Smiling and singing flat

josephine
josephine Pro Posts: 30
in Psychology of Singing
Does smiling ever help to prevent singing flat?
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  • highmtn
    highmtn Administrator, Moderator, Enrolled, Pro, 3.0 Streaming Posts: 15,048
    Smiling all the way up into the eyes and raised cheeks will help to raise the soft palate, part of which is the uvula. So it helps to open up an area of resonance in the throat. Smiling with your upper teeth bared also helps to brighten the sound. Brighter sound is easier to discern pitch, so in that regard it can help prevent you from singing either sharp or flat. Closing the lips more around the teeth darkens the sound and will make it harder to discern pitch.

    So smile, big and brightly when you sing. Direct the sound towards all of the hard surfaces: Backs of teeth, hard palate... Emphasize brightness.


    Bob
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  • josephine
    josephine Pro Posts: 30
    Hi Bob!!
    Yet again you have come to my rescue. I will definitely use this valuable tip. Thanks again
    Josie
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  • josephine
    josephine Pro Posts: 30
    Just one more thing (as Columbo use to say). How do we use this approach when singing sad songs?
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  • highmtn
    highmtn Administrator, Moderator, Enrolled, Pro, 3.0 Streaming Posts: 15,048
    Try not to act like you're glad your baby left you...

    You can "smile internally". Think raised cheeks and exposed teeth. Some of that will ring through.
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  • josephine
    josephine Pro Posts: 30
    Hi Bob!
    I will do my best but it will be difficult not to smile if he was a rotten scondrel-only jesting!!
    Thanks for the wise words!!
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  • Alyona
    Alyona Member, Moderator, Pro, 2.0 PRO Posts: 286
    I opened my top teeth very often, and my voice was a bit tensed. Then I realized that I rely on my upper lip too much when trying to hit a high note. So I kind of started to sing not with a throat but with a lip. Which was too tensed. And Now I try to open the top without changing my lips too much, just not to rely on then completely. And Bob is right - yes - the sound gets darker and has some different colors in it. And I like this color. Pretty dramatic )
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