| | From: "Lloyd W. Hanson" <lloyd.hanson@n...>
"Lloyd W. Hanson" <lloyd.hanson@n...>
Date: Wed Apr 4, 2001 12:04 am
Subject: Muscle Memory
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Dear Esabelle And Vocalisters:
You use some terms that are meaningful to you and many singers but
which are not necessarily well sustained in the study of vocal
function.
A lot of deference is given today to "muscle memory". The usual
meaning of this term is in reference to the muscle's ability to
replicate a movement or action with precision after being trained to
do so. The implication is that the muscle is better left to its own
devices and training for "muscle memory" is the most positive and
sure way of obtaining consistent and reliable results. The weakness
of this concept is the reality that muscles are the actors of our
minds desires. Muscles are as efficient and more responsive when not
trained to replicate actions or motions but rather to be in a state
of readiness to respond to the demands and desires of the mind.
Training the muscles to respond in this way is diametrically
different from training muscle memory.
If the singer is made aware of the positive effects of vocal tract
adjustments on resonance and, thereby, the tone quality of the voice,
the singer is more likely to explore such resonance changes and,
through guidance, develop a wider range of tonal colors. Such
awareness and resulting exploration gives the singer a better sense
of the flexibility available to the voice and tends to keep the
muscle systems used in singing in a more "ready and able" mode.
It has been my experience that the concept of "placement" tends to
emphasize the idea of muscle memory. The image that the tone can be
placed somewhere implies that the singer must move the tone about
until a "correct" location is achieved that will give consistent and
desirable results. Most "placement" oriented singers tend to assume
particular vocal postures just before beginning a tone because these
positions are necessary to produce the correctly "placed" tone and to
trigger the "muscle memory". It is not uncommon for such singers to
experience discomfort if they are expected to assume a different
vocal position or required to move in a different manner in a staged
production.
Of course, all of us have had experiences similar to this when we
have had to rise to new levels of performance required by the greater
needs of a musical or operatic production. But it is especially
upsetting to see some singers almost completely unable to make
adjustments to meet these demands because they have been taught that
only certain "placed" vocal productions will be successful. They
have never had the opportunity to learn what really makes the voice
function in terms of resonance.
A flexible vocal tract approach can be taught and it is not as
unnatural as trying to train muscles to replicate their function
without the needed guidance of the mind. Such flexible verses.
"muscle memory" track approaches can also be found in the teaching of
any responsive-reflexive body use. The field of athletics is filled
with those who teach muscle memory and those who teach flexibility
and mind responsiveness.
A most interesting discussion.
--
Lloyd W. Hanson, DMA
Professor of Voice, Pedagogy
School of Performing Arts
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, AZ 86011
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