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The Voice College/Body Mechanics and The Voice
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  • £37

Body Mechanics and The Voice

  • Course
  • 74 Lessons

This course is for all singers, singing teachers, and choir leaders wanting to explore the essential elements of body mechanics — alignment, breathing, and support — in relation to the voice. It aims, via its many useful exercises, to give you a solid foundation of these components on which to build your understanding of the singing voice and to take your singing to the next level.
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Contents

Part 1 - Overview

Our Instrument
The Foundations

Part 2a - Posture and Alignment - What you need to know

Introduction to posture and alignment
Why is good posture necessary?
How can ‘good posture’ be described?
Basic or ‘neutral’ posture
Posture for Singing... and Life!
Practise point - Practising at home
Alignment vs. Posture
How can alignment be affected?
Points of alignment
Mythbusting!

Part 2b - Posture and Alignment - Exercises for Establishing Correct Alignment

An introduction to better balance
Exercise 1: Establishing a sense of balance within the body
‘Feeling the Floor’ - The basics
Exercise 2a - 'Feeling the floor' and resonance
Exercise 2b - 'Feeling the floor' and the high notes!
Exercise 3: Establishing good posture and improving alignment
Exercise 4: An exploration of posture vs. sound quality

Part 2c - Posture and Alignment: Additional techniques

An overview of imagery in singing
Use of imagery when ‘Feeling the Floor’
Use of imagery in alignment and posture
An introduction to the Alexander Technique
Alexander Technique with Anthony Kingsley - First Lesson
Alexander Technique for singers NYCGB
Alexander Technique - Monkey position
An introduction to the Feldenkrais Method
Application of the Feldenkrais Method within singing

Part 3a - Breathing - What you need to know

Introduction to Breathing
How do we breathe? - The basics
Muscles of inhalation - Part 1 - The ribs
Muscles of inhalation - Part 2 - The Diaphragm
The muscles of inhalation - A deeper understanding
The muscles of exhalation - what are they?
Breathing - A summary

Part 3b - Breathing - Practising breathing technique

To practise or not to practise!
The semi-supine position
Moving to a sitting and standing position
Use of imagery on the in-breath

Part 3c - Breathing: From breathing to singing

How does breathing for singing differ from normal breathing?
So why is a good breathing technique necessary when we sing?
Identifying bad breathing habits
The Whispered 'Ah' - an introduction
The Whispered 'Ah' in practise
Other considerations: how much air do I need to sing?
Other considerations: mouth breathing vs. nose breathing

Part 4 - Breath Management and Support

Introduction to breath management and support
What is breath support in singing?
Breath support - a different perspective?
So support is...?
Physiology of support
Suspension
From suspension to support
'Locking down'
Exercise 1: Feeling the individual muscles of support
Exercise 2 - Feeling the muscles of support collectively
Exercise 3 - Avoiding movement of the upper chest and shoulders
Anchoring - what is it?
Types of anchoring - 1. Facial anchoring
Types of anchoring - 2. Head anchoring
Types of anchoring - 3. Neck anchoring
Types of anchoring - 4. Torso anchoring
Anchoring - summary
Other considerations
Use of imagery in support

Part 5 - Let's Review!

This chapter serves as a recap of some of the most important points that we've covered in this course.

You may be here because:

  1.  you're a singer wanting to improve your own general knowledge
  2.  you're new to teaching and would like to start developing a deeper understanding of the voice as a precursor to further study
  3. you're a choir leader looking to enhance your understanding of the voice so that you can get the best out of your choir members
  4. you're looking for information on techniques and exercises to help you, your students, or your choir, get to know their voices better

Regardless of your motive(s), this chapter should provide you with a summary of what you have learned throughout this course. Don't forget that if you need some more in-depth information all you have to do is delve back into a previous module or lesson as a reminder.
Summary, Part 1: Overview
Summary, Part 2: Posture & Alignment
Summary, Part 3: Breathing
Summary, Part 4: Breath Management & Support
In Conclusion
Useful Websites

Final Exam

Congratulations, you've made it to the end of the course! Only one thing remains, and that is to take your final exam and hopefully gain your certificate as proof of the learning that you've done.

The exam covers all areas studied during the course and contains 50 questions in a multiple-choice format.
The exam is timed. You have 60 minutes to complete it (just over 1 minute per question)
The pass mark is 75% (this discourages people from trying to pass purely with guesswork)!
The exam is housed on a different platform
You can have up to 3 attempts to pass the exam

When you pass, The Voice College will receive a copy of your answers, final mark, and time taken to complete. The course will then be deemed to be over.

If you don't manage to pass the exam the first time don't worry - you will be able to re-take it up to 2 additional times (3 times in total) but please note that it will be timed on each occasion that you re-take it, and the questions will always be in a different order.

Should you successfully pass the exam within 3 attempts, you will automatically be notified via email, and your Certificate will be attached to that email for you to print out if you wish.

Please click here to be taken to the exam site when you are ready:

Good luck!
Instructions

References and Other Information

Bibliography
References