Royal College of Music

L7 Alexander Technique

Mini Alexander Treatise

SINGING

Conall O’Neill

Contents
1 Introduction 2

2 Survey 2
2.1 Premise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2.2 Analysis of Survey Responses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

3 Tongue and nasopharynx 5

3.1 Tongue and nasopharynx . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.2 Personal experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

4 Freedom of sound 8
4.1 Breathing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4.2 Balancing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

5 Performance 9
5.1 Judging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
5.2 Anxiety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

6 Conclusion 10
1 Introduction
When you are a singer it is impossible to leave your practice in the practice room, you must
carry it with you at all times. You are your instrument and the care you take of your body
and mind directly translate to the health of the voice. Alignment and release of jaw and tongue
are two of the most important tools in a singer’s technical arsenal. However, you cannot stand
out of balance in your everyday life and expect to be in balance while singing as the faulty
sensory awareness developed through bad use will not permit it. Furthermore, you use your
tongue and jaw infinitely more for speaking and eating than singing. So, if you undertake those
activities without thought for your use, when you are to sing you may have to overcome habits
generated by such activities. It is therefore imperative that a singer is acutely aware of their
use throughout their daily life and they are able to combat and overcome habits generated by
poor use at all times not just in the practice room. As such, Alexander Technique is the perfect
companion to the vocational and lifelong study of singing.

2 Survey
2.1 Premise
A brief survey was distributed to 50 singers in the Royal College of Music, it dealt with questions
regarding singing technique, practice and performance issues. The aim of this survey was to
identify what singers find to be the most challenging part of being a singer and how they prepare
themselves. These can then be examined to see how Alexander Technique could be used to aid
the technical and performance challenges using a holistic mind and body approach in both
preparation and performance.
The survey consisted of 6 questions:

1. What technical aspect of singing do you struggle most with?

2. What do you find challenging about it?

3. What do you find prevents you from your best in a high-pressure performance?

4. What do you focus on in your practice?

5. What is the first thing you do when warming up for an audition?

6. What is the first thing you do when warming up for a normal day?

There were 9 respondents.

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2.2 Analysis of Survey Responses

Figure 1: Question 1: ”What technical aspect of singing do you struggle most with?”
This was a multiple choice question with the following options: Freedom of Sound, Tongue
Tension, Alignment, Breathing, Chest Voice, Jaw Tension, Passaggio, Support and Other. There
were no selections of other.

Figure 2: Question 2: What do you find challenging about it? This was an open ended
short answer question. The respondents were referencing back to their previous answer (see
above)

The highest proportion of respondents (45%) found that Tongue Tension was their biggest
technical challenge (see Fig. 1). The second highest proportion was Freedom of Sound at 22%.
Breathing, Support and Passaggio only had a single respondent each. Alignment, Jaw Tension
and Chest Voice were not chosen. When the respondents were asked to explain their reasons for
choosing a particular technical challenge there was a commonality in response irrespective of the
original answer. Almost everyone either stated a tightness or a lack of control being the reason
for their choice (see Fig. 2). I find this very interesting as trying to control a muscle oftentimes

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causes said muscle to tense/ tighten and reciprocally the coordination of tense muscles is much
harder to direct than that of balanced released muscles.

Figure 3: Question 3: What do you find prevents you from your best in a high-
pressure performance? This was a multiple choice question with the following options:
Judging yourself while singing, Remembering technique, Technical obsession preventing artistic
potential, Tension elsewhere, Tension in throat, Memory lapses and Other. There were 2
responses for other, one of which was specified as ”When the adrenaline kicks in I tend to
lock my breath”.

In answering what prevents them from their best in a high-pressure performance the majority
of respondents fell into two categories. The first category is that of judging yourself whilst
performing (I have combined Judging yourself while singing (45%) and Technical obsession
preventing artist potential (11%) in this grouping) and the second category is tension (33%
combined) (see Fig. 3). This highlights why a holistic mental and physical approach to singing
is important as the majority of respondents had a mental hurdle to overcome when trying to
achieve their best.

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Figure 4: Question 4: What do you focus on in your practice? This was a multiple choice
question with the following options: Body Work, High Notes, Memorisation, Note Bashing,
Passaggio and Other. There were 6 responses for Other.

I felt that asking what singers focused on in their practice may shed further enlightenment
as to what they see as a whole to be the most challenging aspects of singing. However, as shown
in Fig. 4 there was no majority, there were 8 answers for 9 respondents. Singing is very different
to any other instrument as not only do you have to learn how to play your instrument you have
to learn how to build your instrument while learning how to play it. As such depending on an
individual’s vocal level their practice will have differing amounts of building versus musical/
artistic emphasis.
Upon reviewing these survey results, I shall structure my treatise on the tongue and na-
sopharynx, freedom of sound and performance anxiety. I believe these three factors cover the
most technical challenging aspects of singing and I also believe that there can be fruitful inter-
play between them and Alexander Technique.

