Singing Lessons- a Focus on Body awareness
"You Are The Instrument"
By:
David Randle
Singing lessons with a master voice teacher include so much more than just the techniques to create a good vocal tone. It is important to become completely aware of the fact that the instrument you are playing (singing through) is your own body. Therefore, a predominantly unspoken and under appreciated aspect of singing lessons in all forms of vocal instruction, is care and maintenance of the physical body. Once that door has been opened and the process of body awareness has begun, there are a massive number of quality points and tips that can aid you in becoming a better singer.
At the forefront of your new body awareness is adequate hydration. Drinking enough water is incredibly important for the body on so many levels. Water helps function in the body chemistry to create energy. It is one of the most important body lubricants. Holistic health practitioners suggest drinking roughly half your body weight in ounces of water. In other words, if you weigh 120 lbs., you need to drink 60 oz. of water. I know very few people who drink enough water and in addition to that, wet drinks are not only not water, but also often increase our need for water. Coffee and tea are diuretics and every ounce of diuretic you drink subtracts an ounce of water from your storehouse, so for every eight ounces of coffee or tea you drink, you need an additional 8 ounces of water to offset it.
One of the biggest obstacles to creating good tone in the resonant cavities of the body is inflammation. Inflammation in the bodily tissues greatly increases mucous, which is an acknowledged enemy of singers. Unfortunately for your sweet tooth, the biggest cause of inflammation in the body is the ingestion of sugar in all its forms. If you want to reduce the presence of inflammation in your body, cut way back on your sugar intake.
The last thing I’d like to discuss in this article is becoming vigilant about what you eat. This is more than for the obvious reason of fueling your body with the optimum in nutrition so that your health and vitality are at the highest level. There is a much greater reason for vigilance than choosing good food to eat. It’s also about avoiding substances that have no business being in your body. We’re talking about toxins here. The lion’s share of all the processed food products out there are laced with unpronounceable chemicals whose purpose is to preserve a product’s shelf life, or add or enhance color, or replace more expensive ingredients with affordable chemical ingredients to keep prices low. Regardless of the reason for their use, none of those chemical ingredients have any justification being in your body and they only increase your toxic load, which leads to a higher incidence of illness, which can’t possibly help your singing.
If you want to increase your health and vitality, raise your energy levels and help to keep your body clear of congestion and mucous, I suggest drinking plenty of water, avoiding sugar like the plague, and eating whole, organic foods without those insidious additives. These suggestions will help your body to function in the best possible way to support your dream of being a great singer. Wow, it sounds just like something grandma would have said!
If you need a voice teacher who fully understands the role of body awareness in your singing development, we recommend contacting the Singing Lesson Expert.
Source: http://thesingingblob.com
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