Chorus                                                                 Richa Singh

Research Project: Tri. 1                                         7-7-Even

Phase 4: PROJECTION                     Date Due: Oct. 7, 2007

 

 

How to Hit the Exit Sign 

 

 

 


        This is a project on projection.  I am doing it because this is a problem I have to deal with and I hope to overcome it.  The reason my title is, “How to Hit the Exit Sign” is because my old chorus teacher used to say to concentrate on one point on the way end of the room you are singing in and pretend your voice is going to hit there, not just fall in the middle.  In the gym, where we performed and practiced, there was an exit sign at the way back of the gym, so he said to concentrate on that.

        Projection is:  “The act of pushing or throwing outward.”  The dictionary didn’t have a definition for projection in singing, but I can relate this definition to singing.  So basically you are throwing your voice outward by making it louder.

        Projection is important because it gives you a more fuller sound, and people can hear you better of course!  If you don’t project your voice, then it sound like you are holding it back, or pressing it down.  My private singing teacher refers to it as, “Open your mouth and sing,” which makes more sense in Hindi, the other language I speak.  It makes your voice sound better when you are singing because then in the audience the people will say that, “Wow, so –and-so has a powerful voice.”  If you have a great voice and have great diction and melody and posture, etc, but you don’t project, who’s going to care?   This is why it is important to project your voice when you sing.

 

        Now I will tell you some exercises and some techniques you can practice to improve your projection.

1.      Remember to breathe properly.  Breathe full breaths, as projection is mostly about air support.  Your abdomen and waist areas should be expanded.  Make sure your chest and shoulders are not expanded.  In this position breathe in, and let your breath out on several “HAs.”  Think of it as Santa Claus’ “HO, HO, HOs.”

2.      Make sure you are resonating or amplifying your vocal sound.  This exercise is:  Sing the word “hung” on a long tone, and hold the “n” sound throughout the pitch.  If you are doing this correctly, you should feel a vibration in the mask of your face, which is around the middle of your face, around your nose.  This indicates that the back of your throat is properly opened, which helps you project your voice.

3.      Pick a simple song, like “Happy Birthday to You” or “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” and sing it.  While singing, imagine that you are singing it to someone across the street, and don’t belt or scream.

4.      When you are singing, think of singing, “forward”.  If this is hard, you can even point forward.

 

Lastly, I am going to explain what the difference is between projecting your voice and just singing loudly or screaming when you sing.  The biggest difference is the way you sound.  A projected voice with qualities like diction, tone, melody, and rhythm sound good.   A loud voice that does not have these qualities will not sound good.  When you project your voice, you need to keep your throat open (which exercise number 2 in the above paragraph helps) so there is space for the sound to resonate.  When you are projecting while singing, you should feel it in your stomach.  Also, have you heard the expression, “Sing from your diaphragm?”  Actually, that is not possible!  Your diaphragm is already working when you breathe in and out.  So don’t get confused when someone tells you to sing from your diaphragm.  If you try to sing too loudly, it sounds strained and it bad for your throat.  It also causes vocal tension.  This is why you should NEVER scream when you are singing, since it will hurt your voice.

    After reading this, I hope you know more about projection. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography  

 

 


Online Links:

 

1.   http://www.become-a-singing-master.com/vocal-strength-exercises.html

2.   http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ape84eXCXg9pSCMsljM27BXsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20071106162020AAhHcXM

3.   http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Av_oNZ_9XUDeP2mubOGicIfsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20071106170100AAhS2yb

4.   http://www.singingsuccess.com/

 

Database- Grolier Online:

 

  1. Wienandt, Elwyn A. "voice, singing." Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. 2007. Grolier Online. 7 Nov. 2007 <http://gme.grolier.com/cgi-bin/article?assetid=0305080-0>.

 

Books:

 

The McGraw-Hill Children’s Dictionary