, at least
partially, for choices in dynamics, register choices, choices concerning vibrato, and choices of onset
and offset. All of these movement choices affect style and characterization and contribute to highly
artistic singing in any genre.
RESOURCES
YouTube Videos
3dmedicalillustrations. Vocal cords adductor and abductor muscles:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXZZpMwPeJ4
Anatomy Zone. Larynx — Cartilages — 3D Anatomy Tutorial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3S2dD9BrSY
Bethea Medical Media. How the Larynx Produces Sound:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b89RSYCaUBo
Canault, Mélanie and Oliver Castello, Institute of Rehabilitation Science and Technology, 2010. Vibration
of the Vocal Folds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfkFTw3sBXQ
Cords. Hear us and have mercy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=km5ZccQsqE4
Franco Fagioli. “Vo solcando un mar crudele” from Artaserse Vinci:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXmF6h3Yd_A
McBeth, Amy. Physics Project “Bernoulli’s Principle”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuAUJPUupfE
Process of Phonation Small on Vimeo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aoa_N1vQS4M
Vocal fold vibration — slow motion. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Drns_eV9wWg
Yma Sumac. “Taita Inty”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcGJQInBmdQ
Books and Articles

McCoy, S. (2004). Your voice: An inside view. Gahanna, OH: Inside View Press.
Nix, J. (2014). Shaken not stirred: Practical ideas for addressing vibrato and non-vibrato singing in the
studio and the choral rehearsal. Journal of Singing, 70(4), 411–418.
Titze, I., Story, B., Smith, M., & Long, R. (2002). A reflex resonance model of vocal vibrato. Journal of
the Acoustical Society of America, 111(5), 2272–2282.

Websites
Healthline Body Maps. Neck Anatomy: https://www.healthline.com/human-body-maps/neck#1

Sinav, Ahmet, M.D. Interactive Atlas of the Larynx:
https://www1.columbia.edu/sec/itc/hs/medical/anatomy_resources/anatomy/larynx/

5
Resonating the Voice
Melissa Malde
THE BIG PICTURE
In this age of voice science, we have sophisticated tools to evaluate, measure, and categorize resonance.
There are many resources that provide voice visualization software and instructions on how to use it.
These tools are wonderful additions to teaching studios and voice research labs. This chapter is going
to provide a different tool: defining the movements that affect resonance and providing exercises to
increase resonance-related awareness.
Resonance is integral to vocal music in a way that is different from instrumental music. A jazz
pianist will play very different notes and rhythms than a classical or rock pianist and use different
articulation to affect the tone. However, the color of the instrument is similar in all styles. A piano
sounds like a piano. This is because the piano has a fixed shape and thus a consistent resonance. The
same is true of most other instruments. In contrast, the resonator of the voice, the vocal tract, changes
shape with every combination of vowel and pitch. Each shape causes a different color. As you know if
you listen to Bobby McFerrin, the voice may emulate the sound of a trumpet, an oboe, a drum, and a
string bass. It can also make the sounds of a jazz singer, an opera singer, or a rock singer.
There are an infinite number of movement combinations that affect the shape of the vocal tract and
thus vocal resonance. Singers of different styles all have the same basic anatomical structure, but they
make very different movements. Tiny adjustments of the tongue, lips, jaw, soft palate, and larynx can
have a dramatic impact on our sound. As singers, we are looking for efficient, tension-free resonance
that enhances the style of music we are singing and makes an emotional impact on our audience.
Some of the structures of resonance can be explored by using the tactile sense, the sense of touch.
However, many of the structures discussed in this chapter are so deep inside the head and neck that they
can only be sensed using kinesthesia, the sense of movement. The key to success in resonance, as in any
aspect of singing, is inclusive awareness. Both attention to detail and awareness of the whole are essential.
You already have quite a bit of kinesthetic awareness of your vocal tract, whether it is conscious or
not. You know what yawning and swallowing feel like, for instance. Many of the structures involved in
those actions are also used in vocal resonance. As you awaken the sensory receptors in the vocal tract
and add layers of awareness, your resonance will become more finely tuned, flexible, and expressive.
165

THE ESSENTIALS
What is resonance? To find out, let’s play with a rubber band and a glass. If you stretch a rubber band
and pluck it, it makes a very soft sound. Stretch the same rubber band across a glass and pluck it again
and the sound will be louder and richer. This is because the sound wave generated by plucking the
rubber band is enhanced or resonated by the chamber of air in the glass. Stretching the rubber band
across a glass of a different size or shape will give you a different tone color, even if the rubber band is
tuned to the same pitch.
In singing, the sound is generated by the vocal folds and resonated in the chamber of air defined
by the vocal tract, shown in solid light gray in Figure 5–1. This drawing shows the vocal tract at rest.
Figure 5–1. The vocal tract. By Benjamin Conable. Copyright 2001. Used
with permission.

5. RESONATING THE VOICE 167
As we sing, the vocal tract is in constant motion, changing the shape of the resonating chamber.
Singers make changes in resonance by changing their movement. This can be consciously directed or
a subconscious response to a conceived sound.
To see examples of the variety in the movement in the vocal tract during singing, watch The Diva
and the Emcee (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2OdAp7MJAI). This video shows an operatic
soprano and a beat-boxer filmed with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to show the movements of
the soft tissues in the mouth and throat.
Nine Structures That Affect Resonance
Movement of these nine structures affects the shape of your resonator:
n The skull (head),

n the pharyngeal constrictors (throat muscles),
n the mandible (jaw),
n the tongue,
n the velum (soft palate),
n the buccinators (inner cheek muscles),
n the orbicularis oris muscles (lips),
n the larynx, and
n the aryepiglottic sphincter (opening of the larynx into the throat).
The Vocal Tract at Rest
When the vocal tract is at rest, the head is balanced at the atlanto-occipital joint in an easy relationship
with the neck. The muscles of the throat are neither stretched nor tensed, but nestle easily against the
vertebrae of the neck. The soft palate is suspended in such a way that air may move freely through the
nose or mouth. The jaw is slightly open so that there is a small space between the upper and lower
teeth. The tongue lies in the cradle of the jaw, touching the bottom teeth all the way around. The lips
can be either closed or slightly open to allow air through the mouth. If closed, they are not pressed
together. The cheeks are free and long. The larynx is midway between its highest and lowest point.
The epiglottis is up, and the glottis is open to allow air to pass through for breathing.
The Vocal Tract in Motion
Some movements are essential to all styles of good singing. The head is free to move but remains in a
balanced relationship with the neck. The throat muscles are released. The jaw moves easily for articula-
tion. The tongue is free to form vowels and consonants.
Other movements are specific to individual styles. A classical singer keeps the lips released and
forward and the cheeks long and free. A classical singer may also have more variation in the opening

of the mouth than singers of other styles. The larynx is lower and the soft palate higher in classical
singing than in most other styles. These choices result in vowels that are modified away from spoken
vowels and intense resonance that carries without external amplification.
What movement choices do non-classical singers make? They might choose a wider lateral opening
of the mouth, allowing the cheeks to pull the lips back. This is especially true in belting but is used
in most other popular singing styles as well. In these styles, the movements of the larynx, soft palate,
and jaw will often be closer to those of speech. Jazz singers use a wide array of colors resulting from
a wide variety of movements. Even when external amplification is used to boost the sound, resonance
is important in popular styles because it is essential to vocal color.
The moveable structures of the vocal tract respond instinctively to our idea of the sound we want to
create. For some singers, this is effortless and effective. Their bodies know instinctively how to interpret
resonance instructions (Brighter! Deeper! More forward! Rounder!). Other singers employ more work
than necessary and have ideas about the vocal tract that interfere with the sound they want to make.
Having an adequate and accurate awareness of your vocal tract in motion will help your resonance
be more consistent. You may already have a lively kinesthetic sense of resonance in your singing, in
which case the following discussion will confirm what you have already mapped. On the other hand,
much of this information may be new to you. Take time to thoroughly embody any new discovery and
revel in the color palette1 available in your voice.
THE DETAILS
The Balance of the Head and Spine

The head must be in balance at the atlanto-occipital joint for all other parts of the body, including
the structures of resonance, to function freely. However, keeping the head in balance does not mean
keeping it immobile. Good, free singing is full of tiny adjustments in the relationship of the head to the
spine. Some of these movements are gestural, involving the large strap muscles you see in Figure 5–2.
Others are micromovements, involving the smaller, deeper muscles of the neck. Since the back of the
throat conforms to the curve of the cervical spine, as you can see in Figure 5–1 above, moving the
head indirectly affects the shape of the throat, and thus the resonance.
The balance of the head also affects the height of the larynx. If the back of the head pulls down
relative to the neck, jutting or raising the chin, the larynx will be pulled up through its connection to
the hyoid bone. Conversely, if the chin is pressed down onto the neck, it pushes down and back on
the larynx. Small movements of the head can affect the ability of the intrinsic laryngeal muscles
to function freely and the ability of the extrinsic laryngeal muscles to regulate the height of the larynx,
an important part of resonance.
1
Note that the words palate, palette, and pallet are frequently confused. Palate refers to the roof of the mouth. Palette refers
to a range of colors. A pallet is a straw mattress or a portable platform.

Figure 5–2. The head in balance. From The Body Moveable

(4th ed., p. 178), by D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Canada:
This does not mean that the body always has to be upright. Our springy and elastic bodies can
sing effectively in many attitudes, including lying on the floor, hanging upside down, and lunging
forward, to name just a few. However, to have optimal resonance and laryngeal function, the balance
of the head and neck must be maintained in every attitude.

www
Exercise 5–1. Video 5–1. The Effect of Head Balance on Resonance
shows this exercise in action. To explore the vital role that the balance of
the head plays in resonance, try this. In Exercise 4–3, you made these same
movements. However, in addition to noticing the effect of head balance
on the larynx, now you will pay attention to its effect on resonance.
n Bring your head into balance and sustain a single vowel on a

single pitch in a comfortable range.
n As you sustain the pitch and vowel, gently change the relation-
ship of your head to your neck, returning to balance as soon as
you sense any strain. First raise and then lower your chin. Now,
jut your head forward. Then pull your head back.
Notice the effect of each movement on your resonance. Where do you

feel the vibration of the sound wave? Repeat on several different vowels
and pitches.
The Pharynx and Pharyngeal Constrictors
The term pharynx can be confusing because it can refer both to the space of the throat and to the
muscles that surround and define that space. In this book, the space is called the pharynx and the
muscles are called the pharyngeal constrictors. Some people have the throat incorrectly mapped as a
tube. Actually, the pharynx is open in front; a horizontal cross section of the pharyngeal constrictors
looks somewhat like a wide horseshoe. Figure 5–3 shows the vocal tract from the back. The drawing
shows the pharyngeal constrictors on the left side. On the right side, they have been cut away to show
the structures of the vocal tract in front of them. This drawing starts directly in front of the spine.

Superior Nasal Cavity

Pharyngeal
Constrictor
Jaw
Middle
Pharyngeal Tongue
Constrictor
Inferior
Pharyngeal
Constrictor
Larynx
Esophagus
Figure 5–3. The vocal tract viewed from the back. From The Body Moveable (4th ed.,
p. 215), by D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press. Copyright 2002.
At the back of the pharynx, the three pharyngeal constrictors nestle against the front of the spine.
Because of their connection to the vertebrae of the neck, the shape of the pharyngeal constrictors
depends in part on the curve of the cervical spine, which in turn depends on the balance of the head.
Many people think that the pharynx starts behind or below the mouth. In fact, the back of the supe-
rior (top) pharyngeal constrictor is connected to the base of the skull behind the nasal cavities, just in
front of the atlanto-occipital joint. Its fibers converge to connect to the buccinators (inner cheek
muscles). The middle pharyngeal constrictor is just below, roughly at the level of the bottom of the jaw.

Its fibers converge to connect to the sides of the hyoid bone at the base of the tongue. The fibers of
the inferior (lower) pharyngeal constrictor converge to connect to the sides of the cricoid and thyroid
cartilages. The fibers of the inferior pharyngeal constrictor are continuous with the esophagus (food
tube). At the back, along the spine, each section of the pharynx nests in the one below. Figure 5–4
shows how the pharyngeal constrictors connect to other structures in the vocal tract. The jaw has been
cut away to reveal the top two constrictors. Neither the spine nor the buccinator is shown. If pictured,
the spine would be directly against the back of the pharyngeal constrictors and the buccinator would
hide the teeth.
Figure 5–4. The pharyngeal constrictors viewed from the right side. From
The Body Moveable (4th ed., p. 214), by D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Can-
The survival function of the pharyngeal constrictors is to assist during swallowing and regurgita-
tion. When we swallow, the pharyngeal constrictors engage in sequence from top to bottom to push
food or liquid down into the digestive tract. When we throw up, they engage in reverse order. Next

time you drink a glass of water, notice the work of the pharyngeal constrictors and think about how
incompatible this action is with singing.
The job of the pharyngeal muscles in singing is simple: to stay out of the way. So often we are told
to sing with an “open throat.” To achieve an open throat, the pharyngeal constrictors must release. It is
impossible to open the throat with muscular effort in the pharyngeal constrictors themselves. Muscles
contract when they work. Therefore, work in the pharyngeal muscles can only narrow the throat, hence
the name “constrictors.”
Some singers think that tensing the sides of the vocal tract will result in more volume because
sound waves reflect well off of hard surfaces. This is not desirable in singing, since the function of the
resonator is to organize the buzzy sound created by the larynx, amplifying some parts of the sound
wave and damping (filtering out) others. Without this filtering function, our resonance would simply
amplify the buzz created by the vocal folds. Remember, the resonator is the chamber of air, not the
surfaces of the vocal tract. Efficient resonance creates an organized sound wave that carries through
the air at any volume level.
The Mandible and Temporomandibular Joints
Mandibular Structure
The mandible (jaw) is formed by a single bone that is open in the back as you can see in Figure 5–5.
The mandible is horseshoe-shaped when looked at from above or below. It is taller at the back than at
the front. At the top of the back, there is a rounded condyle on each side. The coronoid processes are
Figure 5–5. The

mandible. From The
Body Moveable
(4th d., p. 186), by
D. Gorman. Guelph,
Ontario, Canada:
Ampersand Press.
Copyright 2002.
Reprinted with
permission.

on the side of the mandible between the condyles and the molars. Some people think the bone of the
mandible extends under the tongue. They discover wonderful freedom of movement when they learn
the tongue rests on muscle rather than bone.
The upper teeth are embedded in the lower part of the skull. The lower teeth are embedded in the
mandible. Some people think they have “jaws”; that is, that the mouth opens both up and down, like
the two shells of a clam. If this seems right to you, study Figures 5–5 and 5–6 until you have mapped
the mandible as a single bone, an appendage to the skull.
Figure 5–6. The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) in context. From The Body
Moveable (4th ed., p. 152), by D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Canada:

The condyles connect the mandible to the rest of the skull with joints called the temporoman-
dibular joints or TMJs. These joints are just below the back of the cheekbone directly in front of the
ear hole.
www
Exercise 5–2. Video 5–2. Mapping the Mandible and TMJ shows this
exercise in action. To explore the structure of the jawbone, simply touch
it with your fingers. Start in the middle of the chin and work outward.
In your exploration, notice where there is no bone: directly under the
tongue. Notice that there is a corner at the back on each side of the neck.
Turn that corner and travel upward with your fingers to find the slight
depression about half an inch in front of the ear holes. This is the joint
where the jaw connects to the skull, the temporomandibular joint, or TMJ.
If you aren’t sure about its location, try this. Find your cheekbone and
trace it back to your ear. Place two fingers on the back of your cheekbone
near the ear and your thumb on the corner of your jaw. Wiggle your
jaw from side to side and notice how your thumb moves with your jaw
while your finger stays in one place. While wiggling your jaw, move one
of your fingers down until it is just below the cheekbone. You will feel
the movement of the jaw when your lower finger finds the TMJ. Conclude
your exploration by palpating the lower teeth through the lower lip and
the cheek.
Figure 5–7 shows the TMJ in cross section from the right side during a complete cycle of opening
and closing the mandible. When we open the mouth, the chin moves back and down as the condyles
rotate slightly forward in the TMJs.

Figure 5–7. The movement at the right temporomandibular joint. From The Body
Moveable (4th ed., p. 195), by D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand

Misusing the TMJ puts stress on the cartilage, sometimes resulting in the painful condition known
as TMJ syndrome or dysfunction. TMJ dysfunction may also be caused by structural anomalies or
injury. If you have any clicking, pain, or physical restriction in your TMJs, it is best to consult a medical
practitioner. To see an animation of the movement of the mandible in relation to the skull, watch
TMJ — Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction by Advancedortho (https://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=P0TqzSFqQfc). It shows healthy movement followed by various forms and stages of TMJ problems.
Many people have mis-mapped the location of the TMJs. Some people have them mapped at the
lower back corner of the mandible, some at the coronoid processes just under the cheekbone in front,
and some at the bony processes just behind the ear. Any of these mis-mappings will cause unnatural,
possibly injurious, movement.
www
Exercise 5–3. Video 5–3. Common Mis-Mappings of the TMJ show this
exercise in action. If you are still unsure about the location of the TMJ,
try on some of the mis-mappings described above. Open your jaw as if the
joints were at the back corner. Now open it as if the joints were behind
your ears. Now open it as if the joints were right below your cheekbones.
If any of those feel familiar, keep working until the actual location of
your TMJs is utterly clear.
Mandible Movement
At rest, the mouth is slightly open. Even when the lips are closed, there is a little vertical space between
the upper and lower teeth. There are several muscles that move the mandible from the resting position.
The masseter and the temporalis muscles attach to the mandible from above and pull it up when they
contract. The digastric muscles attach to the mandible from below and swing it back and down when
they contract.
Figures 5–8 and 5–9 show the primary muscles that close the mouth. The masseter muscles origi-
nate on the underside of the cheekbones and insert into the sides of the mandible along the back. The
temporalis muscles originate in a fan shape from the sides of the skull above the ears, run obliquely
to the inside of the cheekbones to insert into the coronoid processes. When temporalis and masseter
muscles are engaged, they bring the teeth together for chewing and biting. In singing, except for the
formation of a few consonants, they are released. In Figure 5–9 the cheekbone has been cut to show
how the temporalis muscle connects to the coronoid process.

Figure 5–8. The masseter muscle. From
Figure 5–9. The temporalis muscle. From

178

www
Exercise 5–4. Video 5–4. Mapping the Jaw Closers shows this exercise
in action. Bring your head into balance, release your tongue so that it
is touching your lower teeth all the way around, and allow your jaw to
release so that there is a little space between your teeth.
n Put your fingers flat on the sides of the jaw at the back. Now
clench your teeth lightly. The muscles you feel bulging are the
masseter muscles. The harder you clench, the bigger the bulge.
n Release, then put your fingers on your temples and clench lightly
to feel the temporalis muscles engage.
n Release, then activate the masseter and the temporalis muscles
just enough so that your teeth are barely touching. Notice how
little effort is involved.
Repeat this exercise until you have mapped the movements of the masseter
and temporalis muscles and know exactly how little effort is required to
close the jaw.
When asked which muscles open the mouth, some people bring their fingers to the masseter and
temporalis muscles. Mis-mapping these muscles concurrently as mouth closers and openers causes
tension and frustration. To open the mandible beyond its resting position, the muscles that attach to it
from above must release and the muscles that attach to it from below must engage.
The most important openers are the digastric muscles. These muscles are paired and each side
has two bellies. The back belly originates at the inside of the mastoid process, the bony hump on the
skull just behind the ear, and runs obliquely down to pass through a fibrous loop attached to the hyoid
bone. The front belly continues under the tongue and attaches at the front of the mandible behind the
chin. As you can see in Figure 5–10, the two bellies of the digastric make the shape of a wide-open V
when viewed from the side. When they contract, they swing the mandible back and down.

Figure 5–10. The digastric muscle viewed from the right side. From The
Body Moveable (4th ed., p. 180), by D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Can-
Two other muscles that can assist in opening the mouth are the geniohyoid muscles and the mylo-
hyoid muscles. Like the scalenes in breathing, the mylohyoid and geniohyoid will do any necessary
work beyond our conscious control. When we are upright, gravity assists us to open the mouth. If
the muscles that close the mouth are released, very little effort is required to open it. The geniohyoid
and mylohyoid muscles are pictured along with the digastric muscles in Figure 5–11 and below in
Figure 5–15. In Figure 5–11, different muscles are shown on the two sides of the drawing to show each
muscle clearly. Of course, all three muscles are paired, occurring on both sides.

Figure 5–11. The muscles that open the mouth. From The Body Moveable (4th ed., p. 190),
by D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press. Copyright 2002. Reprinted with
permission.
www
Exercise 5–5. Video 5–5. Mapping the Jaw Openers shows this exercise
in action. To sense the movement of the digastric muscles, try this.
n Bring your head into balance and release your tongue as well
as the masseter and temporalis muscles.
n Push your thumbs gently into the hollow in the bottom of the jaw
behind the chin.
n Gradually open your jaw. You can easily feel the contraction
of the forward belly of the digastric muscles. Because the back
sections of the digastrics are so deep inside the neck, they are
impossible to palpate.

When singers choose to open the mouth for high notes or open vowels, the mouth will have to
close again to form most consonants. However, there is no consonant that requires the teeth to be
together. Simply releasing the muscles that open the mouth is all that is necessary to bring the mandible
to a neutral position. The natural elasticity of the masseter and temporalis muscles will close the mouth
sufficiently to form most consonants. There are a few consonants that may require a slight contraction
of the masseter and temporalis: [s] [z] [f] [v] [tʃ] (church) [Z] (leisure) [dZ] (judge). This movement is
very subtle. When the muscles that move the mandible are properly mapped, singers are free to use
them in dynamic equilibrium and find the opening that produces optimal resonance and articulation.
www
Exercise 5–6. Video 5–6. Jaw Movement in Articulation shows this exer-
cise in action. With your jaw in a neutral position (jaw closers and jaw
openers released), place your hands on the sides of your jaw upon your
masseter muscles.
n Run through the alphabet slowly in your regular speaking range.

You will sense that very little movement of the jaw closers is
necessary. There is no consonant that requires the teeth to close
completely.
n Repeat the exercise speaking in your higher singing range. Does
the higher range require more jaw movement? If so, how much?
If your mandible moves forward or to the side as you open your mouth, you should learn about
the pterygoid muscles, shown in Figure 5–12. Both of these muscle pairs arise from the base of the
skull behind the nose. The lateral pterygoids insert into the condyles of the mandible directly in front
of the TMJs and assist in opening the mouth by pulling the condyle forward. The medial pterygoids
insert into the inside of the mandible at the lower back corner and assist in closing the mouth. Watch
TMJ Movement posted by Living Gym to see clearly the action of the pterygoids (https://www.youtube
.com/watch?v=ZcNn3C3QyeI&t=13s).

Figure 5–12. The lateral and medial pterygoid muscles viewed from the left side.
From The Body Moveable (4th ed., p. 197), by D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Can-

When both the lateral pterygoids engage fully, they jut the mandible forward so that the lower
teeth move in front of the upper teeth. If habitual, this movement can damage the cartilage in the
TMJs. When the lateral and medial pterygoid muscles engage on one side, they pull the mandible to
the opposite side. This movement is helpful in chewing but has no place in singing. To see the move-
ment of the lateral pterygoids and the digastrics as the mouth opens in both healthy and detrimental
ways, watch Mandibular Movements, produced by Anomolous Medical (https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=uCA7YpS-sfU). The screen is split into four parts so that you can see the detail of TMJ move-
ment from each side, and the full movement of the mandible from the right and from the front.
www
Exercise 5–7. Video 5–7. Mapping the Pterygoids shows this exercise in
action. In the video, the author uses a model of the skull to show where
the pterygoids connect and how the jaw moves. You can explore these
movements yourself but do so with caution, especially if you have any
hint of TMJ dysfunction.
Review: Mandibular Movements
n The mandible is a single bone and is an appendage to the skull.

n The mandible connects to the skull at the temporomandibular joints.
n The masseter connects the mandible to the cheek bones and closes the mouth.
n The temporalis connects the coronoid processes of the mandible to the sides of the skull
and closes the mouth.
n The lateral pterygoids connect the condyles of the mandible to the base of the skull
behind the nose and can (1) assist in opening the mouth, (2) jut the mandible forward,
and (3) with the medial pterygoids, assist in moving the mandible to the side.
n The medial pterygoids connect the back inside corner of the mandible to the base of the
skull behind the nose and assist in closing the mouth and moving the mandible from
side to side.
The Tongue
We all have a map of the location and function of the tongue. However, most people have an imprecise
idea of its true size and structure. Many singers have mis-mapped its function and believe the tongue
is responsible for many more aspects of singing than it actually is. The survival function of the tongue
is to move food around in the mouth for chewing and start the swallowing process. These movements
are not used in singing. To communicate, we use the tongue to articulate the sounds of speech. For
singing, the tongue has this same function: to form vowels and consonants. That’s all. It sounds so
simple, doesn’t it? Then why is tongue tension so prevalent in singing? To begin to answer this ques-

tion, start by asking yourself about your map of the tongue. How big is it? How does it relate to the
surrounding structures? Where is it attached? How does it move?
The eight muscles of the tongue are capable of complex and independent movement. The part
we can see, that has the taste buds on it, is a small part of the whole tongue. The tongue muscles can
be divided into intrinsic muscles, which are completely contained within the tongue, and extrinsic
muscles, which connect the tongue to the structures around it. The four intrinsic tongue muscles are
responsible for the subtle movements of articulation, while the four extrinsic tongue muscles move
the tongue forward (genioglossus), up (palatoglossus), back (styloglossus), or down (hyoglossus). Since
the fibers of these intrinsic and extrinsic muscles intermingle, we may consider the tongue as one
highly flexible unit. As you can see in Figure 5–13, the tongue has attachments to the hyoid bone, the
mandible at the back of the chin, and the styloid process. Additionally, it connects to the velum (soft
palate) with the palatoglossus, as you will see in the discussion of the velum below.
Palatoglossus (cut) Intrinsic Muscles of

the Tongue
Styloid Process
Styloglossus Muscle
Genioglossus
Muscle
Jaw Bone (Cut)
Hyoglossus Muscle
Hyoid Bone
Figure 5–13. The extrinsic tongue muscles. From The Body Moveable (4th ed., p. 222), by D. Gorman.
Guelph, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press. Copyright 2002. Reprinted with permission.

There is a thin, fibrous septum that extends vertically from the center of the hyoid bone and serves
as a point of attachment for the intrinsic muscles. Figure 5–14 shows a cross section of the tongue just
to the right of the center line with the whole tongue outlined in black. You can see its attachment to
the chin and hyoid bone and observe that the back third of the tongue is roughly perpendicular to the
Figure 5–14. A cross section of the tongue from the right side. From The Body Moveable (4th ed.,
permission.

floor when we are upright. In its released state, as pictured here, the tongue rests lightly against the
back of the lower teeth. Figure 5–15 shows a cross section from the back with the tongue outlined in
black. Notice that its root is well below the teeth. This cross section is taken in front of the hyoid bone
so the hyoid bone is not pictured.
Intrinsic Muscles of
the Tongue
Septum of the
Tongue
Genioglossus
Muscle
Geniohyoid
Mylohyoid Muscle Muscle
Digastric Muscles
Figure 5–15. A cross section of the tongue viewed from the back. From The Body Moveable (4th ed.,
permission.

www
Exercise 5–8. Video 5–8. Mapping the Tongue shows this exercise in
action. To map your whole tongue, bring your whole body into your
awareness and your head into balance. Release your masseter and
temporalis muscles.
n Use your tactile sense to explore the inside of your mouth with
your tongue. Now let it rest and notice how it fills the cradle of
your jaw. Is it touching your lower teeth all the way around? If
so, good! Is it pressing against your top teeth or the roof of your
mouth? If so, release that tension.
n Insert your thumbs in the hollow on the bottom of the jaw behind
your chin. For some, who have tension there, this may be painful.
Don’t push hard — gentle pressure will be enough. Now swallow.
You will immediately feel activity above your thumbs in some
of the extrinsic tongue muscles. Move your thumbs back toward
your neck and swallow again to feel the action of the root of the
tongue in swallowing.
n Now switch to using your index fingers and walk them toward
the neck along the inside of the bottom of the jaw, pushing slightly
toward the center to feel the base of the tongue. Push it around
with your fingers and notice how little effort it takes when the
tongue is at rest. Now push the top of your tongue against the roof
of your mouth and feel that tension with your fingers. Now pull
the tongue back into your throat, again palpating the tension.
Release again and you should be able to move the tongue easily
with your fingers.
Try different movements of the tongue — sticking it out of the mouth,

curling it back against the soft palate, speaking text and so forth, with
awareness of the whole tongue from its origin at the back of the chin, to
its root at the hyoid bone, to its blade and tip, until you feel very familiar
with the tongue and its movements.
All the movements necessary to articulate vowels and consonants are possible without undue
tension. However, many singers recruit the tongue to do the work of other muscles. Some singers try
to push the larynx down by pulling the tongue down on the hyoid bone with the hyoglossus. This will
not lower the larynx appreciably. It will only make your sound throaty and unnatural.
Other singers pull the tongue back into the pharynx using the stylopharyngeus. The auditory tubes
open into the top of the pharynx and carry the sound wave from the pharynx to our ears. Pulling the
tongue back into your throat makes that pharyngeal resonance sound louder and richer from the inside.
To your audience it sounds overly dark and rather muffled. Once the structures of resonance are well
mapped, the tongue will be free to do its own work: forming vowels and consonants.

www
Exercise 5–9. Video 5–9. Mapping Tongue Tension shows this exercise
in action. One way to explore movements of the tongue that are detri-
mental to singing is to exaggerate them. Pull your tongue far back into
your throat, and then release. Push your tongue down onto your larynx,
and then release. Push your tongue against your teeth, and then release.
By exaggerating the movement and identifying the tension, you will be
more apt to notice it if it creeps into your singing. You can go one step
further and try to sing with your tongue in these contorted positions. If
any of these feel at all familiar when you sing, you have identified an
error in the map of your tongue that leads to tension. Now you have the
tools to correct it.
The tongue can move independently from the mandible. Some consonants, [l], [k], and [ŋ] (sing), for
instance, can be made by the tongue alone with the mouth in any position. Though some consonants
require the mouth to close, the tongue is more independent of the mandible than most singers believe,
and it is useful to explore this independence.
www
Exercise 5–10. Video 5–10. Mapping the Independence of the Jaw and
Tongue shows this exercise in action.
n With your whole body in your awareness, head in balance, and

the masseter and temporalis muscles released, say the consonant
[ l ] with a neutral vowel. If you have a mirror, look to see whether
or not your jaw moves. If you don’t have a mirror, rest your
hands gently on the sides of your jaw to feel any movement.
You should be able to produce the [ l ] without any movement of
the jaw.
n When you can do this easily in your normal speaking range, try
a higher pitch and a more open jaw position. Your tongue can
still move independently of the jaw to produce the [ l ].
n Now try the same exercise with [k] and [ŋ] and a neutral vowel.
Remember, your tongue should be in contact with your lower teeth all the
way around on the vowel and on the consonants [k] and [ŋ]. When you
can form these consonants without engaging the jaw-closing muscles, try
repeating them quickly. Keep working on these exercises until you have
mapped the tongue as able to move independently from the jaw.

Review: Movements of the Tongue
Intrinsic muscles
n Form the blade of the tongue.
n Make the movements that articulate vowels and consonants.
Extrinsic muscles
n Hyoglossus (root of the tongue): connects the tongue to the hyoid bone and can pull the
tongue down on the hyoid bone or pull the hyoid bone up. Used in swallowing.
n Styloglossus: connects the tongue to the styloid process and pulls the tongue back into
the pharynx. Used in swallowing.
n Genioglossus: connects the tongue to the back of the chin and pulls the tongue forward.
Used to stick the tongue out of the mouth.
n Palatoglossus: connects the tongue to the velum and pulls the velum down to make velar
consonants: [g], [k], [ŋ], and uvular [r].
The Velum
The velum (soft palate) acts as a valve that opens and closes the passages to the nose. It is located at
the top of the pharynx above the opening into the mouth. The uvular muscle forms the body of the
velum and its tip hangs down at the back of the mouth.
www
Exercise 5–11. Video 5–11. Mapping the Soft Palate shows this exercise
in action. To find the soft palate, run your finger or tongue backward
along the roof of your mouth. The bony part is the hard palate, which
forms the base of the skull (the maxilla) in front. The soft palate begins
where the bone ends. You can also sustain an “ng” sound, noticing how
your soft palate is pulled down to meet the top of your tongue.
When the velum is in a neutral position, as in Figure 5–16, it allows air to flow freely through the
mouth and nose. When it is at its highest, it closes off the nasal cavity so that air can only move through
the mouth. When it is at its lowest, it closes off the mouth so that air can only move through the nose.
The movement of the velum regulates the nasality of a singer’s tone. There are four muscle pairs
that control the movement of the soft palate: two that lift it and two that pull it down. All four muscle
pairs attach to the uvular muscle.

Figure 5–16. The

hard and soft palate
in cross section.
By Conable, B.
Copyright 2001. Used
with permission.
If you want a less nasal sound, you pull the velum up against the top pharyngeal constrictor to
close off the nasal cavity. The muscles that lift the soft palate are called the levator veli palatini muscles.
The tensor veli palatini muscles engage to tense the velum, assisting in lifting it. Engaging these two
muscle pairs will not only close off the nasal cavity, but also increase the vertical space of the pharynx.
Figure 5–17 shows these muscles in the context of the vocal tract. The drawing shows the view toward
the front from the top of the pharynx. Though the muscles occur on both sides, this drawing shows
the levator veli palatini only on the left side and the tensor veli palatini only on the right side.

Nasal
Cavity
Uvular
Muscle
Tongue
Levator
Veli
Palatinini
Muscle
Tensor
Veli
Upper Palatinini
Pharyngeal Muscle
Constrictor (Cut) Pterygoid
(Cut)
Hamulus
Uvular
Muscle
Palatopharyngeus
Muscle
Figure 5–17. The muscles that move the soft palate; the vocal tract viewed from the back. From
The Body Moveable (4th ed., p. 219), by D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press.
As you can see in Figure 5–17, the levator veli palatinis originate at the base of the skull behind
the nose, pass through the upper pharyngeal constrictor, and insert into the top of the uvular muscle
at a slightly oblique angle. The tensor veli palatinis originate slightly farther forward on the base of
the skull and connect to the Eustachian (auditory) tubes. From there, they descend to the pterygoid
hamuli (bony horns that project from the skull behind the nasal cavity) and turn a corner to insert
into the uvular muscle horizontally. Because of their connection to the Eustachian tubes, engaging the
tensor veli palatini muscles can assist in opening ears that are blocked due to changes in air pressure.
If you want to create a nasal tone, you open the passageway to the nasal cavity by pulling the velum
forward and down toward the back of the tongue. The muscles that do this are the palatopharyngeus
and the palatoglossus muscles. The more you engage these muscles, the more nasal your tone becomes.

The palatopharyngeus muscles are long and thin. They connect the sides of the uvular muscle to
the inferior pharyngeal constrictor and pull the velum down (see Figures 5–17 and 5–18). The pala-
toglossus muscles connect the uvular muscle to the sides of the tongue at the back (see Figure 5–18).
They pull the velum down and forward. When you make the consonants [ŋ], [g], or [k], you are lowering
your velum to meet your tongue using these two muscle pairs.
Raising the eyebrows, the cheek muscles, the “sneer muscles,” or any other facial muscles does
not raise the velum directly. Though there is no physical connection, these actions may help engage
the muscles that do lift the palate. However, mapping facial muscles as palate lifters will limit freedom
of expression that influences resonance in spontaneous, subtle ways. It is best to learn to move the
velum without using facial muscles.
Buccinator Raphe
Palatoglossus Palatopharyngeus
Muscle Muscle
Superior
Pharyngeal
Constrictor
Figure 5–18. The mouth viewed from the front showing the palatopharyngeus and pala-
toglossus muscles. From The Body Moveable (4th ed., p. 225), by D. Gorman. Guelph,
Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press. Copyright 2002. Reprinted with permission.

www
Exercise 5–12. Audio 5–12. Raising the Soft Palate provides a recording
of this exercise. Since all of us know how to yawn, that is a good place
to start identifying the sensation of lifting and stretching the soft palate.
n With your whole body in your awareness, your head in balance,

your mouth slightly open, and your tongue touching your lower
teeth all the way around, think about yawning. You may feel a
lifting, stretching sensation at the back of your mouth as your
soft palate closes off the opening to your nose. Repeat this exercise
while looking in a mirror. Can you see your soft palate rise?
n Now repeat this motion while singing. Start by singing an open,
shallow, speech-like vowel in a comfortable range. Now make the
tone more nasal and watch what happens to your soft palate.
Now think about a yawn, and notice what happens to the soft
palate and the resonance.
Make sure your tongue is not drawing back as you think of yawning.
You should be able to lift and stretch your soft palate with your tongue
touching your lower teeth all the way around. You may have to repeat
this exercise again and again until you are sure you have accurate
awareness of these movements.
All singers must lower the velum to create consonants like [k] and [ŋ]. The velum must be in
a neutral position to resonate nasal consonants like [m] and [n] and nasal vowels in French. Except
for these few instances and for character effect, the velum is kept relatively high in classical singing.
In other styles of singing, the velum is often lower, allowing, or even cultivating, a nasal tone color.
Awareness of the role the velum plays in creating color choices can open up a range of interpretive
possibilities for singers of all styles.
Review: Movements of the Velum
Soft Palate Anatomy posted by Soton Anatomy Hub provides a detailed tutorial on the velum and its
muscles (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdqY-t8tpLM).
n The levator veli palatini connects the velum to the base of the skull and pulls it up.
n The tensor veli palatini connects the velum to the base of the skull and the Eustachian
tube and tenses the velum, assisting in lifting it. It also assists in popping blocked ears.
n The palatoglossus connects the velum to the tongue and pulls the velum forward to make
velar consonants ([g], [k], [ŋ], and uvular [r]).
n The palatopharyngeus connects the velum to the inferior pharyngeal constrictor and pulls
the velum down for nasal vowels.

