Should I stop making faces when singing?

I recently came across this question on Reddit. And I know some of you may be wondering the same thing

Now the general consensus is that NO. And with some pretty firm answers too.

Now I personally think this is just half the truth and tackles this question at a surface level. There are definitely moments when you don’t want to be making faces or even moving around your body so much. So let’s explore this today at a deeper level and I’ll also share with you a practical exercise for this.

Real quick! For those of you who don’t know me. My name is Ivan, I love making music and also teaching singing to students all around the world. On this newsletter my goal is to make learning to sing simple. If that’s up your lane, consider subscribing. If you want to improve your voice faster, check out the links down below for ways to work with me

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Anyway! Let’s dive in.

The first thing I will say is that.

There is truth in the answers. When you’re performing, it’s important to express. And part of this means your body language. Your face, your head, the movement in your body. All of those are great tools.

However, I personally think there are scenarios where you don’t want to be doing this.

In fact, this can actually be a problem for your singing.

As you might have guessed it, the problem is when these expressions/body movements aren’t a choice. But rather a crutch especially when you’re trying to sing higher.

And the reason why is at a fundamental level the only thing that needs to happen to sing higher is the vocal folds stay connected AND then they stretch and thin out. Everything else is almost unnecessary. And when you get into a habit of ALWAYS having to add these extra movements. It can quickly get tiring.

For example, say in a song as you start to singing higher. You notice your necks almost always raises. Or maybe your face contorts to a certain position.

Sure, you can say that you’re “feeling it” more.

But I think this is more a lack of independence.

And so this brings me to the exercise or rather a test.

Can you go up and down your range without HAVING to change your face?

You can even keep a slightly lazy/dopey face.

[DEMONSTRATION]

Now it might feel unnatural to do this. Which is fine, you’re probably not used to it.

Now if you can do this without having to change your face. Just see how high you can take it without losing this feeling.

However if this feels more LABOURED, maybe you have to strain a bit more or even fall flat.

Then this is a something you want to work on.

Because what this tells me, is that these movements are a CRUTCH.

What you’ll notice is as you learn to not rely on this crutch. There will be an adjustment period. The voice might not feel as in “control”. It might flip or wobbly.

But you’ll notice if you stick with it, it might reveal to you what is actually necessary to adjust pitch and move around. And because of this eventually the voice feels more free because you’re not engaging anything unnecessary.

Once you have this down you can even bring this idea in a song. Can you sing through the song WITHOUT making too much crazy face even without contorting your neck, without having to change your posture too much.

So that when you sing and you do end up bring these movements again. It’s a CHOICE, not a CRUTCH.

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Last but not least, if you’ve always wanted to improve your singing faster and with less confusion. Remember you don’t have to do this on your own.

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Take care.

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