Vocal Bricks and Foundational Layers

by Jenna Pastuszek 

I’ve been thinking about foundations.

We’re often told how important they are in building anything- a craft, a habit, a ritual, a look, a house, a marriage, etc.

Isn’t there some kind of saying that’s like the house is only as strong as the foundation on which it’s built?

Anyway, it kind of reminds me of when singing teachers emphasize the importance of “using your support”….and don’t ever explain what “support” means. 

People tell us to build foundations but don’t really explain what they are, why they’re important, and what steps they involve.

With my curiosity piqued, I looked up how to build a proper foundation for a home. Interestingly, many of the same steps are relevant to creating a sturdy vocal base.

In math class, I could never just accept a formula without the teacher showing me how it was derived. The same goes for warming up. I know I should do it, but why exactly? What’s the simple rationale for why we do the things we do in a voice lesson? If I don’t know why, I’m less likely to commit to it on a consistent basis, and maybe you’re like me.

So, let’s dig in.

First, a definition.

Dictionary.com says:

Foundation: the basis or groundwork of anything; the lowest division of a building, wall, or the like, usually of masonry and partly or wholly below the surface of the ground.

So basically, without a foundation, a house will fall down. The same goes for singing.

The IVS definition:

Singing Foundation: developing habitual control over a singer state of readiness through dynamic, coordinated, and isolated alignment of all muscles and structures within the vocal mechanism including sources of sound, breath, and energy; a place from which the voice finds its MCVE (most comfortable vocal effort) and optimal functional resonance; deep sensory and auditory awareness of the voice across its full range of pitch, dynamics, timbres and registers.

Without a foundation, your voice will eventually fall down.

According to Google, here are the steps to build a structural foundation…I’ve modified it to be about building a singing foundation because this is a voice studio blog, and I am unfortunately not a certified brick layer.  

·       Pick a site & investigate the soil: Notice and name how your body feels today. Do you feel tension in your neck, lower back, calves, hips, shoulders? You may find that your SOIL feels strong or weak, tired or fresh, overworked or supple. Can you employ some physical warm ups to open up your body to help nourish and enrich your plot of land?

·       Have your lot surveyed. Locate the actual corners of the foundation: Have a standard vocal check in that you use to determine where your voice is that day. Options include SOVTs (semi occluded vocal tract postures) like lip trills, raspberries, ng sirens, humming, the blowfish, etc. Doing any of the aforementioned SOVTs or moving onto vowel work, be sure to locate the extremes of your lot. Warm up higher than the material you’re singing requires. Warm up through your lower range too to stretch your voice in both directions.

·       Start digging. Start singing. This will include playing with vocal onsets and vowel work centering around legato phrasing, staccato work, jumps, skips, slides, etc.

·       Install & seal the footings. Work on consonants to activate your articulators and increase clarity and ease of vocal production.

·       Create the stem walls if you're building a basement. Do some concentrated deep work on the vocal style you’re working on today- is that belting? Or head-dominant traditional musical theatre? Folky pop music? Opera? Whatever you’re hoping to build today, consider this step in the warm up process an opportunity to hone in on the specific requirements of that house’s walls.

·       Treat your foundation walls with another round of sealer to keep moisture out. Now that you’ve warmed up your body and voice, how can you warm up your heart, your spirit, your emotional chakra? Can you replace vocal worry with vocal wonder? This is where we activate that magic special sauce! If you want to treat your mindset with a fresh coat of sealer, consider adding in some breath work and meditation to get yourself focused and ready.

Which steps of foundation building are you already employing in building your vocal foundation?

Which steps are you actively avoiding?

What if you added in one more step to your practice routine next week?

Let us know what you discover.