[EDIT: A more thorough version of this post was published in the Journal of Singing in September/October 2018.]
One element of my teaching that is constantly changing and evolving is my choice of words. Knowing that the way I give directions or explain pedagogical concepts can either help or hinder learning, I have to be especially careful when using “loaded” words that often have vastly different meanings to different people. This includes words like “support,” “open throat,” and “head voice.” But, for me, the king of all loaded words is “placement.”
The book
Master Singers: Advice from the Stage (which I reviewed
here) highlights the disparity of views on placement in its interviews with prominent opera singers about vocal technique. In the book, Thomas Hampson unequivocally states, “I do not use the word placement,” whereas Alan Held says, “Placement is the most important aspect of my singing.” Kathleen Kim says, “I don’t try to place the sound. I just try to feel the sensation, which for me is more space in the back of my throat.” Eric Owens counters by saying, “...I never feel that this space is in the back. If anything, I’ll feel like the space is through the top of my head, in addition to the forward placement.” Owens also says, “I feel resonance and placement, mostly, in the front/mask area,” while Jonas Kaufmann flatly states, “I do not feel the voice in the mask.”
To help elucidate the issue, I look to Scott McCoy’s Singing and Voice Science chapter in the NATS-sponsored
So You Want to Sing books. McCoy makes a distinction between
forced resonance and
free resonance. Forced resonance in singing refers to our "private" resonance, meaning the vibrations we feel in certain areas of the body, like the chest, the head, and in the mask (generally defined as the cheekbone area of the face). These vibrations impact the way we perceive our sound and, in my estimation, provide a reference point of sensation that can be used to make our sound more consistent. But those internal vibrations do not result in sound that our audience hears.
On the other hand, free resonance is what occurs when sound travels through the open spaces of our vocal tract. Some of these sound waves reflect back on our vocal folds and boost certain frequencies of tone. This sound does reach outside listeners and is what gives each of us our unique vocal quality.
I believe that when most people talk about “placing” the voice, they are referring to the internal vibrations they feel through forced resonance. I encourage all of you to identify and explore these vibrations by placing a hand on your chest or throat or cheekbones while vocalizing. Then remove your hand and see if you can still feel those vibrations using only your internal awareness (proprioception).
Once you can acknowledge all the areas where you feel vibrations, you are able to choose which of those areas will receive the focus of your attention while singing. In this sense, the only thing you are “placing” is your attention, not your sound. By mentally highlighting an area where you have already identified you feel some sort of vibration or sensation, your “placement” is a
result of a freely produced sound rather than your initial intention in singing.
Is all of this merely semantics? As long as it brings results, does it matter if you are feeling, focusing, or placing your sound? Perhaps not. But just as the words “attack” and “cut off” imply a degree of activity that “onset” and “release” do not, I find that when many singers try to place their sound it often involves additional activity that manifests itself through scrunched noses, furrowed brows, and overly-engaged tongues.
What are your thoughts on vocal placement? How has your singing been this week?
Now go practice.
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