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Sitting or Standing - does it affect your singing?


ido1957

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Maybe I'm too relaxed when I'm sitting, maybe my posture is better, cause I find I sing better when I am standing.

 

I know it's usually easier to sit with an acoustic and they sometimes have no strap.

 

Which way do you find easier/better for you?

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Maybe I'm too relaxed when I'm sitting, maybe my posture is better, cause I find I sing better when I am standing.


I know it's usually easier to sit with an acoustic and they sometimes have no strap.


Which way do you find easier/better for you?

 

 

Standing is better, but you should practice standing and sitting, since you might need to sit

down for some performances.

 

Alignment is really important for projecting your voice.

 

For example, put your chin to your chest and sing a note. Hold that note as you tilt your head up until you're looking straight up. You'll notice your volume fade in and out, but it'll get really high when your head is very straight and looking forward (not tilted down at all. not even slightly).

 

I just read the alignment chapter in "The Voice Book" by Kate Devore and it really works. Not just your head, but also shoulder, jaw, and tongue alignment are important.

 

As an analogy think of a straw. If you blow into a straw that is straight, the air will come out on the other end.

But if you fold it an one end, the air will be much weaker on the folded end.

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I have never sung standing. It's ALWAYS sitting and in a very POOR postured way too! :) Slumped and slouchy.

 

Actually no, I HAVE sung standing before. Back in school...for an assembly thingo song. I was crap I'm sure cause I couldn't hear myself over everyone else, I hadn't developed any sort of singing style yet, and I remember feeling light headed afterwards. Sing-standing is NOT for me. :)

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Both of my vocal coaches (one from a pop/rock background and the other from an opera background) prefer standing to sing. They say that standing gives you the best support.

I have felt the difference myself. Whenever I sit, it seems a bit harder to hold good notes, and laying down is even worse. One of my teachers had me lay down and sing a song for a drill to build support. He said "if you can sing it laying down, it will be easy standing up". :thu:

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Standing is better for singing for obvious reasons. It allows you to project more. However, I guess there's something to be said for sitting and singing as a "comfort" thing, since I'm sure a lot of us have spent time practicing singing sitting, like driving around in the car or something ....

 

If you're a really good singer, I doubt there is much difference at the end of the day. Think of all the singer-songwriter acoustic guitarists who sing great standing or sitting.

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Both of my vocal coaches (one from a pop/rock background and the other from an opera background) prefer standing to sing. They say that standing gives you the best support.

I have felt the difference myself. Whenever I sit, it seems a bit harder to hold good notes, and laying down is even worse. One of my teachers had me lay down and sing a song for a drill to build support. He said "if you can sing it laying down, it will be easy standing up".
:thu:

 

Laying down is really good for breathing exercises.

It's done very often in music schools.

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It's definitely easier for me to sing when I stand. I tried singing while sitting for the first time the other day and it felt a lot more difficult and kind of different. Guess I should practice it more..

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I just came across my teacher critiquing someones performance. What he mentioned pertains to your question Ido.

 

"Sitting at the piano is not the most comfortable posture for singing though as the diaphragm cannot descend properly for being blocked by the compacted viscera underneath. This is why she has to quit a rather strong emission in the low/medium ranges for a weak mainly heady one in the top because she cannot support here. Unfortunately, we are legitimately waiting for some more gutsy belting here rather than a whitish falsettoish top which is out of place stylistically. I'd need to hear her sing standing up to make a more reliable opinion on her support capacities..."

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Standing is always better for vocal performance, and I've never heard of any exceptions to this.

 

To speak to Elena's post, a great example of this can be seen when watching old footage of Freddie Mercury performing live. I notice he would often "cheat" the vocal highs when sitting at the piano, sometimes altering the melody to avoid certain notes, or going into a light airy sound that was softer than what he did on the original recordings.

 

In contrast, when he was standing and "fronting" the band, he would "go for it" much more aggressively.

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