The Buccinators
The buccinator muscles form the inside of the cheeks (see Figure 5–18 above and Figure 5–19 below).
In back, they have three origins, (1) on the outside of the top molars, (2) on the outside of the bottom
molars, and (3) at a raphe (seam of connective tissue) with the upper pharyngeal constrictor. They
insert into the lip muscles in front in the following manner. The fibers that originate outside the top
molars run obliquely to blend with the muscles of the lower lip. The fibers that originate outside the
bottom molars run obliquely to blend with the muscles of the upper lip. The fibers that originate from
the raphe run horizontally to blend with the sides of the lips. Because of their complexity, the bucci-
nators can pull back on the corners of the mouth, compress the cheeks to assist with chewing, and
engage for sucking. Because of this last function, they are among the first muscles babies learn to use.
Buccinator Muscle by Dr. Christopher provides an informative video tutorial concerning the buccinator
muscles (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxx9PIWNNNc).
When we sing with the lips pulled back at the sides to create a wide lateral opening, we are using
the buccinators. In classical singing, this resonance is described as spread. The sound is brighter and
shallower than a standard classical sound and is avoided except for character effect. In other types of
singing, especially musical theatre, this movement is desirable because it allows the singer to sustain
spoken vowels higher up in the range.
Figure 5–19. The buccinators

and orbicularis oris viewed
from the right side. From The
Body Moveable (4th ed.,
p. 197), by D. Gorman.
Ampersand Press. Copyright
permission.

How can the cheek muscles have such a dramatic effect on resonance? First, they shorten the oral
cavity by pulling the lips back. Second, they can pull forward on the upper pharyngeal constrictor,
slightly constricting the oral pharynx and shortening the throat through its connection to the palato-
glossus and the palatopharyngeus (see Figure 5–18).
Finally, the buccinators can impede the freedom of mandibular movement. The buccinator is some-
times called the “bugler’s muscle,” because the compression action of the buccinators used in chewing
and sucking helps stabilize the embouchure for wind players. This activity also restricts the opening
of the mouth. Singers must keep the cheeks released enough so that the lips and mandible are free
to move for articulation and resonance. Once you include your buccinator muscles in your awareness,
you can explore the effect on the resonance. Exercise 5–13 below will help you on this path.
www
Exercise 5–13. Video 5–13. Mapping the Buccinators shows this exercise
in action. To identify the action of the cheek muscles, bring your whole
body into your awareness and your head into balance, releasing the
tongue, masseter, and temporalis muscles. Place your hands on your
cheeks.
n Contract your cheek muscles and say “cheese” with a wide grin.
The muscles pulling the sides of your lips back are the buccina-
tors. Now sing “cheese” in your middle range with your cheeks
contracted. Try to round your lips and notice how difficult it is
unless you release your cheeks.
n Now sing “choose” while releasing your cheeks. Contract your
cheeks while sustaining the “choose” and notice the effect on the
vowel and the resonance. Sing “cheese” again while contracting
your buccinators. As you sustain that word, try opening your
jaw. Notice how difficult it is. Now sing “choose” with your bucci-
nators released. As you sustain that word, open your jaw and
you will find it is much easier.
n For some, it is very difficult to disengage the cheek muscles. Here
are two ways to help.
n With your head balanced, sustain a single vowel on a single
pitch. Now, bring your hands to your head and pinch your
upper lip gently, pulling it slightly forward, noticing the effect
on the resonance.
n For another way to release your buccinators, use both index
fingers to press the cheeks lightly into the molars and then push
the cheeks forward slightly.
n Try this on different vowels and notice which vowel sounds
trigger activity in the buccinators.

The Lips
Most people map the lips as the thin layer of specialized skin tissue where lipstick goes. However, the
muscles of the lips, the orbicularis oris muscles, extend all the way up to the nose and all the way down
to the indentation above the chin, forming a thick band around the opening of the mouth, as you can
see in Figure 5–20. Everything in front of the front teeth is a part of the orbicularis oris muscle. A side
view may be seen in Figure 5–19 and a cross section may be seen in Figure 5–16 above.
Figure 5–20. The muscles of the face. By Benjamin Conable. Copyright 2001.

This is crucial information for singers because we use our lips to articulate many sounds of speech.
If we use the whole orbicularis oris muscle, articulation is clear. If we use only our lipstick lips, articula-
tion is tense and compromised. How we use our lips can also have a substantial effect on resonance.
When the lips are at rest, they form a gently rounded opening for the oral cavity. When they contract,
they make a narrower opening and lengthen the resonating chamber. When they are stretched by the
buccinators, they make a wider opening and shorten the resonating chamber. These movements are
necessary for some aspects of style. However, they should be quite subtle. Remember, your audience
wants to feel your emotion, not watch your technique. Singers must take care to keep the lips and other
facial muscles as free as possible to do the work of expression and articulation.
www
Exercise 5–14. Video 5–14. Mapping the Lips shows this exercise in
action.
n To identify the whole lip muscle, trace its outlines on your face.
Start at the indentation above your chin and circle around,
following the indentation as it curves under the nose. Continue
circling until you are back to the indentation above the chin.
n Now use your whole lip to form an “ooh” and trace again. Trace
again forming different vowels.
n Now try some consonants. Use the inside or “wet part” of the lips
to make an m. Now use only the lipstick part. Press your lips
together with as much force as you can to make the m. Now use
as little force as possible.
n Now sustain an “ah” vowel and then an “ee” vowel. While
sustaining each vowel, change the amount of work in your
lip muscles: first released, then contracted and forward, then
stretched wide.
Try this in your speaking range and in your higher singing range. How
do the different movements affect resonance?
Review: Movements of the Buccinators (Inner Cheeks) and Orbicularis Oris (Lips)
Buccinator (inner cheek) muscles

n Pull the lips wide.
n Pull the cheeks in.
n Restrict mandibular movement.

Lip muscles
n Articulate labial consonants ([f],[v], [m], [p], [b]).
n Narrow and lengthen the front opening of the oral cavity.
The Larynx and Resonance
Vocal sound is generated in the larynx by the vibration of the vocal folds. The shape and tension
of the vocal folds determine the pitch and some color aspects of the voice — for instance, the differ-
ence between head voice and chest voice. The size, location, and function of the intrinsic muscles
of the larynx are covered in Chapter 4. The goal of the present chapter is to describe how the
extrinsic laryngeal muscles move the larynx as a whole unit and how the location of the larynx affects
vocal resonance.
The height of the larynx has a profound effect on resonance. The larynx is suspended in a web
of muscles that attach to it from above, below, and behind. The tonus of this suspensory system is
important in stabilizing the larynx. When the body and resonance are in balance, this will happen
naturally. The muscles of this suspensory system also engage to raise and lower the larynx. For many
singers, it is enough to regulate the height of the larynx by conceiving the desired sound and letting
the suspensory system respond. The following discussion is for those who wish to understand the role
of the extrinsic laryngeal muscles in this process.
Whether you choose to lower the larynx is a matter of technique and style. If you choose to lower
it, the only way to do so healthily is to use the muscles that connect to it from below. These muscles
are the sternohyoid, the omohyoid, and the sternothyroid muscles. The sternohyoid muscles connect
the top of the sternum and the hyoid bone. The omohyoid muscles are long, thin muscles that connect
the upper edge of the shoulder blade to the hyoid bone. Remember, the larynx is suspended from the
hyoid bone, so any muscle that moves the hyoid bone will also move the larynx. These two muscles,
when engaged, pull down slightly on the hyoid bone, keeping the larynx low and stable. The sterno-
thyroid muscles connect the top of the sternum to the thyroid cartilage. This muscle pulls down on
the thyroid cartilage, assisting in lowering the entire larynx. These muscles are shown in Figure 5–21.

Figure 5–21. The muscles that pull the larynx down. From The Body Moveable (4th ed., p. 183),
by D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press. Copyright 2002. Reprinted with
permission.
To see a rotating view of these muscles, visit Neck Region at Healthline Body Maps (http://www
.healthline.com/human-body-maps/neck). Use the slider to find the level of the deep muscles. Hover
your mouse over individual muscles and click to see the names until you can identify the sternohyoid,
sternothyroid, and omohyoid. Then rotate the picture in any direction by dragging the cursor. The
buttons on the left help with navigation. If you click on the muscle and then click “Read More,” you
will navigate to a screen that describes the function of the muscle and shows it individually.
Most of the muscles in the neck are responsible for moving the head and arms. Their role in singing
is only for expression and gesture. The sternohyoid, sternothyroid, and omohyoid are among the very
few muscles in the neck that can play a positive role in singing.
Maintaining the larynx at a comfortable height is necessary for vocal health in all styles. This
does not mean the larynx should be fixed in one place. It will move continually as you sing. However,

the movements should be within a fairly narrow range — not pulled too far down or pulled up behind
your tongue.
Not every style requires a low laryngeal position, but a lowered larynx is one of the important
hallmarks of classical resonance because it is a significant factor in producing the singer’s formant
(ring) of the voice (see Frequently Asked Questions below). Learning to lower the larynx on command
is not always easy. Just knowing that the larynx moves independently from the tongue and that it is
pulled down from below is enough for some singers to discover the right movement. For the rest, the
exercise below gives several ways of experimenting with the height of the larynx.
www
Exercise 5–15. Video 5–15. Mapping the Muscles that Move the Larynx
shows this exercise in action. To explore the effect of the laryngeal posi-
tion on resonance, try this. Bring your whole body into your awareness
and your head into balance. Close your mouth, and release your tongue.
n Place a finger in the hollow just above your sternum and press
in lightly. Yawn deeply. You will feel the sternohyoid and ster-
nothyroid muscles working to pull the larynx down. If you have
a mirror, you may be able to see the Adam’s apple descending
as you engage these muscles. Now think about yawning without
inhaling. Do the muscles still engage?
n Now spread your index finger and thumb wide, placing them on
the side of your neck just above your collar bone. Yawn again
and notice the subtle work of the omohyoid.
n Move your fingers up slightly and you can feel a general widening
of the lower neck as the larynx pushes out on the lower pharyn-
geal constrictor — the proverbial open throat!
n Now speak on a vowel. While sustaining the vowel, engage the
muscles that pull down on the larynx (this will feel like the begin-
ning of a yawn) and notice the change in the resonance.
Experiment with other vowels and pitch ranges as well as various heights
of the larynx until you have mapped the effect of the muscles that lower
the larynx.
There are several muscles that pull up on the larynx. This happens during swallowing and when
we carry a heavy register up beyond its comfortable range. Some of these muscles, like the mylohyoids,
also can assist in opening the mouth if the hyoid is stabilized from below. The strongest muscles that
pull up on the larynx are the hyoglossus muscles (see Figure 5–13 above). These muscles connect the
back of the tongue to the hyoid bone. Generally, the hyoglossus muscles are released in singing unless
you are raising your larynx consciously for effect.

www
Exercise 5–16. Audio 5–16. Relationship of the Extrinsic Muscles of the
Tongue and the Larynx provides a recording of this exercise. With your
whole body in your awareness, head in balance, and the masseter and
temporalis muscles released, sustain the consonant [ l ] with your tongue
as released as possible.
n Now make a tense, pushed [ l ] and notice the effect on the larynx.
Place your fingers on your larynx if it helps to sense the movement.
n Now sing the word “see” in your lowest range with your hand
resting lightly on your larynx. Keeping your vowel pure and the
jaw opening the same, ascend in pitch, noticing the larynx rising
as the pitch ascends.
Keep experimenting with the muscles that elevate and lower the larynx
until you find a range that is comfortable and appropriate for your
singing style.
Review: Movements of the Extrinsic Laryngeal Muscles
n Primary muscles that pull the larynx down: sternothyroid, sternohyoid.

n Primary muscle that elevates the larynx: hyoglossus.
n When these muscles are working in balance, they stabilize the larynx, which can help
regulate vibrato.
The Aryepiglottic Sphincter
Narrowing the aryepiglottic sphincter (AES) plays a role in many singing styles. The AES is the opening
of the laryngeal cavity into the lowest part of the pharynx (Figure 5–22). The size of this opening is
regulated by the aryepiglottic muscles, which extend from the oblique arytenoid muscles to connect the
arytenoid cartilages with the back edge of the epiglottis cartilage. When they are active, the aryepiglottic
muscles pull the epiglottis toward the arytenoid cartilages to close off the larynx, preventing food and
liquid from entering the airway during swallowing. Singers use the very beginning of this movement
to make the AES narrower without closing it completely. This action allows singers to gain the acoustic
advantage of the singer’s formant without lowering the larynx. The result is twang, a bright, steely
sound with minimal vowel modification (see Frequently Asked Questions below for more detail). The
exercise below will help you to gain awareness of this movement.

Figure 5–22. The aryepiglottic

sphincter. From The Body
Moveable (4th ed., p. 206), by
D. Gorman. Guelph, Ontario,
Canada: Ampersand Press.
Copyright 2002. Reprinted with
permission.
www
Exercise 5–17. Video 5–17. Mapping the Aryepiglottic Sphincter shows
this exercise in action. Bring your whole body into your awareness and
your head into balance with your vocal tract at rest.
n Now think about swallowing without actually doing it. If you go
too far, you will notice your pharyngeal muscles constricting.
Notice the sensation of tightening just above your larynx. This is
the action of the aryepiglottic muscles.
n Other ways to find this movement is to cackle like a witch, cry
like a baby, or prepare to cough without actually coughing.
Now try singing while engaging the aryepiglottic muscles and notice the
effect on your resonance.

Developing Inclusive Awareness in Resonance

The previous discussion has been devoted to individual structures and the movements associated with
them. In order to achieve balanced resonance, singers must be aware of all of these structures in rela-
tion to each other. Not only that, they must be aware of these structures in the context of the whole
body. This skill is called inclusive awareness and was discussed in Chapter 1. Awareness is a skill that
improves with practice. Following are two exercises that will help set you on the road to being fully
aware of your resonance. First, deepen your awareness of your vocal tract in relation to the rest of your
body. Before trying this, review the description of the vocal tract at rest at the beginning of this chapter.
www
Exercise 5–18. Audio 5–18. Inclusive Awareness of the Vocal Tract
provides a recording of the exercise. Sitting in a comfortable chair,
begin to open your mind to the signals your senses are sending. Arrive
in the room. Notice its ambience, its temperature, light, and smells.
What is your physical state? Are you hungry, thirsty, tired? What is your
emotional state? Now, notice how the weight of your head delivers to your
torso. Notice how the weight of your torso and legs delivers to the chair.
Notice how the weight of your lower legs delivers through your feet to
the floor. As you notice tensions, make slight adjustments until you feel
your body come into balance. Now, maintaining the awareness of your
body, notice your breathing. Notice the air flowing in and out through
your vocal tract. Keeping your whole body and your breathing in your
awareness, begin to add awareness of the vocal tract structures at rest.
Can you sense the full length of the pharynx from the atlanto-occipital
joint down to the esophagus? Can you sense the path of the air through
your mouth or nose back into the pharynx and then forward through the
aryepiglottic sphincter, through the vocal folds into the trachea? Can you
sense the fullness of your lip muscles in front of your teeth? How do your
lips relate to your cheeks? How do your cheeks relate to your throat? How
does your throat relate to your jaw? Can you sense the location of your
TMJs? Are your jaw movers released? How does your tongue connect to
your jaw, to your soft palate, to your hyoid bone? Is it lying in the cradle
of your jaw, touching the lower teeth all the way around? Relate your
larynx to your tongue through their connection at the hyoid bone. Can
you feel your larynx rise as you begin to swallow? Can you feel it descend
as you yawn? Continue adding layers of awareness, always relating
structures to the whole body.
Once you have developed awareness of how the vocal tract feels in silence, you are ready to begin
to notice its movements in singing. Many muscles will become active as you think about producing a
sound. Your movement will depend on the style and tone you wish to achieve. In classical singing, for
instance, your lips would be released and forward, your larynx relatively low and your soft palate high.
However, if you are singing a country song, the lips might be pulled wide open by the inner cheek

muscles, the larynx would have the same range of motion as in speech, and the soft palate would be
in a neutral position or even lower for more nasal resonance. As you experiment to achieve the tone
you want, remember you are looking for economy and efficiency of movement. There will be some
sensation of activity, but unless you are intentionally creating a sound with tension in it for dramatic
purpose, the movements should feel springy and elastic.
www
Exercise 5–19. Audio 5–19. Movements of the Vocal Tract provides a
recording of the exercise. Include your whole body in your awareness,
balance your head, and keep your eyes alive. Now think about singing
without making any sound. Which structures experience an impulse to
move? Do different structures start moving as you imagine different pitch
levels and vowels? Now try phonating with no thought of resonance to
see what comes out. To develop awareness of individual structures and
their effect on resonance, you can begin to experiment with the moveable
structures of the vocal tract. What happens to the tone as you: change the
balance of your head; open your jaw; raise or lower your larynx; raise
and stretch your soft palate; lower your soft palate; engage your cheeks;
release your cheeks; change the shape of your lips? Notice the shape of
the tongue as it forms different vowels, keeping the base of the tongue in
your awareness. Tense and release the base of the tongue while singing,
always noticing the effect this movement has on the surrounding struc-
tures. Now try out these movements at different pitch levels. Keep in mind
that some of the movements described above are unnecessary, even detri-
mental, in singing. Notice which movements enhance your resonance
and which introduce excess tension. As you experiment, practice relating
structures to each other and the whole body.
COMMON RESONANCE IMAGES AND THEIR PITFALLS
Resonance imagery is convenient. Images act as shorthand for a complex set of movements and sensa-
tions. As singers, we often have a strong sensation, both aural and kinesthetic, of what works in our
own bodies. Our images make perfect sense to us. Unfortunately, sometimes our images don’t make
sense to other people. They may help some people. However, for other people our images may be
confusing. We must think very carefully about the possible misinterpretations of the images we use.
Lofting a Parachute in the Back of the Throat
It is tempting to think that the breath flow from the lungs can assist in lofting the soft palate from
below, as this image implies. However, the breath flow has nothing to do with this movement. The soft
palate is lifted and stretched by the levator veli palatini and tensor veli palatini muscles from above
with no relation to air flow.

Feeling as If You Could Swallow a Grapefruit
Many singers strive to create more space in the vocal tract to improve resonance. The only way to
increase the space is to release the pharyngeal muscles if they are constricted, to release the tongue
to its naturally forward state, to raise the soft palate (which makes the pharynx taller), or to lower the
larynx (which lengthens and widens the lower pharynx). Any resonance image that involves swallowing
can cause the pharyngeal constrictors to narrow the throat and the tongue to pull back. Also, as you
saw in the video of the diva and the emcee, the size and shape of the throat changes constantly as we
sing. Keeping a fixed opening would lead to a stilted, unnatural sound.
Holding an Egg at the Back of Your Mouth
This image is intended to help singers lift the soft palate and release the back of the tongue to increase
the space of the oral cavity. It implies that something is necessary to prop up the soft palate. Imagining
a space of a certain shape and dimension also discourages differentiation between vowels. This type
of image can be especially detrimental for singers with a strong gag reflex.
Placement in the Mask
The face is made of lots of small muscles attached to the bones of the skull and jaw, as you can see in
Figure 5–20. Encouraging singers to think of the face as a “mask” inhibits the coordinated movements
of facial expression. Resonance occurs in the spaces of the vocal tract. The sound wave that reaches
the outside air transmits through air in the spaces, not the bones and muscles of the face. High
harmonics in a musical tone have small enough wavelengths to penetrate into the bones and soft
tissues of the skull. These sympathetic vibrations do not transmit to the outside air; however, they give
singers excellent information. Still, the idea of “placing the tone” in any specific location can lead to
inflexible, unnatural resonance and a look of concentration, especially if you are instructing another
singer to imitate your sensations. The perception of sympathetic vibrations is distinct for each singer.
When producing the optimal sound, one singer might feel vibration in the cheek bones and another
might feel vibration in the forehead. Within one singer’s range, those sensations might vary between
low and high registers. Each individual singer can explore all the moveable structures of resonance
and find the best sound. From then on, the associated sensations may be used as a guide to optimal
resonance for that singer.
Imagining a Golf Ball Between Your Upper and Lower Molars
This image promotes the idea that the mouth must always be open wide to create a resonant sound. In
fact, the jaw moves constantly as we articulate vowels and consonants, and in some parts of the range
optimal resonance occurs when the jaw movers are at rest. It is vital to map the dynamic equilibrium
between the muscles that move the jaw up and down so that the mouth is free to find the appropriate
degree of openness for resonance and articulation. Trying to create space between the molars encour-

ages singers to “drop” the jaw straight down (see below). Forcing the jaw open by inserting any object,
even an imaginary one, will not cure co-contraction in the jaw movers.
“Drop” the Jaw
The jaw does not drop straight down when the mouth opens. It swings back and down as the condyle
pivots at the TMJ. With healthy jaw movement, there will be more distance top to bottom between the
front teeth than between the molars. Even with the widest opening, you would never have enough
space between your molars for a golf ball.
Lifting the Cheekbones

This image is intended to aid in lifting the soft palate. The idea of lifting around the area of the cheek-
bones may trigger the engagement of the palate lifters. However, it is impossible to lift the cheekbones
independently from the rest of the skull, and trying to do so may lead singers to engage other facial
muscles, like lifting the eyebrows. There is no physical connection between the facial muscles on the
surface of the skull and the muscles that lift the soft palate from the base of the skull. We want the
muscles of the face to be free to do the work of expression rather than technique.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Why Does My Jaw Shake When I Sing?

Why Does My Tongue Tremble?
If these problems are present, there is excess work in the muscles involved. Make sure that your head
is balanced and that you have mapped the independence of the tongue, the muscles that move the
larynx, and the muscles that move the jaw. Map the dynamic equilibrium between the muscles that
open and close the mouth. Map the difference between the intrinsic and extrinsic tongue muscles,
and the dynamic equilibrium between the extrinsic tongue muscles. Finally, ask yourself if you can
produce the sound with less effort. Remember: Only do work that is necessary and put the work
where it belongs. When the actions of breathing, resonance, and phonation are coordinated within
the context of a balanced, springy body, the problem of the trembling tongue and/or shaking jaw will
gradually disappear.
How Can I Get My Voice to Carry Better?
Some singers have an effortless ringing tone that carries in large spaces without a microphone. How
do they do that? They are probably using a phenomenon known as the singer’s formant or the “ring”
of the voice. This is an extra resonance high in the harmonic series that is independent of the pitch
and the volume of the tone. Most people achieve this ring when they use their calling voice. Imagine

you suddenly see people half a block away stealing your car. You cry out, “Hey!” to stop them. In that
utterance, you will probably find a naturally ringing tone that carries a long way. Typically, however,
the calling voice is heavier than we would use in classical singing.
So how do we find ring in singing? The singer’s formant occurs when the opening of the larynx
is about six times smaller than the width of the lower pharynx. There are two ways we can achieve
this: widen the pharynx or make the laryngeal opening smaller. To widen the pharynx, we lower the
larynx. The thyroid cartilage is larger than the space defined by the inferior pharyngeal constrictor, so
pulling the larynx down will widen the laryngopharynx considerably. To reduce the laryngeal opening,
we partially close the aryepiglottic sphincter (AES). These two actions may be combined.
When the larynx is low, the color of the voice becomes deeper as well as more brilliant, giving it an
“operatic” sound called chiaroscuro. In contrast, when we close the AES we get a brassy sound called
twang used in musical theatre and pop styles. This is the color that Ethel Merman uses when singing
“There’s No Business Like Show Business” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIiQMsDQ0Uo).
www
Exercise 5–20. Video 5–20. Normal Speech, Calling Voice, Operatic
Resonance, Twang, Nasal Speech shows this exercise in action. This
video demonstrates the author speaking normally, using her calling
voice, speaking with a low larynx, speaking while narrowing the AES,
and speaking with a nasal tone. These colors are repeated while singing.
What Is Vowel Modification? Covering? Vowel Matching?
You have probably noticed that it is easier to sing some vowels on lower pitches and other vowels on
higher pitches. This is because each vowel corresponds to a shape in the vocal tract defined by the
tongue and the jaw, and each shape has frequencies it resonates particularly well. When the pitch we
are singing matches one of those frequencies, it is easy to sing that vowel. When it doesn’t, we have to
change the shape of the vocal tract so that the pitch-vowel combination produces efficient resonance.
Any time we change the shape of the vocal tract, we change or modify the vowel. Treble voices gener-
ally need to open the mouth as they ascend into their upper range, especially on closed vowels like [i]
(ee) and [u] (ooh). However, in the middle of the treble range, closed vowels are often more efficient
than open vowels such as [a]. Altering the vowel slightly to improve the resonance is called vowel
modification. It is especially necessary for treble singers to learn how to modify vowels well, because
most of the notes they sing lie above the natural range where closed vowels can be sung healthily in
their pure form.
Basses, baritones, and tenors have different issues because many of the notes they sing lie below
the range where vowel modification is necessary. Perhaps for this reason, vowel modification for these
voices has different nomenclature. Traditionally it has been called covering, but it can also be called
vowel migration, turning over the voice, and so forth. In classical singing, lower-voiced singers start
closing their vowels as they approach the upper middle of their range in order to transition into their
head voice. If low voices keep the vowels open, they will tend to carry a heavier register up into this
range that sounds increasingly like a yell the higher they sing. A detailed discussion of how vowels

interact with resonance and register is beyond the scope of this book. The following exercise will
give an introduction to vowel modification. For more on how vowels interact with pitches, read Scott
McCoy’s “Formantology” in the September/October 2013 issue of the Journal of Singing.
www
Exercise 5–21. Video 5–21. Vowel Modification shows this exercise in
action. Speak the word “seek” in your regular speaking range. Notice
the shape of your vocal tract, especially the shape of your tongue and
the opening of your jaw. Now sing “seek” in a low part of your range,
keeping exactly the same mouth shape. This seems easy, right? Now, sing
“seek” in a high part of your range, trying to keep your mouth in exactly
the same shape. This is not so easy! How does it feel? What happens to
your larynx, to the muscles that move your jaw? Now sing “seek” in your
spoken range and glide up an octave, keeping your tongue in the same
shape, but allowing the jaw to find a comfortable opening as you ascend
in pitch. Does that feel easier? Next, keeping the mouth open in the shape
you just used on the high pitch, sing the word on a low pitch. What
does the vowel sound like? It probably sounds pretty strange — somewhere
between “sick” and “suck.” Close your jaw and the word will sound like
“seek” once more.
It is easy to over-modify vowels so that we sound stilted. Usually this happens when we try to
modify the vowel with the tongue instead of the jaw. Remember, the tongue and the jaw are indepen-
dent from each other. The tongue can continue to form the desired vowel while the muscles that move
the jaw do the work of modification.
Vowel matching is related to vowel modification. Simply put, we want to sing all vowels in the
same register on any given pitch in order to sound in tune. Modifying vowels to match each other in
tone helps us do this. Using the vowel examples above, a treble voice might match an [a] vowel to an
[i] in the middle of the range, keeping the closure of the [i] vowel with the jaw, but shaping the tongue
into an [a]. In the high range, they would do the opposite, moving the jaw to form an [a] but making
an [i] with the tongue.
The lips also contribute to vowel matching and modification. It is possible to form vowels with
very minimal movement in the lips. In speech and folk singing, we might pull the corners of the lips
back with the buccinators for the word “see.” However, in classical singing, we might shape the “ee”
with the tongue while keeping the buccinators released and the lips round.
I’m Producing the Right Pitch, but My Intonation

Is Still Off. What’s Going On?
Resonance affects the listener’s perception of pitch through emphasizing certain parts of the sound
wave. If high harmonics are emphasized with resonance, the pitch may sound sharp. If low overtones
are emphasized, the pitch may sound flat. This is especially true if the resonance is not consistent. For

instance, if a singer habitually sings a bright, somewhat nasal [e] vowel and a throaty, dark [a] vowel,
the intonation will sound inconsistent, even if the vocal folds are producing the same pitch. If half of an
ensemble is singing with a bright, nasal quality and the other half is singing with a dark, hooty quality,
the whole choir will sound out of tune. Choices in vowels can also affect registers. If two vowels are
sung on the same pitch, one in head voice and the other in mixed voice, intonation will not sound
consistent (see vowel matching above). Awareness of the structures of resonance will help eradicate
tension and build consistency in resonance, which will help intonation.
www
Exercise 5–22. Video 5–22. Resonance and Intonation shows this exer-
cise in action. Sing the word “hey” using a bright, somewhat nasal vowel
and follow it on the same pitch with the word “hah” using a hooty, dark
vowel. Notice that the dark vowel, the one with the low overtones, sounds
lower. Now sing the bright, nasal “hey” followed by a bright, nasal “hah”
on the same pitch. The pitch sounds the same. Now sing hooty, dark
“hey” followed by a hooty, dark “hah.” The pitch sounds slightly lower
but is consistent between the vowels. You can try this with all the vowels
you sing.
My Glottis Is Closed but My Tone Still Sounds Breathy. Why Is That?
When you are sure your glottis is closing completely but you still sound breathy, it may be due to
inefficient resonance. The buzzy sound produced by the vocal folds is filtered as it travels through the
vocal tract. Sometimes the shape of the vocal tract is just right and the tone sounds pure and vibrant.
Other times, the shape is a little off and the tone has less presence. When the shape is way off, the tone
can sound breathy, even when the signal from the vocal folds is clean. You can fix this by moving the
structures of resonance until you find the optimal shape for the vocal tract on that pitch. Remember,
the shape will be different on every pitch-vowel combination. When you find the most efficient reso-
nance, you will notice that phonation is easier and that your breath lasts longer. You can then match
the vowel you need to sing to the most efficient vowel on any given pitch.
www
Exercise 5–23. Video 5–23. Efficient Resonance shows this exercise in
action. As with every exercise, start with your head in balance and your
whole, wonderfully springy and responsive body in your awareness.
n Sing with an intentionally shallow, breathy sound in an easy

part of your range.
n As you sustain that shallow tone, pinch your upper lip and pull
it forward slightly. This encourages the resonance to come into
balance, eliminating some of the “white noise” in the sound. You

can also experiment with pushing your cheeks forward, stretching

and lifting your soft palate, lowering your larynx, opening and
closing your jaw, narrowing the aryepiglottic sphincter and so
forth until you find the clear resonance you desire.
n Sometimes the best way to do this is just to wiggle the jaw and
tongue around until you feel the resonance become vibrant and
stable. Continue to sustain the tone/vowel combination as you
stop wiggling and you will probably have discovered the shape of
the vocal tract that gives you the most efficient resonance for that
pitch. The shape may be quite different on another pitch within
your range.
CONCLUSION
Many of the movements of resonance are discovered through imagination and experimentation.
Mapping the structures of the vocal tract adequately and accurately gives singers the tools we need
to achieve the resonance we desire. We can’t see many of these structures, but we can palpate a few
and we can learn to sense the rest. We can become more consistent because we can identify sources
of tension and eradicate them before they affect the whole instrument. We do not need to be aware
of each muscle fiber or know the anatomical names of each muscle. However, we do need to have a
sense of which muscle groups are responsible for which tasks, which muscles need to be active and
which need to release, and how each group of muscles relates to the whole. When we have this sense,
we are able to use our resonance for expression. You now have the tools to experiment with all the
structures of resonance. Have fun!
RESOURCES
YouTube Videos
Advancedortho 1. Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0TqzSFqQfc
Anomolous Medical. Mandibular Movements: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCA7YpS-sfU
Dr. Christopher. Buccinator Muscle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxx9PIWNNNc
Living Gym. TMJ Movement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcNn3C3QyeI&t=13s
Merman, Ethel. There’s No Business Like Show Business:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIiQMsDQ0Uo
Nayak, Krishna. The Diva and the Emcee: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2OdAp7MJAI
Soton Anatomy Hub. Soft Palate Anatomy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdqY-t8tpLM
Yan, Irene. TMJ Jaw Movement Animation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQfNrwYUVFI

Website
Healthline Body Maps: http://www.healthline.com/human-body-maps/neck
Books and Articles
McCoy, S. (2013, September/October). Formantology. Journal of Singing, 70(1).

6
Singing as Communication:
Mapping the Structures
of Articulation
INTRODUCTION
The attribute of singing that most strongly distinguishes it from other forms of making music is that the
human voice is the only instrument capable of delivering a text as well as a musical sound. Not every
piece of vocal music has a text; there are occasional concert vocalises in classical music, and an integral
feature of jazz singing is scat, or improvisation that chooses phonemes primarily for their sounds and
not for their semantic meaning. But whether a vocal piece has a text that has a clear meaning or one
that seems to be nonsense, it still will rely upon the movement of articulators to give it clarity, timbral
variety, and rhythmic definition and propulsion.
THE BIG PICTURE: TEXT AS MOVEMENT
All texts, including nonsensical ones, are made up of arrangements of phonemes, the smallest units
of speech sounds. Phonemes are not the same as the alphabetical symbols each language uses to
spell them; they are the sounds themselves. (For instance, the English words sung, wrung, and tongue
have four, five, and six letters in them, respectively, but each actually consists of only three sounds,
or phonemes.) How do we know that? Because our kinesthesia and hearing cooperate to tell us so.
Earlier in this book you learned that all sound is created by movement and that to change any sound,
you must change the movement in some way. A different movement will always result in a different
sound. Every phoneme, then, is one distinct gesture (that is, one movement or one specific combination
of simultaneous movements) of the articulatory structures of the vocal tract. Each distinct movement
inevitably results in one distinct phoneme.
213

www
Exercise 6–1. Video 6–1. Phonemes as Movements shows this exercise
in action. Try it yourself. Slowly say the English words “mat,” “vat,” and
“that” in succession. Your ears tell you that each is a different word
because each begins with a different sound, or phoneme. Now say them
again, being very attentive to what your kinesthesia tells you about the
movement of your lips and tongue in relation to your upper teeth. You
will perceive that the different sound at the beginning of each word is
created by a different movement — a meeting of the lips for the [m] at
the beginning of “mat,” a touching of the inside of the lower lip to the
upper teeth at the [v] beginning the word “vat,” and the upper surface
of the tongue making contact with the bottom edges of the upper teeth
to form the first sound of “that.” Sound is movement. Because each of
these words rhymes with “at,” ending with the same vowel and consonant
phonemes, each of them also ends with the same two movements forming
those phonemes. What we hear as rhyme, or repeated sound, is actually
repeated movement.
It is crucial that singers understand that integrity of text depends upon integrity of movement.
Classical singers typically sing in many different languages and must learn the complex rules of pronun-
ciation that govern Italian, French, German, and other languages. Many students struggle to memorize
pages and pages of rules, only to discover that even when they have done so, they still do not sound
authentically Italian or German. Most often the problem is that all they have learned is pronuncia-
tion — they have learned to hear and distinguish the proper sounds; however, they have not learned
articulation, the repertoire of movements that will authentically reproduce the pronunciation they
wish to hear.
Most people know that languages are repertoires of particular sounds, but often they forget to
think of them as repertoires of particular movements. French moves differently from English, just as
ballet moves differently from modern dance or tap. And just as similar gestures in different dance styles
are not quite the same, so in different languages similar gestures are not executed in quite the same
way. For instance, the consonant /t/ involves raising the tongue tip up to touch the roof of the mouth
in English, Spanish, and Italian, but in each of the three languages the point of contact, the amount of
the tongue tip used, and the duration of the contact will be subtly different.
Classical singers are not the only ones who must be concerned with understanding the distinc-
tion and the relationship between pronunciation and articulation/movement. Rock singers, country
singers, and blues singers all usually sing in the same language, English. Yet the English used in each of
these styles is noticeably different from the English of the others (not to mention from the English of
classical art songs) because different movement choices are being made. (These different movements
of the articulators also affect the resonance of the vocal tract, as you learned in Chapter 5, creating
characteristic qualities, such as the “twang” of country music. The management of resonance and text
articulation are closely interrelated, because both are fundamentally movement issues and involve
many of the same structures.) Broadway singers also sing mostly (though not exclusively) in a single

6. SINGING AS COMMUNICATION: MAPPING THE STRUCTURES OF ARTICULATION 215
language, but they are called upon to master a wide variety of dialects— in one season of summer stock,
a singing actor might move from Cockney in My Fair Lady to Scots in Brigadoon to Yiddish in Fiddler
on the Roof and finally to Irish or Southern U.S. American in Finian’s Rainbow. A dialect is a particular
way, or habit, of moving the articulators through the basic gestures of a language. Tevye the milkman
and Alfred Doolittle don’t sound alike because they don’t move alike — actors who understand this and
recruit their kinesthesia as well as their ears to help them in dialect work are always better at it than
actors who don’t. Kinesthetic awareness is a huge advantage.
Review Points: Text as Movement
n The human voice is the only instrument capable of delivering a text as well as a musical
sound.
n Texts are made up of arrangements of phonemes, the smallest units of speech sound.
n Each phoneme is produced by one distinct movement, or gesture, of the articulators of
the vocal tract. A different movement will always result in a different sound.
n Phonemes are physical acts; they do not always correspond exactly with the written
symbols (orthographic letters) that are used to represent them to the visual sense in most
languages.
n In the International Phonetic Alphabet, however, each written symbol represents only one
specific gesture of articulators — that is to say, only one specific phoneme.
n Languages are repertoires of particular sounds, which means they are repertoires of
particular physical movements.
n To be expert at singing in any given language, singers must practice and master not only
pronunciation (the selection of the correct sounds), but also articulation (the physical
execution of the movements that will produce those sounds).
THE ESSENTIALS: MAPPING ARTICULATORS
In order to move well in vocal articulation, it is necessary to map the structures that are involved in
those movements. These articulators are the tongue, the jaw, the velum (or soft palate), the hard palate,
the teeth, the lips, and the glottis (Figure 6–1). You have been introduced to many of these structures
already in the previous chapter on resonance, because they are part of the vocal tract, the space whose
shape in large measure determines vocal resonance. Although this book has been divided into separate
chapters on resonance and articulation for the convenience of the reader wishing to focus on one
aspect of singing at a time, to some extent it creates a false dichotomy to suggest that resonance and
articulation can be considered independently of one another in singing.