3 Tongue and nasopharynx

3.1 Tongue and nasopharynx
The tongue is the most important muscle in singing, it is our main articulator but if used
incorrectly it can affect resonance, tuning, freedom of sound, breathing and range. It must be
used incredibly accurately for the singer to be able to communicate and be understood, but
this must be done without any holding or tightness as this would affect fluency. The tongue
at rest should fill the mouth, expanding in all directions, with the root of the tongue being
completely at rest. The root of the tongue should always be released and at ease all through
life, only being activated during swallowing. However, a very common habit is to depress the
tongue during speech or in some cases all the time. This is a problem in singing as the base of
the tongue connects to the hyoid bone which in turn connects to the larynx itself. The larynx
should be freely suspended within the neck, it should rest near the bottom of its range of motion
solely due to the effect of gravity. In classical singing this low laryngeal position is essential for
the “classical sound”. Many singers make the mistake of end-gaining towards the darker more
classical sound of the released low larynx by depressing the tongue to push down the larynx.
This actually obstructs access to the nasopharynx and therefore the voice loses many of the
upper partials that allow it to carry and cross an orchestra.

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(a) Head forward and up allowing for an clear (b) Head back and down causing constriction of
passage from the vocal folds to the nasopharynx the airway

Figure 5: Cross sections of two individuals with different postures

(a) Head forward and up allowing the tongue to (b) Head back and down causing the tongue to
expand and fill the mouth depress

Figure 6: Images of an individual with different postures

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 As I mentioned earlier due to the fact that our bodies are our instrument, as singers we can
never stop practicing as the habits of everyday life are the habits of singing. As such, another
common way for the nasopharynx to become blocked is related less to singing technique but
to the everyday use of the self. The head moving forward and up so that the back lengthens
and widens is essential in good classical singing to maintain an open efficient airway so there
is direct connection from the low lungs to the vocal folds to the nasopharynx. If the head is
allowed to fall back and down this causes the neck to flex forward which causes the passage
from the vocal folds to the nasopharynx to be constricted (see Fig.5). This prevents air being
inhaled efficiently through the nostrils and so the individual must inhale through the mouth. To
allow for the intake of air through the mouth, the tongue cannot be at rest within the mouth,
expanding in all directions, instead it must be pulled back and down (see Fig.5 and Fig 6). In
this back and down position, the tongue root must be activated in order for speech and singing
to occur. Instead of articulating the vowels and consonants inwards and upwards (towards the
nasopharynx), due to the lack of internal space the tongue articulates down and out, reducing
resonance and increasing strain (see Fig.6).
If you observe Maria Callas (Fig. 7), one of the greatest sopranos of all time, you notice
the movement of her head forward and up so that her back lengthens and widens and that
there is a distinct lack of visible tongue underneath her chin, this is in stark contrast to the
example in Fig. 6 where the root of the tongue is clearly visible underneath the chin (this is
often misunderstood to be a double chin of fat).

Figure 7: Maria Callas

3.2 Personal experience

Many of the problems that I have described in this section I have been trying to address whilst
studying on this Alexander Technique L7 module. I was unaware of many of the underlying
causes due to faulty sensory awareness, the fact that through my habitual poor use I was unable
to recognise balance without the aid of an Alexander teacher and a mirror so I could observe
what my body is like in its natural balanced posture in comparison to my habitual crumpled

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alignment. I have never been able to breathe through my nose easily, I had put it down to either
a deviated septum or my childhood asthma, I assumed it was just something that I would always
have to live with. Doing semi-supine in these classes was always a stressful experience as I would
have great difficulty swallowing in that position. Moreover, whenever my head and neck were
encouraged to move forward and up so that my back lengthened and widened, I could not
breathe as my depressed tongue blocked my airway. When I was told to relax my tongue, it
would slip more into my throat as my faulty sensory perception viewed my depressed tongue as
the neutral. As a result, I would adjust my head back and down to accommodate my retracted
tongue. In one lesson, I decided to inhibit my panic response and to try and find a way to
breathe with my head and neck moving forward and up. I felt where the blockage was and
tried to direct different parts of the oral cavity. When I directed the base of the tongue forward
and up, I could feel a small space in my airway appearing. I continued to direct the tongue
root forward and up and my airway opened, and I was able to breathe through my nose. In
my everyday use, whilst directing my head forward and up so that my back lengthened and
widened, I directed the base of my tongue forward and up so that my tongue expands in all
directions within my oral cavity and I am able to breathe through my nose. This now means
my larynx is able to hang much more freely within my neck and I can access my head voice
(laryngeal tilt and nasopharynx resonance) much more easily. My speaking voice is also much
freer and lower set. Overall this inhibition of tongue depression and direction of my tongue and
neck forward and up has increased my vocal stamina, ease of production, tuning and range.

4 Freedom of sound
A free sound is defined as a voice that is free of any tensions, has a speechy non manufactured
quality and spins easily. Spin in singing is one of the clearest signs of a free voice, it is the
presence of a natural, regular vibrato that never stops throughout a musical phrase. Vibrato is
caused by the natural oscillation of the tissues in the vocal tract when air is moved continuously
and steadily over them. Vibrato is only perceived as spinning when the vocal tract is a straight
and free of tension with the larynx suspended. This requires the tongue to be released and free
from the throat as described above, however it also requires the entire body to be in balance,
with a direct path from the lungs to the nasopharynx.

