OVS Blog

Pausing.

In Alexander Technique we might also call this inhibition, but no matter what you call it, this is where we can begin to release habits and make true changes.

Often we don't notice that something unhelpful has crept into our routine (singing, walking, typing...anything) until we begin to have issues. That feeling of strain you've been getting before certain notes or the inability to make it through phrases that used to be no problem for you. These are symptoms of a problem that you're likely not even aware of.

Because of the way that our brains work, we can easily do many of our daily tasks without thought. When is the last time you really thought about how you were going about brushing your teeth or making your cup of coffee? Our brains form a pathway for each task that we do regularly throughout our day. We use this to our advantage as musicians...we call it muscle memory. When we practice something enough, we form a muscle memory that is strong and difficult to break (even when we want to). That doesn't mean that new things can't be added to it, though. I can add a step to a pathway if needed and I can even do it without consciously meaning to do so.

It's hard to say why certain things creep into our singing. Why do we suddenly start raising our larynx to approach the high note in the passage? Maybe at one time we were performing and we had an ongoing case of allergies and our body needed to do something different. After that, even when the allergies subsided, our body kept doing the thing and now it's translating into that lifted larynx and causing strain in our current singing. Again, it's hard to say why, but we know it happens. Typically our body had a good reason, and the thing was needed at the time, even if it isn't needed or even helpful anymore.

And how do we address this? Typical vocal technique may help, but if this something that's happening isn't part of your technique and isn't something that you've ever noticed before, simply having "good" technique may not help. It's likely happening before your technique begins. And that's why pausing is so important.

Learning to pause, and then how to use that pause to notice and become aware of issues and then to re-direct them is a true way of making changes. Just like adding to our pathways, though, it takes time and patience.