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Choral Cliché: "Support the Tone"
We all have an idea of what supporting the sound means, but are our ideas right or wrong?
"Support from your diaphragm."
"Sing from your abdomen."
"Support the sound from your belly."
All are variations on an instruction that every choral singer has heard countless times. But do we know what it means, how to do it, and what it feels like when we do?
The Schwarzenegger fallacy
“When I was in high school, I thought support meant clenching my stomach muscles as if preparing for a gut punch,” said Pam Elrod, director of choral activities at Southern Methodist University. “So every time my choir director encouraged us to ‘support,’ I developed rock-hard abs. Not particularly conducive to healthy singing.”
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