Hard Palate Teeth
Velum
Lips
Jaw
Tongue
Glottis
Figure 6–1. The vocal tract and articulators. By Benjamin Conable. Copyright
This acknowledgment must be the first element of every singer’s map of articulators. In many
types of instrumental music, articulation and resonance are quite separate processes and even involve
completely different parts of the instrument. For singers, all movements of articulators will have
consequences for resonance; the challenge that faces the singer is to find the movement that both
promotes the clear articulation of the text and enhances the type of resonance desired for that particular
pitch in that particular style of singing. Although the resulting sound will be the criterion for judging
the success of the movement, it will be the precision and the quality of the movement that achieve
that success.

For instance, the position of the tongue has a profound effect upon vocal resonance, because it lies
along almost the entire length of the vocal tract. The tongue is at once the most important articulator
of the vocal instrument and the one that is the most frequently misunderstood. The misunderstandings
usually arise because the tongue is an unusual structure and because we can see only a relatively small
part of it easily. These misunderstandings, or mis-mappings, lead inevitably to many of the common
faults in vocal articulation. Movements of the tongue are involved, either alone or in combination with
other articulators, in the formation of all vowels and many consonants, so if our tongues are poorly
mapped, there are very few phonemes that will not suffer as a result.
Review Points: Mapping Articulators
n The vocal tract is responsible for both resonating and articulating sung sounds. Conse-
quently, choices about either resonation or articulation can affect the other process.
n The structures of vocal articulation are:
n The tongue
n The jaw
n The velum (soft palate)
n The hard palate
n The teeth
n The lips
n The glottis
The Tongue
One thing that surprises many people about the tongue is its size. Because a small part of the tongue,
the dorsum (this is the part of the tongue that contains taste buds for the gustatory sense), is easily
visible when we open our mouths and look in, it is tempting to think that is all there is to it. Actu-
ally, what we can see when we look in our mouths is only about two-thirds of the total length of the
tongue, and a very small part of its total mass. Figure 6–2 shows that the root of the tongue is attached
to the hyoid bone, the same bone from which the larynx is suspended. The root, or vertical part, of
the tongue is about one-third of the length of the dorsum and runs roughly perpendicular to the floor.
The rest of the dorsum (comprising about two-thirds of its length), which anatomists call the body
of the tongue, lies roughly parallel to the floor when the tongue is at rest. The root forms the front of
part of the pharynx, one of our principal vocal resonators. This part of the tongue does not have any
significant articulatory function, and if it works too much during articulating, it can negatively impact
resonance by pulling up on the hyoid (and thus on the larynx) or by moving backward and obstructing
the pharyngeal space.

Figure 6–2. A cross section of the tongue from the right side. From The Body Moveable
(4th ed., p. 224), by D. Gorman, 2002. Guelph, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press.
The tongue is not only longer, but also more massive than many people imagine. The tip, or apex,
of the dorsum that children (and sometimes adults) delight in sticking out of their mouths as a sign
of distaste is very thin and delicate in comparison to most of the muscle. Indeed, it would be more
accurate to say “in comparison to most of the muscles,” because the tongue is actually a complex of
numerous muscles, each capable of moving independently of the others, which have various points of
attachment. For instance, the genioglossus, the bottom element of the tongue visible in Figure 6–2, runs
between the mandible at the back of the chin to the hyoid, but most other muscles of the tongue origi-
nate elsewhere. Yet all these autonomous muscle fibers are intertwined and united within a common
structure that facilitates each doing its part in the common purpose of articulation. You could think of
the tongue as being the United States of the Vocal Tract. The cross section of the tongue in Figure 6–3
shows the depth, as well as the variety, of muscle fibers in the tongue. Different muscle fibers in the
tongue complex curl the tongue upward or downward, make it narrower, furrow it, flatten it, retract

Figure 6–3. A cross section of the tongue from the back. From The Body Moveable (4th ed., p. 224),
by D. Gorman, 2002. Guelph, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press. Copyright 2002. Reprinted with
permission.
it, pull it forward, or arch parts of it upward toward the hard or soft palate. By using these different
muscles in different combinations, an almost infinite number of movements is possible for the tongue,
particularly because (as those children have discovered to their delight) the tongue has a most unusual
attribute for a muscle: it exists to move itself rather than to move a bone. Consequently, many of the
tongue’s muscle fibers are free and unattached at one end, giving it even more flexibility in movement.
One result of this almost infinite variety of movements is an almost infinite variety of phonemes they
create; it’s no wonder that human language encompasses a Babel of many “tongues.”
A complete examination of each one of those phonemes and the movement that creates it belongs
to the realm of phonetics and is beyond the scope of this book. But it is essential that singers under-
stand that every gesture of the tongue produces a specific sound. If you would like to learn more about
the specific movements of a specific sound, you can visit the website of the Visible Speech Project of
the University of British Columbia’s Department of Linguistics (http://enunciate.arts.ubc.ca/linguistics/
introduction-to-phonetics/). One must make the right gesture to have the right sound; it is impossible

to produce a clear [e] vowel if the tongue is in the position for [a]. Many singers, particularly classical
singers who must sing in many languages, have had the frustrating experience of hearing themselves
produce a phoneme that they knew was not the one they wanted but not being able to correct it.
Often the problem is that the singer is trying to hear the error away, as if listening alone would fix
it. Instead, an articulation error must be moved away. Singers who can hear an articulation error don’t
need to improve their hearing; they need to practice unfamiliar movements of the articulators until they
perceive those movements as clearly with their kinesthesia as they can perceive the resulting sounds
with their hearing. Fortunately, the tongue, because of its survival function in eating, is as rich in tactile
and kinesthetic sense receptors as it is in taste receptors, and it is possible for singers to monitor its
movement and position using multiple senses — or to learn to do so.
Review Points: The Tongue

n The tongue lies along almost the entire length of the vocal tract.
n The base of the tongue is attached to the hyoid bone, and the first third of its length
is roughly vertical, comprising the front of the pharynx. This part of the tongue has no
significant role in articulation, but it can affect resonance.
n The part of the tongue that is active in articulation is the body of the tongue, the approxi-
mately two-thirds of the tongue’s length that lies roughly parallel to the floor.
n The tongue is actually a complex of several muscles and has muscle fibers that run in a
variety of directions. These elements can work independently of each other to produce
a large variety of movements. It is not necessary for the entire tongue to move or work
all at the same time.
The Jaw
Like the tongue, the jaw is a relatively large structure among the articulators, and its movement can
drastically impact resonance as well as articulation. However, the jaw is different from the tongue in
very significant ways. First of all, of course, it is bone, not muscle. In fact, the jaw is a single bone (called
the mandible). One of the most common mis-mappings of the jaw is the misconception that human
beings have a pair of movable jaws, each holding a row of teeth, and both moving either away from or
toward one another from some hinge-like joint, like the steel jaws of an animal trap. Singers with this
fantasy always will have neck tension that interferes with their singing because they try to open their
mouths by lifting the maxilla containing their upper teeth (what they think of as their “upper jaw”) up
and back as the mandible swings down and back. To do this, they must use neck muscles to move their
entire skulls, because the maxilla is just a specialized part of the entire bony unit that forms the skull; it
cannot move on its own. As a result, the mechanical advantage of the free balance of the skull on top of
the spine is compromised, the lengthening of the spine during exhalation is inhibited, and the cervical
spine curves more sharply forward, closing off some of the pharyngeal space that otherwise could be
helping with resonance. Furthermore, it’s just plain inefficient; singers who do this are working to move
a comparatively large thing (the skull) to open the mouth. Instead, they could be moving a comparatively
smaller thing (the mandible), often with no work at all but merely by allowing gravity to assist them.

To understand how the jaw properly opens, it is necessary to examine the joint. The jaw meets
the skull at the temporomandibular joints (TMJs). There are two joints, one on each side, just in front of
each ear. Some people are surprised by the location of the joints. They may think the jaw opens from a
point straight back from the chewing surfaces of the teeth or from the angle, the lower posterior corner
where the outer edge of the mandible changes from being roughly horizontal to being roughly vertical,
or even from somewhere behind the ear. Singers who have these fantasies about the jaw in their body
maps will find it very difficult to open their mouths easily and fully, with disastrous consequences to
both articulation and resonance, because they’re trying to open their mouths from some place other
than where the opening actually occurs. A bone can move only at a joint. The temporomandibular
joints form the only point from which the mandible can move, so it is important to be absolutely clear
about their location.
Because the mandible is actually suspended from the skull at the TMJs, it has a wide range of
available movement. (The muscles that do the moving were described already in Chapter 5 on pages
177–184.) The jaw ends on each side in a rounded condyle that meets the temporal bone of the skull
just underneath the zygomatic bone (cheekbone) and just in front of the ear. Between the mandible
and the temporal bone is the meniscus, a band of spongy connective tissue that serves a protective
function similar to that of the discs between the vertebrae of the spine. The simplest movement of the
jaw is the one that the structure most strongly suggests: swinging back and down. As this happens,
the rounded process of the condyle functions much like a pivot. Only gravity is necessary to make this
movement happen — it is allowed, rather than done with muscular work. The masseter muscle, which
runs along the ramus, the vertical plane of the jaw just in front of the TMJ, has to stop working. In
some situations, this degree of opening may be all a singer needs.
Because the joint is not a socket, the condyle also can slide forward along the curve underneath
the zygomatic arch, moving the whole jaw forward in space, and then slide back again. The meniscus
adjusts to accommodate that motion, which takes some muscular work to accomplish. This is a useful
motion for some activities, including biting corn kernels off the cob and other forms of eating, but it
has no use in singing and should be avoided in that context. If you try exaggerating this motion, you
can feel quite easily the resulting tension on neck muscles and the pulling on the larynx, and you will
see why it is not a good idea for singers; to whatever degree one does it, that tension will exist in that
degree. Some people habitually make this motion part of every time they open their mouths. This builds
up a lot of stress on the TMJ, and eventually the meniscus can withdraw backward or erode altogether,
depriving the two bones of their cushion, and then there is trouble with the joint. If the meniscus
has merely withdrawn, the proper function of the joint often can be restored by careful attention to
retraining the movement of the jaw.
A third type of movement is also available at the TMJs: movement from side to side. The jaw is
suspended from the skull, so in addition to swinging down and back, it also can rock slightly from
side to side. Again, this motion is very useful for survival (it is what allows us to grind down fibrous
foods between our molars), but it is unnecessary work when applied to singing.
In the first type of jaw movement described above, the muscles (masseter and temporalis) that
hold the jaw shut by contracting and pulling up simply stop working and the weight of the jaw gives in
to the force of gravity, the mandible swings back and down from the TMJ, and the mouth opens. This
degree of opening is adequate for all purposes of speech articulation and most singing. However, the
mouth certainly can be opened much wider by using the muscles that pull down on the jaw. When they
do this, the condyle rotates more in the TMJ and the jaw swings farther down and back. If the muscles

contract enough, the condyle also travels slightly forward so the rest of the mandible can move even
farther back. (See Figure 5–7 on page 176 in Chapter 5 for a picture of the TMJ’s motion in such cases.)
The result is a much larger mouth opening, which can be useful in the dentist’s chair. It also can be
useful to some singers in some singing styles as a means of adjusting resonance and volume in parts
of the pitch range. That much larger mouth opening, however, isn’t necessary to differentiate an open
vowel such as [a] from a closed vowel such as [i] within the pitch range normally used for speaking and
for many styles of singing (such as Broadway or country) that are essentially speech based. The choice
of whether or not to use this movement is largely one of style or resonance management in specific
individuals. (Remember, there is considerable variation in many of these structures from person to
person; don’t we, in large measure, use facial anatomy and vocal resonance to recognize other humans
as the specific individuals they are?) For many singers, however, this extra jaw opening has become a
habit and has ceased to be a choice. When it is employed all the time, for any type of singing, distorted
vowels invariably result.
In styles and situations where using the jaw openers is appropriate, it is important for the singer
to make sure that the masseter and other muscles that close the jaw are fully released. Otherwise, there
will be unnecessary tension as the two sets of muscles work in opposition to one another. Besides the
wasted effort and the stress on the TMJ, the problem that such co-contraction creates in articulation
is rigidity and slowness; no articulator can move quickly and fluently if it is being pulled in two direc-
tions at once.
The final point to make about the jaw brings us back to the tongue. Although they seem to inhabit
the same space in the head, with the dorsum of the tongue cradled inside the arch of the mandible,
usually in contact with its teeth, singers must realize that the two are actually highly autonomous and
can move very independently of each other. The tongue can move up while the jaw moves down, or
it can move up while the jaw goes nowhere at all. The tongue can even pull down while the masseter
and temporalis pull the jaw upward, although that is a recipe for very effortful, inefficient singing.
Singers need to be able to differentiate the movements of the tongue from the movements of the jaw
in exquisite detail if they want their diction to be clear and precise. A [k] will never sound like a [k]
unless the back of the tongue rises high enough to touch the soft palate. But if the jaw comes along,
unnecessary work results because the muscles that close the jaw can’t make that sound (the [k] move-
ment is the back of the tongue and the soft palate making firm contact and then springing apart; all
the jaw work in the world will never make a [k]). And then the jaw still has to be re-released for the
vowel that follows. It could have stayed released to gravity all along and let the tongue and the soft
palate do all the work.
Review Points: The Jaw
n The jawbone, or mandible, is suspended from the skull at the temporomandibular joints
(TMJs), located just in front of the ears. The mandible contains the lower teeth.
n The movement of the mandible at the TMJs is what brings the lower teeth into contact
with the upper teeth to close the mouth or to chew.
n The upper teeth are embedded in the maxilla, which is part of the skull. The only way to
move the maxilla is to move the entire skull, which is much more work than is necessary
for vocal articulation.

n The masseter and temporalis muscles must stop working in order for the mandible to
open. Completely releasing these muscles should allow gravity to cause the mandible
to swing down and back, opening the mouth. This opening is sufficient for speech articu-
lation and for much singing.
n Other muscles (principally the digastrics) can open the jaw further. Depending upon pitch
and musical style, that may be desirable for resonance management; however, it is not
necessary merely to achieve an “open” vowel.
n The tongue and jaw can and should move independently of each other.
The Velum
The musculature of the velum, or soft palate, has been described already in Chapter 5, where its
function in resonation was examined. The velum is also an important articulator. When the velum is
working, it closes off the nasal passages from the rest of the vocal tract, which is important for reso-
nance in some singing styles and less important in others. However, some phonemes require resonance
in the nasal passages, no matter what the singing style. These include the nasal continuants [m], as in
the final phoneme of the word sum; [n] as in sun; and [ŋ] as in the word sung.
www
Exercise 6–2. Media 6–2. Articulation of Nasal Continuants shows this
exercise in action. Say “sum” and “sung” slowly and notice again that
each of these words has only three phonemes; what makes each compre-
hensible as a distinct word is a different movement at the end. In the
first, the lips come together to form [m]. You can see in a mirror that the
mouth opening is completely shut. The air you are exhaling from your
lungs and using to vibrate the vocal folds has to exit your body somehow.
The usual route through the mouth is blocked, so it has to take a detour.
The velum releases down, allowing air to be redirected through your
nasal passages instead. If you sing the word “sum” and sustain the [m]
phoneme, you probably will feel vibration in your nasal passages as the
sound waves travel through. Now, do the same thing again, only this
time, as you are sustaining the [m], use your hand to pinch your nostrils
firmly shut. The sound will stop, because there is no way for it to leave
your body, either through your mouth or your nose.
Now say the word “sung” in alternation with the word “sum” and
notice the different movements at the ends of the words. Your kinesthetic
and tactile senses should tell you just as clearly as your auditory sense
that “sung” ends differently from “sum.” In contrast with “sum,” where
the mouth is closed by the lips touching, at the end of “sung” the back of
the tongue rises to meet the velum as it descends. You can feel this move-
ment kinesthetically, and you can feel the contact of the two structures

tactilely and, further, if you have a mirror handy, you can use your
visual sense and watch it because the mouth is open. The meeting of
the tongue and velum also close off the mouth as a possible exit for the
vibration and the air, even though the lips are open, and again the air
must detour through the nasal passages. This is the movement of the [ŋ]
phoneme. The two sounds, [m] and [ŋ], share a common movement, the
lowering of the velum; it is the shared movement element (we might think
of that as their “family resemblance”) that classifies them both as nasal
continuants. What distinguishes them as individual sounds within that
phonetic family are the movements they do not share: only in [m] do the
lips meet, and only in [ŋ] does the back of the tongue rise to make contact
with the lowered velum.
The Hard Palate
The velum is often called the soft palate. This usage can give rise to some confusion. In phonetics the
adjective palatal always refers to another articulator, the hard palate, whereas velar always refers to
the velum, or soft palate. The palate, or hard palate, is the bony structure immediately in front of the
soft palate; it is part of the skull and forms the roof, or dome, of the mouth and the floor of the nasal
passages. Confusion about movement results when singers start thinking about two palates — to which
point of contact is the tongue moving, the one farther forward or the one farther back? On the other
hand, the labels “hard” and “soft” can be useful to remind yourself that the (hard) palate is (hard) bone
covered by a thin layer of tissue and cannot be moved independently of the entire skull, and that the
velum, or soft palate, is (soft) muscular tissue and thus can move. (You can feel this distinction with
your tactile sense by palpating the entire top of your mouth with your tongue tip, beginning at your
upper teeth and working backward.) In palatal sounds (for example, the enye in Spanish or the ich-Laut
in German), the blade of the tongue moves up to a position that, depending on exactly which palatal
phoneme is in question, is either in contact with or else in close proximity to the (hard) palate, while
the tip of the tongue remains pointing downward, in contact with the lower incisors. Other languages,
including Latin, Italian, French, Spanish, and German, are richer in palatal phonemes than is English,
so native English speakers attempting to sing in these languages often have particular trouble with
those sounds — not only because they sound unfamiliar, but because they feel unfamiliar. They don’t
know those movements and execute them awkwardly, just as they might when first attempting new,
unfamiliar dance steps.
The Teeth and Alveolar Ridge
The teeth are used in articulation, but like the hard palate they don’t move to form phonemes. Instead,
other articulators move in relationship to them. The tongue and lips approach or contact the teeth

to shape or obstruct the stream of exhaled air. The lower teeth are embedded in the mandible and
will move if (and only if) it does, so their movement is determined by the movement at the TMJs. In
singing all vowel phonemes, the tongue tip should be in easy contact with the inside surfaces of the
lower incisors, but the rest of the dorsum will move to a different position for each individual vowel.
The upper teeth are embedded in the maxilla and, like it, cannot be moved without moving the entire
skull; instead, other structures approach them. For instance, the inside surface of the lower lip reaches
up to make light contact with the upper incisors for [f] and [v], whereas for the initial phonemes of
this and think, the front part of the tongue reaches up to touch the bottom surfaces of the upper teeth,
spreading to extend slightly beyond them.
One set of movements involving the teeth is of particular interest to those who sing in several
languages other than English. In the Romance languages (Latin, Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese,
and others), the phonemes [d], [n], [t], and [ l ] all involve the tongue tip rising and making contact with
the upper front incisors. (Some of those phonemes require additional movements of other structures
or other parts of the tongue as well.) This articulation on the teeth is easy to remember by noticing
that the four consonant phonemes are the four found in the English word dental, referring to teeth.
However, despite the handy English mnemonic for this movement, in English and other Germanic
languages, these very same phonemes are not articulated on the teeth. Instead, the tongue tip rises to
touch the alveolar ridge, the part of the hard palate that is a couple of millimeters immediately behind
the upper teeth, before the palate arches up to form the vault of the roof of the mouth. This slight
but important difference in movement is the cause of the differing character of the sound of these
phonemes in Romance and in Germanic languages; singers must observe the distinction or they will
never sound authentic in one linguistic family or the other.
Review Points: The Velum, Hard Palate, and Teeth
n The velum is often called the soft palate, because it is movable (soft) tissue. This muscular
tissue lies behind the hard palate and moves to close off the nasal passages from the rest
of the vocal tract.
n Certain phonemes require nasal resonance. To articulate these phonemes clearly, the
velum must lower enough to allow sound access to the nasal passages.
n Phonetics applies the label “velar” to articulations that use the soft palate, or velum, in
relation to the tongue. The label “palatal” always refers to the hard palate.
n The hard palate is a bony structure and forms part of the skull, separating the oral cavity
(mouth) from the nasal cavities.
n Palatal phonemes are formed by the tongue moving in relation to the hard palate.
n The upper teeth are embedded in the maxilla and, like it, cannot be moved without moving
the entire skull.
n The role of teeth in articulation is for other articulators to move in relation to them.
n In Romance languages, the tongue articulates the phonemes [d], [n], [t], and [ l ] by making
contact with the upper teeth. In Germanic languages, including English, the tongue articu-
lates these phonemes on the alveolar ridge instead.

The Lips
The movement of the lips plays an important role in the formation of certain phonemes. However, a
common mis-mapping of the lips often interferes with clear and efficient articulation of these sounds.
That mis-mapping is the mistaken notion that “the lips” are only the two small areas around the mouth
covered with a specialized mucous membrane and frequently also with lipstick. The lip muscle, called
the orbicularis oris, is actually a single ring of muscle. The inside edge of the ring is free and forms
the opening of the mouth, whereas the outer edge is connected to the bony structure of the face only
at two points on the centerline of the face. These two points are about halfway down the chin, below
the roots of the lower front incisors, and at the base of the nose, above the upper incisors. So when
the orbicularis oris muscle works, the contraction brings the outer edges of the ring closer together
and flares the inner edges forward, away from the maxilla and mandible, forming a sort of tube that
extends the vocal tract, thus making the distance between the source of the vocal vibration (the vocal
folds) and the outside air longer. This forward extension can be well over an inch, which is an enor-
mous change in the shape and length of the resonator relative to the size of the vibrator of the vocal
instrument (the vocal folds, which are usually between 10 and 18 millimeters in length).
As with other articulatory movements, extending the vocal tract also has consequences for reso-
nance, but at present we are concerned with the significance of the movement for the articulation of
text. In English, there is a series of vowels that phoneticians call back vowels because the position
of the back of the dorsum of the tongue relative to the roof of the mouth is an important factor in the
integrity of the vowel. However, each of these vowels also requires some activation of the lip muscle
to lengthen the vocal tract by extending it forward. The more “closed” these vowels are, the more the
orbicularis oris muscle will contract, moving the outer corners of the mouth in toward the centerline
of the face, bringing the lips farther forward, and extending the vocal tract in front of the teeth. This
motion will reach its greatest extent for [u] (as in “true”), the most closed of the back vowels.
Keep in mind, however, that [u] is called the “most closed” of the back vowels because in this vowel
the back of the tongue is the closest to the roof of the mouth, somewhat closing that space, and not
because the opening of the lips of the mouth is closed. Many singers make the mistake of pursing their
lips into tiny little openings for the [u]. Generally, when they do this they fail to extend the lips very
far forward; indeed, some of them press their lips tightly against their teeth. As a result, the [u] vowel
sounds squeezed or constricted. The important motion of the lips in all rounded vowels is forward,
not close together. Singers who let their lips flow forward for rounded vowels will gain more options
for balancing resonance, and they will be able to articulate with more speed, clarity, and ease.
Review Points: The Lips

n The lips are a single ring of muscle, the orbicularis oris.
n When the orbicularis oris muscle works, the contraction brings the outer edges of the ring
closer together and flares the inner edges forward, forming a tube that extends the vocal tract.
n The important motion of the lips in all rounded vowels is forward, not close together.

The Vocal Folds
The vocal folds themselves are the last articulator we must consider. The musical function of the vocal
folds is phonation, or the production of musical pitch, as discussed in Chapter 4. Many phonemes
require vocal fold vibration; that is to say, they require pitch. These phonemes are called voiced
phonemes and include all vowels and the voiced consonants.
www
Exercise 6–3. Media 6–3. Voiced/Unvoiced Cognates shows this exer-
cise in action. Try this experiment: With your fingers, find your thyroid
cartilage and rest your thumb and index finger gently but firmly on
each side of the projecting cartilage. Now say the word “fan,” greatly
elongating the [f] sound. You’ll notice that air is flowing as soon as you
start the [f], then at the beginning of the vowel, you also will feel vibra-
tion underneath your fingers; that vibration will continue through the
[n], the voiced consonant that ends the word. Compare that experience
with speaking the word “van” with a similarly elongated [v] sound. This
time you’ll notice that the vibration under your fingers starts as soon as
the airflow does, because [v] is a voiced consonant. Now alternate the
words “fan” and “van,” noticing not only the voice but also the move-
ment of the lower lip in relation to the upper teeth. In both [f] and [v], the
inside surface of the lower lip reaches up and makes light contact with
the bottom of the upper incisors. The only difference between the two
sounds is the movement of the vibrating vocal folds (for [v]), or the lack
thereof (for [f]). When two articulatory movements are identical except
that one has vocal fold vibration and one does not, phoneticians call the
resulting sounds cognates. The voiced cognate of [f] is [v]; the unvoiced
cognate of [v] is [f].
Singers must include the vibration of the vocal folds in their maps of the movements required for
all the voiced phonemes in their texts. At the same time, they must know that the vocal folds must stop
vibrating in order to make all the unvoiced phonemes. Some singers have unclear diction, particularly
when they are trying to sing legato, because they assume that their vocal folds must be vibrating all
the time that they are “singing.” They have mistakenly equated phonation and singing. Phonation is
part of singing, but an effective singing performance using language also includes sounds that are not
phonated. Consonants that should be unvoiced (such as [f], [k], [t], [s], and those troublesome German
fricatives [x] and [ç], among others) will be muffled, glossed over, or turned into entirely different sounds
whenever singers attempt to keep phonating through sounds that should not be phonated.
It is equally problematic when singers don’t clearly acknowledge that the vocal folds’ movement
of phonation is part of the movement required for voiced consonants such as [v], [g], [d], [z], [ l ], [m], [r],

and others. This means that every one of those voiced consonants will be produced with a particular
pitch. Singers who don’t understand that will not be able to consciously and deliberately choose
the pitch at which a voiced consonant sounds, and they will not be able to use that choice to their
advantage technically. For instance, inadvertent failure to phonate voiced consonants at a pitch that is
related to surrounding vowels can have disastrous consequences for intonation. Many a choir and its
conductor have spent a great deal of rehearsal time laboriously tuning the vowel of an “Amen” chord,
only to discover that in performance the final chord never settles immediately because the singers
never practiced tuning the [m]!
Not mapping the vibration of the vocal folds as part of voiced consonants can have equally grave
consequences for communication. Though it is not true in English, for proper comprehension in some
other languages (such as Italian or Norwegian), it is crucial that both consonants in an orthographic
double consonant always be observed appropriately, whether with separate movements or a single
gesture of extended duration. If the double consonant is a voiced consonant, each consonant in the
double must have pitch. If the pitch of the musical melody changes from one syllable to the next,
then the singer will have to make a decision about the pitch to assign to each consonant. Singers who
aren’t attuned to voicing as part of the articulation of those consonants may fail to make the choice
appropriate to that particular language or situation and thus fail to be clearly understood.
Exercise 6–4. Here’s an example of how a singer, ignoring the pitch of

consonants, can unwittingly say something quite different from what he
meant, turning a deeply touching moment into unintended comedy. In
the famous aria “Una furtiva lagrima” from Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore
(The Elixir of Love), the tenor, Nemorino, has just discovered that the
soprano he has been pining for throughout the entire opera actually does
love him, too. He sings “M’ama [she loves me!], sì, m’ama, lo vedo [yes,
she loves me, I see it].” The first “M’ama” begins on an F, and the second
syllable is on a D-flat. That second syllable of “M’ama” begins with an
[m] phoneme, which is a voiced phoneme and therefore has to have pitch.
The pitch should be the same D-flat as the subsequent vowel. However,
many inexperienced tenors (even a few on commercial recordings who
should know better) will close their lips to form the [m] while they are
still phonating the F pitch, move to D-flat, and then open to the vowel.
When they do this, the central [m] articulation has two pitches, so an
Italian-speaking audience hears the first syllable ending with an [m]
and the second syllable beginning with an [m]. The word they hear isn’t
“M’ama”; instead, they hear “Mamma” — and they will laugh at the poor
sap who, at the moment he discovers that the woman he desires can be
www
his, suddenly calls for his Mommy. Video 6–4. Pitch and Voiced Conso-
nants demonstrates this illustration.
Opera singers are not the only vocal artists who need to be concerned with the pitch of voiced
phonemes. Excellent jazz singers achieve a number of important stylistic effects by playing with the

pitches of voiced consonants. Sometimes they deliberately choose to place a voiced consonant on a
pitch that is different from that of the vowel that follows to give the phrase a more languid or sultry
feeling or to make the note sound a little more “blue.” In scat improvisation, the singer’s choice of
voiced consonant phonemes that carry a pitch, or unvoiced consonant phonemes that do not, will have
a marked effect on the character of the entire improvisation.
There are two more ways in which singers use the vocal folds themselves in articulation. In all
the voiced phonemes, the vocal folds work in concert with other articulators. In [m], for instance, the
vocal folds vibrate at the same time as the lips come together and the velum lowers to allow access
to the nasal passages, while for [u], the vocal folds vibrate while the lips round and the back of the
tongue rises. However, in two particular phonemes, the vocal folds themselves are the only articulators
necessary to form the sounds. The first of these sounds is the glottal stop, in which the vocal folds
press together, closing the glottis while the singer or speaker begins, or continues, to exhale. There is a
momentary silence as the subglottal air pressure builds until it is great enough to force the vocal folds
back open. When this happens, there is a small explosive sound before a vowel begins as the vocal
folds start to vibrate. (As you learned in Chapter 4, however, the vocal folds are quite tiny structures,
so it is important to map the size of the concepts “pressure,” “force,” and “explosive” in an appropriate
way that is commensurate with the size of the structure involved. The next exercise will give you some
opportunities to explore how little effort you can get away with and still make your text clear.) The
glottal stop is a legitimate phoneme in some languages, and is never used in others. In some languages,
like Hawaiian, it is actually represented by an orthographic symbol; the apostrophe in careful spell-
ings of Hawai’i or the famous humuhumunukunukuapua’a fish of the 1930s pop song “My Little Grass
Shack” represents a glottal stop. Germanic languages, including English, also use the glottal stop,
but they don’t have an orthographic symbol for it. Still, it is important for clear communication.
However, in Romance languages, such as Italian or Spanish, the glottal stop is incorrect, and to sing
effectively in those languages English speakers generally have to be trained to stop making this move-
ment at the beginning of words that start with a vowel.
www
Exercise 6–5. Media 6–5. Glottal Stop shows this exercise in action. You
can experience the glottal stop by saying very emphatically the collo-
quial American phrase “Uh-uh!” with the meaning, “No way! Not in a
million years!” Before each vowel, there will be a slight glottal stop. To see
how this sound is necessary for English communication, try saying the
English phrases “a nice man” and “an ice man” aloud several times in
succession. You will hear that to distinguish the two phrases clearly, it is
necessary to insert a glottal stop in the latter phrase at the beginning of
the word “ice,” but you also may find that you can articulate the glottal
stop more lightly than you expected.
The second common articulation formed solely at the glottis is the unvoiced fricative [h]. To
produce this sound, the vocal folds are held still in a position that is almost closed, and air is blown
through the narrow opening of the glottis. The friction against the vocal folds of the air passing through
the glottis produces the sound. The important point to remember is that to produce an [h] phoneme,

the vocal folds have to stop vibrating and hold still. Singers who are clear on that point will be much
less likely to fall into a habit of inserting unwanted [h] sounds between different pitches sung to the
same syllable; they’ll understand that stopping the vocal fold vibration in the middle of a vowel will
disturb the legato of the musical phrase. Conductors who are clear on that point will not be puzzled
when choristers who are asked to articulate melismatic passages with inserted [h] phonemes tend to
slow down; the singers are being asked to constantly stop and restart the vocal folds between every
pitch and it tends to slow their progress, just as turning a car engine on and off would slow the progress
of the vehicle. (Of course, if [h] insertions in coloratura truly are required for artistic reasons, the feat
can be achieved, but singers should understand just what they’re being asked to do.)
Review Points: The Vocal Folds
n Many phonemes require vocal fold vibration. These phonemes are called voiced phonemes
and include all vowels and the voiced consonants.
n When two articulatory movements are identical except that one has vocal fold vibration
and one does not, phoneticians call the two resulting sounds cognates. There are many
cognate pairs of voiced and unvoiced consonants, for instance, [v] and [f].
n All voiced phonemes, voiced consonants as well as vowels, must be produced with pitch.
Singers must choose with care the frequency, or pitch, at which a voiced consonant sounds
in order to enhance the effectiveness of their performances.
n The glottal stop is an important phoneme in some languages and does not exist in others.
In many languages that do employ it, including English, it has no orthographic symbol;
nevertheless, it can be crucial to meaning.
n The unvoiced glottal fricative [h] results when the vocal folds are held still in a position that
is almost closed and air is blown through the narrow opening of the glottis between them.
THE DETAILS: STYLE ISSUES, OR THE “ART” OF ARTICULATION
Choices in articulation are one of the primary means by which style in vocal music can be achieved.
Now that we have examined the articulators and their movements, we can look at a few of the common
challenges in vocal articulation and a few of the differing movement choices that are made in different
styles of singing. Because the articulators can make an almost infinite variety of movements, we will
not have space in this chapter to cover every possible issue.
Aspiration
An aspiration is a little burst of unvoiced air that accompanies the articulation of a particular phoneme.
In English and other Germanic languages, unvoiced plosive consonant sounds ([p], [t], and [k]) often
aspirate. Words that end with these sounds have a tiny rush of air after the explosion of the conso-
nant itself. Words that begin with these consonant sounds usually have a little burst of escaping air

between the consonant and the subsequent vowel. You can experience both of these phenomena in
the English word cat.
www
Exercise 6–6. Media 6–6. Aspiration shows this exercise in action. To
explore aspiration, cut a small strip of ordinary notebook paper or copy
paper, about as wide and as long as your thumb. Grasping it at the lower
end, hold it upright about three inches in front of your mouth. Now say
the word “cat” clearly and distinctly. The paper strip will bend away from
your mouth twice, at the end of each consonant sound. No matter how
long you stretch out the vowel, or how loudly you say it, the paper strip
will not move during the vowel. It is the aspirations of air that move the
paper strip, and the vowel is not aspirated.
Not all consonants need to be aspirated, either. If you replace the
final consonant in “cat” and try the exercise again with the word “can,”
you will see that the paper strip now moves only once, at the beginning
of the word. Unlike [t], the [n] phoneme is not aspirated. Try comparing
what the paper strip does when you alternate “cat” and “can.”
Even phonemes that often aspirate don’t always do so. Now add
an [s] sound to the beginning of “can” and say “scan.” In “scan,” the [k]
sound of the letter C loses aspiration and the paper strip hardly wavers.
Repeat “scan” a few times, watching the paper strip. Next try to aspirate
the [k] phoneme in “scan” to make your paper strip move. You’ll find that
you can do this, but now, with the aspiration, the word sounds distorted
and overemphatic.
This is precisely the situation in which native speakers of English often find themselves when they
must sing in Romance languages, such as Latin, Italian, Spanish, and others. Their movement habits
in forming aspirated plosive consonants differ from the movements of the language in which they
are attempting to sing. In Romance languages, plosive consonants are not aspirated. Young singers
learning “Caro mio ben” as their first classical art song, or volunteer church choirs starting a Credo
movement from a Mass, likely will make the same mistake, aspirating the opening [k] phoneme, unless
the teacher or conductor has carefully trained them in an unfamiliar way of articulating a [k]. To those
who understand the “style” of these languages, such singers will sound angry or foolishly pedantic, just
as you probably felt you did in the exercise with the strip of paper when you were over-aspirating the
[k] sound in the word scan. That’s hardly the image we want to cultivate when tenderly singing, “My
dear treasure,” or confidently proclaiming, “I believe in one true God”!
Choral conductors and voice teachers can unintentionally make these articulation errors worse by
using catchphrases like “Really spit out those consonants!” There are things that an individual can spit
out, but most of them don’t belong on the concert platform, and a consonant certainly is not among
them. A consonant is merely a motion of articulators; there’s nothing to project. What these teachers
and conductors really want is for the motions of articulation to be made with greater precision and

perhaps with more vigor. But using images of spitting inevitably causes the singers to think in terms
of expelling something, and usually the result is greater aspiration as they attempt to expel extra air
with ever greater force. Consequently, their Italian or Latin or French sounds ever more Americanized,
which serves the music poorly (and probably makes the teacher or conductor ever more frustrated).
Incidentally, the ability to sing well in Romance languages is not exclusively a requirement of clas-
sical singing. Romance languages figure in Broadway musicals from South Pacific to Light in the Piazza.
Two Romance languages (Spanish and French) are official languages of the United States’ neighbors
in North America, and much of the popular music market in North America, even in the United States
itself, is for vocal music in those languages. No one who aspirates unvoiced plosives in Spanish is ever
going to have any credibility as a salsa singer.
Aspiration in Melismatic Singing

