The Illogic Of Voice Placement

Voice placement is often said to be the source of vocal resonance, power, and tonal purity. Basic knowledge of voice mechanics reveals, however, that voice placement has no factual foundation. Let’s briefly revisit how the human voice is produced. Vocal sound is first created by vibrating vocal folds, which send undulating sound waves (made of up vibrating molecules that bump into—that is, compress—each other) through the air and to other areas of the vocal tract, in much the same way, for example, that sound waves from two hands clapping travel to the other side of a room.

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Singing From The Diaphragm Foolishness

The ever-popular injunction to “sing from the diaphragm” is one of the more ironic ideas in all of voice pedagogy for the simple reason that it is physically impossible to do so. The diaphragm is a thin layer of muscle that extends across the bottom of the rib cage. During inhalation (breathing in) this muscle contracts and moves down into, and enlarges, the thoracic cavity (chest cavity). This increased thoracic space results in lowered air pressure in the lungs, which causes outside air to be sucked into them. During exhalation (breathing out), the diaphragm is thoroughly disengaged while lung reflexes, the abdominal muscles, and the external intercostal muscles squeeze the air out of the lungs through the nose or mouth. Singing (and speaking) takes place only in the exhalation phase of the respiratory process in which there is no diaphragm engagement at all, and therefore,there is no ability to control its behavior (or sing from it).

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The Mythology Of Breath Control

People schooled in conventional singing wisdom might find it surprising that in my previous discussions about the mechanics of voice production and effective voice teaching, I have not focused on the importance of breath control to singing. This decision could be viewed as shocking, since historically, singing technique has often been reduced to breath control.

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Singing Limitations And Your Voice Muscles

Based on past discussion of the mechanical aspect of singing, what should we conclude? Most importantly that muscular limitations in the larynx, pharynx, soft palate, and oral cavity severely impair singing ability. This is not to say that the art of singing could be reduced to muscular action alone, any more than one could argue that the art of ballet could be reduced to the proper actions of the dancing muscles. There are many students of ballet who possess powerful and coordinated dancing muscles who, nonetheless, do not become exceptional artists. On the other hand, it’s impossible to imagine a great ballet dancer who didn’t possess tremendous physical ability. The general point is that in singing, exceptional physical skill alone is not sufficient to produce artistic excellence, but without it, the highest expressions of singing are virtually impossible.

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Singing And Morality

Great singing possesses a moral dimension—that is, maxims of right and wrong always color and guide a singer’s artistic choices and expressions. Singing embodies moral ideas in two ways: in the meaning of a song’s lyrics, and in the literal sound of the voice that is singing the lyrics. Ideas of right and wrong, as well as judgments as to what is good and bad behavior, if not explicitly stated, are always implied in the words of song, whether it’s finding true love, for example, confronting loneliness, or coming to terms with romantic or sexual feelings. These actions are motivated by moral sentiments; and every song has moral sentiments of one sort or another that make the lyrics come to life. That is simple enough.

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