I’ve heard this my whole life: “you must support to sing!” “Use those abdominal muscles!” For me, and for many others, this causes so much from-the-outside-in trying and efforting. Singing becomes a chore. It seems mechanical, linear and unnatural. It turns out the opposite is true. Here’s how it works: Everyone already knows how to sing. Everyone is a singer. Only you are telling yourself otherwise. Singing, at its core, is and instinct first, a skill second. In your brain, you have an impulse to sing, which means you hear a note in your mind and inner ear. This simple, miraculous, deep-seated impulse rising from a wish to move emotions that cannot be expressed through words alone, creates the perfect physical/vocal environment to safely cradle your song: And you sing. Your mind, body and breath are now “supporting” your impulse to express through song. Your mind is your primary vocal instrument- not your vocal folds. You hear it before you sing it. Your brain is already singing before you phonate. Your internal song has already created your internal “support system”. Your song lives and thrives, as it is safe in the arms of your breath, mind, and body, all working together in harmony. Pun intended... because that’s actually how it works.
Spoiler alert:
Unless we have emoto-physiological reasons (physical tension, unbalanced fascia, unhealthy breathing patterns, doubt, fear) that throw a spammer in the works. This is why it is so important to have one’s full-body vocal pedagogy in place - so that we work with the whole mind-body-breath-voice connection as one wholistic unit. 🥰