There is another issue concerning aspiration and articulation, and that is the insertion of [h] sounds
(which are aspirations, or bursts of unvoiced air) in between separate pitches that are sung on the
same vowel in the same syllable, whether the syllable covers just two pitches or is a big melisma eight
measures long from a Rossini aria or a gospel solo. Whether or not it is desirable to do this is largely
a question of musical and historical style and sometimes of personal artistic preference. In some
historical styles of music, such as Baroque and Renaissance, questions of performance practice can be
very complex and, despite the (often conflicting) pronouncements of numerous experts, still are not
always well understood or universally agreed upon. Singers who are active in these styles often need
to be able to sing a given work or passage several different ways, depending on which maestro or
musicologist is in charge of any particular performance.
What is important to remember, however, is that the [h] sound is unvoiced; that is, the vocal fold
vibrations must completely stop in order to make it. Therefore, it is not possible to sing a completely
legato melisma with inserted [h] aspirations that are not part of the phonemes of the actual word; if
legato is the highest artistic value for a particular phrase, piece, or style, then the singer must take
care to achieve precision of pitch or intonation without resorting to [h] insertions. On the other hand,
because the vocal folds must stop vibrating and hold still to form an [h], every singer will always be
able to sing a melisma faster legato than with [h] insertions, because the vocal folds can accelerate
or decelerate between the pitches without coming to a dead halt in between them. So, if speed is the
paramount need, a legato run will be easier, and skillful singers should be able to tune a legato run
as exactly as an aspirated one. Sometimes, however, legato is not the desired sound for the style of a
given piece of music, and singers will need to practice techniques of aspirated singing. They stand
a better chance of being successful if they have mapped the structures involved.
Shadow Vowels
A shadow vowel is a phenomenon somewhat similar to an aspirated consonant; both are caused by an
extra puff of air after a consonant articulation is released. When a word ends with a voiced consonant
phoneme, such as [b], [n], [v], or [d], and the singer continues to exhale and phonate after releasing
the gesture of the articulators that forms that particular phoneme, the continued phonation is heard as

a transitory vowel sound, or shadow vowel. For instance, if a singer finishes a hymn with an “Amen”
and does not stop phonating exactly at (or, preferably, even before) the point at which she releases
the gesture of the [n] by letting the tongue tip drop back down from the alveolar ridge to its resting
position at the lower incisors, as the tongue leaves the alveolar ridge, a shadow vowel will be heard
until the voice “shuts off” when the vocal folds stop vibrating. Instead of “A-men,” the congregation
will hear something like “A-men-uh!” This is a coordination and timing issue. To avoid final shadow
vowels, singers must learn not to release the consonant gesture of the articulators until the vocal folds
stop vibrating, which they will do when the exhalation ends. On the other hand, in some instances,
particularly in large halls with dry acoustics and no amplification, some singers may find it useful to
cultivate small, short shadow vowels to help them project a final voiced plosive. Whatever the effect
they decide to choose, singers should remember that making choices about shadow vowels means
making choices about the coordinated timing of movement.
A shadow vowel also can be created between consonants if the singer does not carefully coordinate
movement from one consonant phoneme to the next and lets the gesture of a vowel briefly intervene
(often, but not invariably, by letting the tongue drop) between two adjoining consonant phonemes. This
occurrence is especially common among non-native speakers and singers of English, because English
has many instances of adjacent voiced consonant phonemes, and many other languages, especially
Romance languages like Spanish and Italian, typically interpose vowels between consonant phonemes.
When such singers bring their accustomed movement patterns to articulating the English language,
utterances like “I love-a-you! I’m-a-going-a-to-give-a-you-some-a-thing-a-now” are created. The resulting
accent may well strike the hearer as charming, endearing, or seductive, but it’s still an accent. Singers
wanting to correct this habit and sing in perfect Standard English (whether Standard American stage
dialect or British Received Pronunciation) will need to practice moving directly and quickly from one
consonant articulation to another without intervening gestures that might create a vowel.
Of course, sometimes singers will not want to sing in Standard English, and artful employment
of shadow vowels is a useful tool in creating convincing accents or dialects. Sometimes they are even
essential to the musical integrity of vernacular styles of music. For instance, the classic spiritual “Ain’t-
a-That Good News” would be inconceivable without the many shadow vowels of the dialect; they are
in large measure the very reason for the work’s rhythmic vitality.
Review Points: Aspiration and Shadow Vowels
n An aspiration is a little burst of unvoiced air that accompanies the articulation of a

particular phoneme.
n In some languages, aspiration is a normal part of articulation, while in others it is abnormal
or incorrect. Consequently, attention to aspiration is necessary for stylistic effectiveness.
n A shadow vowel is a transitory vowel sound created when a singer releases the articulatory
gesture of a voiced consonant while continuing to phonate.
n In English, shadow vowels most typically characterize dialectical articulations.
n Singers who wish to avoid shadow vowels must learn not to release the consonant gesture
of the articulators until the vocal folds stop vibrating.
n Sometimes shadow vowels can be useful for reasons of acoustic projection, dialectical
characterization, or musical style.

Diphthongs
A diphthong is two vowel phonemes in succession in the same syllable, hence the name, which comes
from the Greek terms for “two” (di-) and “sound” (phthongos). Because there are two sounds, by now
it should be clear to you that there must be two movements or gestures of the articulators; otherwise,
there couldn’t be two sounds. A diphthong, then, is all about movement; it is what you get when the
articulators are moving from one vowel to another in the same syllable.
Exercise 6–7. To experience the movement inherent in a diphthong,

call out an enthusiastic “Hi!” as if you’ve just been greeted by a friend
you were pleasantly surprised to see. Your kinesthetic and tactile senses
may immediately tell you that the dorsum of your tongue moves up and
forward in the course of the vowel, which is actually a diphthong; it starts
as an [a], but then your tongue moves to the more arched position of the
vowel [I], as in “him,” before finishing the word. If you are having trouble
perceiving this movement kinesthetically, use your visual sense to watch
your tongue by holding a hand mirror up in front of your mouth. You’ll
www
see the up-and-forward movement of the dorsum very clearly. Video 6–7.
Movement of the [aI] Diphthong shows this movement.
Typically, the first vowel of a diphthong is of longer duration than the second. (Some phoneticians
make a distinction of duration by calling two vowels in the same syllable in a long-short arrangement
a diphthong but two vowels in the same syllable in a short-long arrangement, as in the English word
you, a glide.) The first problematic issue concerning diphthongs is that of timing. Allowing the articu-
lators to move too soon to the second position in a diphthong or to stay there too long distorts the
word and creates the impression of dialect. (This movement habit is typical of many speech dialects
of the southern United States, for instance.) Even many singers who do not speak this way may find
themselves doing it in singing, because virtually all syllables last longer in singing than they do in
speech. (Only in the most rapid patter songs, à la Gilbert and Sullivan, do the words proceed at a pace
comparable to, or faster than, most speech.) So singers may find themselves having to relearn how to
time the elements of a diphthong to fit what may seem to them like slow-motion articulation.
Another problem concerning diphthongs is having them where they don’t belong. There are many
situations in which this issue might arise, but one of the most common concerns the pure closed [o] and [e]
vowels found in French, German, and Italian. These sounds are problematic for English speakers, because
they do not exist in English as pure monophthong vowels. Instead, they exist in English only as the first
elements of diphthongs. For instance, the English homophones lo and low, though spelled with a different
number of orthographic symbols, both consist of three phonemes, the consonant [l] and the diphthong [oU].
If you watch your mouth very carefully in a mirror as you say the words, you will see that your lips round
farther forward just as the word finishes. That last movement of articulators creates a new vowel, [U], which
ends the word, and that movement is the second element of the diphthong. The English diphthong [eI], as
in lay, or the name of the orthographic letter A, works much the same way. If you watch in your mirror
as you say the word or the letter name, you’ll see that the dorsum of the tongue rises at the end of the
word (just as it did in Hi in Exercise 6–7), and that movement makes the second vowel of the diphthong.

But many other languages have pure versions of the vowels [o] and [e]. Americans who bring
their movement habits in these vowels to Spanish will be marked immediately as gringos by their
diphthongs. Many an American soprano has paid a lot of money to work with a vocal coach on her
rendition of “O mio babbino caro,” only to hear the coach say over and over, “I hear diphthongs at
the ends of your words! That doesn’t sound Italian!” The problem is, frequently the soprano hears
the diphthongs as well as the coach does; she just has no idea how to make them go away. Merely
by paying attention to her kinesthesia, or by using a mirror and watching to make sure there was no
extra movement of the lips at the end of each of the final [o] vowels in the title phrase, she could fix
the problem herself and save time and money by leaving her coach only the deeper issues of style and
artistry still to address.
www
Exercise 6–8. Media 6–8. Vive la Différence shows this exercise in action.
Try this experiment: Let’s consider the English homophones “bow” (as in
Cupid’s bow and arrows) and “beau,” a synonym for boyfriend. Using
a hand mirror, watch yourself carefully as you speak these words. You
will see that, right at the end of the word, there is an extra rounding
forward of the lips, almost as if you were preparing to be kissed (perhaps
not an inappropriate response to the thought of a beau!). It is that extra
rounding that makes the second sound, [U], of the [oU] diphthong in
“bow” or “beau.” The lips are already somewhat rounded for [o], but
when they move farther forward into a more rounded position before
releasing the word, the sound changes briefly to [U] before ceasing alto-
gether, and a diphthong is formed.
Now, in contrast, the French word “beau” (which means “hand-
some” or “beautiful”) from which we appropriated our colloquial word
for a suitor or boyfriend (presumably at least the lady in the case would
consider her boyfriend “handsome”) is correctly pronounced with no
diphthong. Although it looks just like the English word descended from
it, the two do not sound alike. Using your mirror to help you pay atten-
tion visually as well as kinesthetically, say the word “beau” as we do in
English, and watch your lips move from the [o] position, already some-
what rounded, to the more-rounded [U] position. Now speak again, but
this time do not allow your lips to move from where they begin the vowel;
stop the sound without moving your lips and leave them in the [o] position
even past the time you no longer hear your voice. The word will sound
different, and quite possibly you will find that different sound strange
to your ear. That sound will be much more authentically French because
you have made a much more authentically French movement. Vive la
différence! The diphthong has disappeared because you have not made
a second movement; without a second movement of some articulator, a
diphthong is not possible. So when English-speaking singers try to master
what used to be called “a foreign language,” they have to learn a reper-
toire of movements and a style of moving that are foreign to them.

Review Points: Diphthongs
n A diphthong is two vowel phonemes in succession in the same syllable. A diphthong is

always created by two movements of articulators.
n If a diphthong is unwanted, the way to eliminate it is to use attention to kinesthesia to
prevent the second movement.
n Diphthongs are a normal part of the sounds of most languages, but their treatment and
orthography often differ markedly from language to language.
Articulation and Communication:

Clarity, Precision, Style, and Character
Singers may need to learn new habits of moving articulators even when they are singing in their own
language. English exists in many dialects and subdialects, and often these different styles of moving
through the basic gestures of English articulation are an important determining factor in what we
vaguely call style in vocal music. An Elizabethan madrigal, a Handel aria, a Gilbert and Sullivan patter
song, a blues, a Broadway standard, a traditional spiritual, and a rock anthem each has a different vocal
style. There are numerous factors involved in differentiating a style, but one important factor in each
of these styles is the manner and clarity with which text is articulated. A singer who uses exactly the
same kind of articulations in an art song by an English Romantic composer as in a country-western
ballad is going to sound as unstylistic as would a fiddler playing the Elgar Violin Concerto with the
same kind of movements as in “The Orange Blossom Special.”
Clarity in text articulation comes principally from specificity and precision of movement of the
articulators rather than from the force or effort of movement. If the movement isn’t precise, if the
tongue is going to the wrong place to articulate the [ l ] phoneme, all the effort in the world is not going
to result in a clear [ l ]. (That’s another reason the “Spit out those consonants!” directive is an unhelpful
one.) Instead, what the singer will get is an even more effortful muddy [ l ] (or worse, a more effortful
entirely different sound).
One area of singing in which it is crucial to remember this principle is when singing with a micro-
phone. Microphones are very sensitive to some types of sounds, particularly plosive consonants. If the
force with which they are articulated is too great (or if they are too aspirated), a microphone “pop”
can result. Singing with a microphone in comparison to singing unamplified is something like acting
for a film camera in comparison to doing a play in a large theater. The actor in the 1,200-seat theater,
in order to be seen and understood by the audience, needs his gestures and reactions to be larger
than does his counterpart whose face is being blown up to 15 feet in height by the camera close-up.
But both actors have to act from exactly the same place of specific truth in order to be believable, and
neither actor can afford unnecessary work, which is what the more common term tension really means.
Unnecessary work in articulation is tiring (and even potentially damaging), but this is not the most
important reason a singer cannot afford it. The most important reason is that the singer is articulating
words, and an audience will always assume not only that the words themselves have communicative
meaning, but also that the way in which the words are articulated is meaningful. That is how it works
in real life: The way in which people articulate the words we hear them say gives us important informa-

tion, often as much information as the words themselves do. Manner of articulation tells us something
about the personality and character of the speaker: The articulation tells us she is precise or slipshod,
prissy or unaffected. It tells us something about the speaker’s emotional or physical state: He is calm
or hysterical, inebriated or infuriated. So a singer who habitually uses too much force to articulate in
an effort “to be understood” will be understood by the audience (which will assume that degree of
force to be both deliberately chosen and dramatically meaningful) to be pedantic, or irate, or bitter,
even though the performer thought the song’s text was one of ecstatic first love. If the quality of the
articulatory movement doesn’t match the personal or emotional quality of the character or of her words,
the audience is confused and assumes its confusion is the performer’s fault. And it is — just as much as
it would be if the quality of a ballet dancer’s movement didn’t match the personal or emotional quality
of the choreography or the music. (We’ve all seen a performance in which a dancer executes the steps
perfectly but fails to truly give us the dance.) Although any vocal music needs to have text articulated
clearly enough to be understood, merely being clear is not enough to make a performance successful.
Singers must remember that articulation is gesture, which means it is acting. (This is equally true in
every style of singing, whether directly associated with the theater or not.)
Articulation and Legato
Some singers have trouble integrating the aims of clearly articulating text and singing a legato phrase.
Almost always this trouble arises either because these singers fundamentally misunderstand the struc-
ture and function of the articulators in relation to the function of the rest of the vocal instrument, or
because they misunderstand the characteristics of legato within the specific language in which they
are singing. (Of course, it is possible that some singers misunderstand both things simultaneously.)
You learned in Chapter 3 that the motor of the vocal instrument is the breath. You also learned
about the structures of the body that animate and manage the flow of breath. Of those breathing struc-
tures, none that animate and move the breath are among the articulators you have learned about in this
chapter. Effective, efficient, and physically free management of breath is the key to vocal legato. Singers
who try to sustain breath, and thus legato, with their articulators are tackling a legitimate problem with
the wrong tools. Instead, legato is achieved by careful attention to breathing musculature in order to
ensure a continuous exhalation through the phrase.
Some people instead consider legato to mean the completely continuous presence of musical pitch
(that is, phonation, or vocal fold vibration) throughout an entire breath phrase. However, it will be
impossible to achieve that definition of legato while singing in any human language. No singer in the
history of the world has ever done it. In Chapter 4, you learned about the larynx, its structures, and
their functions. This is where phonation occurs. If the vocal folds are vibrating, there can be musical
pitch. If they are not, there cannot be musical pitch.
Earlier in this chapter, you learned further that the vibration of the vocal folds is an essential
element of the articulation of some language phonemes (all vowels and voiced consonants) and that
the absence of vocal-fold vibration is an equally essential element of the articulation of other phonemes
(all unvoiced consonants). Consequently, no language that contains unvoiced consonants can possibly
achieve completely continuous presence of musical pitch; that is an unworkable and impossible defini-
tion of legato for the human voice, though it might work for some instruments that do not articulate
with text. No wonder some singers become frustrated: They are attempting the impossible!

Fortunately, the impossible is not necessary. Legato is the job of the breath, and singers who master
breath management can sing true legato even in Polish or German, with their beautiful, expressive
clusters of consonants. Of course, that German legato will sound subtly different from legato in Italian, a
language with far fewer phonemes from which to choose, a much higher ratio of vowels to consonants,
and no glottal stops. Even that Italianate legato will feature interruptions to continuous pitch that are
occasioned by unvoiced consonant phonemes like [s] and [f], as well as the tiny silences that are part
of the Italian language’s distinctive articulation of pairs of double plosive consonants, such as [p:p] or
[k:k]. But what singers must remember is that none of those temporary devoicings or silences should
be caused by stopping the continuous exhalation that is the foundation for legato; they are not made
at the breathing level, but rather at the articulatory level.
CONCLUSION
Articulation of text is one of the musical challenges that are unique to singers. This challenge, however,
also provides an important opportunity for artistry. To capitalize on that opportunity effectively, singers
must understand that all articulation is movement. Each specific movement will result in a specific
sound, so in order to choose or refine any particular sound, the singer must choose or refine the
specific movement of the articulatory structures that form that sound. These moving structures include
the tongue, jaw, velum, lips, and vocal folds, and they move in relationship to each other and to the
hard palate and the teeth. A clear and detailed map of the structure, function, and size of these articu-
lators is necessary in order for singers to be able to choose and execute articulatory motions with the
degree of variety, precision, and ease required for clear articulation. Failure to map articulators and their
movements both accurately and adequately can cause singers to experience not only unclear diction
but also a number of problems in musical style.
Review Points: Articulation and Communication
n The manner in which text is articulated is an integral part of musical style in vocal music.
Even in the same language, singers may make different choices about the movements of
articulation when singing in different musical styles, just as an instrumentalist playing in
different musical styles would.
n Articulation is an element of action. Audiences will assume not only the words themselves
but also the way in which they are articulated to be meaningful. They often will make
inferences about the personality of the character singing, based upon his or her manner
of articulation.
n Effective, efficient, and physically free management of breath is the key to vocal legato.
Singers who try to sustain breath, and thus legato, with their articulators are applying the
wrong tools to a legitimate problem.
n Continuous presence of musical pitch is an unworkable definition of legato, at least in
texted music. Unvoiced consonants cannot carry pitch.

RESOURCES
“Introduction to Phonetics.” eNunciate! University of British Columbia Department of Linguistics:

http://enunciate.arts.ubc.ca/linguistics/introduction-to-phonetics/
“Consonants.” eNunciate! University of British Columbia Department of Linguistics:
https://enunciate.arts.ubc.ca/linguistics/world-sounds/consonants-pulmonic/
“Vowels.” eNunciate! University of British Columbia Department of Linguistics:
https://enunciate.arts.ubc.ca/linguistics/world-sounds/vowels/
Gardner, Edith. “Normal TMJ Function”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-cW4a8i5_E

7
Physical Expression for Singers
INTRODUCTION
One particular challenge that is unique to singers among musicians, articulating text, was introduced
in the previous chapter. It is in large part because of that unusual requirement that singers face yet
another: Singers, whether they acknowledge it or not, usually are viewed by their audiences as actors
because, like actors, they present text. In most cases, this expectation means that singers are called
upon to present a performance that is just as compelling and meaningful visually as it is aurally. This
chapter will explore the tools available to the singer to be successful in meeting these visual expecta-
tions, as well as some of the common obstacles that often hinder success.
THE BIG PICTURE
Because singers present a text, audiences immediately perceive them differently than they do instru-
mentalists. They place singers in the same category as they do others who work with text and narrative;
singers are lumped in with actors, teachers, preachers, and all other “storytellers.” Audiences may at
the same time remain aware of the commonality singers have with instrumentalists as “musicians,”
but they still will respond with a different kind of expectation to the singer who has text than they
will to the instrumentalist who does not. Even in concert, the singer appears to audiences as a sort
of hybrid artist, with a foot in both worlds, musical and dramatic. If singers are highly skilled at the
requirements of both of these worlds, then they can have the best of both at their disposal and deploy
an extra-capacious artistic toolbox full of a huge variety of tools. To be clear, a singer is not part actor
and part musician; a singer is fully actor and fully musician, 100% of each (Figure 7–1). Singers who
rely too much on textual and physical drama, without having developed sufficient skills of musician-
ship and vocal technique, are the root of that pernicious stereotype expressed by the implied contrast
in the common phrase “musicians and singers.” Singers who think of themselves primarily (or only)
as generators of perfect tones and beautiful musical phrases and don’t claim their responsibility to
communicate with the movements of their entire bodies are the source of all the tired jokes about
241

Figure 7–1. There is no part of a

singer that is not a musician, and
there is no part of a singer that is
not an actor. This Venn diagram
demonstrates that singers are fully
both.
“park and bark” singing. Singers must claim the full range of their artistic activity, or they will be as
crippled in performance as they would be if they did not claim their full stature or the full range of
motion of any of their joints.
Because almost all vocal music has text, it is almost always indebted to the extramusical influ-
ence of the verbal art forms. Even the choral music of the Christian and Jewish liturgies is essentially
drama; indeed, for believers, this narrative of the relationship between God and humankind could be
considered the greatest story in human experience. Choral music deals in narrative just as much as
theatrical music does, and audiences still expect physical expression from choirs, even though they are
ensembles rather than soloists.
THE ESSENTIALS
The Body Map as a Tool for Characterization

In previous chapters, you have learned how the movement of the body is governed by the body map.
(The body map is the internal self-representation in each individual’s mind concerning how the body
is structured, how it functions, and how big it is, as well as how each of these categories of structure,
function, and size relates to each individual component of the body.) All singers, therefore, must take
responsibility to investigate their own body maps in order to make sure they are accurate and adequate
to carry out the movements of singing with ease and efficiency. In so doing, many singers discover
that flaws in their body maps (for example, fantasies about where air actually goes during inhalation
or sketchy understanding of the function and size of the tongue in resonation and articulation) are the
root causes of movement patterns that they have experienced as perennial, perhaps even seemingly
permanent, flaws in their singing. Their faulty body maps have been the source of what they had been
considering distinctive, individual problems in their performance. Conversely, distinctive strengths in
a singer’s performance often can be demonstrated to be related to a very clear, accurate, and detailed
map of some aspect of the physical system involved in the movement of singing.

7. PHYSICAL EXPRESSION FOR SINGERS 243
How is this relevant to the acting part of the singer’s art? The crux is understanding that every
character you sing also has a body map. The singer who can construct the character’s body map has
the key to the character. As David Ostwald says in his excellent book, Acting for Singers, “Your char-
acters believe they’re real people” (p. 4). Real people have body maps, so those characters also would
carry in their minds an internal self-representation of how their bodies and their constituent parts are
structured, how they function, and how big they are. Performers must use their imaginations to create
the body map for each character — and that body map will in turn govern how those characters move.
The Verdi baritone who understands that will have no trouble creating memorable and individual
physical characterizations of Rigoletto, Germont, and Falstaff — these all are men with very different
body maps. The Broadway tenor who understands this principle will not need a huge amount of help
from makeup artists and costume technicians to transform convincingly from one title persona to the
other in Jekyll and Hyde.
We have seen already that singers with inaccurate body maps can be surprisingly successful at
behaving as if their bodies really did work according to their fantasies. They can make their bodies
move inefficiently as if they really did not have ribs that move from joints when they breathe, if those
joints were absent from their body maps. If they truly believe the only way to sing a closed vowel is
to close the jaw, they will behave as if that were true and close the jaw every time they wish to sing a
closed vowel. Genuinely behaving as if an imaginary circumstance were true has been the foundation
of modern acting ever since Konstantin Stanislavski developed his system of acting in Russia early
in the twentieth century. (A generation later, American actors took Stanislavski’s ideas and transformed
American acting with what they called “the Method.”) Therefore, constructing a memorable and believ-
able way of moving for your character is a matter of constructing the body map that will inevitably
and truthfully create that way of moving. If you, as the singing actor, take on that new body map with
just as much certainty as you might take on your character’s personal history, economic and social
circumstances, sexual experience, or cultural milieu, you cannot help but react to it by moving truth-
fully and consistently in the distinctive way that body map dictates, just as you would react to all the
other given circumstances defined for the character by the script (and which, just like the character’s
body map, also might well differ very radically from your own).
Exercise 7–1. Here’s an exercise in characterization through the body

map. One of the challenges that frequently face female singers in opera is
playing male characters in so-called “pants roles.” A particularly famous
example is Cherubino, the precocious teenaged page in Mozart’s The
Marriage of Figaro. No woman playing this role can actually have a
teenaged male body, but she can move as if she did. We map our bodies
for structure, function, and size. Clearly, Cherubino’s body will differ
in significant ways in all three areas from that of the woman singing
his role, and the singer could productively explore all of them. However,
let’s focus on the question of size. The page actually says that he doesn’t
understand the changes that seem to be happening to him, that he no
longer feels like the same person. Of course, teenaged boys go through
significant hormonal and emotional changes (and the plot lets us
know these are certainly happening for Cherubino!), but they also grow

significantly. Their bodies and the constituent parts of those bodies get
significantly larger, and often this happens in a relatively short amount
of time. When this happens, it may take a while for their brains to re-map
their bodies for their new size, and their movement changes, usually
becoming more awkward, until their body maps catch up with the reality.
They trip over their newly size-11 feet. They hit their now-6-inches-farther-
away-from-the-ground heads on the doorframe when they get into the
car. Maybe they shove their little brothers a bit harder than they really
meant to with their recently bulked-up muscles.
So, let’s imagine you’re playing Cherubino. Your body map does not
match your actual size. (Notice that, in this exercise, you get to keep your
actual size — nothing about it demands that you be any different from
what you are.) You’re several inches taller than you expect to be, and
your shoulders are broader. (Perhaps that jacket no longer fits.) Explore
that: How does that change how you move about the room? How does that
affect how you move your arms? Might that explain how you can knock
things over in the Countess’s closet at a crucial point of Act II? How would
you move if you thought your feet were three inches shorter and signifi-
cantly lighter than they actually are? Wouldn’t they feel big and heavy?
(And those new shoes would weigh a lot more than the old ones, too.)
How would that change your gait? The beauty of this kind of work is that
it is very specific and very concrete. It is, in a word, “actable” in a way
that “I’ve got to be less ‘girly’ ” is not; it gives you a very specific reality
rather than some weak generalization (“This is the way boys walk”) to
play. Merely mimicking the behavior of contemporary teenagers may
not be useful. Cherubino exists in a very specific society with specific
expectations about behavior; he may not be allowed, or even want, to
move exactly the way your teenaged nephews do today. But if you endow
the character with an appropriate body map that governs his move-
ment, that will affect him in everything he does, whether he is wanting
to appear like an elegant eighteenth-century gentleman to impress the
Countess, acting like a hurt little boy to win Susanna’s sympathy, or even
disguising himself as a peasant girl to impersonate Barbarina’s cousin
from the country.
And if you’re a male singer and have felt left out of this exercise, you
can think about the characters of Bartolo, the old doctor, and Antonio,
the drunken gardener, in the same opera. Surely they, the learned profes-
sional man and the outdoor laborer, map their bodies very differently. Yet
at the premiere, they were sung by the same bass-baritone — how might
the differing body maps of these men be used to strengthen the distinc-
www
tion between the two characters? Video 7–1. Characterization provides
a guided example of the kind of exploration discussed in this exercise.

It is important to remember that in taking on the body map of another person, the character, the
singer keeps his or her own body. Though it is common to speak of “becoming the character,” you
cannot literally become another person. (We hope that no one needs literally to become a murderous
tyrant to sing an effective King Herod, for instance!) So before singers can learn to move as if they
had someone else’s body map, they must first map their own bodies with exquisite precision. Once
they have found the most balanced, free, and easy movement of which they themselves are capable,
they will be in a position to begin to explore how they can take on the idiosyncrasies and possibly the
inaccuracies of a character’s body map.
As you work with a character’s body map, you must always keep your own in your awareness
as well. The rehearsal process will be a time of constant exploration and negotiation in which you
learn how far you can go in mapping the character’s body in a particular way without endangering
the integrity of your own movement so much that your freedom and efficiency in singing, or even
your physical well-being, might be compromised. In taking on a character’s body map, performers can
never lose sight of themselves as performers and thus put their own bodies at risk. That is not to say,
however, that they don’t allow any changes in their movement or sound. Some degree of inefficiency
or extra effort may, in fact, serve a particular character better than will perfect ease. But just as every
performer’s goal in stage combat must be to keep all actors safe while appearing deadly, all performers
must take responsibility to protect the integrity of their own bodies in their work. You’ll find an exercise
to practice this skill later in the chapter.
The Difference Between Feeling Emotions and Kinesthesia
One of the most basic traps into which singers and actors fall is confusing emotion and muscular
work. They think that because we say we “feel” emotions they must therefore feel emotion using
their kinesthetic senses. Kinesthesia, however, is what allows us to perceive movement, which is
emotionally neutral. You can raise a fist in anger, but you also can do so as a gesture of pride, and,
although it might feel odd or out of place, you could choose to execute the very same gesture while
feeling peace or boredom. Although emotion can motivate a movement, the movement itself is not the
emotion. Singers who are not clear on this point will have less success executing the movements of
singing than singers who are. The intention to display an emotion, such as anger, often tempts singers
to make stereotyped movements, such as tightening the jaw or gripping in the abdominal muscles,
which are counterproductive to good vocalism. The soprano as Eliza Doolittle singing “Just You Wait,
‘Enry ’Iggins, Just You Wait” in My Fair Lady can be seething with rage using appropriately dynamic,
balanced gestures. She does not need to clench her jaw in a misguided attempt to feel the emotion. Such
a movement would, of course, wreak havoc upon her resonance, and, rather than empathizing with the
character’s anger, her audience instead will empathize with the performer’s physical discomfort. And
discomfort is precisely what the soprano would be feeling, only she would have made the mistake of
mislabeling these physical sensations in her muscles as “anger,” when in fact they are only tension.
If muscular movement or work were emotion, people with paralysis would have no emotions,
and that certainly isn’t true. All performers need to gain absolute clarity in their body maps about the
distinction between the sensation of emotion and the sensation of movement. Both are very real and
both arise in the brain. Each can influence or motivate the other, but they are not the same. Emotion is

important; in fact, most audience members come to performances hoping to have an emotional expe-
rience. But performers cannot simply have it for them because audiences can’t perceive performers’
emotions. Emotion isn’t actable because it isn’t action. Action is movement, that is, sound and gesture.
These are the very things a performer can and should perceive with kinesthesia. Audiences can perceive
performers’ actions, their movements, and then they will react to those actions. Exactly how performers
make the choice of action is a question of acting technique, and there are many competing philoso-
phies. However, what is certain is that if physically free performers choose and execute their actions
well, the audience’s reactions will include emotional ones. But audiences cannot perceive a performer’s
actual emotions; they can perceive only what they themselves judge or infer the performer’s emotions
to be through their experience of the performer’s actions.
So anything that you wish to communicate to your audience must be turned into sensory infor-
mation — that is to say, action. When a three-year-old has a temper tantrum, we are hearing the loud
shrieks, seeing the flushed face, and perhaps feeling the blows of the little fists, and we understand that
the child is angry and frustrated and probably overtired. We are not, however, actually experiencing a
trio of abstract emotions called “anger,” “frustration,” and “fatigue”; instead, we are experiencing their
effects. We are experiencing action.
Action can be perceived with senses; it can be seen or heard. Your audience has to use their senses
to gather and experience any new information. Then they will use that sensory information to evaluate
the story for themselves and to decide how they feel about it. They will not be able to read your mind
to know what you are thinking and feeling. They will hear what you sing or say and they will see
what you do. And everything you do is action. It doesn’t matter whether the performer has chosen that
action or is even aware of it. Audience members will assume anything they see is meaningful, and they
will attempt to make sense of it in the context of the drama or story. If they are unable to make sense
of it, they will become uncomfortable or distracted, and, to resolve their discomfort, they will have to
conclude that your performance is unconvincing.
Review Points: The Singer and Action
n Because singers present a text, audiences perceive singers differently than they do
instrumentalists.
n A singer is fully actor and fully musician, 100% of each.
n Everything a singer presents to an audience’s senses, including their visual sense, is
considered action by that audience, which will attempt to assign it meaning.
n The body map can be a powerful characterization tool. Real people have a body map that
governs their individual movement. Characters, if they are to be believable as real people,
also must have a body map that governs their individual movement.
n Constructing a memorable and believable way of moving for your character is a matter of
constructing the body map that inevitably will govern that way of moving.
n As you work with a character’s body map, you must always keep your own in your aware-
ness as well. This will help you to keep your instrument safe and healthy.
n Singers must map the difference between feeling emotion and feeling muscular work.

Mapping the Structures and Movement of

Gesture and Expression
Just as it is necessary to map the structures involved in human vocal production accurately and
adequately to be able to make the movements of singing with maximum ease, efficiency, and
effectiveness, vocal performers also must map the structures of their bodies that are involved in
gesture and expression. This book has already examined many of those structures (the way a character
maps the relationship of the thorax to the lumbar spine, for instance, can speak volumes about
that character’s self-image), but in this chapter we will deal primarily with parts of the body that are
not active in making vocal sound but are important to communicative gesture: the arms, hands, legs,
and feet. We also will examine the role of the muscles of the face and neck in visual communication.
As you assimilate the information being presented in the next section and explore it kinesthetically
in the exercises, be sure to relate it to what you already know about how movement is integrated
throughout the body. Take a moment to restudy the image in Figure 7–2, which was introduced in
Chapter 2.

Figure 7–2. Skeleton side view.
By Tim Phelps. Copyright 2008.
248

The Arms and Hands
The arms and hands are a singer’s best resources for expression that appeals to the visual sense,
particularly in very big theaters where much of the audience is too far away to see a performer’s face
clearly. They allow performers to extend themselves and take up more space — and the amount of
space in the stage picture a performer occupies is an important element of successfully engaging the
audience’s attention. At the same time, because of the number and variety of joints available in the
arms and hands, they are capable of an almost infinite number of movements that can express many
fine shadings of emotion or meaning. And because they are largely independent of the structures and
movements of singing, arms and hands are free to express a full range of dramatic possibilities without
fear of any negative effect upon the production of vocal sound.
One of the most common mis-mappings of the arm is failure to map the entire arm structure as
arm. In so doing, singers often omit the collarbone and the shoulder blade from their map of the arm.
Figure 7–3 shows the entire arm, which actually begins at the sternoclavicular joint, where the collar-
bone (or clavicle) meets the sternum. This joint is the only place where the arm structure is connected
to the rest of the skeleton. The other end of the collarbone is attached to the acromion of the shoulder
blade (or scapula) at the acromioclavicular joint, which is stabilized by three strong ligaments so that
Figure 7–3. The bones of the right arm.

