Singing technique with Nadia

Yesterday our choir had an extraordinary lesson with Nadia. She was a radiant personality; as she walked into the room it was as though we were embedded in her qi. She had no previous experience with Tai Chi. I know that many physical exercises in singing have to do with breathing and the movements resemble Tai Chi to a great deal.

She started off with theory and the first three odds of singing:

1. Posture
Imagine our head is straight and suspended by a string from above. Our shoulders sunken and in singing they simply do not exist. Back straight and torso prolonged, the hips slightly bent and relaxed, the tail bone low and not protruding too much. Our voice clearly became better as soon as we were more aware of our posture

2. Breathing
A short explanation of breathing physiology, how the abdominal muscles were organized and utilized. The shape and role of the diaphragm during exhalation. Singing is factually a procedure of exhalation. In short, singing is not carried out by the throat but by the abdomen.

3. Using the whole body. The bones are the resonance body for the sound, low tones are produced by the chest bones, higher tones(head voice) by the facial bones

Our posture and stance needs to be heroic, nearly arrogant. When I sing or practice Tai Chi, I now imagine being the hero Radames in the opera Aida. In the older days the scholars and the singers played a core role in social hierarchy. the people who were being listened to. Speaking should be rhythmic, clear and slow, the tone of the voice low, dark and calm.

The singers I know have extraordinary levels of qi. "Singing is positive energy, you need to be in high spirits and keep your mind clear from disturbing thoughts." said Nadia

Tai Chi would be an excellent complement for choirs and opera singers because they have so many aspects in common.

Why?

Why does my back hurt? Very likely I have been leaning backwards, my lower back tensed up and carried my body weight instead of the legs. My mind should be the boss and tell my body to stand upright. When I relax and flex my hips, I would feel strength in the legs.

Why do they call it abdominal breathing? The chief breathing muscle is the diaphragm and abdominal muscles support it. So the belly will bulge forward when we breathe deeply.

The lattisimus dorsi(back muscle or lats) supports breathing out, it is also called the "cough muscle". The back hurts when you have a dry persisting cough.

Sometimes we can feel our teacher's back to get an idea of good breathing.
When we use all these muscles correctly and our posture is right, we will naturally use our legs to carry our weight