You know the candy I’m talking about…crisp chocolate shell on the outside, ooey-gooey center (imagine your favorite filling). Mmmmm mmmm!
Oh yeah! So, what does this have to do with good singing?
Well, once your breath is free (How to Avoid TVF Trauma #1) and your True and False Vocal Folds are better organized (How to Avoid TVF Trauma #2) now it’s time to find your “support” where it actually counts!!
In Estill Voice Training™, we make a distinction between the muscles of breathing and the muscles of “support.” The muscles of true support are known as the “anchoring” muscles: Torso Anchor™, Neck Anchor™ and Head Anchor™
Torso Anchor: Engage the Lats, Pecs, and Quadratus Lumborum Muscles by
1. Standing as if you were about to walk backward.
2. (standing with your hands at your side) pretending to lift two heavy suitcases–one in each hand!
3. Imagining there are small balloons under your armpits then squeezing them.
Neck Anchor: Engage the Sternocleido-mastoids and muscles at the nape of the neck by
1. Bringing the back of your hand to your forehead. Without throwing off the alignment of your head and neck, pressing your hand against your head and your head against your hand, equally. (Notice the muscles engaging at the sides of the neck–the SCMs–and the back of the neck.)
2. “Shivering” your head quickly left and right–with a very quick, but small movement as if your were actually cold and shivering to keep warm.
Head Anchor: Engage the muscles above and behind the Soft Palate by
1. Snorting! Feel that lifting up sensation behind your hard/soft palates. Maintain that feeling and breathe in and out normally–without snorting.
2. Sneering and flaring your nostrils while breathing in and out normally.
With each of these exercises, be sure that your breath stays free, easy and soft, that your face and throat stay relaxed and that you can use varying degrees of effort (Low/Medium/High degrees of effort)!
The muscular regions targeted by these Anchoring exercises ARE the regions of muscular “support” that actually make the difference when singing AS LONG AS the breath remains boingy and pliant below!
Once you get the feeling of these and the previous exercises, try putting them all together while you speak and sing:
1. Release the belly, and reduce the air pressure
2. Retract™ the False Vocal Folds
3. Add Head, Neck and/or Torso Anchoring™
Remember:
Hard Shell (Anchoring), Soft Middle (Easy Breath and TVFs)! = Healthy Singing and Speaking!!
***If it doesn’t feel right or good while you are doing these exercises, you are doing something wrong! Check your breath. Retract the FVFs. Slow down, be gentle and stay aware! Try doing it a bit differently next time!! OR stop and rest.***
Enjoy!
Robert
August 15, 2010 at 11:30 pm |
Yes! I love it. And now I get to feel like a piece of candy all at the same time! I will remember that image… thank you, thank you.
August 23, 2010 at 6:38 pm |
I realized how I got messed up re: torso anchoring a while ago: I was singing in the car, and using my arms to make a strong frame (like a ballroom dancer’s frame), thinking that was anchoring. Problem was, even when I wasn’t in the car, I couldn’t move my shoulders while singing — I was too used to that steering wheel!
But this morning in the car, and I sat up so my back wasn’t touching the seat, kind of like the “starting a sit-up” that the Estill book mentions, and my back and neck were suddenly anchored and supporting themselves!
I think I deserve some chocolate candy for figuring that out all by myself.
August 23, 2010 at 6:44 pm |
A whole box!! Thanks for posting!
September 21, 2010 at 11:35 am |
Hey,
Great posts. Thanks very much.
I am as new as you could get to all of this – in fact I am just trying to improve my speaking voice (singing is a long way away for me) – but already I feel a massive difference with this anchoring: especially with the arms and back. What a difference! I used to tense my abs (for support I thought) – abs should be toned, not chronically tense!!! And my shoulders were way too high.
Just to be clear, you should do each of the things described under each anchor simultaneously?
Lex
November 9, 2010 at 7:39 am |
Hi Lex,
Great! Yes, you can anchor all of the options simultaneously (Head, neck, torso) or separately and to varying degrees. The trick is finding the right effort in the right place depending on the task at hand. In singing, we definitely use all 3 and sometimes to very high effort levels (Opera, Belting, etc.) in speaking I would recommend (in general) Head and Neck Anchoring to an effort level of 3-5 (out of 10).
Thanks!
Robert