You must not forget that originally none of your organs had been constructed for speech as you know it today. You use them primarily for breathing and digesting. In that mankind is not much different from other mammals. But there is one huge difference: You have a more developed brain and an extremely complex ear. Their collaboration enables you to use your body for such complex activities as speaking and singing. The better the coordination of your muscles, the more stimulation you have for your brain, thus the results of practising are better, and quicker at the same time.
Always be aware that the vibrations of the sound you produce need time to travel to your audience. Whilst you are already in the process of letting the breath find its way into your body again, after you have finished with the last sound (vowel or consonant), this sound is still traveling to the audience. This takes a split second - a precious moment that gives you automatically new breath and the ability to focus on the continuation of your next phase, while it holds the chance for the audience to reflect upon what you just said or sang, and then they are with you for the next bit. They are literally hanging at your lips.
This is key to true communication between you and the audience. Initially it can take a great deal of courage to give yourself and the audience this short but invaluable moment because you might be anxious of losing control over your body. Once, you have found the courage to pause you will notice that your body is working with you, and that all your actions are supported by your ability to let your body do the involuntary (natural) coordination. By so going 'back to nature' you find peace of mind to focus purely on the music or message you want to bring across.
You will then feel waves of breath and positive energy coming back to you from a listening audience - a wonderful experience! By taking your own well-being seriously your are able to give others the same freedom and respect, and you can therefore communicate freely, carried by your breath.
Before you sing you should speak your songs aloud first. The quality of the sound is very much dependent on the coordination of your muscles. Only if you can produce the sounds efficiently and wholeheartedly with your speaking voice you can master the even more complex facial movements and shapes on different tones.
By speaking you will quickly find out, how well you are able to coordinate your muscles with your inner intentions.
You will also develop a closer relationship with the poem or the story, you are about to sing. Because that is, what songs are. To me, singing means telling a story, with the help of tones. They can make a message even stronger.
If you produce the sounds by using all the muscles in the direction nature intended them to move and with only the minimum effort involved, then your voice will sound powerful and subtle at the same time, and without any strain on your vocal chords at all. You will also be able to use your whole range without any 'breaks', when you change from low to high tones and vice versa.
I always found the use of the expression 'register' very confusing because it distracted generations of singers and singing teachers from the fact that the body, breathing, movements and voice are directly interdependent. They form a wholesome and well balanced unit, which is able to interrelate and to respond automatically to our needs, if we do not sabotage our bodies.
Instead of teaching the concept of registers I prefer to put the focus on the coordination of the whole instrument, which includes the work on the body and on the whole person.
Never forget: Your voice is the mirror of your soul.
About this Contributor: Sigrid (Ziggy) Agocsi is a passionate singing teacher, voice & drama coach, speech, breathing & movement therapist, classical & contemporary singer, poet, author, scholar, mystic, and mother. S.A.M. Voiceworks Founder & Master-Teacher; also Master-Teacher for Reiki-Seichem & Melchisedec-Reiki; Principal, World Academy for Interdisciplinary Training. She is a member of the London Therapists Forum, the European Voice Teachers Association, the Musicians Union, the Equity, the Reiki Federation.
- ~Contributor Article Dateline: Mar 29 2006
