When it comes to teaching singing, each teacher will develop their own philosophy based on their education and/or own experiences. The holistic approach to singing is just one of many philosophies and methods used to teach singing.
By dictionary definition, holistic means: “incorporating the concept of holism, or the idea that the whole is more than merely the sum of its parts, in theory or practice.”
In the context of singing, vocal pedagogue, Janice Chapman, says that:
“the act of singing involves the whole person (i.e., body, mind, spirit, emotion, and voice)”
In this blog post I’ll give you a short introduction to the basic principles of the holistic approach to singing.
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Hi, I'm Rebecca! And I truly love everything about the art, science, and teaching of singing. If you're looking to build an effective and healthier singing technique so that you can sing with more ease and confidence, then you're in the right place! Here's a few other blog posts you might also like to read:
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The voice is a primitive instrument.
And like other animals, primitive humans communicated or vocalised through primal sounds, like crying, howling, wailing, laughing, groaning, calling, spontaneous joyful exclamations, grunts, the vocalised sigh and yawn, and the sound of agreement (mmm or uh-huh) all of which have emotional triggers (sadness, happiness, fear, anger, surprise, and disgust).
The vocalisation of a primal sound forms part of a whole pattern of complex physical and neurological responses involving the body and the brain, known as the emotional motor system.
In simple terms, the body reacts on autopilot. An example of the impact of primal sound on singing and performance is when we experience severe performance anxiety.
For singers, the holistic approach to singing involves training and strengthening the body and mind in conjunction with the voice enabling better connection and use of the emotional motor system.
For those that practice and teach the holistic way, we believe that by training the body and the mind in this way singers are more able to reach their true vocal potential, feel trust and confidence in their voice, and connect with the audience and enhance their performance.
But it's also important for singers to realise that the holistic approach to singing extends beyond the voice lesson. Generally what is good for your general health and wellbeing is generally good for your voice too!
If you're thinking about following a holistic approach its key to create a healthy lifestyle that supports and nurtures the connections between body, brain, and voice. Here's how you can make a start - download my free 8-page guide on how you can use physical exercise to help develop your voice - Singer’s Guide to Aerobic Exercise.
I luuurve talking about the holistic approach to singing, so I'll be diving deeper into this topic in the coming weeks. If you liked this post and you wanna be the first to know when a new blog post is published, subscribe below👇
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