Marie Knight

MUED 271
Dr. Maynard
September 25, 2020
Vocal Posture and Breathing Lesson Plan
1. Objectives
a. For students to be able to sing with proper posture while using the correct breath.
2. Procedure
a. First students will need to be in a place where they can watch, listen, and
participate in the video
b. The video starts with students standing up and getting the bottom half of their
body ready to sing. Posture is an important first step in singing in order to be
balanced and start with a good base so students won’t strain or damage their
voices while singing. Students will:
i. Watch and mirror the video informing them to move their feet shoulder
width apart
ii. Watch and mirror the video informing them to unbuckle their knees,
having them slightly bent.
c. Next, the students will learn how to prep the upper part of their body to sing.
Students will:
i. Watch me model the “ragdoll” way of getting singing posture. The
“ragdoll” involves the individual to loosen up and drop their upper body
downwards, as if they were touching their toes. Then students will slowly
unroll their body so that each vertebra is aligned on top of each other.
ii. See (me in the video) signal them to now “ragdoll” their body and slowly
roll up after watching the previous demonstration.
iii. Mirror the video and adjust their
1. Chest to be more open. Making sure that students' upper bodies are
not collapsed and are open so that lungs are able expand to their
greatest capacity.
 2. Shoulders down and back (not tight and up) to avoid tension near
the throat and once again to keep the lungs open so they can
expand.
3. Head to be loose and forward (not too far up, down, or out). This is
important to keep the throat aligned with the body and not
‘crooked’.
d. Lastly students will be shown and then demonstrate how to do a proper singers
breathe. Students will:
i. Watch how panting like a dog will engage the diaphragm and demonstrate
a proper singer's breath.
ii. Place their hands on their upper stomach, mimicking the video, in order to
visually measure if they are breathing correctly.
iii. Pant like a dog, thus engaging their diaphragm and start breathing deeper
and expanding their lungs
iv. Breathe in and out on their “dog” breath with their great singing posture.
e. Students are then ready to sing!
3. Assessment
a. If I were to give this lesson in a classroom, I would assess the students before and
after the presentation. Before I gave the presentation, I would have them sing and
ask them questions reflecting on how it feels to sing? Ex. When you breathe, does
your stomach move or do your shoulders move? Where are your feet when you
sing? What is your head doing when you are singing? Then, after I give the
presentation, I would ask them if there are any differences in their singing now
that they know how to stand and breathe properly when singing. Ex. Did you
notice a difference in your voice after learning about posture and breathing? Has
your voice changed at all?
b. In this situation, I will look to my peers and family to evaluate how well they
understood the video given. Was it easy to follow? What did you learn about
singing posture?
4. Standards Used
a. “Rehearse, Evaluate and Refine. To express their musical ideas, musicians

analyze, evaluate, and refine their performance over time through openness to

new ideas, persistence, and the application of appropriate criteria.” This NAfME

Standard requires students to evaluate what they need to make their performance

great. A singers instrument is their body, so preparing a singers posture and their

breath is like assembling a saxophone or rosining a bow for a violin. It is the base

so singers can sing and perform their best work.