By Benjamin Conable. Copyright 2001.

the two bones invariably move together as a team. Their movement occurs from the sternoclavicular
joint, which has a significant range of motion. The collarbone can move up, down, back, and forward
and circle between the compass points of these four directions. And whenever the collarbone moves,
the shoulder blade must follow along.
Exercise 7–2. The position of the collarbones is enormously expressive.

www
Here’s an exercise you can try to explore this. Audio 7–2. Collarbone
Exploration presents this exercise in action. Stand in front of a mirror
and find the best balance you can. First palpate your sternoclavicular
joints. Start by putting your fingers at the V-shaped notch at the top
of the sternum and then moving your fingertips out, away from the
centerline of the body. Very quickly you’ll encounter a small depression
and then the rounded head of the collarbone. This depression where the
head of the collarbone encounters the top of the sternum is the sterno-
clavicular joint. Everyone can palpate this joint and many people also
will be able to see this joint clearly in the mirror once they know where
to look.
Now, moving at the sternoclavicular joint, raise your collarbones
up toward your ears. Use your kinesthesia to feel how your shoulder
blades also move upward. (If you can’t feel this right away, you can
reach over to put your left hand over your right shoulder blade and raise
the collarbones again. Your tactile and kinesthetic senses will tell you
that your left hand is being moved by the right shoulder blade, which is
being moved by the right collarbone.) Now, with your collarbones (and
shoulder blades) raised, look at yourself in the mirror. What do you see?
The shrugging gesture that we make to say, “I dunno” or “Whatever!”
Make a facial expression that goes along with that. Next, let your collar-
bones and shoulder blades relax back down to neutral, maintaining
the facial expression. Even though you won’t have changed your facial
gesture at all, the picture you now see in the mirror probably will express
a milder version of the meaning; the gesture of the collarbones strength-
ened the expression.
You also can move the collarbones downward, moving them below
their position of balanced suspension. Still moving from the sternocla-
vicular joints, try this in front of the mirror. How do you look? Sad,
defeated, maybe resentful? Now try moving the collarbones a bit forward
while they’re still down. How does the expression of the body change?
Probably it maintains the same basic quality but now appears more
defensive or self-protective. Singers can use the position of collarbones
to express many states of mind, although some collarbone positions will
increase the amount of muscular work with which they are performing
and may impact their breathing, so they will need to experiment to find

the optimal balance of character expression and vocal efficiency for each
situation. Spending lots of time in front of a mirror exploring movement
of your collarbones will help you be more visually expressive, and if you
have had trouble with the dynamic suspension of your arm structure
above your breathing structure, it may help you become more vocally
expressive, too! Do this as you practice your vocal exercises; it’s fun to
watch (and even hear) how the exercises change meaning as you move
the arm structure. This will help you develop a good kinesthetic sense of
how much you can move the collarbones and still make a vocal sound
you find acceptable.
It is important for singers to note that neither the clavicle nor the scapula connects to the ribs. The
arm structure is one of the clearest examples of how our bodies are designed as biotensegrity, rather
than compression, structures. The load of the arms doesn’t rest upon bony structures beneath them,
such as the ribs. Rather, the collarbones and shoulder blades are suspended over the ribs and around
the central core of the body (Figure 7–4) by a system of strong but flexible connective tissue extending
from the head and cervical vertebrae, thus allowing the ribs to move freely for breathing and the arms
to move freely for gesturing (or any other sort of work, including conducting, playing an instrument,
or dancing, that one may need to be doing while continuing to breathe). If, however, the dynamic
balance of the arm structure is interfered with by dragging the arms downward, the collarbones and
Figure 7–4. The yoke of the arm structure around the central core. This
picture shows how the collarbones and shoulder blades at rest balance
around the core of the spine. They are suspended from above by connec-
tive tissue that connects with the head and cervical spine. (The first thoracic
vertebra is at the center of the view, which is seen from above. The head
and cervical spine have been removed.) By Benjamin Conable. Copyright

shoulder blades will get in the way of the up-and-out excursion of the ribs during inhalation, and the
singer will not be able to breathe fully and freely. Neither will the singer be able to gesture fully and
freely with the arms and hands in response to dramatic impulses because of the antagonistic action of
the muscles pulling downward on the arm structure.
Even more destructive to natural, coordinated movement of the arms is the tense, unnatural pulling
of the shoulder blades toward one another that some singers adopt in a mistaken attempt to assume
“a good posture.” We can see immediately the fallacy of this “Shoulders back!” thinking if we remember
that our shoulder blades are actually part of our arms. “Arms back!” is not going to help our breathing,
and it certainly is not going to help us look nobler. Most of all, this erroneous idea of good posture
will cripple any performer’s ability to gesture meaningfully and effectively with those arms he or she is
working to hold back; they’re stuck. The very word posture means a pose, something stationary, while
gesture demands the opposite: movement.
Some people have mapped the shoulder as separate from the arm. These people think of the
shoulder joint, shown in Figure 7–5, as the first arm joint and fantasize that this joint, rather than the
sternoclavicular joint, is where the arm attaches to the body. Not infrequently, the mythical thinking
goes even further, with the idea that the humerus, the long bone of the upper arm, attaches directly
to the ribs. Singers with this idea will be seriously compromised in both breathing and gesturing.
The truth is that the humerus meets the shoulder blade at the glenoid cavity (or glenoid fossa), a
small, concave surface about the size of a thumbprint. Because this surface on the shoulder blade is
so small in comparison to the ball at the end of the humerus, there is an enormous range and variety
Figure 7–5. The second joint, or shoulder joint, of the right arm. The view on the left
shows the humerus in relation to the scapula, or shoulder blade, seen from the back.
Notice how large the ball at the head of the humerus is. The view on the right is the
scapula seen from the right side, and the humerus is shown as an outline so you can
see how small the surface of the “socket” is in relation to it. By Benjamin Conable.
Copyright 2001. Used with permission.

of movement available at this joint. The humerus can move forward and back. It can move to point
down toward the stage and up toward the second balcony. And it can rotate. It is necessary to have all
of these movements fully available in order to do the mambo in West Side Story. Or to be able to hold
up a music folder through a 60-minute choral concert. Or to hold and use your microphone effectively
throughout a jazz set. Or to play lead guitar in a rock band without compromising your singing.
The shoulder blade must be free to move with the rest of the arm. Once the humerus passes a
certain point in its range of motion, the shoulder blade (and the collarbone, to which it is attached)
should just follow along in the same direction. This sequenced coordination is called humeroscapular
rhythm and is a natural part of human movement.
www
Exercise 7–3. Audio 7–3. Exploring Humeroscapular Rhythm presents
this exercise in action. A good way to experience humeroscapular rhythm
is to swim. Even if you don’t have a pool handy or you don’t like to swim,
you still can make the arm motions of the Australian crawl, or freestyle,
in the air. As you reach up and forward with your hand, the rest of the
arm follows, and as soon as the humerus passes a certain point (rather
early in the stroke), the shoulder blade and collarbone will follow along.
Now try to get those shoulders back in a posture-myth position and repeat
the swimming motion. If you maintain the “shoulders back” position,
you will not be able to reach nearly as far with your arm, and probably
you also will notice that the arm moves more slowly and awkwardly and
you will feel the muscles protesting the antagonistic pulling in oppo-
site directions you’re asking them to do. If you are actually swimming
in water, you certainly will notice far less power and propulsion from
this stroke without humeroscapular rhythm. That’s because your back
muscles are busy holding your shoulder blades back rather than helping
to propel you through the water. The superficial muscles of the back
(deltoid, trapezius, latissimus dorsi, rhomboid) are actually muscles that
move the arms. If we try to use them as posture muscles, our movement
will be compromised. Try the motions of other swimming strokes—breast-
stroke, butterfly, and so on. You’ll discover that all of them require free
humeroscapular rhythm.
The “good posture” myth of keeping the shoulders back invariably will kill humeroscapular
rhythm. The muscular work necessary to hold the shoulder blades back prevents them from moving
along with the humerus, resulting in the arm being able to move only awkwardly and unnaturally
through a reduced range of motion. In some cases, when humeroscapular rhythm has been compro-
mised or lost, repetitive and strenuous motions of the arms can even result in injuries, such as a torn
rotator cuff. For example, consider singers in theatrical productions who have significant dance or fight
responsibilities, singers who also do much conducting, and singers who are teachers and frequently
accompany at the piano. These singers especially need to cultivate the freedom of the shoulder blades
that allows good humeroscapular rhythm. But all singers will move awkwardly without it.

www
Exercise 7–4. Video 7–4. Humeroscapular Rhythm and Gesture shows
this exercise in action. Having experienced humeroscapular rhythm with
the swimming exercise, let’s see how it affects dramatic gesture. Stand in
front of your mirror and kill your humeroscapular rhythm by drawing
your shoulder blades slightly toward one another in the posture-myth
way. Then, as if you were acknowledging a tremendous ovation, bring
your hand upward, palms up. Continue the motion only until you feel the
point at which your pulled-together shoulder blades start to resist. If your
shoulder blades don’t follow along in humeroscapular rhythm, you won’t
be able to raise your humerus bones beyond shoulder height, although
by bending your elbows you could get your hands a bit higher. Examine
this picture in the mirror. How do you look receiving that ovation? How
included are the people stomping and yelling for you in the top balcony
going to feel? Next, release the posture-myth pull on your shoulder blades.
Now the shoulder blades can follow the humerus bones as they move
higher and farther. Reach up to your audience again, but this time
with good humeroscapular rhythm, and see what that looks like in the
mirror. Don’t you think the fans in the balconies will feel more acknowl-
edged and embraced by that gesture? Restoring humeroscapular rhythm
gives your arm much more extension, more reach — not only literally,
but also figuratively.
The third joint of the arm is the elbow. At this joint, shown in Figure 7–6, the lower end of the
humerus meets the two bones of the forearm, the ulna and the radius. Because of this structure of one
bone meeting two bones, the elbow is able to do two very distinct types of motions. One is bending
and unbending. Most people find that motion relatively uncomplicated. Touch your chin with your
index finger, and you have bent at the elbow. Let your hand fall to your side, and you have unbent
at the elbow.
Figure 7–6. The right elbow joint. This

figure shows the joint and represents
one of the two types of movement
available at the elbow: bending and
unbending. By Benjamin Conable.
Copyright 2001. Used with permission.

Figure 7–7 shows the other type of motion at the elbow: rotation, which is also called pronation
and supination. It is movement at the elbow that allows the palm of the hand to face down (pronate)
or to face up (supinate). In supination, the ulna and radius are parallel to one another; the ulna runs
along one side of the forearm and points at the little finger, and the radius runs along the thumb side.
In pronation, the radius rotates and crosses over the ulna, turning the palm of the hand downward.
Figure 7–7. Pronation and supination of the right hand and

forearm. This figure shows the second type of movement
available at the elbow: pronation and supination. When the
palm is facing up in supination, the ulna and radius bones
are parallel. When you turn the palm over in pronation, the
radius crosses over the ulna. (To make the arm in the picture
more like what you see when you look down at your own
arm, turn the book so the fingers of the pictured hand are
pointing away from you.) By Benjamin Conable. Copyright

Proper understanding of forearm rotation is crucial for musicians, such as pianists and violinists,
who must make sound by moving their arms. Singers are less likely than instrumentalists to develop
career-threatening injuries because of poor movement caused by mis-mapping of forearm rotation,
but they still can reduce the effectiveness of their visual performance. Although the elbow allows only
the two kinds of movement (bending/unbending and pronation/supination), these movements are
completely independent of each other and can be combined in an amazing variety of degrees. These
many varying degrees of combined gesture are seen by most humans as visual cues for many varying
degrees of meaning. Effective vocal performers need to have all these visual cues at their disposal. For
instance, Figure 7–8 demonstrates how changing the rotation of the elbow can change the meaning
of the same degree of bending.
Figure 7–8. Study of combining different degrees of elbow rotation with the same degree of elbow
bending. In this photo, my student Stephen Odom demonstrates how the exact same degree of
bending at the elbow can be combined with different degrees of pronation or supination to create
gestures of very different meanings. Every possible movement you can cultivate gives you another
shade of expressive possibility. Photos by C. White.

The fourth joint of the arm is the wrist, which is shaded in gray in Figure 7–9. Actually, it might
be more correct to say that the fourth, fifth, and sixth joints of the arm are the wrist, because the wrist
is a composite structure of eight bones, the carpals, in two rows of four. There is movement available
between the radius and the first row of carpals, between the two rows of carpal bones, and between
the second row of carpals and the metacarpal bones of the hand. So the wrist is really a long, sinuous
structure, capable of complex, nuanced motions that can move the hand up and down (flexion and
extension) and side to side (radial and ulnar deviation) or in many combinations and gradations of these
two basic functions. Clearly understanding the variety of motion available at the wrist and not thinking
of it as a simple hinge is the singing actor’s key to discovering a wealth of expressive hand gesture.
Figure 7–9. The bones of the right hand

and wrist. In this illustration, which shows
the right hand palm up, you can see how
long the composite structure of the wrist
(shaded in gray) is and how many joints
you have available for subtle movement
in the hand. Notice also how the bones of
the fingers actually originate at the wrist. By
Benjamin Conable. Copyright 2001. Used
with permission.

After the face, the hand is probably the structure of the body that provides other human beings
with the most visual clues concerning mood and meaning and is capable of the subtlest shades of
movement to provide those visual cues. This is due, in no small measure, to the large number of bones
and joints that make up a hand: nineteen of each! (The sum figure of 19 joints includes the joints
between each of the metacarpal bones of the hand and the second row of carpal bones of the wrist,
already mentioned in the foregoing discussion of the wrist.) With so many moving parts and so many
articulations available, it is hardly any wonder that in most cultures humans “talk” with their hands as
much as with their voices when they speak to one another.
Singers often are concerned about the expressive use of their hands. The question, “But what
should I do with my hands?” is one that many voice teachers and coaches have heard from worried
students. Some specific diagnostic and strategic tools will be offered later in this chapter, but for the
most part, singers anxious about their hands can find assurance by refining their body maps so that they
are intimately familiar with the movements that are available at all joints of the arm and the hand, and
so that they understand the dynamic relationship of the arm structure with the core of the body that
distributes the work of those movements throughout the entire system. When this is the case, virtually
any movement suggested by the impulses that arise from thinking the character’s inner monologue will
not be blocked or distorted by tension in the muscles that move the arms and hands, and thus will be
meaningful and believable.
Now that you’ve examined all the parts of the arm structure, remind yourself of the entire arm as
a unit. (You may want to look again at Figure 7–3.) There is one more aspect of the arm that singers
need to have mapped correctly to help them be effective in gesture and characterization: the strong
line of the arm down the side of the ulna and the little finger in the lower arm and hand (Figure 7–10).
If you let your right arm hang by your side at rest and then place your left hand over your shoulder
blade and run it down your arm all the way off the end of your little finger, you will be palpating this
line. If you reach up toward the top balcony to acknowledge your applause (remember to use good
humeroscapular rhythm), you then can take one hand and run it underneath the other arm all along
this line on the outside of the arm from the shoulder blade to the little finger.
This line is the strength of the arm in gesture and movement. In a sword fight, it will be the side
of the arm that always leads the true (cutting) edge of your sword, because that allows a stronger grip
on the hilt and provides more strength in the movement of cutting and parrying. Organizing your arm
movement around the radius and thumb side of the arm weakens your gestures. (Nobody makes a
karate chop with the thumb side!) Singers who have this aspect of the arm and its movement mapped
well have a great characterization tool at their disposal. You can make your character stronger and

Figure 7–10. The strong line down

the ulna and little finger. By Benjamin
Conable. Copyright 2001. Used with
permission.

more commanding by using the line of the ulna (little finger) side of the arm to lead your gesture, and
if you are playing a character who is weak or subservient, you can weaken your gestures by organizing
your arms around the radius (thumb) side. Often, by weakening your arm movement in this way, you
can avoid having to slump to make your character appear powerless or less commanding, preserving
your core balance so that your movement of singing still is well distributed through your whole spine.
Figure 7–11A and B contrasts stronger and weaker versions of the same arm gesture.
A B
Figure 7–11. A. Example of a strong reaching gesture with little-finger orientation. In this photo my
student Martin Hardin demonstrates a reaching gesture in which the arm is organized along the
strong line running down the ulna, or little-finger, side of the arm and hand. The strength of this physi-
cal organization makes the gesture and the character appear strong and confident. B. Example of
a weak reaching gesture with thumb orientation. In this photo, the same student demonstrates how
organizing the same gesture along the radius, or thumb, side of the arm weakens the gesture and
makes the character appear less strong and certain. Photos by C. White.

Review Points: The Arms and Hands
n Because singers do not need the arms and hands to make sound, arms and hands are free
for movements that can visually express many fine shadings of meaning.
n The full arm includes the clavicle/collarbone and scapula/shoulder blade.
n The collarbone and shoulder blade are connected and must move together. Their move-
ment occurs at the sternoclavicular joint, where the collarbone meets the sternum.
n The collarbone and shoulder blade are suspended from structures above (head and cervical
vertebrae) by strong and flexible connective tissue. They do not rest on structures below.
n The humerus, or upper arm bone, meets the shoulder blade at the glenoid cavity. The
structure of the joint allows for a large range of motion.
n When the humerus travels past a certain point, the shoulder blade (scapula) is supposed
to follow along in sequence. This sequence is called humeroscapular rhythm.
n If the movement of the scapula is impeded, movement of the entire arm will be limited.
n The architecture of the elbow joint supports two entirely different movements: (1) bending
and unbending and (2) pronation and supination.
n In bending and unbending, the forearm and hand are brought up toward the shoulder.
n In pronation and supination, the two bones of the forearm are parallel to turn the palm
of the hand up (supination) or the radius bone crosses over the ulna to turn the palm of
the hand downward (pronation). These movements occur at the elbow, not the wrist.
n The wrist is a composite structure of eight small bones (the carpals), capable of much
complex movement because of the many articulations between the eight bones and
surrounding structures.
n The hand is capable of nuanced communication because its large number of bones and
joints (nineteen of each) make possible a great variety of movements.
n Organizing movements of the arm with the ulnar side leading gives gestures more literal
and figurative strength.
The Legs
You already have learned about the bones and joints of the legs in Chapter 2, the chapter on core
balance, where their role in distributing the load of our weight throughout the body and into the ground
was discussed. But legs do more than distribute weight; they also move the body through space, and
they have a significant expressive role. In some historical periods and some societies, arrangements
or gestures of the legs conveyed stylized messages about social status or romantic availability. Singing
actors need to be just as aware of such historical styles in gesture as they are of historical styles in
music, and they need legs whose muscles are free to execute the desired movements. And jazz and
pop singers need legs whose muscles are free to boogie.
Leg muscles can’t be free to move if they’re already engaged trying to hold a singer up. For
instance, in Chapter 2 you learned that the knee joints have three possible conditions: balanced, bent,
and locked. As you experiment with these three conditions, you will discover that balanced knees

require very little work in the leg muscles, while chronically bent knees or locked knees trigger extra
work to try to support the weight of the body. As you learned in Chapter 2, locked knees often are a
symptom of an imbalance of the thorax in relation to the lumbar core. If the thorax is tilted back so
that it is no longer over the lumbar vertebrae, knees lock to protect the back by taking some of the
resulting weight-bearing compression off of the back muscles and lumbar discs. In either the bent-knee
or the locked-knee scenario, leg muscles are already actively engaged in compensation for the loss of
efficient weight distribution; therefore, they are not free to move the leg without effort to overcome the
work they’re already doing. A singer standing with locked knees will not be able to move freely across
the stage in immediate response to the entrance of another singer or to some other dramatic stimulus.
The cross will look awkward or not believably motivated because, instead of leaping immediately to
embrace his returning sweetheart, the singer will first have to unlock his knees, and then move. He
can’t move with locked knees. That momentary hesitation is as deadly to effective physical drama as a
momentary hesitation is to effective musical rhythm. (Of course, returning to the concept of using the
body map as a characterization tool, if the drama specifies that our hero is a complete klutz, then the
naturally graceful actor could choose to use this extra work to his advantage in creating the character.)
Fortunately, we have an alternative to locked or bent knees: balanced knees. Another way of
thinking about the concept of balanced is that it is the point from which any movement is easily and
immediately available. In balance, you don’t need to undo before you can start doing. When the knees
are in balance, the leg muscles are free to take the legs anywhere you want them to go.
In Chapter 2 you also learned about the structure of the ankle joints and the feet and how the
arches of the foot help distribute weight from the ankle joint both backward to the heel and forward to
the heads of the metatarsal bones, which form the ball of the foot. The arrangement of the bones and
connective tissue of each foot into three arches and a strong, springy web of connections efficiently
distributes forces throughout the foot and provides us with excellent support and stability as we stand.
If singers were concerned only with standing still, they might not need to map toes carefully,
because the toes are in front of the arches that distribute our weight to the ground. However, in a
chapter about movement and gesture, we need to map the toes in relation to the arches (Figure 7–12A).
The primary purpose of toes is to help us move through space; they provide propulsion as we walk,
run, or dance. These are things that most instrumentalists (with the important exception of marching
band players) are rarely called upon to do while performing, but which most singers, from hip-hop
artists to opera singers, must do all the time.
As you take a step, the foot extends. There is movement at the ankle joint at the top of the foot,
tipping the tripod of the foot so that the heel will contact the ground first. The arch of the foot rocks,
first at the heel’s rounded calcaneus bone and then at the ankle joint, which brings the tibia (shin)
bone forward as the ball of the foot comes down and the heel comes up. As the load is transferred
from the heel through the arches to the ball of the foot, the five metatarsal bones gently spread apart
slightly; this also spreads the toes. At the end of the step, shown in Figure 7–12B, only the toes are on
the ground, and they provide forward propulsion by pushing off from the ground as the ligaments of
the foot help the spread bones lightly spring back to their original configuration. This elastic recoil
of the ligaments is an important part of moving through space with ease and grace. The description
“There’s a spring in his step” isn’t metaphorical; it’s literal.

Figure 7–12. A. The bones of the right foot

from the medial (big toe) side. Notice that the
toes are in front of the arches that provide
us with support and stability. From The Body
Moveable (4th ed., p. 151), by D. Gorman,
2002. Guelph, Ontario, Canada: Ampersand
Press. Copyright 2002. Reprinted with permis-
sion. B. Passive extension of the toes. Toes
provide propulsion in the last phase of rolling
through the stride. From The Body Moveable
(4th ed., p. 122), by D. Gorman, 2002. Guelph,
Ontario, Canada: Ampersand Press. Copyright
This spring in the step is a vital tool for any singer; it is part of every human being’s automatic
system for supporting the body in movement. It gives us a sense of buoyancy and grace as we move,
and it can be coordinated with the lengthening of the spine that is so important to a singer’s exhalation.
Singers must actively map this elastic action of the spreading and springing back of the metatarsal and
tarsal (toe) bones as one of their primary postural and gestural resources.

Why is this important for singers to know? First of all, it is important because singers must move
through space with strength and grace, especially in theatrical situations (Broadway chorus lines, opera
fight scenes), but even in ensemble situations (gospel choruses, R&B backup singers). Second, singers
who understand how the process works can use it as a characterization tool; vocally, the same singer
might well be cast as Lt. Cable in South Pacific, an athletic young man in love, and as Archibald Craven
in The Secret Garden, who regards himself as disfigured and disabled. If he pays attention to using (or
not using) the spring in his step that a free, buoyant use of the ankle joint and the architecture of the
foot provide him, the singing actor can establish distinctive and effective movement patterns for each
character. Finally, many singers have habits in which they mistakenly try to use work in their feet to
help them sing, with adverse effects on both vocal communication and visual communication. Two of
these common habits, toe-tapping and toe-gripping, will be discussed later in the chapter. If you would
like more information about the action of the foot as it rolls through the stride and how it relates to
the rest of the body, Dr. Ivo Waelop of the Gait Guys has made a useful video entitled “A Walk on the
Beach” (available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fF3N19TBnA).
Review Points: The Legs
n Knees have three possible conditions: balanced, bent, and locked. Locked knees often are
a protective response to imbalance elsewhere in the body, but they inhibit spontaneous
and graceful reaction.
n Balanced knees allow a performer to move freely in response to any impulse because
there is no work of holding to overcome first. In balance, you don’t need to undo before
you can start doing.
n The three arches of the feet create a tripod arrangement that distributes weight efficiently
and provides for excellent support and stability in standing.
n The toes do not need to assist in standing but help in propulsion at the end of a step.
n The elastic recoil of the ligaments of the foot provides a literal “spring in the step” that
assists in buoyant locomotion and is another resource that can be harnessed (or inhibited)
for effective characterization.
The Muscles of Facial Expression
The movements of the muscles of the face are key indicators of human emotion and attitude. Some
singers routinely perform in spaces so large that many in the audience can’t possibly see the move-
ments of their faces with the unaided eye, but even in the largest opera house or rock-concert arena,
somebody is down front and will be able to see the performers’ faces. Technology, from opera glasses
to high-definition television broadcasting, also enables listeners to watch singers’ faces very closely. And
even when the audience can’t clearly see a singer’s face, the colleagues onstage with him can do so,
and because their performance success will to some extent depend upon their reacting to the stimuli
he presents them, it is incumbent upon all singers to cultivate the means to effective facial expression.
Indeed, even singers who plan to perform only on radio or as voice-over artists still must cultivate
facial expression, because the action of facial muscles affects tone. Your audience in the third balcony,
or in Mumbai over internet streaming, still can hear a smile in your voice even if they can’t see it on

your face. (Remember, that smile is the action that provides the means of communicating your emotion
to your audience’s senses.) All singers need to have both freedom and liveliness in the musculature
of the face.
Most singers will not need to be able to name all of the over four dozen muscles in the face
and analyze exactly what they do in order to have expressive faces; consequently, we will not do so
here, either. (If you do want more information on individual muscles, a two-part animated tutorial
on the muscles of facial expression is available from the YouTube channel AnatomyTutorials (https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CWYAw5gsdY and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoH8av2ADNE).
Another tutorial, in which the narration is captioned, is available on YouTube from The Anatomy
Zone (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xmz3oLrnzBw). What singers do need to map clearly is that
absolutely none of those facial muscles is involved in phonation of pitch and that very few of them are
needed to resonate and articulate vocal sound. (Those that are have been discussed already in Chapters 5
and 6.) When singers are clear on those points, their facial muscles will not be already occupied trying
to do things they can’t. Instead, those muscles will be free to react truthfully to the singer’s thoughts
while performing and automatically express the emotions accompanying those thoughts, just as they
do in real life.
Singers cannot do this if their facial muscles are busy participating in fantasies that manipulating
facial muscles will directly affect the pitch or improve the resonance of their singing, so we will briefly
examine what a few facial muscles do, largely in order to clarify what they do not, and cannot, do.
The two zygomaticus major muscles run from the outside edge of each cheekbone (the zygomatic
bone, hence the name of the muscle) to each outside corner of the mouth. When they contract, they
lift the corners of the mouth upward and laterally (away from the center line of the face), as in smiling
or laughing. The two zygomaticus minor muscles also originate on the outside of the cheekbone, and
they connect to the top of the lip muscle, somewhat more medially than the zygomaticus major muscles,
a bit closer to the nostrils. They, too, raise the upper lip and can help the zygomaticus major muscles
with a smile; however, in conjunction with other muscles, they also can be active in producing a sneer
or even a sad expression. Both sets of zygomaticus muscles run only on the outside of the skull; they
are not connected in any way to anything inside.
It is important for singers to map these muscles correctly because many singers have been told
that lifting with the zygomatic muscles will lift the soft palate and improve their resonance. You already
have learned in Chapter 5 about the muscles that do lift the soft palate. These muscles are not among
them. The zygomatic muscles cannot help singers resonate; any lifting of the soft palate that occurs
when the zygomatic muscles are active is merely a coincidence, not a cause-and-effect connection.
It would be bad enough if the result of entangling the zygomatic muscles with trying to lift the
soft palate for resonance were merely wasted effort; however, this entanglement of the zygomatic
muscles is worse than that. It also hinders communication. Audiences perceive the engagement of the
zygomatic muscles as being emotionally meaningful. If these muscles are active, the audience will see
the singer smiling (or worse, sneering) even as he sings of his grief at the soprano’s tragic death, and
they will not assume he is improving his resonance (and he won’t be); rather, they will assume there is
something they have missed in the plot, and instead of empathizing, they will be waiting for the other
shoe to drop. Or else they will assume he is a bad or insincere actor and be waiting for someone more
believable to come onstage.
Another facial muscle singers frequently try to manipulate in order to change their sound is the
occipitofrontalis. This is the broad sheet of muscle that runs from the eyebrows up underneath the

hairline, where it continues all across the crown of the head as connective tissue that lies underneath
the skin of the scalp, until at the back of the occiput it becomes muscle tissue again. The frontal part
of the muscle covering the forehead elevates the eyebrows, which is useful for appearing surprised
or shocked or horrified. However, the eyebrows have no connection at all to the vocal folds, the only
part of the body that can determine the pitch a singer is singing. The misconception that raising the
eyebrows will somehow raise the frequency of a sung pitch is a very common mis-mapping of the
body. The two have nothing to do with one another. Indeed, the idea that raising the eyebrows could
raise a sung pitch is not only a mis-mapping of the body, it is a mis-mapping of pitch. When the pitch
rises, the vibration isn’t really going higher, it is merely going faster.
Exercise 7–5. Just imagine a choir director saying, “Tenors, you’re

singing flat — wiggle your eyebrows faster!” That would actually be a
closer metaphor to how pitch (that is, frequency of vibration) works,
yet you would see immediately how silly the idea is that eyebrows and
vocal folds are at all related and how comical it looks to equate them. If
you want to have a good laugh, go find a mirror and actually try this!
Then try something else that should demonstrate to you once and for all
that the occipitofrontalis and the vocal muscles are completely separate.
Start with your face relaxed and sing a five-note descending scale in a
comfortable middle range. Then repeat the scale, but raise your eyebrows
slightly higher with each descending pitch of the scale. If you could sing
the descending scale with perfect ease the first time, you’ll find you still
www
can do that even as your eyebrows ascend. Video 7–5. Vocal Fold Inde-
pendence from Eyebrows shows this exercise in action.
Although the muscles of the face must be free from entanglements that improperly attempt to
involve them in producing sound, the directive “Relax your face!” is not always helpful. Some singers
will interpret that to mean that the face should be inert or impassive as they sing, resulting in a mask-
like expression that never changes. Audiences always find an inert face to be off-putting, because it is
not natural human behavior. Just like the rest of our bodies, our faces are in continual micromotion,
subtly reacting to both external and internal stimuli. Some reactions are consciously chosen; others are
not. There is a word for faces that do not move in this way: deadpan. And no one wants to go watch a
“dead” performer. As you have learned in previous chapters, when muscles are free from tension (which
includes the unnecessary work of “holding still”), not only is movement more available and efficient,
but improved flow of blood and of nerve impulses also will result. Singers should cultivate the feeling
of liveliness that inhabits faces that are free to move!
The Eyes and Visual Focus
An old English proverb reminds singers that “the eyes are the windows to the soul” and that anyone
who hopes to communicate deeply with other human beings would do well to include the eyes as part
of that intention. Of course, the choices concerning visual focus that are available to performers are
almost infinite (even including closing the eyes and shuttering the “windows to the soul,” though this

is usually off-putting to an audience unless it is reserved for rare, special occasions). Choices exist to
be made as part of the singer’s arsenal of expressive devices. Failing to consider and intentionally take
advantage of the possibilities of visual focus in a vocal performance is tantamount to choosing to play
the piano with only nine fingers.
The most important thing for singers to remember about the eyes is the same principle that has
been emphasized throughout this book: movement arises in the brain. The eyes move and change focus
in response to thought; this is normal human behavior. If you want your audience to experience your
characters as real people, you must allow your visual focus to change, just as it does in real life, with
the thoughts of what you are singing. These changes and movements are often small and subtle, but
a completely fixed gaze (such as that some well-meaning voice teachers occasionally instruct novice
singers to direct at “the clock at the back of the hall”) is such unusual behavior for humans that an
audience will immediately start trying to figure out what exceptional, and possibly alarming, circum-
stance might be motivating it.
The way to achieve natural, engaging liveliness and variety of visual focus is to have complete
freedom in the musculature of the face and head (including, of course, the muscles that move the eyes),
and then to allow those muscles to respond organically to the vivid thoughts that motivate your song
and are expressed in it. If there is no contradictory message from the brain (such as “keep your eyes
fixed on the clock on the back wall”) impeding the movement, the eyes will move freely and sponta-
neously in response to the impulses of the music and the drama, just as the rest of the body is free to
move freely and spontaneously in response to the same impulses if there is no contradictory message
telling it to lock knees to hold the body up or pull the shoulder blades together to “have good posture.”
www
Exercise 7–6. Audio 7–6. Visual Focus Shifting with Thoughts presents
this exercise in action. If the concept of eyes constantly making shifts of
focus in response to thought seems strange to you, try this exercise by
making a brief video recording. Enlist a friend to help you and position
him or her immediately behind whatever device you are using to record,
but in a way that is easily visible to you. In fact, it is best if the friend is
more visible to you than the recording device. Let your friend operate the
recording device instead of you. (A word of advice to the assistants: start
the recording without announcing you have done so — perhaps slightly
earlier or later than your friend expects.)
Cultivate the best, easiest balance that you can, and then, as you
continue to do so, carry on a conversation with your friend, who will
not be visible in the video but can and should feel free to participate in
the conversation. Have the intention of speaking to your friend, rather
than to the camera. The point of the conversation is to tell your friend
about some very vivid experience you have had. It might be a vacation
trip to a breathtakingly beautiful spot which you describe and share how
it made you feel. Perhaps it will be a story about a disastrous date where
absolutely everything went wrong, or about how you got the news that
a child or parent had just been rushed by ambulance to an emergency
ward and what you did then. Maybe it will be the tale of when you truly

realized your spouse was the right one for you. Really allow yourself to
relive and share the experience in as much detail and power as you can.
Once you have made the recording, play it back. The first time, play
it back with the sound turned down all the way, so you can’t hear what
you are saying. Watch your eyes. You may be surprised at how much they
move. Sometimes your whole head will move and change the visual focus
left or right, up or down. Other times, the head will remain relatively
stationary, but the eyes themselves will move. At times, you may even be
able to know exactly what you were saying just by what you see, even
though you can’t hear yourself. Then play the recording again, this time
with the sound on, and you will be able to see and hear how the changes
in your visual focus correspond with changes in your thoughts — in reac-
tion to a memory, a new idea, or a response from your friend. This is
exactly what the “real people” characters who sing the songs you perform
(including those songs that may be sung by the real person that is you)
must do if they are to behave like real people.
This liveliness and variety of visual focus is one of the primary reasons it is imperative that singers
always understand everything they sing. Singers who sing in languages other than their own simply
cannot have this organic, spontaneous visual response to thought if they have not done the hard work
of painstakingly translating their texts, completely assimilating their nuances, and connecting the
textual thoughts to the musical structure of the piece. The movement is motivated by the thought; if
the thought isn’t present, there will be no movement.
Further, because thoughts move muscles, if the thought is the wrong thought, the movement will
be the wrong movement. Just as knees that are busy with locking to help hold up an unbalanced body
are not free to move in a powerful, organic reaction to a dramatic stimulus, when the brain busies itself
with a thought that isn’t part of the character’s thought process, that mental busy signal usually shows
up in the eyes. For instance, some singers try to sing a performance from memory by mentally reading
an image of the musical score they’ve stored in their minds. When they do this, their eyes will not be
participating in expressing the meaning of the music, because the thought the movement of those
eyes expresses is, “I’m busy reading right now.” The visual image of the score in the brain is a thought
powerful enough that the eyes will behave as if it really were in front of them and they were reading
it. Fortunately, as Stanislavski knew, the good news is that this as if behavior will be equally true of
any other visual thought. Consequently, singers can create a compelling sequence of eye movements
simply by creating for themselves a compelling sequence of visual thoughts or images their characters
are experiencing; their eyes will move as if they were seeing them.
Review Points: Facial Expression
n The movements of the muscles of the face are key indicators of human emotion and
attitude.

n Very few of the muscles of the face play any necessary role in resonating or articulating
sung words.
n When singers try to use muscles of facial expression for other purposes, audiences can
become confused. Audiences will assign movements of facial muscles to the emotional
meanings they associate with those movements, whether the singer intends that meaning
or not.
n Zygomatic muscles have no communication with the inside of the skull. They cannot lift
the soft palate, to which they have no connection.
n The occipitofrontalis muscle can move the eyebrows but not the vocal folds. It has no
bearing on pitch or intonation.
n The labels “high” and “low” in relation to pitch refer to their written position on the staff
of Western music notation. They do not describe any physical movement of singing. That
which we call a “higher” pitch is actually a faster frequency of vibration.
n It is normal human behavior for the eyes, as well as other muscles of the face, to move in
response to our thoughts. Singers who wish to communicate as realistic, believable human
characters must cultivate these subtle movements in their performances.
THE DETAILS: CHOICES AND CHALLENGES IN MOVEMENT
Eradicating Unwanted Movements

Throughout this book, you have been learning that all sound is movement, and of course singers want
every sound they make to be meaningful to an audience. In this chapter, you have been learning that
audiences will try to assign meaning to all of a performer’s movements, both those they hear and those
they see; therefore, it is essential that all of a performer’s gestural movements have a meaning that is
part of the artistic whole. When a singer makes movements that have no meaning or that undermine the
intended meaning of the singer’s words and melodic line, audiences will be confused or distracted from
the artistic intent, and the impact of the singer’s performance will be diminished. The good news is that
every singer can cultivate the ability to make other choices and that Body Mapping can help us do so.
We already have examined some examples of movements that singers mistakenly choose, such
as using the zygomatic muscles to try to lift the soft palate, resulting in a smile even while singing
of despair. Such useless movements have no connection to the production of meaningful sound, and
they don’t communicate emotional or dramatic information visually. Often the easiest solution to these
unwanted, extraneous movements is through Body Mapping. Using the same kind of questioning
Barbara Conable described in the introduction to this book, the singing teacher or coach, the stage
director, the ensemble conductor, or the singers themselves can discover why the unhelpful movements
are there. Then they can correct the misconception or mis-mapping that gave rise to them and watch
them melt away far faster and more completely than they ever do in response to directives like, “Quit
playing with your skirt” or “Please stop that distracting swaying!”

