Singing in class: the next step (part 2)

There’s no better way to progress to the next level in singing than to spend some time improving breath control. Like all specialist techniques, it can take years to achieve full mastery, but much can be achieved with children in the early stages by establishing some basic good practice.

A quick health warning: it’s not a good idea to practise extended breathing exercises with young and inexperienced singers. They can get dizzy, and asthma sufferers can experience difficulty. Of course, singing can be very good for those with asthma, but please be cautious when working directly on breathing.

Remind the class that when you sing, the whole body is your instrument. Place the feet at hip width and keep the knees loose, making sure that backs are comfortably straight. Try some gentle non-vocal warm-up exercises, paying particular attention to the shoulders. Lift them up to your ears and then drop. They will fall naturally into the correct position.

Children like to know how things work and won’t be fobbed off with incomplete answers. Take time to find out how the diaphragm is involved in breathing and practise some simple explanations. Explain that the lungs expand in all directions and that being aware of the movement of the diaphragm helps us breathe more deeply and control the flow of air. Ask the children to place their hands lightly on their ‘middles’, with the thumb part of the hand on the lower rib cage and the other part below it. Get them to breathe in without raising the shoulders and they will feel some movement under their hands. Make them laugh and point out how their hands are moving with their laughter. If the shoulders are kept relaxed, and not artificially lifted, they will begin to use their diaphragms quite naturally.

As they start to acquire some control over their breathing a whole range of other techniques becomes possible. You will be able to start showing them how singers can spin a mere series of notes and rhythms into something that really communicates – into a living musical performance.

Line and phrasing

This depends so much on breath control. Inexperienced singers will often break a melody down into individual notes and the effect can be disjointed and monotonous.

 Have some fun speaking a sentence in a steady, dry monotone and immediately contrast it with a lively, normal delivery. Try: “I went to the Beyoncé concert on Saturday and it was the most fantastic night of my life.” Or: “In the last minute of the game Giggs shot through the centre, dodged two defenders, and scored. It was unbelievable!” Discuss with the children where the important words are. How would the speaker be feeling? How does the listener know they’re feeling that?

 Take a song they know and decide with the children where breaths can be taken. Let them see how these decisions are made – breath capacity, the sense of the words, the rhythm of the line. Discuss where the focal point of the line is and work towards it and away from it. Use the breath to carry you through the consonants so that you get a good legato (Italian for ‘linked’ – linked notes give a smooth line).

 The first verse of O waly, waly (available in the Song Bank) provides a good example:

The water is wide, I cannot get o’er

And neither have I wings to fly.

Bring me a boat that will carry two

And both shall row, my love and I.

A breath after ‘wide’ is perfectly acceptable and they can also breathe after ‘o’er’. In the second line they will want to breathe after ‘have’. Show them how much more expressive the line is if they sing it in one sweep, right through to ‘fly’. Try the same with the third line – all in one breath. Then make a decision about how to sing the last line: one breath, or a break after ‘row’? What are the pros and cons? You will be astonished how perceptive the children will be in their comments. Because you are involving them in the decision-making process, they will make the song their own.

 Use movement whenever you can to get across the idea of musical shape.

Dynamics

Again, involve the pupils in your decision-making. Obviously you will take your lead from the words. Be adventurous. A well thought-out strategy using the full range of dynamics will make their singing so much more expressive. Can they let their breathing go when they’re singing quietly? The answer is a resounding ‘No!’ Quiet singing requires even more breath control and very careful articulation.

 To practise crescendo (getting louder) and diminuendo (getting quieter),

ask them to sing any vowel sound on a single note and indicate louder and quieter with your hands in front of your diaphragm, as if you were playing an accordion. Hands wider – crescendo; hands closer – diminuendo.

 Watch out for unwanted pitch changes; insist on careful listening.

Words

Encourage clear, crisp articulation at all times but stop short of overdoing it; it’s very easy to get to the ‘silly faces’ stage! Children have a tendency to produce quite wide vowels.

 Work on bringing the sound forward, particularly with ‘ee’ and ‘ah’. Sing exercises with vowels preceded by ‘n’ or ‘m’ – nee, naw, moo, mah – to help the children achieve this.

 Noiselessly mouth a line of a song they know and see if they can identify it. Again, the articulation doesn’t have to be over the top, just clear and precise.

Tone and style

Think of tone as being the colour of the sound.

 Experiment with colours, being guided by the song that you’re singing. A rousing sea shanty should be sung with an edgy, bright tone. A seasonal lullaby needs a rounder, mellower sound.

 Have fun singing a song in the wrong tone and style. Discuss why it sounds wrong.

 To achieve a warmer tone, sing ‘mmm’ on one note over

four beats and then open up to ‘maw’: ‘mmmmaw’. Try any vowel on the end. Hold the final vowel as long as you like.

Expressive faces

It’s so important that the face is flexible and expressive at all times.

 Miming with your hands, screw your face up like a piece of paper, then pull it out as flat as you can. Over a count of 10, morph from one expression to another. Start with sad and, over 10, gradually transform to radiantly happy. Go from bored to angry or innocent to sly. Ask a pupil to do one and get the others to guess what the expressions are. Of course, we shouldn’t use our faces in such a contrived way when we sing, but these activities will exercise the facial muscles and remind the children that an expressive face can help so much in the interpretation of songs.

Richard Frostick is based in London where he has eight choirs, and works across Britain and overseas as an animateur. His books are published by Faber Music.