4.1 Breathing
Singing is breathing with intention. Without the singer constantly feeding the sound with breath
it is impossible to have a free spinning sound. It is important to breath into the low back and
to allow it to expand. The Crura (the lowest part of the diaphragm) connects directly to the
lumbar spine (see Fig. 8) 1 , and there is more diaphragmatic mass at the back of the body.
Without the back you are not taking in a full diaphragmatic breath. It is therefore important
to send the head and neck forward and up so that the back lengthens and widens, this allows for
full rib swing and engagement of the back of transverse abdomenis muscle. It is useful to think
the space between your ribs and hips expanding away from each other to find that low back
space. For the consistent spinning sound, the voice needs to be supported. Support is simply
the engagement of the inhalation muscles during exhalation, thus maintaining the internal chest
pressure, it is most elegantly described by the Italian term appoggio, to lean. This allows for an
exhalation up to 30 times longer than the corresponding inhalation. However if the inhalation
is insufficient and the back is not engaged then those muscles will not be able to easy co-opted
for support.
1
Kleinman, J. Buckoke, P. (2013), The Alexander technique for musicians, AC Black.

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 Figure 8: Diaphragm during exhalation

4.2 Balancing
The Crura not only connects to the lumbar spine, it also intersects with the psoas muscles (see
Fig. 8). The psoas connects to the legs through the pelvis. It is therefore imperative for the
most efficient breath and that the legs are released, the knees are not locked, and the feet are
allowed to spread on the floor 2 . Any tension in the legs will transfer upwards and affect the
diaphragm and therefore the freedom of the voice. Balancing is not about relaxation, rather
it is about efficiency. Tension is required to keep to the body in balance, but this is expansive
tension that gives structure not griping or holding. True balance is not still, it allows the body’s
natural shimmering movement. This balanced tension is required for singing, as it is this that
allows the head to travel forward and up, and it is this that gives tonus to the “tube”, the direct
path from the lungs to the nasopharynx.

5 Performance
5.1 Judging
If the audience is listening, and you’re listening. . . who’s doing the singing? Part of being a
singer is standing in front of people and being judged, and even for the most extroverted this can
be a daunting experience. This experience is harder for the singer than any other instrument
because we are unable to accurately hear what we sound like. Other people hear your voice
through air, whereas you hear your voice conducted through the bones in your head to your ear.
The voice in a singer’s head is a much tinier, thinner prospect than what is experienced in the
hall. So when a singer looks to judge themselves while performing not only are they stepping
out from the artistic and expressionist mind frame of creating music, what they hear will not be
accurate and as such any adjustments made will probably not be correct (as mentioned earlier,
this is when many singers would depress the tongue root as it would “fix” the over bright sound
in their head). The singer must inhibit when they have the urge to listen, then give themselves
directions relevant to the music in which they are performing.
2
Kleinman, J. Buckoke, P. (2013), The Alexander technique for musicians, AC Black.

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5.2 Anxiety
“Your emotional condition is far more influential on your performance than hours and hours
of practice” F. P. Jones.3 . Many singers are badly affected by performance nerves. This is
particular disastrous for singers as slow onset startle pattern causes us to shut down access to
the nasopharynx and therefore much of the resonance of our voice. Nerves also cause breathing
to raise higher in the thorax, putting pressure on the larynx and preventing access to the lower
inhalation muscles reducing access to support. The important thing to note in these situations
is that you are in control of your own emotional state. When you feel your body start to enter
the start pattern, stop, inhibit and direct your head forward and up so that your back lengthens
and widens. Pedro de Alcantara talks about experimenting redirecting the nervous energy into
excited energy that you can channel into your performance. If you are feeling performance
anxiety you have fallen out of your body’s balancing reflexes 4 , so take time to feel your feet on
the floor, BBC: breath, balance and see. Allow your vision to widen and take in your periphery
to counteract the anxious tunnel vision. If none of this is working, find a space and lie in
semi-supine and let gravity help you return to balance.

6 Conclusion
When we choose to be a singer we are choosing a life of body awareness. We cannot expect our
voice to be there for us at all times if we do not respect ourselves. It is therefore of upmost
importance that we as singers are always conscious of our use of self, mind, body and breath.
This is why the vocation of classical voice and Alexander Technique work so well together. With
the tools of Alexander Technique the singer will have less to do in the practice room, but will
be conscious at all times.

3
Jones, F. P. Dimon, T. (1997), Freedom to change: The development and science of the Alexander Technique,
Mouritz.
4
De Alcantara, P. (1997), Indirect procedures: A musician’s guide to the Alexander technique, Oxford Uni-
versity Press.

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References
De Alcantara, P. (1997), Indirect procedures: A musician’s guide to the Alexander technique,
Oxford University Press.

Jones, F. P. & Dimon, T. (1997), Freedom to change: The development and science of the
Alexander Technique, Mouritz.

Kleinman, J. & Buckoke, P. (2013), The Alexander technique for musicians, A&C Black.

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