For instance, if a singer has the habit of swaying from side to side while
singing, shifting weight from one foot to the other, the stage director
might ask, “What is the utility of this swaying? How does it help you
get what you need? What are you trying to accomplish with it?” Almost
simultaneously, I once had three young men who had this habit in my
voice studio and opera programs. Each, as it turned out, had a different
mapping issue. The first responded to my inquiries by saying he needed
to sway in order “to sing relaxed.” He had the mis-mapping of stillness
that is so common among singers, that of assuming that stillness is
holding still; he knew he didn’t want to hold, so he moved continuously.
Once he learned what has been explained in Chapter 2 of this book, that
using his structure to find the core balance of the body would support
him while freeing all his muscles from needing to hold him in place, the
swaying just stopped. He realized that he’d had it backward: It’s work
when our muscles move; it’s not work when we’re allowing our bones
and connective tissue to support us.
The second young man had a different kind of mapping issue. Most
of his singing experience had been in genres of music quite different
from the classical repertoire on which we were working. Swaying, as it
turned out, was his way of demonstrating involvement in and commit-
ment to the music; after all, in some genres of music, that movement
would indeed have that meaning. Telling him not to sway was tanta-
mount to telling him not to identify with the music, and he certainly
didn’t want that. He needed to re-map oratorio as drama, and once he
did that, the movement no longer served the intention of the character
singing those Old Testament words, and it stopped.
The third young man’s tendency to sway from side to side as he
sang was particularly puzzling, because he hadn’t done that when I first
encountered him; indeed, he had tended to lock his body. I thought
perhaps he had started swaying out of a misguided desire to emulate his
classmates. But I soon discovered the fault was my own. When I inquired
what the swaying was intended to accomplish, he had an immediate
answer: “It’s micromovement, just like you told us in studio class!” More
questioning revealed that, although he had understood how using the
bony structure and connective tissue for support frees muscles for move-
ment, that all singing is movement, and that the body of a singer is in
fact in constant motion even if his feet are not, he had no conception
of the size of those motions. His slight swaying was actually the smallest
motion he could conceive as being a movement. We had quite a bit more
work to do in mapping size (this young man also insisted for quite some
time that his ribs didn’t move when he breathed because they didn’t go
far enough to count as “motion” in his definition), but when he came

to see the swaying as a gross movement rather than a micromovement,

it ceased.
I tell this story because it illustrates the power of the brain over
movement. Each of these singers was acting according to the “truth” his
brain told him; the movement followed inevitably and was very resistant
to direct change. When the sham truth was shown to be false, however,
the extraneous movement ceased. The experience of the third singer also
is a good cautionary tale about how we teachers, conductors, and stage
directors can lead young singers into mapping errors, even with correct
information, if we are not careful to inquire deeply enough into their
current body maps and their understanding of what they have heard.
Avoiding Stock or Stereotypical Gestures

and Encouraging Spontaneity
Almost every effective, arresting singer is an individual singer. No matter what the musical style may
be, singers who become successful are those who are perceived to have some unique quality to offer.
Yet many singers undermine the individuality of their vocalism and musical imagination with repeti-
tive, hackneyed gestures. There are many reasons singers do this, and not all of them have to do with
Body Mapping. Sometimes singers are consciously imitating another singer they admire and need to be
encouraged to develop their own style. (Actually, Body Mapping still can help here by helping singers
to realize that there are differences between their body and that of the singer they are emulating, which
should result in differences in movement. But the principal problem in this situation is the intention
to look like someone else. The singer needs a new intention.)
A common reason, however, is that the body or some part of it is not free to move in response to an
emotional stimulus. Earlier, you learned that balance is the place from which any motion is immediately
available. Provided the song is well understood, a singer who is singing from a place of balance almost
always moves arms and hands, legs and feet, face and head, with dramatic meaning and individual
truthfulness because nothing stands between the brain’s response to the emotional stimulus of the
music or the action of another singer onstage and the body’s expression of that response. If a singer is
singing from a place of imbalance, then there is muscular tension that will stand in the way of muscles
immediately moving in response to the brain’s thought. Such tension will halt the truthful, exciting
dramatic response in movement. Instead, the singer will fail to move at all or will belatedly impose an
artificial movement to indicate what the truthful response should have been. Although there will be
general similarities, such indicated responses are only pale reflections of the truthful response they
replace. They are lacking in grace, power, subtlety, and individuality, which is why the term indicated
acting is considered such a withering pejorative among many nonsinging actors.
Spontaneity, then, is not entirely a psychological quality; it is also physical. Unless we are in that
state of balanced physical equilibrium from which any movement is equally available, it is difficult to
act spontaneously; the work of first having to overcome the work of holding the out-of-balance pose
or posture before the body will be able to move kills spontaneity.

Exercise 7–7. Here’s a series of related exercises to explore how balance

www
promotes spontaneity and imbalance inhibits it. Video 7–7. Balance and
Spontaneity shows elements of these exercises in action. First, choose a
fairly routine task that involves a lot of movement, perhaps dusting or
washing dishes or preparing a salad. Before you begin, take some time
to cultivate the best balance you can and keep the intention to enjoy
the advantage of balance always in your awareness as you begin and
continue the movements of the task. As you let your bones and connective
tissue support you, freeing muscles to move, explore how many different
movements or ways of moving you can use to accomplish the task you’ve
chosen. Some will feel very familiar; those are the movements the “char-
acter” that is you generally chooses. Others may feel wildly unfamiliar
and silly; those are perhaps a very eccentric character working on the
same task. But that character is still getting the dusting or the dish-
washing done. You may decide you, yourself, would never do it that way,
and that’s OK; you wouldn’t do things the way a lot of your characters
do. However, you just might also discover a whole new way of peeling
vegetables or cleaning the bathroom that makes the task easier or more
fun. Remember, all the while you will be intending to move with the
advantage of core balance. Take a break halfway through the task and
reflect on what you’ve noticed about your movement.
Now, intentionally kill the buoyant support of core balance. You can
do this by dragging your head down and back, or tilting it radically to
one side, or throwing your chest out and shoulders back in a posture-
myth way, or intentionally locking your knees. Return to the task; you’ll
find your movements and the amount of effort it takes to accomplish
them both have changed. You may find that your mood changes, too. As
you did in the first part of the exercise, try to explore as many ways of
moving as you can, only this time be sure not to allow the advantage of
core balance. The movements will be different (if any feel familiar, you
may have some work to do on balance), and they almost assuredly will
be more effortful than before. Some people even find it harder to think
of as many different ways of moving through the task as they did when
they were in balance, and occasionally (depending on the task), they
find that a few movements from the first part of the exercise truly will
be impossible. Imbalance seems to shut down possibilities. Again, reflect
upon what you notice.
Variation One
You will need help from someone else. Enlist a family member or friend to
interrupt you at some point during the task with something that demands
a response from you. Let your helper decide the timing and the reason.

Maybe it will be a yell from the next room (“Oh no! Come quick, and
bring a towel!”). Or a call to your cell phone, or an interruption in
person (“Hey, can you help me fix my hair?”). Do this twice also, once
with good core balance and once without it. (A word of advice to the
helpers: don’t let exactly the same amount of time elapse before the inter-
ruption each time; that will help keep the reactions honest.) Notice how
you react to the interruption each time. Could you respond as quickly
without balance as with it? Did you notice any evidence of having to
undo before you could start doing (such as having to unlock your knees
before you could run to the phone)? Did you feel differently about the
interruption in either situation?
Variation Two
This can help you with the challenge of playing a character whose body
map is quite inaccurate and whose movement consequently is seriously
compromised. Singers frequently have to do this, but we always have to
maintain the integrity of our own body maps and our own movement
well enough that (a) we do not hurt ourselves and (b) we still can move
well enough to fulfill the vocal requirements of singing the role. Begin
as you did for the original exercise. With excellent balance, approach a
task involving movement, such as dusting your home. Note how easily
and efficiently you can accomplish the task. Incorporate sound — sing
or speak as you move. Note how easily and efficiently you can vocalize.
Now create a character whose body map includes inaccuracies that
inhibit balance. For instance, let’s try a very gung-ho military man or
woman who has truly bought into the posture myth. Chin up! Shoulders
back! Chest out! Butt tucked! Assume this posture in a big way and go
back to your task. Continue to vocalize. Observe how you move, how you
sound, and how you feel. It probably won’t take long before you don’t
feel good; you certainly won’t want to move that way for a full two-and-
a-half-hour musical, even with an intermission in which to recover. You
may not like the sound you get, either. How can you possibly use this
character’s body map?
Well, you can’t use it exactly. But what you can do is suggest it.
Experiment with lesser degrees of that particular body map. To what
degree can you take it on and compromise your movement only enough
to suggest the character in gesture and sound and still fulfill the task that
is required of you? If you can’t manage dusting for 10 minutes without
distress, it’s unlikely you will be able to negotiate a dance routine.
However, with careful attention to what you’re doing, you will be able
to find the amount that you can move toward the faulty body map and
still allow enough freedom and micromovement to accomplish the task.

This may not be optimal freedom, but that character probably never has
functioned with optimal freedom. (Nor would the audience want him
to. If the evil Monostatos in The Magic Flute sings with as much beauty
and freedom as the hero Tamino, the audience just gets confused; they
want their villain to sound like one. But each tenor still has to sing with
enough freedom that he keeps his voice healthy.) The point is to find
enough freedom for the performer. If you keep experimenting, you will
find just the amount of posture myth you can take on that will allow
you to get the room dusted, moving in a way that is quite different from
your own habit, without distress or danger. The keys will be cultivating as
much micromovement as you can, planning to allow some recovery time
or activity afterward and, above all, maintaining inclusive attention to
your whole body throughout the whole activity.
The Distinction Between Concentration and Attention
Everything discussed in this chapter so far presupposes that the singer is paying attention to what he
or she is doing. Without attention, all bets are off, and in fact singers not infrequently do encounter
problems simply because they have failed to pay sufficient attention to some aspect of their bodies,
their movement, the conductor or director, their fellow performers, or the musical or textual informa-
tion on the printed score. But an equally common and destructive problem is for singers to allow their
awareness to be narrowly selective rather than globally inclusive.
For many centuries, even before the term was invented, singers have been multitasking. A singer
must attend simultaneously to all sorts of sensory information. Responding to auditory input from an
orchestra or church organ or jazz rhythm section or other singers helps singers keep their intonation
true, their rhythm and tempo secure, and their dramatic impulses truthful. Responding to visual input
from a conductor, or the shape of a piece of scenery or the angle of a beam of light, or the trajectory
of the flower tossed by the femme fatale helps singers be more effective in singing on time, being
seen as well as heard, and moving believably. Responding to the tactile information of a trailing velvet
gown or an uneven stage surface helps singers stay in character and avoid mishaps. And attending
and responding to information from their kinesthesia at the same time as all the other senses will
help singers do all of those things, as well as to monitor their singing technique. Singers whose atten-
tion includes all of this information, as well as their intentions for the music they are singing and the
movements they choose to fulfill those intentions, will be able to give performances of great richness
and nuance.
Unfortunately, instead of cultivating this broadly inclusive awareness, many singers choose to
concentrate all their attention on a single object or thought. In real life, we all know that such narrow
concentration is nothing but trouble and describe it pejoratively. We say, “She’s consumed by making
money” or “He’s completely obsessed with maintaining a spotless house.” Barbara Conable likes to point
out that no police officer is going to be impressed with the statement, “But, officer, I was concentrating
on the green car when I hit the blue one!” precisely because the very idea is so ludicrous. Singers must
tune to their accompaniment, follow the drummer’s beat on the monitor, find the hot spot of the light,

dance without tripping on the amplifier cords, and hit their marks for the fog-machine effect precisely
on the downbeat of the bridge, maintaining kinesthetic awareness of the movement of singing all the
while. Only singers who have learned to keep all these things in their awareness simultaneously will
be able to succeed fully at the task.
What often happens instead is that singers direct all of their attention at a single thing, usually
the element of the performance that engenders the most anxiety. It may be making a tricky musical
entrance or performing a complicated bit of stage business or achieving the “money note.” This sort of
concentration prevents the brain from attending to all the other important sensory information.
Here’s a real-life example of the importance of inclusive attention and

the danger of exclusive concentration. When I was a young singer, I sang
at a number of summer festivals. One summer, I was in the chorus of
a production of Lucia di Lammermoor, in which the title soprano, on
her wedding night, murders the man she has been forced to marry and
then horrifies the wedding guests in the famous Mad Scene. At one point
in the scene, she imagines she sees the man she truly loved, Edgardo
Ravenswood, and greets him amorously. Often this is played as simple
raving at the thin air, but the soprano and I both had noticed that the
costumer had for some reason dressed me (alone of all the choristers) in
the same tartan as the tenor playing Edgardo. So she and I worked out
some staging in which this crazy woman with a bloody knife singled out
this utterly terrified wedding guest and chased him around the stage until
her wandering mind went on to something else. The director loved it, the
audience loved it, and I, lowly college apprentice, loved having the oppor-
tunity to act up a storm in the middle of the star soprano’s showpiece.
Everything went swimmingly, just as we’d planned and rehearsed it,
until the last performance. Because I didn’t have to sing in that section,
there was absolutely nothing in my mind but that knife that kept coming
toward me and backing safely away from it. I was, I would have said
then, really “getting into it.” Suddenly, the soprano stopped dead and
then appeared to have a vision of something else stage left and wandered
away. Of course my character’s immediate reaction was relief, but then
I started wondering why she had changed the scene from what we’d
always done before. It wasn’t until it was time to exit that I happened to
look down and notice that my downstage heel was hanging off the edge
of the stage. If I had backed up another two inches, I’d have landed in
the orchestra pit on the timpani. I had been concentrating on acting;
the soprano, fortunately, had been paying inclusive attention. Not only
was she beautifully singing one of the greatest coloratura showpieces
in the literature and giving a gripping dramatic performance, she was
simultaneously able to save a dumb college kid who was concentrating
too exclusively on acting to be paying attention to where he was. She
taught me a lesson about inclusive awareness that I’ve never forgotten.

Of course, most singers know that they must do many things, so what they do is scan: They give all
their attention to one thing at a time and rapidly move from concentrating on one thing to concentrating
on the next to concentrating on yet another. Scanning is frantic and exhausting. It’s hard work to firmly
shut out all sensory input except that which is concerned with one small thing. And constantly shifting
what that one thing may be is disorienting. The solution is for singers to keep all of their experience in
their awareness. Then within that inclusive awareness, they can focus more detailed attention wherever
it is most needed, but they mustn’t lose touch with the rest of their experience. Broadway singers who
master this skill will never lose track of where the steps in the scenery are while they keep an eye out
for a cue from the conductor. Choral singers with inclusive awareness will always tune beautifully to the
bass section while perfectly matching vowels with the rest of their own section and attending to their
own kinesthesia so they can stand in a comfortable balance on the risers throughout an entire oratorio.
The matter of cultivating awareness is also a matter of Body Mapping. Singers who concentrate
have mapped their brains as having the function of concentrating; that’s what they believe that thinking
is. They have not mapped their brains as having the function of receiving and processing a world of
simultaneous sensory information or as having the ability to focus within a large amount of information
by selecting the most important bit of information for special attention while still remaining aware of
the rest. They are putting limits that really don’t exist on their brains and then demanding that their
brains function only within those limits. If this is hard for you to assimilate, you may want to study
Chapter 1 in more detail, since that chapter is all about cultivating attention.
How to Use Body Mapping to Address Some

Common Movement Problems
Awareness is the foundation for all Body Mapping work. With awareness and the kind of inquiry that
has been described throughout this book, you can solve problems you encounter in making your move-
ments visually expressive. In this section, we’re going to look at how you might use Body Mapping
to address a few common challenges in gestural movement. You probably will find others to explore
on your own.
There is an almost infinite variety of movements singers make in the mistaken belief that these
movements help them accomplish some goal in their production of sound but which actually have
nothing at all to do with the structures that can accomplish those goals. Some examples that have been
discussed already in the course of this chapter include raising the eyebrows to raise the sung pitch
and pulling the shoulder blades together and hiking up the sternum in an attempt to achieve “good
posture” for better breathing.
To review, there are two problems with these misdirected movements. The first problem is that
they do not actually help singers accomplish their technical goals and in fact often interfere with the
technical intention instead. The second problem is that they are actions, and the audience will attempt
to assign meaning to them. But since they are not truly part of the movement of singing that pitch or
breathing effectively, they don’t mean what the singer intended. This means that the performer has lost
an important opportunity to communicate fully and expressively with the audience.
For example, the tenor who rises up on his toes every time he “goes for a high note” is not helping
his vocal folds vibrate quickly enough to sing that pitch; the vocal folds are a very long way from the
joints of the foot and ankle where this movement is happening. But the audience is going to see that
rocking and lifting, and they will do what human beings do: assign a meaning to that behavior. Maybe

they will decide the character is nervous, or impatient, or hyperactive. Worse yet, maybe they will
decide that the performer is one of those things and not a good enough actor to conceal it. Whatever
the audience members decide, the tenor has, at least to some extent, lost them and is no longer telling
exactly the story he wished to tell.
The performer caught in a situation like this can recruit awareness and Body Mapping to solve
the problem. By bringing the movement into his awareness, the tenor with an accurate body map can
realize the movement has nothing to do with the high notes. If his intention is to seduce the mezzo-
soprano, he will realize that the movement of rocking up and down on his toes is hardly making him
appear the magnetic and mysterious sophisticate he wishes her to see, and he then will find it easy to
abandon that movement and choose a more effective tactic.
Gripping With the Toes

Many singers have a habit of curling or gripping with their toes as they stand to sing, as if they thought
that doing so would help them stand securely. Usually, they do believe this. As you have learned in
Chapter 2 and in this chapter, that isn’t true; it’s a mis-mapping of the body. The mis-mapping is a
problem because toes are actually for propulsion, and when they grip to stand, we cannot move about
the stage easily and efficiently because the toes are already busy doing something that is none of their
business. Gripping and scrunching with the toes will prevent the tarsal and metatarsal bones of the
toes and balls of the feet from spreading and thus rob singers of the buoyant spring when the spread
bones spring back. Furthermore, the toe-gripping can actually interfere with the security and stability
of the foot that comes from the tripod structure that distributes the body’s weight to the heel and to
the heads of the metatarsal bones.
If you have the toe-scrunching habit, it won’t do much good just to tell
yourself, “Don’t grip with the toes!” when your brain believes you will
fall over if you don’t. The cure for the habit is remapping the foot. Study
the pictures in Figure 2–23, Figure 2–24, and Figure 7–12. Try Exercise
2–10 on page 59. Then you may want to try the following exercise.
www
Exercise 7–8. Video 7–8. Toes and Propulsion shows this exercise in
action. Find the best core balance that you can and then try walking.
(You may want to do this barefoot so you can see it more clearly.) Feel
how the heel of each foot comes down first, and then how the arch begins
to rotate from the ankle joint at the apex of the arch until the other side
of the arch contacts the floor as the heel comes up. You’ll perceive that
the other side of the arch is the ball of the foot, not the toes. The toes
are hardly even touching the floor yet! They only come into play as you
continue forward through the step and provide you a lovely impetus as
they leave the floor and your weight moves onto the heel of your other
foot. In the gait labs where scientists study human locomotion, this entire
process is referred to as “rolling through the stride,” which is a useful
way of underscoring the fluidity of the motion.

Now grip hard with your toes and repeat the whole process. You’ll
see immediately how movement is compromised. The arch of the foot is
distorted, altering your balance and preventing the metatarsals from
spreading; they and the toes cannot provide you with any spring in your
step at all. The toes become an obstacle to forward propulsion rather than
an assist. In some individuals, the tip of the big toe may even encounter
the ground before the ball of the foot does; that’s not only unbalanced
and inefficient, it’s painful! You may also want to repeat this whole
exercise while singing a simple scale; you will feel and hear a difference
in your sound as well as in your gait.
One other source of gripping with toes is footwear. Shoes that don’t fit and push the bones of the
foot into odd configurations will affect your balance. The great Swedish soprano Birgit Nilsson under-
stood this. When asked what a singer needed most to be successful in the long and arduous Wagner
roles for which she was famous, she exclaimed, “Comfortable shoes!” Choose your shoes for concert
wear carefully, and if you sing in theatrical productions, be sure to make friends with the costumer.
Two words about shoes: High heels. By far the question female singers
most frequently ask me at Body Mapping workshops is, “Can someone
sing in high heels and still be in balance?” The answer is, “Of course,
but it requires extra attention and probably some practice with the
shoes.” Adding height to the heel of a shoe will change the arc of the arch
through which the weight of the body is distributed; the heel of the shoe
becomes an extension of the heel of the foot. The ankle joint must rock
and rebalance so that it still remains the fulcrum at the apex of the arch,
which will of course be taller and narrower. (The higher the heel of the
shoe, the taller and narrower the arch.) A change in the shape of any
tensegrity structure must be distributed throughout the entire structure,
so this change in the configuration of the arch must be accommodated
dynamically throughout the whole of your balance; it can’t be isolated
locally in the foot. With practice, you can learn a dynamic balance that
continues to distribute the load of your weight equally back through the
heel of the foot and the shoe and forward through the ball of the foot. (If
too much of the load is thrown onto the balls of the feet, the toes often
grip in compensation, which is counterproductive.) By the way, guys,
you might need to learn this skill, too. Authentic footwear for men in a
number of historical periods included dizzyingly high heels; in period
pieces, you could find yourself singing with a saber in your hand and
stilettos on your feet.

Toe-Tapping and Other Forms of Self-Conducting
Toe-tapping while singing is considered an annoying visual distraction in some genres of music; in
others, however, it may be perfectly fine. This movement and many others arise from an attempt to
make the mechanics, rather than the underlying meaning, of the music visual. Different styles of music
have different conventions about whether or not this is desirable. Gospel singers, for instance, often
make very elaborate hand gestures as they sing improvised melismas, almost as if they are drawing
the phrase in the air as they sing it. Generally, their audiences enjoy and appreciate these movements
as an integral part of the performance. However, a classical singer who did the same with a Rossini
melisma or a Handel cadenza would be violating the expectations and conventions of the opera or
oratorio stage and most likely would be criticized for it. So singers need to map the conventions and
expectations of the musical genre they are singing as part of their intention for the music.
After doing so, if singers wish to change their movement habits, they must intentionally include
those movements in their awareness. Again, inquiry is a potent tool: “What does this toe-tapping (or
head-bobbing or air-conducting) accomplish? What am I trying to do with it?” If the toe-tapping is an
attempt to gain a kinesthetic connection to the rhythmic pulse of the music (and it usually is), then
the singer wishing to eliminate it will need to work on other ways of sensing rhythm before it can and
will cease, because having no “feeling” for the rhythmic pulse certainly is not an option for an effec-
tive performer. A singer who tries to use motions of the hands or head to demarcate each pitch in a
given phrase will want to re-map the mechanics of making pitch, starting with the phonation chapter
of this book, until it is clear that hands and head have nothing to do with pitch, and moving them only
provides a visual metaphor for the pitch. In a classical art song, that visual metaphor for particular
pitches would distract the audience from the message the text and music seek to convey, and the singer
who truly understands that will find it easy to abandon the unhelpful tactic of the metaphor. However,
in another genre, perhaps a jazz scat improvisation, the performer might feel that the visual metaphor
for the musical structure of the phrase enhances the performance and thus choose to keep it.
Holding a Music Score While Singing
Singers in concert genres, particularly in choral music and oratorio, often hold a score while they
perform. Virtually no other kind of musician does this because they need their hands and arms free to
make sound; however, because arms and hands do not make sound in singing, they can be, and often
are, used as music stands. Singers must learn to manage supporting a score using their core balance.
Of course, this will not be possible until singers have learned enough about their own body maps to
be able to stand or sit with ease, using their core balance, as discussed in Chapter 2. Once they have
mastered those skills, they will be ready to add the music score.
The key to supporting the weight of the score and distributing it through your core and eventu-
ally to the ground is the strong line down the ulnar (little-finger) side of the arm. If that alignment
is preserved, the arm structure takes the load and distributes it to the rest of the body through the
connective tissue that suspends the yoke of the shoulder blade and collarbone that was depicted in
Figure 7–4. Figure 7–13 shows a singer using this strong line to hold a score.

Figure 7–13. Using dynamic balance to support a music score.

Here my student Lianna Wimberly Williams demonstrates using the
integrity of the strong ulnar line and core balance to support a
music score with ease by distributing the load through the arms
to the spine. Photo by C. White.
If, however, the singer allows the arms to become thumb-oriented, or organized along the radial
side of the arm, the muscles of the arms themselves will have to work much harder in order to hold
up the music. Typically, as the singer tires of doing this, the elbows will drop, the wrists will bend, and
the singer may even compromise his core balance by throwing the thorax forward to rest the upper
arms against it or by letting the weight of the score and arms push the thorax back off the lumbar
balance. When any of these things happen, the entire singing mechanism will be negatively impacted.
CONCLUSION
Body Mapping is more than just an essential tool to promote balance, ease, and freedom in movement.
It does more than promote superior function in performance. It also is an excellent means to enhance
meaning and communication. By means of careful mapping of the structures of visual communication,
including the arms and hands, the legs and feet, the muscles of the face, and the eyes, singers can
enhance the visual elements of their performances and communicate more powerfully with audiences,
whose expectation is that everything they hear and see is (or should be) a meaningful part of their
artistic experience. Singers who make skillful use of the body map and of inclusive attention will be
able to meet that audience expectation brilliantly.

Review Points: Choices in Movement and Attention
n Audiences will try to assign meaning to all of a singer’s movements. When a singer makes
movements that have no meaning or that undermine the intended meaning of a singer’s
words or melodic line, audiences will be distracted.
n If a singer is singing from a place of imbalance, then there is muscular tension that will
halt the truthful, exciting dramatic response in movement.
n Spontaneity is not entirely a psychological quality; it is also physical.
n Singers must attend simultaneously to all sorts of sensory information, cultivating a global,
inclusive awareness, rather than concentrating narrowly or scanning rapidly from one
thing to another.
n Coupling inclusive awareness with an accurate and detailed body map can solve many
problems with unintended or ineffective performance movements.
RESOURCES
The Anatomy Zone. “Muscles of Facial Expression — Anatomy Tutorial, Part I”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xmz3oLrnzBw and
“Muscles of Facial Expression — Anatomy Tutorial, Part 2”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z0nbAm2HPw
AnatomyTutorials. “Facial Muscles — Mouth Expression — 3D Anatomy Tutorials”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CWYAw5gsdY and
“Facial Muscles — Eye Expression — 3D Anatomy Tutorials”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoH8av2ADNE
The Gait Guys. “A Walk on the Beach”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fF3N19TBnA
REFERENCE
Ostwald, D. F. (2005). Acting for singers. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Appendix A
What to Do About
Performance Anxiety
Barbara Conable
The following article is reprinted verbatim from the first edition.
Our students come to us with physical discomfort and with emotional discomfort related to playing.
Performance anxiety is the worst of the emotional discomfort. Here is what to do about it.
There are four distinct phenomena that go by the name performance anxiety. Each requires a
different response, so it is important to name all four and distinguish them from each other so that the
appropriate response may be chosen. Mixing responses guarantees failure.
FOUR KINDS OF PERFORMANCE ANXIETY
These are the four types of performance anxiety:
1. Butterflies
2. Self-consciousness
3. Emotions associated with inadequate preparation
4. Debilitating fear, terror, dread, panic
They are defined as follows:
1. Butterflies: The fluttery sensations, sometimes intense, that precede performance and
disappear as performance begins, often regarded by seasoned performers as indicative
of readiness to perform but often mistaken for performance anxiety by inexperienced
performers. Normal, not pathological.
2. Self-consciousness: Defined in my dictionary as “morbidly aware of oneself as an object
of attention for others” — a brilliant definition. I’d like to shake the hand of the person
who wrote it. Self-consciousness is a pathology but rather easily remedied. To call it
283

performance anxiety is a misnomer because anxiety is not involved, as you will learn if
you carefully question a self-conscious person. He or she will say, “Oh, I don’t feel any
fear; I’m just so self-conscious.”
3. Emotions associated with inadequate preparation: A witches’ brew of shame, confusion,
avoidance, and fear; not pathological, just human; often mistaken for number 4 by those
who don’t want to acknowledge the truth that they are not ready to perform. Shame
predominates in this mix.
4. Pathological, debilitating fear, terror, dread, panic: Intense emotion, coming in waves,
usually expressed physically as sweating, shaking, or other involuntary movement, rapid
breathing, dry mouth, senses distorted or diminished; for example, “It sounded like the
piano was a quarter of a mile away.”
Time of Occurrence
They typically occur as follows:
1. Butterflies: Occurs in the hours immediately preceding performance.

2. Self-consciousness: Occurs whenever the performance is thought about.
3. Emotions associated with inadequate preparation: Pretty constant in the weeks preceding
performance. Usually low grade because of the avoidance factor.
4. Debilitating fear, terror, dread, panic: Grandly episodic throughout the entire period
of preparation. Middle of the night. While driving one’s car. At a party. Walking past
the concert hall. Talking with one’s accompanist on the phone. Taking a walk. Sudden.
Unpredictable. Subsides, only to reappear another time, like herpes.
Effect on Performance
These four categories usually have the following effects:
1. Butterflies: Enhances performance.

2. Self-consciousness: Compromises the whole performance, start to finish. “I always
play better in practice than in performance.” Emotional expression and meaning are
compromised.
3. Emotions associated with inadequate preparation: Performance spotty and substandard
because of the inadequate preparation, not because of the associated emotions.
4. Debilitating fear, terror, dread, panic: May stop performance altogether. Performers may
refuse to play or sing at the last minute or they walk off stage mid-concert. If they play or
sing the whole concert, the fear and its physical manifestation are episodic throughout.

APPENDIX A: WHAT TO DO ABOUT PERFORMANCE ANXIETY 285
The sweating and shaking may be visible and result in wrong notes. The sensory distor-
tion may interfere with ability to read the notation or to hear the other players so that
performance has to be stopped and started again. Often results in “memory slips” or
rhythmic distortion. Rarely if ever compromises expressiveness. In fact, some performers
claim they are not expressive unless they are filled with fear, terror, dread, panic.
Remedies
These steps eliminate the anxiety:
1. Butterflies: Learn to enjoy them. Begin the performance and they disappear.
2. Being self-consciousness, morbidly aware of oneself as an object of observation for
others, requires a two-step remedy. First, get clear about the fact that the audience pays
money and comes to the concert hall to make the music the object of attention. If the
audience paid money and came to the concert hall to make you the object of attention,
you wouldn’t have to play the music. You could just sit there and let them look at you.
Second step in the remedy: develop self-awareness. True self-awareness (kinesthetic,
tactile, emotional) is the great, reliable remedy for self-consciousness. This two-step
remedy can work literally overnight and solve the problem forever if the first step is truly
comprehended. The music is what it’s all about. The music is the object of observation
for the audience and for the performer, who have a mutual interest in the music.
3. Emotions associated with inadequate preparation: Cancel or postpone the performance
or the audition, or get a sub. No other response is appropriate. Then, get yourself
adequately prepared. If you don’t know how to prepare, find someone who will teach
you. Never, never use performance anxiety as an excuse when it was inadequate prepara-
tion that compromised the quality of your performance. Teachers, don’t let your students
get by with this, either. Nail them. Call them on it. It’s your job. Don’t let them perform
unprepared.
4. Debilitating fear, terror, dread, panic: The remedy for this is strenuous, demanding, diffi-
cult, uncompromising, but it works. The remedy will be described in great detail later in
this essay, but first, I believe it is important to understand that this type of performance
anxiety happens in a context. In my experience, the context must be credited in order
for the sufferer to do the work of liberation.
THE CONTEXT
Performance fear, terror, dread, panic are not purely personal and cannot be remedied without some
understanding of their cultural context. In order for musicians to exert themselves to genuine change,
they need to sense they are changing not just themselves but also the musical culture. In other words,
they are doing it for everyone.

Let’s look at the problem from the perspective of circumstances in which performance anxiety
rarely or never occurs. Then, let’s examine some unusual factors in the way music is taught and heard
in our culture. Third, please consider the status of musicians in our culture as a factor in the fear musi-
cians feel.
Let’s look first at the circumstances in which performance anxiety rarely or never occurs in order
to shine some light on the circumstances in which it does occur. Performance anxiety rarely occurs
among pro-ams, as they are now fondly called, that is, amateurs who play at a professional level. It
rarely occurs among church musicians, especially those who regard themselves as having a vocation for
music; it rarely occurs among Indian classical musicians (those who play the traditional ragas), though
their music is at least as complex and demanding as Western classical music, and it rarely occurs among
African drummers, though their music is far more complex rhythmically than is Western music. I have
the impression that performance anxiety is less frequent among Western jazz and rock musicians than
among Western classical musicians.
Pro-ams tell me they feel eager anticipation when they perform. One said it is like preparing a fine
meal for friends. Pro-ams play a lot of chamber music, and the music itself is the motivating factor, the
joy of hearing it, the joy of playing it, the joy of discovering something new about it. For these highly
skilled amateurs there are no bad consequences in their imagination if they don’t for some reason play
well, no loss of job, no scorn from colleagues, and the like.
Church musicians tell me they attribute their absence of fear to the fact that even their very finest
performances are not ends in themselves but rather dedicated to the overall effect of the celebration.
Organists sometimes tell me it helps them that they are not seen by the congregation, or not watched
as a concert pianist is.
Indian classical musicians tend to attribute their comfort in playing to the communal nature of
their training and to the fact that they usually live with their teachers, who teach them every day, not
every week, and offer the ongoing nurture and support in supervised daily practice. The students never
experience the isolation so many young musicians experience in our culture.
One of the great African drummers at a Percussive Arts Society convention, when asked about
performance anxiety, said he had never met anyone who suffered from it. Laughing, he said, “We are
not afraid of music.” Then he became serious and named some elements in the training of drummers
that may prevent performance anxiety. First, he said, “We never, ever name a mistake. Naming mistakes
seems silly to us,” he said, “like naming the ‘mistakes’ in a young child’s talking or walking.” He went
on to say that young children are kept at the same level of playing for a long time and not allowed
to go to the next level of complexity until they are practically bursting to do so. Then, when they do
go to the next level, they can achieve it easily, because they have so long anticipated it in their minds
and because they have heard it and seen it for so long from others. In addition, African teachers play
with their students or for their students all or most of the time, and there are no competitions, only
performances.
Rock musicians, in my experience, are free of performance anxiety. When I ask them about this,
they generally attribute it to the connection they feel to their audience. They are deeply, profoundly
aware of their audience as they write and rehearse, so it is as if the audience is perpetually present. The
audience is not something to be feared but something to draw strength and inspiration from. Listen to
interviews with great rock musicians and you will hear them talk about their audiences in the same
way some well-known novelists talk about theirs. A mutual loyalty is being described. Jazz musicians
share to some degree the sense of audience, especially those who get a following in certain clubs, but

they have the further cushion of improvisation. Improvisation is a very demanding enterprise, but it
does give a kind of space that the strict notation of classical music does not.
There are some aspects of the ways music is heard in our culture that we take for granted much
of the time but which are nevertheless quite unusual and may contribute to the debilitating fear some
musicians experience. An audience sitting in rows facing a stage with nothing else to think about is
unusual in the world. In other cultures people wander in and out of the performance space, paying
close attention when they like and peripheral attention at other times. The musicians are not watched
so intently. Nowadays many people have CDs of the music being performed. Notes not written by
the composer have been corrected on the CDs, and therefore people’s ears are geared to a level of
technical perfection that is unrealistic. Also, audience members may be comparing a university profes-
sor’s performance to the performance of the finest concert musicians in the world. The comparison
spoils what would otherwise be a profoundly enjoyable experience, and, to make matters worse, the
performer may also be making the comparison, contributing to performance fear and dread. Some fine
musicians perform infrequently, upping the ante on any one performance, like getting to play one or
two poker hands a year.
And then there is the matter of envy. I will not write about envy in this essay because it has been
discussed so brilliantly by James Jordan in The Musician’s Soul, a book all musicians need to read and
study because envy is a truly significant factor in performance fear and dread.
As is status. Musicians’ status in our culture is described in one word: low.
Evidence: joke. Three people appear at the pearly gates. The doctor is welcomed right in;
likewise the lawyer. The musician is directed around to the back door.
Evidence: cover story in city magazine: “How to Impress Your Friends This Year. Tip Number
Ten: Buy Season Tickets to the Symphony and Never, Never Go.”
Evidence: musicians’ salaries at universities as compared with others who have spent decades
of hard work in preparation for what they do.
Evidence: the way musicians are treated at the White House. Rosalyn Carter made sure that
musicians were greeted when they arrived and that they were served good food and had a
comfortable place to change clothes and warm up and rest between performances, but other
occupants of the White House have not followed her example.
Evidence: the reluctance of symphony management to adopt and adhere to elementary safe-
guards for musicians and their instruments, like temperature control, reasonable schedules,
and ear protection.
Evidence: the failure of universities to credit practice time and score study as work hours.
Many university musicians work a full work week in addition to their practice and study
time. From a nonmusician’s point of view, this is cruel and counterproductive, like asking a
scientist to do research after hours, and it contributes to performance anxiety because the
performing professor is tired and sometimes resentful.
I have been privileged to spend some time in a culture in which musicians are held in the highest
esteem, revered, cared for, regarded as very, very special. Their status is in shocking contrast to that of
musicians in American mainstream culture.

