This ebook, An Alexander Technique Approach to Singing (Singers’) Technique, is published on this website in a PDF format. It is very detailed and practical, and it will give you the physical tools you need to take the limits off of your ability to create the accurate singing technique you want without sacrificing your body.
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Located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.A. (MOVEMENT THERAPY)

Why is singing consistently very softly through a passage difficult for many singers? Is singing pianissimo INHERENTLY difficult, and there is nothing you can do about it?

First, I’m going to describe what singers do that makes singing very softly for sustained periods hard. Second, I’m going to describe the remedy, so that singing pianissimo for long passages can be effortless. It should be effortless, shouldn’t it?

A prevalent belief among singers is that to sing very softly, they need to KEEP themselves from singing too loudly. So, by definition, it is easier to sing at a moderately loud volume than it is to play very softly. IT TAKES ABOUT THE SAME AMOUNT OF MUSCULAR INVOLVEMENT TO SING SOFTLY AS IT DOES TO SING LOUDLY.

Many singers are used to singing moderately loud. So, why is singing pianissimo harder than playing mezzo forte? Because, many singers believe singing very softly is about pulling back on the reins with effort. They believe they have to muscle the diaphragm and torso to keep from singing at whatever their most effortless volume is.

Think about it. If you believe you have to KEEP your diaphragm and torso from causing you to sing too loud, then you are using muscle to keep yourself from using too much muscle. This is crazy. Is there a better solution? YES!

Why not use the least amount of muscle to sing softer. You gain conscious control over the musculature of your diaphragm and torso by not using more muscle when you sing pianissimo. You do this by lovingly ordering your body to do the same work to sing pianissimo as mezzo forte, by not FORCING the external torso musculature to tense more to control the ascent of the diaphragm to sing pianissimo.

Tensing the external musculature of the torso to keep your support is the main reason that singing very softly is experienced as hard work. When it is your intention to sing a passage consistently pianissimo, then invariably many singers tense the diaphragm, shoulders, arms, and torso to control the pianissimo. This tensing is doing two contradictory things at the same time – immobilizing the diaphragm and torso and moving the diaphragm to sing softly. This is very hard on the diaphragm and torso.

The solution is to experience your diaphragm and torso supported and not immobilized, and to trust your intention to sing the passage effortlessly soft, using the least amount of torso musculature. What I mean by trusting your intention is this: If you hear the performance you want in your head and trust your body to produce it using the least amount of muscle, then your body will give you what you want with minimal work, when your faith in your intentions and your body demonstrates that getting what you want out of your voice is about trust, not tension.

One last point: What determines how softly you can sing? Is it your technique or your voice/body? It is both. If you use the least amount of muscle, then it is the vocal cords and the speed of the air stream that will determine how softly you can sing. Simply, at a certain point the vocal cords do not move as the speed and volume of the air stream diminishes.