Use your face!!!

When you sing, your goal is to find the sweet spot where you have the most control and the best sound. Oftentimes we teachers refer to that focused sound as 'singing in the mask'. It is exactly what it sounds like. The mask is the area that surrounds your eyes down to your cheekbones and the bridge of your nose. If you find the proper resonance, it will actually make your face, the mask, vibrate.

There are many things involved with singing in the mask, but today, I wish to address the use of the mask in breathing in preparation to sing in your upper register. High notes require a few extra things to achieve an open free and full sound and arguably the most important is your breath support. What this means to me is that it's not just how much air you can take in but the quality of the air combined with the placement of the breath.

So this week, when you are singing, pay attention to how you use your face to breath. If you find that when you inhale, you tend to get a look of terror or pain, take note! Breathing this way only leads to a tight and pushed sound, but if you breath with your face open like when you are awake or happy it will release the muscles in your face from any kind of tension and allow for a higher focus of the air. A good way to think about it is that you're goal is to put the breath in the same place you want the sound to emanate from.