How does movement help singers?

Have you ever wondered why your voice teacher might make you do some strange movements or massages of different muscle groups during your voice lesson?

This all boils down to something called the law of attunement, which is something that in our Academy, we use quite a lot to our advantage, particularly for voice lessons.

What is the Law of Attunement?

The law of attunement basically states that in nature two systems like to sync up to conserve energy. You’ve probably experienced this before if you’ve ever tried to pat your head and rub your belly at the same time. It is far easier to have both hands doing the same motion than two different motions.
 

How is the Law of Attunement Used?

The law of attunement is used a lot in music therapy to basically meet a client where they are in terms of an undesirable behavior pattern and redirect it towards a more desirable behavior pattern. When I was completing my music therapy degree, we worked with infants for a while in the NICU. We used the law of attunement to play and sing an instrument at a tempo that matches someone’s erratic and fast-paced breathing and movement patterns. After a period of time, we would gradually change the pattern by slowing it down and making it more regular. The infants’ movements reflected this regularity and tempo, and they slowed their breathing and heart rate to match it. This allowed them to fall asleep and gain weight.

 Applying the Law of Attunement in Voice Lessons

We may not be doing anything as earth-shattering as this in voice lessons, but still, I’ll rely a lot on movement and voice to help the brain sync the vocal patterns to match a movement in another area of the body. Voice is something that is intangible and abstract. We cannot see it. We cannot directly change the movement of our vocal cords. However, we can use the law of attunement to help us get a better understanding of how our voice is moving and how to influence it in the correct way.

Practical Examples

If my sound is too disconnected and contains harsh changes between pitch, I can use a smooth hand movement to help me better regulate my sound.
 

If my voice is too foggy and muffled, I can point forward while singing to help me direct my voice and its vibration in a forward pattern that other people can hear and understand.

If I feel tension in my voice, I can massage the various areas involved in singing, such as my jaw and my throat muscles, to help alleviate the tension and associate a relaxed state with sound production.

 Conclusion

It is very difficult for our brain to produce sound that is disjointed when we are making a smooth motion with our hands or produce a sound that is muffled and backwards placed when we are pointing forward. In this way, we can use the law of attunement to benefit us as singers.