S.A.M. Voiceworks Check List

S.A.M. Voiceworks Check List: 

Here is a little guide before you speak/sing/present or need to refine or rebalance your movements for the most effortless quality: 

Every tension in the body impacts/shortens the breathing and affects the quality and sound and power of your voice. Therefore:

When you sit, simply make sure that your legs and feet are only as far apart as your hips and that you let go of any tension in the lower back. Our spine is s-shaped, not stiff or straight like a stick, so let your lower back relax, and do all arm movements from your joints effortlessly. If you do that, your breathing should improve and happen naturally.

When you stand, feel your feet on the ground, legs only as far apart as hips are. Make sure that your body weight is resting on all parts of your feet, not just on toes or heels. Relax your knees, never straighten them, as that also tenses up your back and always also tightens the throat, and prevents your chest from expanding to give the lungs space to fill with air.

If you are standing, sitting or moving with only as much effort as is necessary, the air comes in automatically through the nose. Inside the nose are little hairs that filter out any dust and pollution and on the way down the throat the air gets warmed up and moistened before it enters the lungs.

If you breathe through the mouth, you get cold air directly onto your throat and you dry out and inhale all dust and cold dry air and have less lung capacity.

Our bodies are actually doing most of the work by itself, but we have to keep the body flexible in all joints, as any tension anywhere in the body or too much muscle effort will destroy the balanced and natural coordination.

I hope that makes sense to you! Now to the vowels and consonants: For the listener it takes +/- 1 sec to receive the vibration of the sound you produce in their ears and bones, and the consonants are the important vibration providers.

That is, why you need to actually use them, especially at the end of a syllable/word.

The vowels help you to play with your volume and power, especially, when you stay longer on a tone and want to vary the sound a bit. They also help you with the quality of the sound - make sure you use your facial muscles playfully and effortlessly, and not in grimaces or rigid movements.

Play with the shapes and opening of the mouth on each vowel and choose, what feels loudest the easiest way. 

Does that make sense?

Chewing a bit with your lower jaw as an exercise is a good way of exploring your lower face muscles, which you need to lower the deeper the tones. 

When you sing medium to higher notes you use increasingly the muscles above the lips and in the cheeks and on very high notes also your eye and forehead muscles.

Singing is the most complex muscle coordination, as different tones vibrate in different parts of the body.

I hope this was helpful so far.

Use all your gifts! You have aplenty!

All the best for now!

Yours truly,

Sigrid Countess von Galen

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Sigrid Countess von Galen
NEC LAUDIBUS NEC TIMORE

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