THE REMEDY FOR PERFORMANCE FEAR, TERROR, DREAD, PANIC
I derive some linguistic pleasure from building the remedy on the letters in the word fear, thus:
F — feel the fear

E — embody the fear
A — arrive
R — relate
The device also helps my students remember what to do. Feel the fear. Embody the fear. Truly arrive
in the performance space. Truly relate to the space, the music, and the audience.
It sounds simple, but it is actually very mentally demanding, and the feeling and the embodying
must be done over and over again throughout the preparation period whenever the episodes of fear
occur, so it is a day-by-day commitment over a period of weeks or months; it is particularly demanding
at the time of performance because feeling and embodying must continue unabated while you at the
same time truly arrive in the space and truly relate to it. Not simple. Not easy. Why do I recommend
something so demanding as remedy? I do because it’s the only thing that works. Believe me, I’ve seen
everything you can imagine tried to solve this problem and nothing but this demanding procedure
really works. If you don’t believe me, try all the others and then do this, hard as it is. No one ever said
being a successful performer was going to be easy, only that it was going to be fulfilling and in keeping
with our deepest humanity, so the reward is great.
So, here is how it’s done, letter by letter.
F = Feel
Many people make the mistake of trying not to feel their fear, terror, dread, panic, or they try to diminish
it, or they try to ignore it. This turns them into two people, the person who is feeling the fear and the
one who is suppressing or ignoring it. You can’t perform when split. It just won’t work. So, the first
task in solving the problem of performance fear is to just agree to feel what you’re feeling full out in
every part of your body, not diminishing any tiny bit of it.
Now, understand that fear, terror, dread, panic only overwhelm if they are experienced in isolation
from other sensations. So, your next feel task is to feel also all the other emotions in your experience.
You may think there are no others, but you will be wrong about this. If you go looking for them, you
will find the others — anger, perhaps; self-compassion, we hope; your love for the music you will be
playing, your anticipation, yearning; hope for a fine performance; regard for the other musicians on
your concert. The key here is to let all those other emotions live in your experience and come into
relationship with the fear you feel. If you let them live there with the fear, the other emotions will
cushion the fear, change its texture. Probably they will not diminish its intensity, but that’s okay, really,
because they will change the physical expression of the fear. Sweating and shaking will subside. Your
body only produces these expressions of your fear if your fear is all you’re feeling, if it’s alone there in
experience, all by itself. When you’re feeling all your other emotions at the same time, the monochro-
matic response of shaking and sweating gives way to a rainbow of expression, which also prevents the
sensory distortions that compromise performance so seriously.

You may want to actively cultivate and enhance some of your other emotions. If you love music,
right there in the presence of all your fear, expand and enhance that love. If you have some joyful
anticipation of playing this marvelous music for people in the audience, enhance that. Don’t stop feeling
the fear; just give it good company. You are cultivating richness in your experience. If you allow it
to, the music will help you as you practice it. Be sure you are making the fullest possible emotional
response to the music you are practicing. You will need to make your entire nervous system available
to the music, and then it will provide you with the richest possible context for your fear. Music teaches
you how to feel what it expresses. That is one of its glories, and it is how music helps you with your
fear. Now, remember, this is just the first step, and it will not work in isolation from the others to solve
your performance fear problem, but neither can it be skipped or cheated. You will have to do this step
consistently, day after day, in your practice and every single time you feel an episode of performance
fear coming on.
E = Embody
Now you go the next step and give all your emotion a larger context. You need to put all your emotion
in the company of all your other physical sensation. Just like fear never overwhelms when it is given
the company of other emotion, so emotion never overwhelms when it is given the company of other
sensation. We call this strategy embodying the fear.
First, put all your emotions in the context of your tactile experience, the feeling of your skin,
your tactile sensation of your shoes, socks, floor, clothing, the temperature and movement of the air as
perceived by your skin. Find it all and put your emotion firmly in relationship to it.
Then find all your kinesthetic sensation, that is, all your experience of your moving, of your
position, of your size. You will be moving to perform, and you will need to feel your moving with
great clarity in order to choose the best movement and in order to change your moving if it needs to
be changed. So, in embodying your emotion, you are also availing yourself of information crucial for
performance anyway, apart from its function as a primary cushion for fear.
As you become kinesthetically awake, you will feel overt movement and what is fashionably called
micromovement, all the inner hum of muscular and visceral activity. You will feel this all as related, like
an orchestra of sensation, not isolated like orchestra members warming up.
You want to be sure you are feeling any other sensation that may be present: pain, if it’s there,
hunger, thirst, pleasure, the whole richness of being. Then your fear is like a clarinet in the orchestra,
just one element of a complex but unified whole. This reclaiming of experience requires intention, or
will, but it is worth all the mental effort it takes to recover it.
To repeat, you must make this recovery every single time you feel the fear, terror, dread, panic in
the months coming up to performance. There is a discipline in this, a consistency. Every time.
A = Arrive
Then you have to put all this richness in the context of the actual performance situation. We are nesting
experience here, you see, like those nested Russian dolls, one within another. Your fear is the littlest
doll, which you put within all the others so that you have it in a safe context. You have to truly arrive
in the space.

Now, this is the opposite of unsuccessful strategies like, “I try to pretend I’m still in my practice
room.” The pretending strategy is disastrous on two counts: it removes you from reality, and it ties up
your imagination, which you need for performance.
Arrive. Come to the concert hall early. Walk out onto the stage. Get clear about where the walls
are, the floors are, the seats are. Sense the space. Relate to the space. Claim the space. Be in the space.
Get clear about the objects in the space, learning where the piano is, for instance, the music stands, the
chairs, the lights. Watch in the wings as the audience filters in. Do this arriving in your dress rehearsals
so you’re used to it for performance.
You can also practice this by truly arriving in your practice space, using the same strategy for
your practice you will use later for your performance. In your practice space, even if it is very small,
you will need to claim a space for your moving that is at least as big as the space you will perform
in; otherwise coming into the larger performance space will be a shock. Many successful musicians
ordinarily claim a much larger space for their moving than a concert hall, but the size of the concert
hall is the smallest that works. This does not mean that you imagine you are in the concert hall. No.
Rather, you claim, own, move in, command, occupy a space in practice big enough for performance.
Arrive. An audience is coming into this space in which you will perform. Part of arriving is
acknowledging the likely nature of that audience. If some of your audience is hostile, may write bad
reviews, will be catty, you will need to arrive at that fact and really be present with it. There’s no
pretending they are other than they are. Hostile people, along with those who are kindly and truly
interested in hearing the music, must be treated as audience. You are not responsible for how they
behave, but you are responsible for how you behave, and it is your job to play or sing in good faith for
all the members of your audience, including the hostile and the catty and the uppity. This is rich and
complex experience, which is just how it is for an artist.
R = Relate
This brings us to the final maneuver in eliminating performance fear as a problem. Fear remains,
perhaps, as an emotion, but it is no longer a problem because you know how to handle it. You feel,
you embody yourself and your feeling, you arrive, and you relate. You relate to the space; you relate
to your audience, you relate to the music, you relate to your instrument.
Let’s take each of those in turn. You relate to the space as I have described above, claiming the
whole of it for your movement in performance. You do not go out onstage and play in a space the size
of your practice room. If you do, we in the audience have to look into your space as through a window.
We are not included in it and we feel left out, as though we were watching someone practice. If you
do not relate to the space in performance, you do not get the advantages of perceiving its acoustical
properties or its beauty or the spaciousness that might inform the quality of your moving. You do not
get the benefit of its sheltering.
You relate to your audience; that is, they are in your awareness and you are playing for them. There
is mutuality. They enjoy your performance, and you feel their enjoyment and appreciation, and that
helps you in your performance. Performers who do not relate to their audiences do not get the benefit
of the audience reaction for stamina and for pleasure in performing. It’s a big, big loss to everyone.
You relate to the music; that is, you let the music benefit you as much as it is benefiting the audi-
ence. You make a full emotional response to the music, which carries and sustains your performance.
You let the music sustain you.

You relate to your instrument. There is great security in this, for you will be able to feel your instru-
ment clearly. It may seem that the instrument is warmed up, ready to go, that it is eager to perform,
like a racehorse at the beginning of a race. This will help you. Your love for your instrument as well
as your love for the music can be a source of stability and cushioning in the performance. This is
especially true for singers, of course. If you are relating profoundly to your instrument as you perform,
you will know when it needs some special care or some adjustment, as to a quirky reed or to a voice
just recovering from a cold.
One result of feeling-embodying-arriving-relating is that time has a different flavor. There seems
to be more of it. There is enough time to make choices. There is a temporal spaciousness that allows
you to recover and renew your feeling-embodying-arriving-relating if it weakens.
This all becomes second nature over time, as it is first nature for those who never lost it. The
deliberateness falls away; the need for intention falls away. Feeling-embodying-arriving-relating is no
longer a discipline, but just what one does naturally. Fear as a problem is a poignant memory.
BEST TIPS FOR ELIMINATING PERFORMANCE

ANXIETY AMONG YOUR STUDENTS
Help your students see that their fear is not purely personal but is a shared, cultural phenom-
enon that requires a cultural change as well as a personal one, to which they may contribute.
Frequently remind your students that becoming a highly accomplished amateur is an option
for them.
Encourage your students to explore and enjoy all kinds of music and to see themselves as
part of a community of musicians that includes all kinds of musicians.
Encourage your students to seek out performance opportunities, to perform in nursing
homes, for instance, or at their own dinner parties.
Encourage your students to play or sing chamber music at every possible opportunity, just
for the joy of it.
Cultivate a positive environment in your studio and set clear rules for how students treat
each other.
Always perform on your students’ recitals, always. They need to see your preparation and
they need your modeling.
Keep your own performance at a high level and perform frequently even if you primarily
earn your living by teaching.
If a student comes to a lesson unprepared, practice for the student, talking to the student about
what you’re doing, for example, “Notice that I repeated that passage because I changed my mind
about how it goes.” Or offer to observe the student’s practicing, coaching the student in good
practice technique. Never, never just ignore or overlook the fact that the lesson is unprepared.
Play with your students.
Play for your students.

Face your students whenever possible. It’s a great help for them to see what you’re doing.
They can’t see you if they are on a stand with you.
Help your students from the very first lesson to truly know their instruments. Many students
are handicapped and fearful because they are playing fantasy instruments, which differ
greatly from the instruments they actually have (like a piano student listening to the keys
instead of the strings; like a piano student imagining that the point of sound is at the key
bed). Always let the students know the limitations of the instrument they are using so they
don’t feel bad because they can’t make their student violin sound like your Strad.
Deal constructively with wrong notes. Much of the time you don’t even need to point them
out. Just play the piece again yourself, asking the student to listen carefully. If you feel it’s
important to give feedback about the note, just say that the student played a note the composer
didn’t write and always play that note yourself. “You played this (you play B flat); the composer
wrote this (you play B natural).” Give the student time to hear the difference and to play the
difference, one and then the other, so that the correction can truly be assimilated. Put the
correction in a musical context, asking, “Why did the composer choose B natural here instead
of the B flat you played?” Sometimes the student will have played something that actually
sounds better than what the composer wrote. Always acknowledge that when it is true.
Be very, very careful to give students age-appropriate and skill-appropriate music and not
too much of it.
Keep the students at a skill level for a long time, letting them enjoy their success in coming
to that level, so that year after year as they grow they get to experience real competence
and musicality.
Never, never, never let a student perform unprepared. Just reschedule the student to the
next recital.
Keep your young students out of competitions and seek opportunities for them to play for
supportive, knowledgeable colleagues in noncompetitive situations. Stay with them in those
situations so you know they are being treated well and constructively.
Be as educated as you can be about the youth choirs and orchestras and the music camps
in your area so that you can steer your students away from harsh circumstances and into
nurturing, supportive circumstances.
Teach your students to improvise, right from the first. If you don’t know how to improvise your-
self, join Music for People and let David Darling and his certified improv teachers teach you how.
Help your students build a genuine sense of having an audience. In the beginning it will be
the parents and friends who come to the recitals. Refer frequently to the audience and to the
pleasure the audience will take in the music.
Make it clear that in your studio musicians are held in high esteem, consistent with the intel-
ligence, humanity, and artistry it takes to do the job.
Model for the students a very high level of self-regard and self-care.
Teach your older students how to treat auditioners and jurors as genuine audience.

Appendix B
The Scientific Basis of
Body Mapping
T. Richard Nichols
The following article is reprinted verbatim from the first edition.
Anatomical representations of the body are regular features of many parts of the brain. In the cere-
bral cortex, it has been known for a long time that cells in the primary motor and sensory areas are
associated with different parts of the body, and that these cells are spatially arranged in such a way
as to represent the anatomical correspondence of these parts. In the nineteenth century, the British
neurologist John Hughlings Jackson noticed that certain epileptic patients would undergo seizures in
which involuntary movements would progress along body parts in anatomical sequence (from toe to
hip, for example).
On the basis of these careful observations, Hughlings Jackson proposed that the body is repre-
sented on the cortical surface in the appropriate spatial relationships. In later studies in which this
“somatotopic” map was studied directly, it was found that the size of the representation of each area
is related to the use and precision of movement of that area. More cortical “space” is devoted to the
face, mouth, and fingers than the trunk. Even more recent studies have shown that within these areas
representing specific structures, such as the wrist or hand, individual muscles are represented in a
number of places depending upon the type of movement to be performed. These maps occur in both
motor areas and sensory areas, which communicate through pathways that link different parts of the
cerebral cortex.
Recent research on rodents, nonhuman primates, and human patients with neurological disorders
has also shown that the representation of anatomy on the cortical surface is subject to considerable
plasticity. In the cases of injury or overtraining, the cortical representation can change. In the case of
amputation, the cortex representing the lost limb or limb segment will eventually come to represent
neighboring portions of the body. In the case of damage to the cerebral cortex, such as occurs in a
stroke, cortical areas near the damaged area can become associated with the affected body part.
The cortical maps described above pertain to portions of the cerebral cortex that are concerned
with the execution of voluntary movements. These cortical areas communicate directly with the neurons
that activate muscles. The mechanisms of voluntary movement require several prior stages of processing,
however, including motor planning. Motor planning, which consists of the more abstract aspects such
293

as programming movement sequences and motor strategies, occurs in premotor areas that are less well
understood than the executive motor areas described above that provide the last stages of informa-
tion processing. These earlier stages of motor planning are closely linked to cortical sites of learning,
memory, and the interpretation of the special sensory systems like the auditory system.
There is evidence that maps are present in these areas as well. These maps include representations
of frequency and spatial localization of tones in the case of the auditory system. Presumably, spatial
maps of the musculoskeletal system exist in the premotor areas as well. The use of the concept of “body
map,” which was proposed by William Conable, is engaged at these more cognitive levels of processing.
Conscious representations of the musculoskeletal system will influence motor learning and planning
and will have downstream effects on the cortical maps in the executive areas of primary motor cortex.
Therefore, the details of the body map can influence cortical representation along the entire chain of
information flow, from planning through execution.
The maps in the executive areas of the cortex that represent the anatomy of the body are clearly
dependent upon the motor and sensory experiences of the individual. In the case of a highly trained
artist such as a musician, it is expected that the cortical areas become reorganized in a way that reflects
the motor planning practices of that individual. Cortical maps are sufficiently flexible that they can
represent a wide range of motor behaviors. Some motor practices can, however, lead to pathological
changes in the musculoskeletal system, such as tendonitis or carpal tunnel syndrome.
If movement is based on an inaccurate knowledge or perception about the anatomy of the body,
then pathologic changes can result. These practices can lead to alterations in cortical representation,
which can then become reinforcing of the faulty motor practice. Overtraining of one specific motor
pattern can also lead to pathologic changes, such as focal dystonias, in the central nervous system.
These conclusions underscore the importance of educating musicians in anatomy and physiology of the
motor system so that practices that can lead to pathology in the musculoskeletal system can be avoided.
The basis of voluntary movement in the cortex, as well as in the cerebellum, basal ganglia, and
brainstem, is the focus of intense research at present. There are certain to be important breakthroughs
in the knowledge about these mechanisms in health and disease in the near future. An excellent
introduction to the mechanisms of voluntary movement and the role played by maps can be found
in Squire et al. (2003). A more general overview of mechanisms of voluntary motion can be found in
Kandel et al. (2000).
REFERENCES
Kandel, E. R., Schwartz, J. H., & Jessell, T. M. (Eds.). (2000). Principles of Neural Science (4th ed.), New
York: McGraw Hill..
Squire, L. R., Bloom, F. E., McConnell, S. K., Roberts, J. L., Spitzer, N. C., & Zigmond MJ. (2003). Funda-
mental Neuroscience (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

Glossary
Note that the terms below may have other meanings. The meanings in this glossary are those that are
necessary for this book.
Ab-. Away.
Abduct. Separate from.
Ad-. Toward.
Adduct. Bring together.
Alexander Technique. An educational process, pioneered by Australian actor F. M. Alexander, that
teaches people how to become aware of, and eliminate, habits that interfere with fluid, free
movement.
Ant-. At the front.
Articulation. 1. (Anatomy) A place at which two bones, two cartilages, or a bone and a cartilage
meet. Synonymous with Joint. 2. (General) The state or manner of being jointed or interrelated.
3. (Speech and Singing) The movements that create the individual phonemes within the vocal
utterance.
Aspiration. An unvoiced expulsion of air (resembling something like an extra [h] sound) preceding
or following a phoneme.
Biotensegrity. The application of the concept of tensegrity to the body, conceiving of bones as
discontinuous compression elements connected by a continuous tensional web of soft tissues,
especially fascia.
Body Map. The mental representation of your body’s size, structure, and function. The term body map
is a scientific term and is written in lowercase letters.
Body Mapping. The process of refining, correcting and embodying individual body maps. The term
Body Mapping refers to a process developed by Barbara and William Conable and taught by
licensed members of the Association for Body Mapping Education. Thus, this term is capitalized.
Bone. A hard substance composed largely of calcium that forms the skeleton.
Break. An abrupt shift between vocal registers.
Cartilage. A tough, elastic tissue with a distinct shape like bone but that is more flexible.
Cervical. Pertaining to the neck. For example, there are seven cervical vertebrae of the neck.
Chest Voice. Common term for the lowest register within the modal voice where the action of the
thyroarytenoids predominates.
Chiaroscuro. A description of classical vocal resonance that combines depth and ring in the tone.
Co-contraction. Opposing muscles working simultaneously.
Cognate. (Phonetics) A pair of two different phonemes resulting from two articulatory movements that
are identical except that one has vocal fold vibration and one does not — for example, [b] and [p].
Compression Structure. An architectural structure, where the load from each element is distributed
through the element below, depending on the force of gravity for stability.
Concentration. (Body Mapping) The narrow focus on one movement or body part to the exclusion
of the rest of the body.
Condyle. A prominence on a bone where the bone articulates with another structure.
295

Connective Tissue. Tissues that support, separate, and connect structures in the body. These include,
but are not limited to, tendons, ligaments, membranes, and fascia.
Consonant. A phoneme in which the movement of articulators significantly obstructs the airstream.
Consonants may be either voiced (involving vibration of the vocal folds) or unvoiced (involving
no vocal fold vibration).
Constructive Rest. A state where the body is at rest but the mind is actively guiding muscle releases.
Also called Semi-Supine Rest or Active Rest. For further information, see http://www.constructi-
verest.com/.
Core of the Body. The weight-bearing portion of the spine formed of the vertebral bodies and carti-
laginous discs and supported by the spinal muscles, ligaments, tendons, and fascia.
Cost-. Of or referring to ribs.
Covering. The process whereby lower voices start closing vowels as they approach the upper middle
of their range in order to transition into their head voice.
Damping. Decreasing the amplitude of, or stopping, vibration.
Diphthong. Two successive vowel phonemes in the same syllable, in which the articulators begin at
the position for one vowel and move to the position for another.
Dorsum. The upper surface of a body part, particularly the upper surface of the tongue.
Dynamic Equilibrium. Opposing muscles working in balance: one is releasing as the other contracts
or recoils.
Elastic Recoil. The tendency of anatomical structures to return to the state they were in before being
acted upon by another force.
Epi-. Upon or atop.
Esophagus. The muscular tube that connects the throat with the stomach.
Excursion. The extent to which an anatomical structure moves away from its resting position.
Extrinsic Muscles. Muscles that are attached to a structure from outside the structure itself. The tongue
and the larynx are attached to the surrounding structures with extrinsic muscles.
Facet. A small, smooth place on a bone that forms the articulation of a joint with another bone.
Facet Joints. Joints of the spine where two small, smooth surfaces articulate, allowing a gliding
motion.
Falsetto. The part of the male singing range in which the thyroarytenoids are inactive.
Fascia. Thin, strong connective tissue that provides support for organs and muscles. Fascia can
envelop, separate, and bind these structures together.
Flute Register. The part of the female singing range in which the thyroarytenoids are inactive.
Foramen. An opening in an anatomical structure. These occur most often in bone (for example, the
vertebrae or the base of the skull) but can also occur in other structures, such as the diaphragm.
Frequency. The speed of vibration that determines the pitch of a sound.
Glenoid Cavity. A shallow depression on the lateral angle of the scapula that articulates with the
head of the humerus, forming the glenohumeral, or shoulder, joint. It is approximately the size
and shape of a thumbprint. Also called the glenoid fossa.
Glottal Fry. A vocal register where the cricothyroid is inactive. Also called Pulse Register.
Glottis. The opening between the two sides of the larynx, each edge being defined by one side of the
vocal folds and the corresponding arytenoid cartilage.
Head Voice. Common term for the highest part of the modal voice where the action of the cricothy-
roids predominates. Also called Loft Register, Mode 2.

GLOSSARY 297
Horn. In anatomy, a long protrusion that projects outward from the main body of a structure. On
bones or cartilages, horns are often points of attachment for muscles or ligaments.
Inclusive Awareness. Conscious, simultaneous organized awareness of inner and outer experience.
It is the skill of perceiving self and world simultaneously.
Inferior. (Anatomy) Below.
Inter-. Between.
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). A system of denoting phonemes whereby each phoneme
is represented by a particular symbol that is distinct to that phoneme, unlike the orthography of
most languages, in which the same symbol can be used to represent multiple phonemes.
Intrinsic Muscles. Muscles whose attachments are contained wholly within a structure. In the larynx,
the intrinsic muscles connect the laryngeal cartilages.
Joint. Location in the body where two bones, two cartilages, or a bone and a cartilage connect.
Kinesthesia. The sense of movement of the body and its constituent parts. This sense is mediated by
sensory receptors located in muscles and tendons, especially in the joints.
Larynx. The complex structure that forms a valve between the throat and the trachea and creates the
source of sound for singing and speaking.
Lat-. To the side.
Ligament. A tough, flexible, fibrous tissue that connects bone to bone, bone to cartilage, or cartilage
to cartilage.
Lumbar. Pertaining to the lower back. For example, there are five vertebrae in the lumbar spine.
Membrane. A thin, elastic tissue that covers or lines a structure.
Micromovement. Very small movement(s).
Mixed Register. The part of the modal voice where the action of the cricothyroids and the thyroary-
tenoids is relatively equal in intensity.
Modal Voice. The part of the singing range in which both the thyroarytenoids and the cricothyroids
are active.
Muscle. Elastic fibrous tissue in the body that is capable of contraction.
Muscle Belly. The fleshy part of a muscle. Many muscles, including the cricothyroids, digastrics, leva-
tores costarum, rectus abdominis, and serratus anterior have multiple bellies.
Muscle Insertion. The point of attachment of a muscle that moves most during contraction.
Muscle Origin. The point of attachment of a muscle that remains relatively fixed during contraction.
Nodules. Calluses on the epithelium membrane, which covers the vocal folds. Colloquially (and inac-
curately) called Nodes.
Oblique. At an angle.
Offset. The termination of phonation.
Onset. The initiation of phonation.
Opposing Muscles. Muscles that pull in opposite directions.
Paired. Structures that occur on both sides of the body, one the mirror image of the other.
Palpate. To explore by touch.
Passaggio. A transition between vocal registers.
Phonation. The process of converting the air pressure from the lungs into an audible sound wave
via vibration of the vocal folds.
Phoneme. The smallest unit of speech sound. Each phoneme is made by a specific movement of the
vocal articulators: one movement = one phoneme.

Physiological Tremor Rate. The rate of vibration innate to the body that occurs when muscle activity
is sustained.
Pitch. The perceived fundamental frequency of a sound.
Post-. At the back.
Process. A short protrusion that projects outward from the main body of a structure. On bones or
cartilages, processes are often points of attachment for muscles or ligaments.
Pronation. Rotation of a joint or part toward the midline; specifically, rotation at the elbow that brings
the palm to face downward.
Pronunciation: The choice in the brain of sounds and stress patterns for a syllable, word, or phrase.
Although the word “pronunciation” alone often is used to imply correct pronunciation according
to some accepted standard, it is, of course, possible to choose (and thus pronounce) incorrectly.
Raphe. Seamlike connective tissue where two muscles join.
Register. In singing, a series of tones that are produced with similar movement.
Release. The tendency of muscles to return to their resting state after contracting.
Resonance. In singing, the filtering and amplification of the sound wave from the larynx in the vocal
tract.
Scanning. (Body Mapping) Shifting from one point of concentration to another in rapid sequence.
Sensory Receptor. Specialized cells that respond to a stimulus outside the cell (either physical or
chemical) by sending signal through the nervous system to the brain.
Singer’s Formant. An acoustical boost in resonance high in the range of overtones that allows a
singer’s voice to carry over instruments and in large spaces. Often called the ring of the voice.
Stanislavski, Konstantin. The Russian actor and director (1863–1938) whose theories of acting were
highly influential on all forms of theatre and film in the Western world in the twentieth century.
Stanislavski is particularly noted in the United States for his influence on “the Method,” a term used
loosely to describe the philosophy of Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler, Sanford Meisner, Uta Hagen, and
others whose teaching came to dominate American acting styles from the 1940s onward.
Superior. (Anatomy) Above.
Supination. Rotation of a joint or part away from the midline; specifically, rotation at the elbow that
brings the palm to face upward.
Tendon. A cord or band of fibrous connective tissue that connects muscles to bones.
Tensegrity. An architectural term coined by Buckminster Fuller referring to structures that rely on
discontinuous compression and continuous tension to maintain their structural integrity.
Thoracic. Pertaining to the chest region. For example, there are twelve thoracic vertebrae.
Thorax. The part of the torso defined by the twelve vertebrae below the neck and the ribs that attach
to them.
Tissue. A collection of cells of a similar type that form an anatomical structure.
Tonus. The springiness in a muscle maintained by continuous, slight activity of the muscle fibers.
Trachea. The tube through which air flows to and from the lungs.
Trans-. Across.
Twang. A bright, resonant sound resulting from narrowing the aryepiglottic sphincter.
Velum. The structure composed of muscle and membrane located between the nasal cavity and the
oral cavity, commonly known as the soft palate.
Viscera. The contents of the abdominal cavity, including the stomach, spleen, liver, kidneys, intestines,
and so forth.

GLOSSARY 299
Vocal Cords. Colloquial term for Vocal Folds.

Vocal Folds. The vibrating structure of the larynx composed of the vocalis muscle, vocal ligament,
and epithelium membrane.
Vowel. A phoneme in which the vocal folds are vibrating and the other articulators do not significantly
obstruct the air stream.
Vowel Modification. Altering the vowel slightly to improve the resonance.
Whistle Tone or Whistle Register. A sub-register within Falsetto or Flute where the pitch is raised by
damping the posterior portion of the vocal ligaments.

Index
Note: Page numbers in italics indicate non-text material
A diphthongs and, 234–236

hard palate in, 223, 225
Abdomen, cross section of, 100 jaw and, 167, 182, 206, 220–223
Abdominal cavity lips and, 198, 226, 228–229
abdominal muscles and, 100, 105 legato and, 228, 230
diaphragm and, 80 pronunciation versus, 215
pelvic floor and, 106–107 shadow vowels and, 232–233
spine and, 34 style and, 236–237
viscera and, 73 teeth and, 224–225
Abdominal muscles, 74, 80, 99–107, 109, 119, 120, 121 tongue and, 185, 217–220
adduction and, 158 velum and, 223–224
articulation and, 109 vocal folds and, 227–230
diaphragm and, 80, 105, 119 Aryepiglottic muscles, 144, 202–203
emotion and, 245 Aryepiglottic sphincter (AES), 167, 202–203
exhalation and, 109 twang and, 207–208
ribs and, 79, 80, 102–105, 119 Arytenoid cartilages, 129, 135, 136, 138, 143, 144
support and, 117 movement of, 139–144, 145–147, 150
Abdominal wall, 64, 79, 105 vocal ligaments and, 137, 138
Acting for Singers, 243 Aspiration, 231–232
Adam’s apple, 124, 132, 201 in melismatic singing, 232
AES. See Aryepiglottic sphincter Atlanto-occipital joint (A-O joint), 34, 42–46
Alexander, F. M., 2, 14 balance and, 46–49, 57, 59, 64
Alexander Technique, 2, 14 phonation and, 126–127
Alveolar ridge, and articulation, 224–225, 233 resonance and, 168–170, 172, 204
Anatomy of Breathing, 90 Atlas vertebra, 34, 34, 36, 42, 48–49, 64
Ankle joints, 34, 42, 56–58, 66, 262–264 Attention, 12–13, 274–275
balance and, 56–58, 262–264 Awareness, 1, 3, 8, 11–14, 62–63, 74. 165, 204–205,
front view, 56 274–276, 281. See also Inclusive awareness
side view, 57
A-O joint. See Atlanto-occipital joint
Arms, 59–62, 249–261
B
appropriate effort and, 24–25 Back breathing, 121
balance and, 38, 49, 59–62, 63–64, 66, 251 Balance, 17–69
holding music score, 279–280 ankle joints and, 56–59
independence from ribs, 79, 80, 97, 109, 251–252 arm structure and, 59–62, 251–252, 260, 279–280
kinesthetic sense and, 10–11 atlanto-occipital joint (A-O joint) and, 42–43
micromovement and, 9 articulation and, 220
neck muscles and, 200 benefits of, 17–18
principles of muscles and, 23–24, 71 breath support and, 117
structure, 59–62, 249–261 breathing and, 70,
Articulation, 213–239 definition, 18
abdominals and, 109 feet and, 262–263, 277
alveolar ridge and, 224–225, 233 head and, 46–49, 111, 125–127, 220
aspiration and, 230–231 high heels and, 278
cheeks and, 196 hip joints and, 51–55
301

Balance (continued) active, 75

kinesthesia and, 9, 10, 42 arm balance and, 79, 80, 97, 251
knee joints and, 34, 42, 55–56, 63, 66, 261–262, articulation and, 230–232, 237
264, 267–268, 272 balance and, 70, 80, 88, 111, 117
legs and, 261–262, 264 bony framework of, 75–80
micromovement and, 9, 17 coordinated model of, 115
phonation and, 125–127, 159, 162 diaphragm and, 74–75, 80–88, 98, 105, 106, 109,
places of, 34, 40–62, 66 118, 119
posture myths and, 18, 63–64, 252 dynamic equilibrium in, 74, 80, 105, 106, 117
resonance and, 168–170, 171, 199, 204–205 errors in, 118–119
sitting in, 26, 51–54 exhalation, 69, 74–75, 85–87, 88, 105, 109–110,
spine and, 38–39, 64 115–118. 119, 125
spontaneity and, 271–274 forced, 75, 109–110
swaying and, 270 gathering and lengthening of spine during, 74,
tensegrity and, 28, 73 115–118
thoracic, 49–51 glottis and, 111, 112, 115, 117, 119, 125, 138
Belly breathing, 119, 120 imagery, 120–121
Belting, 168 legs and, 84, 108, 116, 120
Berlin, Patricia, 90 muscles of, 74–75, 80–110
Bernoulli, Daniel, 157 neck and, 111
Bernoulli’s principle, 157–158 overview of, 74–75
Body map, 1 pelvic floor and, 106–109, 117
biological basis of, 2 pelvis, balance of, and, 64
definition, 3 performance anxiety and, 284
described, 3–5 ribs and, 74–75, 75–79, 88–98
elements of, 4–7, 19 silent, 112, 115
how to correct and refine sternum and, 73, 74–75, 77, 78, 80, 89, 109, 111
asking questions, 7, 21–22, 28 support and, 117–118
drawing, 21, 25 summary, 74, 80, 98, 109
movement and, 3, 4, 17–18, 25, 28, 276 tonus and, 74, 80, 105, 106, 109, 117
Body Mapping tension in, 96, 97, 105–106, 108
activities, 7 vocal tract and, 111–115
anatomy and, 4 Breathy sound, causes of, 140, 158–159, 210–211
as characterization tool, 242–246, 258, 262, 264, Buccinator muscles, 167, 171–172, 195–196, 198, 209
271–274
benefits of, 1, 3–4, 5–6, 14, 17–18, 25, 64, 69, 97,
C
112, 211, 245, 246, 271
brain function, 276 Calais-Germain, Blandine, 90, 122
common movement problems and, 254 Carpal tunnel, 294
complementary disciplines to, 14 Cartilage
definition, 3 arytenoid, 129, 135, 138, 139–141, 143, 144, 147,
described, 3–5 150
eradicating unwanted movements and, 246–248 costal, 73, 74–75, 77–80, 89, 109, 117
kinesthesia and, 8–11 cricoid, 129, 131–133, 138, 143, 144, 147, 150, 172
origins of, 2 described, 23, 128
scientific basis of, 293–294 epiglottis, 129, 135–136, 202–203
Biotensegrity, See Tensegrity jaw (TMJ), 177
Breath support, 117. See also Support laryngeal, 123, 124, 129, 131–138
Breathing, 69–122 recoil and, 70, 109, 117
abdominal muscles and, 74–75, 80, 99–106, spine and, 29 , 37, 116
109–110, 117 119 trachea, 112, 114, 120

