We had a workshop yesterday, and one of the participants commented on how they had once been told by a singing teacher to “put the sound in *THIS* cavity” accompanied with a finger pointing to somewhere in the head. The main reason he brought this up was because of how unclear and confusing that language was, so I thought it was worth talking about descriptive vs prescriptive teaching.
Descriptive Singing Instructions
If you’ve ever had a singing lesson, or looked online for singing videos, there’s no way you’ll have escaped the weirdness of such instructions. “Put it in the masque”, “make it brighter”, “the sound should open downwards not outwards”, “sing from the diaphragm”, “don’t sing from the throat”, “gain strength from your knees”, and other such gems. At least one of these statements I’d even agree with, in the sense that I also feel this when I sing, so they’re not “wrong” per se, they’re just not helpful. Continue reading “Descriptive vs Prescriptive Teaching”