Your body as a tool

Exploring Body Connection in Singing

In this lesson, we are going to look at how connecting your body or expressing a story through your body can help your singing. All right? And this is going to especially help support your connection to those big notes.

Song Selection

We're going to use a phrase from the musical Funny Girl, one that you may know well. You might even recognize this little vampire!

Lyrics:

"Don't tell me not to live. Just sit and putter.
Life's candy and the sun's a bowl of butter."

Initial Exercise

Before you start, try the phrase without connecting your body at all. Maybe just collapse. Cross your arms. In fact, I'll do it with you here.

1. Cross your arms.
2. Lean in.
3. Sing your best while slumping inwards and letting your ribs collapse.

Let's feel what we don't want to do:

"Chin down."

Now try singing:

"Don't tell me not to live, just sit and putter.
Life's candy and the sun's a bowl of butter."

It's quite hard to get the energy, isn't it?

Building Body Connection

Now let's build this up:

1. Stand with two feet firmly on the floor.
2. Try singing:

   "Don't tell me not to live, just sit and putter.
   Life's candy and the sun's a bowl of butter."

Engage Your Body

Just for fun, try bending your knees a little to feel more connection.

1. Bend your knees as you sing:

   "Don't tell me not to live, just sit and putter.
   Life's candy and the sun's a bowl of butter."

Now let's increase the connection a bit more:

• Start to feel your core engage with the breath and the song.
• Push your hands away, imagining you have some kind of resistance there.

Use your hands in your performance:

"Don't tell me not to live, just sit and putter.
Life's candy and the sun's a bowl of butter."

Open Your Body

Take your hands slightly outward:

• If your hands come inwards, you might collapse your rib cage, which can create too much pressure on your tiny vocal folds.

Let's try it again, one more time:

"Don't tell me not to live, just sit and putter."
"Life's candy and the sun's a bowl of butter."

Strong Body Connection

Keep using this nice, strong body pressing against the floor. Feel the resistance when you press against the floor and note how your core engages while keeping your chest open.

Imagine that if someone couldn't hear you, they would still know you were saying:

"Do not tell me what to do."

Let's try it again:

"Don't tell me not to live, just sit and putter.
Life's candy and the sun's a bowl of butter."

Reflection on Technique

How did that feel? Did it feel stronger?

1. Keep pressing through those long vowels.
2. Let's take it up:

   "Don't tell me not to live, just sit and putter.
   Life's candy and the sun's a bowl of butter."

Understanding the Benefits

Now, bear in mind there are always multiple reasons why this might have helped you. It's important to understand those reasons so that you can transfer them into your singing.

Remember:

• If something worked for you, ask why.
• Perhaps having your arms up helped prevent your ribs from collapsing.
• Consider if that feeling of resistance engaged your core.

Adapting for Performance

Can you do something smaller in your performance? You don't need to do the full body movement but can retain that feeling of openness and strength.

Explore Other Physicality:

• Try star jumps to release tension.
• Run on the spot.
• Position yourself in a semi-supine position (lying on your back with your knees up and head on the floor) while singing.

Conclusion

Play around with movement and ask if it worked; then see if you can transfer what you loved into your song.

Practice and enjoy the journey!