INDEX 303
thyroid, 124, 129, 132–135, 138, 143, 144, 147, 150, D

172, 199–200, 208, 227
Central tendon, 74, 80, 83–85, 109 Diaphragm, 49, 73, 74–75, 80–88, 98, 105, 106–107,
Cervical spine, 34, 37, 38, 66, 96, 116, 122, 168, 171, 109, 110, 115,
220, 251 belly breathing and, 120
Character, 242–246 gathering and lengthening and, 116
articulation and, 233, 236–237, 238 mis-mapping, 119
awareness and, 11, 271–274, 277 ribs and, 80, 83, 85, 87, 88
laryngeal movements and, 163 silent inhalation and, 118
physical expression and, 247 support and, 117
arms and hands, 249–261 Digastric muscles, 177, 179–181, 184, 187, 223
eyes, 266–268 Diphthongs, 234–236
facial muscles, 162, 268–269 Discs, spinal, 32, 37, 39, 49, 221, 262
legs, 261–266 recoil of in breathing, 64, 67, 74–75, 76, 85, 116,
resonance and, 194, 195, 214 118
tensegrity and, 28 Dynamic equilibrium,
Cheekbone (zygomatic bone), 265 breathing and, 70–71, 74, 80, 105, 106, 117,
lifting, 207 described, 70, 138
masseter and, 177 registration and, 153–155
temporomandibular joint (TMJ) and, 175, 177, 221 resonance and, 182, 206, 207
Chest voice, 153, 154 vibrato and, 161
strident sound and, 159 Dynamics (loud and soft), 117, 160
Chiaroscuro, 208
Clavicle. See Collarbone
E
Coccyx, 34–35, 38, 52, 53
Co-contraction, 23, 70–71, 138 Elastic recoil
definition, 138 breathing and, 70–71, 74–75, 109, 116, 117–118
jaw and, 207, 222 described, 70
Cognates, 227–228 in the stride, 262–263
Collarbone (clavicle), 59, 61, 79, 92, 97, 110, 249–253, of cartilage, 70, 109, 116
261, 279 phonation and, 157
Conable, Barbara, 2, 3, 6, 11, 12, 14, 22, 25, 269, 274 Elbow, 59, 254–256
Conable, William, 2, 294 Emotion
Concentration, 12 articulation and, 237
attention versus, 12–14, 206, 274–276 breathing and, 69
Condyles, 42, 173–1745 182, 184, 207, 221–222 expression of, 249, 264–268, 271
Connective tissue, 8, 9, 17, 23, 25, 28, 45, 46. 99, 101, extraneous movement and, 269–270
117, 195, 221, 251, 261, 262, 266, 270, 272, kinesthesia versus, 245–246
279 performance anxiety and, 284, 289, 290
Constructive rest, 63 resonance and, 165, 198
Conus elasticus, 130, 137, 138, 146, 150 Epiglottis cartilage, 129, 135–136, 202–203
Coronoid processes, 173, 177, 184 Epithelium membranes, 130, 146, 150, 157, 162
Costal cartilage, 73, 74–75, 77–80, 89, 109, 117 Esophagus, 84, 112–114, 120, 171–172
Costovertebral joints, 75–77 Eustachian tubes, 192, 194
Covering, 208–209 Excursion, 70
Cricoid cartilage, 129, 131–133, 138, 143, 144, 147, breathing and, 10, 74, 80, 98, 105, 127, 252
150, 172 described, 70
Cricothyroid muscles, 130, 138, 143–144 of ribs, 10, 90, 98, 105, 252
pitch and, 145–150, 151–152 Exhalation, 69, 74–75, 109, 100
register and, 152–155, 159 abdominals and, 105–106, 117, 109
vibrato and, 161 air pressure and, 119, 120

Exhalation (continued) mapping, 247

articulation and, 233, 237–238 arms, 249–261
diaphragm and, 85–88 eyes and visual focus, 266–269
forced, 109–110 facial expressions, 268–269
intercostals and, 96 legs, 261–266
lengthening of spine during, 116–117, 220, 263 problems of, 269–271
phonation during, 125 neck muscles and, 115, 200
regulation of, 80, 117–118, 119 Gilmore, Robin, 14, 64
External obliques, 99–100, 102–103 Glenohumeral (shoulder, upper arm) joint, 59–61, 91,
External thyroarytenoids, 145, 151. See also 252, 261
Thyroarytenoid muscles Glossary, 295–299
Extrinsic muscles of breathing structures, 73
larynx and, 124, 151, 161, 168, 199, 202 of laryngeal anatomy, 128–129, 138
tongue and, 185, 188, 190, 202, 207 Glottal fry register, 153–154, 161
vibrato and, 161, 202 Glottal
Eyes, mapping, 266–269 closure, 158–159, 160, 161
onset and offset, 155–156
stop, 229–230, 238
F
Glottis
Facial expressions, 264–268 as articulator, 215–216, 229–230
Fagioli, Franco, 154 breathing and, 111, 112, 115, 117, 119
Falsetto, 153–155 described, 128
Fascia, 8, 17, 25, 37, 45, 51, 66, 70, 103, 104 degrees of adduction and, 158–159, 160
tensegrity and, 28, 71–73 dynamics and, 160
Feldenkrais, Moshe, 14 muscles affecting the opening of, 130, 139–144,
Femur (thighbone), 51–53, 55, 84 150
Fiametti, Roger, 87 onset and offset and, 155–156
Flute register, 153–155 phonation and, 125, 157–158
Foot (feet), 120, 162, 244, 247, 271, 277–278 support and, 117
arches of, 58, 262–264 Greater trochanter, 53
L-shaped, 57
tripod, 58, 59, 66, 262, 264, 277–278
weight delivery through, 36, 56–59, 66, 117,
H
262–264 Hard palate, 190
Foramen, vertebrae, 35–36, 39 as an articulator, 215–217, 224–225
Forced Exhalation, 75, 109–110 Head (skull)
Forced Inhalation, 75 balance, 10–11, 13, 34, 36, 38, 42–49, 88, 111,
Frequency (cycles per second), 125, 150 125–127, 159, 167, 168–171, 272
imagery, 64
facial expression and, 265, 266, 267, 269
G jaw and, 6–7, 174–177, 179, 182, 184, 220–222
Genioglossus muscles, 185–187, 190, 218 fascia and, 51
Geniohyoid muscles, 180, 187 gathering and lengthening and, 117
Gesture hard palate and, 224–225
articulation as, 213–215, 219, 228, 232–234, mask and, 206
236–237 movement of, 36, 200, 207, 271, 279
avoiding stock/stereotypical, 271-274 torso and, 7, 54
balance and, 48, 49 weight of, 38, 42
breathing and, 97, 115 visual focus and, 268
distinction between emotion and, 245–246 Head voice, 153, 154, 159, 199, 208, 210
eradicating unwanted, 269–271 High heels and balance, 278

INDEX 305
Hip joints active versus forced, 75, 90, 109

balance and, 10, 22, 34, 42, 51–54, 66 arm balance and, 97, 109, 252
bending forward from, 3, 54–55 audible, 112, 113, 118
breathing and, 10, 84, 108, 158 characterization and, 69, 242
bowing from, 3 coordinated, model of, 115
pelvic floor and, 108 described, 74, 109
tucking pelvis and, 64 diaphragm and, 80–88, 98, 109, 117
Holding music score, 279–280 gathering and, 74, 115–117, 118
Hooper, Kay S., 62 lungs and, 110
How to Learn the Alexander Technique, 2 neck and, 111
Humerus (upper arm bone), 91, 92, 252–254, 261 pelvic floor and, 80, 106–109, 117
Humeroscapular, (scapulohumeral) rhythm, 79, 253–254 ribs and, 3, 75–80, 88–98, 109, 117, 121
Hyoglossus muscles, 185, 188, 190, 201–202 size of, 118–119,
Hyoid bone, 123–124, 125–126, 136 soft palate and, 121
digastric muscle and, 179 spine and, 75, 80, 84–85
geniohyoids and, 180 support and, 117
head balance and, 125–126, 168 tongue and, 118
hyoglossus and, 190, 201 glottis and, 138, 139, 142
position of larynx and, 130, 190, 202, 204 vocal tract and, 112
middle pharyngeal constrictor and, 171–172 voluntary control of, 75
mylohyoids and, 180 Interactive Atlas of the Larynx, 137
omohyoid muscle and, 190 Interarytenoid muscles, 129, 130, 141. See also
sternohyoid muscle and, 190 Transverse arytenoid muscles
superior horns of thyroid cartilage and, 132 Intercostal muscles, 90, 95–96, 98
tongue and, 185–188, 201, 204, 217, 220 Internal obliques, 99, 100, 103, 104
Internal thyroarytenoids, 145–146, 150, 151, 157, 162.
See also Vocalis muscles
I Intonation, 160, 162, 209–210, 228, 269
Iliac crest, 38, 52, 53, Intrinsic muscles
abdominal muscles and, 101, 103 of the larynx, 124, 130
distance from lower ribs, 105 actions, 130, 138, 150, 151, 157, 162
Inclusive Awareness, 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 11–14, 64, 281. See described, 130
also Awareness dynamics and, 160
experiencing appropriate effort and, 24–25, 64 effect of head balance on, 126–127, 168
concentration versus, 12–13, 274–276 vibrato and, 161
described, 3, 11 of the tongue, 186–187, 190, 207
of breathing, 73–75
head balance and, 47–48,
J
of resonance, 166, 204–205
of skeletal system, 26, 38, 40 Jaw, 173–184
resources for developing, 42, 62–63 as an articulator, 182, 215–217, 220–223, 225, 226
thoracic balance and, 51 buccinators and, 196
Inferior horns of thyroid cartilage, 132, 134, 136, 138 emotion and, 245
Inferior (lower) pharyngeal constrictors See head balance and, 47–49
Pharyngeal constrictors hyoid bone and, 125
Inguinal ligament mapping activities for, 7
abdominal muscles and, 103, 104 mis-mapping, 6, 206–207
described, 101 movers, 177–184
Inhalation, 69–109 resonance and, 165, 167–168 173–184, 204, 205,
abdominal muscles and, 80, 99–106, 109, 117, 119, 206–207, 211
120 pharyngeal constrictors and, 171–172

Jaw (continued) awareness and, 11–12

shaking, 207 described, 3, 8
tongue and, 185–187, 202, 218 emotions versus, 245–246
independence from tongue, 189, 222 feet and, 59
vowel formation and, 208–209, 243 head balance and, 45, 47, 48
Joints resources, 62–63
acromioclavicular, 249 resonance and, 165, 205
ankle, 34, 42, 56–59, 66, 262–264, 276–278 spine and, 38, 39, 40, 42
as places of balance, 34, 42, 66 tension and, 23–25
arm, 42, 59, 88, 249–258, 261 thoracic balance and, 51
atlanto-occipital joint (A-O joint), 34, 42–46 Knee joints, 55–56, 57, 261–262
balance and, 46–49, 57, 59, 64 balance and, 34, 42, 55–56, 63, 66, 261–262, 264,
phonation and, 126–127 267–268, 272
resonance and, 168–170, 172, 204
costotransverse, 77
L
costovertebral, 75–77, 79
described, 23, 29 Lamina propria, 130, 146
elbow, 59, 254–256 Laryngeal cartilages, described, 129, 131–138. See
facet, 36–37 also Arytenoid cartilages; Epiglottis cartilage;
hand, 258, 261 Cricoid cartilage; Thyroid cartilage
hip Laryngeal muscles. See also Aryepiglottic
balance and, 10, 22, 34, 42, 51–54, 66 muscles; Cricothyroid muscles; External
bending forward from, 3, 54–55 thyroarytenoids; Interarytenoid muscles;
breathing and, 10, 84, 108, 158 Internal thyroarytenoids; Lateral
bowing from, 3 cricoarytenoid muscles; Oblique arytenoid
pelvic floor and, 108 muscles; Posterior cricoarytenoid muscles;
tucking pelvis and, 64 Transverse arytenoid (interarytenoid) muscles;
kinesthesia and, 8, 9, 22 Vocalis muscles
knee joints, 34, 42, 55–56, 57, 63, 66, 261–262, 264, described, 130, 138–150
272–273 effect of head balance on, 127, 168
laryngeal, 132, 135 naming of, 129
leg, 261 onset and offset and, 155–156
sacroiliac, 38, 101 pitch and, 150–152
sensory receptors and, 8 registers and, 152–155
shoulder, 249–252 versus neck muscles, 127
spinal, 36–37 Larynx
sternoclavicular, 59, 61, 250, 249–250, 252 articulation and, 237
sternocostal, 78, 79 breathing and, 74, 111, 112, 120
synovial fluid in, 29 breathiness and, 158
temporomandibular (TMJ, jaw joint), 7, 173–177, cartilages of, 129, 131–138. See also Cartilage,
184, 221–222 laryngeal
wrist, 257, 261 extrinsic muscles of. See Extrinsic muscles
functions in singing, 125
dynamics and, 160
K glossary of, 128–129
Kinesthesia (kinesthetic sense), 1, 8–11 head balance and, 45, 125–127, 168–170, 221
determining optimal movement and, 9–11 hyoid bone and, 125–126, 130, 217
arms and, 58, 64 intrinsic muscles of, 130, 138–150. See also
articulation and, 213–215, 220, 223–236 Laryngeal muscles
awakening and strengthening, 8–9 location of, 123–124

INDEX 307
modeling clay model of, 130 diphthongs and, 234–235

muscles that move the, 199–202. See also Extrinsic resonance and, 165, 167, 197–199
muscles style and, 167–168, 204
nodules in, 162 Lower (inferior) pharyngeal constrictors 171–172. See
overview of, 123–125, 129–130 also Pharyngeal constrictors
pharynx and, 171, 206, 208 open throat and, 173, 201
resonance and, 165, 167–168, 199–202, 207–208, palatopharyngeus and, 193
209, 210–211 singer’s formant (ring) and, 208
sensory receptors in, 123 Lumbar spine, 33–35
size of, 123–124 as place of balance, 34, 65–66
strident sound and, 159 curve of, 33, 35, 39
style and, 204–205 size of, 34
support and, 117 thoracic balance and, 42, 51, 55, 57, 59, 65, 247,
survival function of, 124 262
swallowing and, 120, 124 vertebrae of, 33–35
tight sound and, 160 diaphragm and, 83–84, 116
tongue and, 188–189, 202, 217 psoas and, 84, 116
vibration of, 157–158 weight delivery through, 38
vibrato and, 161 Lungs, 74–75, 110–111, 132
vowel modification and, 209 air pressure and, 69–70, 74–75, 98, 109, 110
Lateral cricoarytenoid muscles, 129, 130, 138, breathing imagery and, 119–120
140–142, 143, 144, 150 cross section of, 111
Lateral pterygoids, 182, 184 described, 74, 110
Legato, articulation and, 227, 230, 232, 237–238 diaphragm and, 74–75, 82, 85
Legs thorax and, 34, 49, 74, 75, 98
balance and, 26, 51–59, 64
breathing and, 84, 108, 116, 120
gesture and, 261–264, 271
M
Levator veli palatini muscles (palate lifters), 191–192, Mandible. See Jaw
194, 205 Mask, placement in, 206
Levatores costarum muscles, 90, 95, 96, 98, 116 Masseter muscles, 177–179, 181, 182, 184, 221–223
Ligaments, 9 Maxilla, 7, 190, 220, 222, 225, 226. See also Hard
acromioclavicular joint and, 249 palate
cricotracheal, 131, 138 Medial pterygoids, 182–184
described, 23, 37, 128 Melismatic singing, aspiration in, 230, 232
elastic recoil and, 70, 262, 264 Meniscus, 221
epiglottic, 135 Micromovement, 1, 9, 10, 11, 17, 66, 168, 270–271,
fascia and, 17, 25, 28, 73 273–274, 289
inguinal, 101–102, 103, 104 Microphone, singing with, 236, 253
hyoid and, 125, 132 Middle pharyngeal constrictors. See Pharyngeal
knee and, 55 constrictors
spinal discs as, 36 Mirror, as a Body Mapping tool, 5, 7, 9, 18, 21–22,
vocal, 129, 130, 137, 138, 139–141, 145–146, 147, 26, 39, 47, 48, 51, 59, 62. 116, 189, 194, 201,
150, 151, 154, 157, 162 223–224, 234–235, 250–251, 254
Likar, Amy, 3 Mis-Mappings (mapping errors, mistakes), 25, 269,
Linea alba, 99 276
Lips (orbicularis oris muscles), 167, 197–199 abdominals, 105, 119, 120, 121
as an articulator, 198, 215, 226 air, 121
audible inhalation and, 112 articulation, 217, 231
buccinators and, 195–196 arms, 249, 252, 256

Mis-Mappings (mapping errors, mistakes) head balance and, 10, 13, 38, 43, 46–49, 126, 167,
(continued) 168–170
atlanto-occipital (A-O) joint, 47 larynx and, 123, 124, 127, 132, 149, 200–202
brain function, 276 breathing and, 96, 111–115, 120, 158
cheek muscles (zygomatic muscles), 193, 265, 269 muscles, 45–49, 96, 127, 158, 159, 160, 200–202,
cheekbones, 207 247
diaphragm, 119 pharynx and, 171
emotion, 245 posture and, 63–64
eyebrows, 162, 193, 207, 265–266, 269, 276 tension, 160, 220, 221
facial muscles, 193, 266 tongue and, 188
head balance, 38 Nesmith, David, 63
heel, 57 Nichols, T. Richard, 2, 293
jaw, 6, 174, 176–177, 179, 206, 207, 220 Nix, John, 161
knee, 55 Nodules, preventing vocal, 162
larynx, 123
lips, 198, 226
lungs, 110
O
masseter, 179 Oblique arytenoid muscles, 129, 130, 138, 141, 143,
micromovement, 270–271 150, 202
pharynx, 171, 173, 206 Occipital condyles, 42
phonation, 227 Occipitalfrontalis muscle, 269
pitch, 266 Offset of phonation, 138, 155–156
posture, 18 Omohyoid muscles, 199–201
ribs, 75, 98, 119, 243 Onset of phonation, 138, 155–156
spine (backbone), 6, 38, 40, 63 Opposing muscles, 70–71, 138, 139
soft palate (velum), 205, 206 breathing and, 80, 105–106
stillness, 270 larynx and, 145, 150, 153
temporalis, 179 Orbicularis oris muscles. See Lips
temporomandibular joint (TMJ), 177, 207 Ostwald, David, 243
thorax, 49, 262, 263
toes, 58, 120, 162, 264, 276, 277
tongue, 189, 217, 218
P
torso, 6, 7, 55 Paired muscles, 90, 99, 137, 138, 147, 179, 180
trachea, 112 Palatoglossus muscles, 185, 190, 192–193, 194, 196
velum (soft palate) 205, 206 Palatopharyngeus, 192–193, 194, 196
voiced consonants, 228 Palpate, 7, 15, 21, 22, 34, 36, 38, 52, 53, 57, 87, 105,
waist, 55 114, 132, 181, 250
zygomatic muscles (cheek muscles) 193, 265, 269 Pectoralis muscles, 90, 92–93, 97, 98
Mixed voice, 153, 154, 159, 210 Pelvic floor, 64, 74, 80, 85, 99, 106–109, 117, 120
Modal voice, 153–154, 159 Pelvis, 7, 31, 34, 38, 51–54, 64, 84, 91, 99, 101, 105,
Muscle activity, terms describing, 70–71, 138 106–107
Muscular process, 135–136, 139, 140, 143–144 Performance anxiety, 12, 283–292
Music score, holding, 279–280 Pharyngeal constrictors, 170–173
Mylohyoid muscles, 180, 187, 201 inferior (lower) pharyngeal constrictors, 172
open throat and, 187, 192
palatopharyngeus and, 180
N singer’s formant (ring) and, 193
Nayak, Krishna, 211 middle pharyngeal constrictors, 171–172
Neck superior (upper) pharyngeal constrictors, 171
cervical spine and, 34 buccinator and, 171, 193, 195
gathering and lengthening of spine and, 116–117 levator veli palatini muscles and, 192

INDEX 309
Pharynx, 73, 170–173, 206. See also Pharyngeal register and, 152–155
constrictors scientific name for, 125
audible inhalation and, 112 toes and, 162, 276
auditory tubes and, 188 variation in speech, 125
breathing and, 74–75, 120 vowels and, 208–209, 222, 223
buccinators (cheeks) and, 196 vibrato and, 161
esophagus and, 112 Placement in mask, 206
singer’s formant (ring) and, 202, 208 Pleural sac, 74, 82, 110
tongue and, 190, 217, 220 Posterior cricoarytenoid muscles, 129, 130, 138–139,
velum and, 190–191, 206 142, 143–144, 150
Phonation, 157–158 Posture, 6, 22
adduction (glottal closure) for, 115, 138, 139–142 mapping the word, 18
articulation and, 227–228, 232–233, 237, 265 myths, 63–64, 252–254, 267
breath support and, 117 spontaneity and, 271
breathy sound and, 117, 158 210 Psoas, 84–85, 116, 120
described, 125, 157–158 Pterygoids. See Lateral, Medial Pterygoids
flow, 157 Pubic bone, 99, 101, 103, 105
framework of, 137 Pulse register. See Glottal fry register
glottal fry and, 154
head balance and, 45, 127, 168
intrinsic muscles and. See Laryngeal Muscles
R
neck muscles and, 127 Radius, 254–261
nodules and, 162 Raphe, 193, 195
onset and offset of, 138, 155–156 Rectus abdominis, 99, 103, 104, 105
problems with, 123 Rectus sheath, 100, 102, 103, 104
vibrato and, 161 Registration. See Vocal registers
Phonemes, 213–215 Resonance
alveolar ridge and, 224–225 aryepiglottic sphincter and, 167, 202–203, 207–208
aspirate, 230–231, 232, 233 buccinators and, 167, 171–172, 195–196
diphthongs and, 234–236 described, 154
glottal, 229, 230 frequently asked questions, 207–211
hard palate and, 224, 225 head balance and, 168–170
lips and, 226 images and pitfalls of, 205–207
shadow vowels and, 232–233 inclusive awareness in developing, 165, 204–205
teeth and, 224–225 larynx and, 165, 167–168, 199–202, 207–208, 209,
tongue and, 217, 219–220 210–211
velum and, 223–224, 225 lips and, 165, 167, 197–199
vocal folds and, 227–230, 237, 238 mandible (jaw) and, 165, 167–168 173–184, 204,
Physiological tremor rate, 161 205, 206–207, 211
Pillars (stem), of diaphragm, 83 structures of, 167, 168–203
Pitch, 125, 145–152 pharyngeal constrictors and, 170–173, 202, 208
articulation and, 227, 228–230, 237, 238 tongue and, 184–190, 201–202
eyebrows and, 162, 265–266, 269, 276 velum (soft palate) and, 190–194, 205–206, 207
facial muscles and, 265–266 Rib cage, 75, 79, 119
hands and, 279 Ribs, 75–80
head balance and, 127 abdominals and, 80, 99, 102–105, 119
inhalation and, 112 arm structure and, 61, 64, 97, 251–252
intonation and, 160, 209–210 breath support and, 117
muscles that determine, 130, 138, 145–152 breathing and, 3. 72–73, 88–98, 121, 243
notation of, 269 costal cartilage and, 73
onset and offset of, 155–156 diaphragm and, 74, 80, 83–88, 109

Ribs (continued) Spinal cord, housing/protection of, 35–36, 38, 39

exhalation and, 109–110, 119 Spine. See also Cervical, Lumbar, Thoracic.
excursion of, 10, 74, 90, 98, 105, 252 functions of, 38–40
floating, 78 gathering and lengthening of, 39, 64, 74, 115–117
gathering and lengthening and, 116 head balance over, 10–11, 13, 34, 36, 38, 42–49, 88,
lungs and, 110–111 111, 125–127, 159, 167, 168–171, 272
muscles that lift, 74–75, 90–97 inhalation and, 115–117
spine and, 6, 34, 38, 39, 75–80, 89 location of, 34–37
sternum and, 73, 77–79, 88 structure of, 34–37
thorax and, 49, 75–80 Spinous processes of vertebrae, 34–36, 38, 39, 91
transverse, 76, 96
Stanislavski, Konstantin, 243, 268
S
Stem (pillars) of diaphragm, 83
Sacrococcygeal curve, 35 Sternoclavicular joint, 59, 61, 250, 249–250, 252
Sacroiliac joints, 38, 101 Sternocleidomastoid muscles, 111
Sacrum, 34–35, 38, 52, 53, 101 Sternocostal joints, 78, 79
Scalene muscles, 90, 96, 98, 111, 116, 180 Sternohyoid muscle, 199–202
Scapulae (shoulder blades), 59, 61, 79, 93, 94, 97, Strident sound, causes of, 153, 159
199, 249–254, 258, 261, 276, 279 Styloglossus muscles, 185, 190
Scanning, rapid, 12–14, 276 Subglottic pressure, 157, 161
Self-conducting, 279 Sumac, Yma, 154
Sensory receptors, 8 Superior horns, 132, 134, 136
atlanto-occipital (A-O) joint and, 42–43 hyoid bone and, 132
diaphragm and 87, 118 Superior (upper) pharyngeal constrictors. See
larynx and, 123 Pharyngeal constrictors
neck muscles and, 127 Support, 17, 37, 45, 117–118
places of balance and, 42 at atlanto-occipital (A-O) joint, 42, 64
thorax and, 42 breath, 105, 117–118
vocal tract and, 112, 165 fascia and, 37, 73, 272
Sensory Tune-ups, 62 imagery, 120
Sequential concentration. See Scanning, rapid skeletal, 17, 19, 21, 25–26, 64, 262–264, 270–272,
Serratus anterior muscles, 90, 93–94, 98, 102 279–280
Serratus posterior superior muscles, 94, 98, 116 spine and, 28, 38, 63, 64
Shadow vowels, 232–233
Shoulder blades. See Scapulae
Shoulder (glenohumeral, upper arm) joint, 42, 59–60,
T
91, 252, 261 Tailbone. See Coccyx
Sinav, Ahmet, 13 Teeth, 203
Singer’s formant (ring), 201, 202, 207–208 as an articulator, 182, 214, 215–217, 224–225, 227
twang and, 202, 208 clenching, 179
Sit bones, 7, 52, 53–54 jaw and, 6, 167, 174, 175, 177, 184, 207, 220, 222
torso and, 54 lips (orbicularis oris) and, 197, 204, 226
Skeletal models, 21, 25, 34, 35, 36, 45, 67 tongue and, 167, 179, 187–189, 204, 223
Skeletal muscles, 23 Temporalis muscles, 177–182, 184, 221– 222
Skeleton, 19–40 Temporomandibular joint (TMJ), 7, 173–177, 184,
balance and, 40–66 221–222
biotensegrity and, 76 syndrome, 177
breathing and, 75, 117 Tendons, 4, 9, 17, 25, 28, 70, 73, 100
Skull. See Head central, 74, 80, 83–85, 109
Soft palate. See Velum described, 23, 37
Somatic disciplines, complementary, 14 recoil and, 70

INDEX 311
stem (pillars) of diaphragm, 83 trembling, 207

Tendonitis, 294 vowel modification and, 208–209
Tensegrity, (biotensegrity), 26–28, 71–73 Tonus, 23, 70, 73, 74, 80, 105, 106, 109, 117, 158, 161,
Tensor veli palatini muscles, 191–192, 194, 205 199
“The Scientific Basis of Body Mapping,” 2, 293 Torso, 6, 7, 54
The Thinking Body, 14 abdominals and, 105
Thighbone (femur) 51–53, 55, 84 balance and, 6
Thoracic (chest), 73 hip joints and, 54–55
balance, 34, 42, 49–51, 55, 57, 59, 64, 247, 262 in breathing, 88, 108, 109, 117, 120
cavity, 69, 74–75, 80, 89, 98, 109, 110, 121 weight delivery of, 34, 38, 51
curve, 33, 34, 35, 38, 75 Trachea, 73, 74, 112–114, 120
spine, 6, 34, 35, 36, 38, 49, 75, 76, 80, 110, 116, 251 larynx and, 123, 125, 130, 131, 137, 138, 157
vertebrae, 34, 75, 80 Transverse arytenoid (interarytenoid) muscles, 129,
Thorax (chest), 49, 75 130, 138, 141–144
Thyroarytenoid muscles, 130, 138, 145–147, 150, 151 Transversus (transverse) abdominis, 99, 100, 104
external, 130, 151 Transverse process, 76
internal (vocalis), 145–146, 150, 151, 157, 162 Twang, 202, 208
pitch and, 150–151
register and, 152–155
Thyroid cartilage, 124, 129, 132–135, 138, 143, 144,
U
147, 150, 172, 199–200, 208, 227 Ulna, 254–255, 257, 258–260, 261
cricothyroid muscle and, 147–149 University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of
pitch and, 130, 138, 145, 150–152 Music, 90
Tight sound, causes of, 123, 158, 160 Upper (superior) pharyngeal constrictors. See
TMJ. See Temporomandibular joint Pharyngeal constrictors
Todd, Mabel, 14 Uvular muscle, 190–192
Toes
breathing to, 120
gripping with, 58, 277–278
V
high notes and, 162, 276–277 Velum (soft palate), 73, 167, 190–194
role in walking, 262–264 as an articulator, 190, 215–216, 217, 222, 223–224,
tapping, 264, 279 225, 229
Tongue breathing and, 73, 74, 112, 121
as an articulator, 217–220 facial muscles and, 194
breathing and, 74, 112, 118, 120 imagery and, 205, 206, 207
digastric muscles and, 179 movements of, 194
extrinsic muscles of, 185, 188, 190, 192–194, 218. resonance and, 165, 167, 190–194, 204, 205, 211
See also Genioglossus muscles; Hyoglossus style and, 167–168, 194, 204–205
muscles; Palatoglossus muscles; Styloglossus zygomatic (cheek) muscles and, 265, 269
muscles Vena cava, 84
independence from mandible (jaw), 189, 207, 222, Vertebrae, 17, 34–38
223 arm structure and, 251, 261
inhalation and, 112 atlas, 34, 36, 42–45
intrinsic muscles of, 185–186 axis, 36
jaw and, 174–175 body (bodies) of, 35, 36, 38, 39, 76
low larynx and, 123, 201, 202 costovertebral joints of, 76–77
pharynx and, 171–172 diaphragm and, 83
resonance and, 165, 167, 184–190, 201, 202, 204, discs and, 32, 34, 35, 36–37, 38, 39
205 facet joints of, 36
septum of, 186–187 foramen of, 35, 36
tension, 184, 188–189, 207 fused, 34–35, 38, 52, 63, 64

Vertebrae (continued) Vocal process, 135

gathering together of, 74, 115–117 laryngeal muscles and, 137–143, 150
numbering, 34–35, 63, 64, 75, 80 vocal ligaments and, 138
pharynx (throat) and, 167, 171 Vocal registers, 151, 152–155, 159
psoas and, 84–85 intonation and, 160, 210
ribs and, 76–77, 79, 80 laryngeal position and, 201
rib lifters and, 91, 94, 96 placement and, 206
size of, 35 vibrato and, 161
spinous processes of, 34, 35, 36, 39 vowel matching and, 209
torso defined by, 54 vowel modification and, 208–209
thorax defined by, 75 Vocal tract, 166, 171, 172, 204
weight-bearing portion of, 38, 76 as resonator, 75, 125, 165, 206
Vibrato, 123, 125, 161, 202 at rest, 166–167
Viscera, 73, 74, 82, 85, 100, 105, 106, 109, 119, 120, awareness of, 204–205
121 breathing and, 111–115, 120, 121
Visible Speech Project, 219 breath support and 117
Visual focus, mapping, 266–269 creating space in (open throat), 173, 201, 206
Vocal cords, vs. vocal folds, 129, 162 efficient resonance in, 173, 210–211
Vocal folds, 75, 129, 129–130, 137, 146, 150 in motion, 167–168, 205
abduction and adduction of, 138–144, 150 surfaces of, tensing, 173
air (subglottic) pressure and, 120 vowels and, 208–209
articulation and, 227–230, 232, 233, 237 Vocalis muscles, 145–146, 150, 151, 157, 162
breathy sound and, 158–159, 210 Vowel matching, 209
described, 129, 130, 145–146 Vowel modification, 208–209
dynamics and, 160
exhalation and, 117
glottis and, 112, 117, 125, 128
W
inhalation and, 112, 138 What Every Dancer Needs to Know About the Body,
intonation and, 266, 269, 276 14, 64
nodules on, 162 What Every Musician Needs to Know About the Body,
onsets and offsets and, 155–156 2, 6, 14
pitch and, 145, 147–149, 150–152, 199 “What to Do About Performance Anxiety,” 12, 283
registers and, 152–155, 199 Whistle tone (flageolet register), 153–155
strident sound and, 159 Wrist, 59, 257–258, 261, 280
tight sound and, 159
vibration of, 117, 125, 157–158, 162, 199, 226
Y
vocal ligaments and, 137
vs. vocal cords, 129, 162 Yan, Irene, 211
weight and, 152
Vocal hemorrhage, 162
Z
Vocal ligaments, 130, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 145,
146, 147, 150, 162 Zygomatic bone. See Cheekbone
falsetto/flute registers and, 154 Zygomatic muscles. See Cheek muscles

Melissa Malde - What Every Singer Needs To Know About The Body-Plural Publishing, Incorporated (2020)

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

You might also like

Melissa Malde - What Every Singer Needs To Know About The Body-Plural Publishing, Incorporated (2020)

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Melissa Malde - What Every Singer Needs To Know About The Body-Plural Publishing, Incorporated (2020)

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

What Every Singer

Mary Kelly Santos Da Silva - yllek_yram@hotmail.com - CPF: 349.971.388-86

As actors and actresses, we must rejoice in the possession of our

Frequently, we as teachers and performers become focused on one

Mary Kelly Santos Da Silva - yllek_yram@hotmail.com - CPF: 349.971.388-86

Matthew Ellenwood, Voice and acting teacher at

Mary Kelly Santos Da Silva - yllek_yram@hotmail.com - CPF: 349.971.388-86

Mary Kelly Santos Da Silva - yllek_yram@hotmail.com - CPF: 349.971.388-86

Melissa Malde, DMA

Contributions by Barbara Conable and T. Richard Nichols

Mary Kelly Santos Da Silva - yllek_yram@hotmail.com - CPF: 349.971.388-86

Copyright ©2020 by Plural Publishing, Inc.

Typeset in 11/14 Garamond by Flanagan’s Publishing Services, Inc.

For permission to use material from this text, contact us by

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Mary Kelly Santos Da Silva - yllek_yram@hotmail.com - CPF: 349.971.388-86

Introduction by Barbara Conable ix

1 Body Mapping, Kinesthesia, and Inclusive Awareness 1

2 The Core of the Body and the Places of Dynamic Balance 17

3 The Singer’s Breath 69

4 Creating a Singing Sound 123

5 Resonating the Voice 165

6 Singing as Communication: Mapping the Structures of Articulation 213

7 Physical Expression for Singers 241

Appendix A. What to Do About Performance Anxiety 283

Appendix B. The Scientific Basis of Body Mapping 293

Mary Kelly Santos Da Silva - yllek_yram@hotmail.com - CPF: 349.971.388-86

Mary Kelly Santos Da Silva - yllek_yram@hotmail.com - CPF: 349.971.388-86

Mary Kelly Santos Da Silva - yllek_yram@hotmail.com - CPF: 349.971.388-86

Mary Kelly Santos Da Silva - yllek_yram@hotmail.com - CPF: 349.971.388-86

Mary Kelly Santos Da Silva - yllek_yram@hotmail.com - CPF: 349.971.388-86

Mary Kelly Santos Da Silva - yllek_yram@hotmail.com - CPF: 349.971.388-86

Mary Kelly Santos Da Silva - yllek_yram@hotmail.com - CPF: 349.971.388-86

Mary Kelly Santos Da Silva - yllek_yram@hotmail.com - CPF: 349.971.388-86

Media 6–3. Voiced/Unvoiced Cognates

Mary Kelly Santos Da Silva - yllek_yram@hotmail.com - CPF: 349.971.388-86

Mary Kelly Santos Da Silva - yllek_yram@hotmail.com - CPF: 349.971.388-86

Mary Kelly Santos Da Silva - yllek_yram@hotmail.com - CPF: 349.971.388-86

THE BIG PICTURE

Mary Kelly Santos Da Silva - yllek_yram@hotmail.com - CPF: 349.971.388-86

ORIGIN OF BODY MAPPING

Mary Kelly Santos Da Silva - yllek_yram@hotmail.com - CPF: 349.971.388-86

The Body Map and Body Mapping

Mary Kelly Santos Da Silva - yllek_yram@hotmail.com - CPF: 349.971.388-86

Anatomy Applied to Movement

Elements of Your Body Map

n Structure (bone, muscle, tendon, etc.)

Mary Kelly Santos Da Silva - yllek_yram@hotmail.com - CPF: 349.971.388-86

Figure 1–1. Body Mapping elements. Created by MaryJean Allen.

Mary Kelly Santos Da Silva - yllek_yram@hotmail.com - CPF: 349.971.388-86

Mapping Location and Structure

Try that for yourself:

Mary Kelly Santos Da Silva - yllek_yram@hotmail.com - CPF: 349.971.388-86

Mary Kelly Santos Da Silva - yllek_yram@hotmail.com - CPF: 349.971.388-86

Exercise 1–1. Awakening the Kinesthetic Sense

n To awaken your kinesthetic sense, raise one of your hands over

Mary Kelly Santos Da Silva - yllek_yram@hotmail.com - CPF: 349.971.388-86