Alignment

The Scaffolding of Singing

Dr. Hochmiller, September 2021

 § Proper [alignment] has three major
benefits:
1. Breathing is easier
2. Tension is reduced
Benefits of
Alignment 3. Singing is less tiring

Meribeth Bunch Dayme - The Performer’s Voice

 § Head
§ Arms “…When there is metaphor, we want
to find the anatomical basis for the
metaphor and secure the movement
Areas of § Thorax that inspires the metaphor.” –Barbara
Conable, The Stuctures and
Alignment § Legs Movement of Breathing

§ Knees
§ Feet
Head, Neck &
Shoulders

What Every Musician Needs to Know about the

Body: The Practical Application of Body Mapping to
Music Making by Barbara Conable
“...freedom in singing depends first, last,
and always on freedom in neck muscles.”
Conable, Structures of Singing p. 45

Head, Neck &

Shoulders

What Every Musician Needs to Know about the

Body: The Practical Application of Body Mapping to
Music Making by Barbara Conable
Watch out for
girtles and
turaffes!

*TONGUE & JAW*

Torso
&
Hips

What Every Musician Needs to Know about the

Body: The Practical Application of Body Mapping to
Music Making by Barbara Conable
 § Balance
Legs
& § Freedom
Feet § Awareness

What Every Musician Needs to Know about the

Body: The Practical Application of Body Mapping to
Music Making by Barbara Conable

Common
Alignment
Problems
Take time to stretch, remind your class
about proper alignment, and keep
reminders around the room.
Model the alignment you want to see
in your singers.
1. Rounded or hunched shoulders (particularly
when sitting)
2. Collapsed chest
3. Excessively arched lower back
4. Excessively raised or lowered chin
§ Neck tension (iPhone/computer syndrome)
§ Squeezing the derrière
§ Locking the abdominals
§ Hips forward
§ Unequal distribution of weight between legs/feet
§ …..What do you notice about your alignment?
 § Remember your weight-baring spine, at your core.
§ Are you balanced at your hip joints?
§ Are your knees released and flexible?
§ Are your feet feeling the floor?
§ Are you feeling the tripod of your feet’s arches?
Suggested § Are your heads dynamically poised?

Alignment § Are your backs free? Long and wide?

Reminders § Remember to organize around your spine like an apple

around a core.
§ When you look down at your music, just tilt your head. Don’t
drag your neck forward.
§ “It has been my experience that no single factor more
affects the quality of choral sound than alignment.” –
Barbara Conable

The Structures and Movement of Breathing by

Barbara Conable