- direction of energetic motion
we have talked about the voice in a mechanical sense,
about the activity of the pelvis giving impulse to any
motion, the diaphragm that directs the flow of the
breath and the soft palate that controls the sound and
the shape of the vowels -
and we talked about sound as vibration.

you can experience and observe functions with a simple
exercise like gargling and you can use this exercise
to find out how far back in the head sound is being
produced and balanced (on the airflow, on the water)

not only can you gargle sounds, but you can shape them
into vowels. you gargle an ‘oooo’ and an ‘oh’ or an
‘ah’ and you can observe how the soft palate changes
its shape for each vowel.
like a juggler you can juggle water in your mouth and
the diaphragm and pelvic diaphragm serve as juggling
hands - the diaphragm serves as a source of air that
blows and juggles a sound like a ball on its top. the
pelvic diaphragm is responsible for the strength of
the flow, like a motor below the stream of air.. and
the soft palate defines the colour and shape of the
‘ball that is being juggled’.

you can hum with your teeth against a cup and you can
make some observations about sound as vibration and
the resonating space. you can observe that in order to
produce a flowing sound your body needs to be
relaxed. that energy in the sound and body can only
increase from a lower level, from a relaxation.

let’s talk about energy now.

when i am thinking about energy, thinking of it
connected to any sounds we make with our voice, i begin by focussing on the newborn baby. a baby can scream for a very long time without getting hoarse. screaming is an essential
function for the baby’s survival. there is not much
more we can do when we are babies. we sleep, we suck,
we have the grabbing reflex and we scream. (more…)

teaching singing is basically an oral work.
a work based on melodies and pieces of melodies.
and on listening to one’s own melodies.
singing is the tool that connects us with a very
essential function of our body, our brain.
it accesses the unconscious.
and it transforms a physical tension into a flow of
vibration, into sound.
singing and work on the voice is an emotional dialogue
with oneself,
and with the teacher.
the teacher guides this dialogue.
sometimes in a very challenging way.
the flexibility in this living communication between
teacher and student
cannot be replaced by a book. (more…)