What does good vocal technique feel like in my body?

Every singer wonders where to "sing from" to get a better vocal tone. This is literally the most common question I get from singers across genres - Bollywood, Folk, Rock, Soul .... everything.

Where do we sing from?

At a purely physical level, we sing due to an interaction between air, vocal folds and the resonating structures that shape the sound of our voice. A majority of the components of the mechanism are INVOLUNTARY.

1) The diaphragm is semi-involuntary.

2) The vocal folds themselves work in a completely automated manner.

3) The flux and pressure of air can be trained but never measured directly

4) Some of the resonators (such as the sinuses) are FIXED. So you can't do anything to open them up

5) The resonators that do move - move at their best when guided by expressive and linguistic cues.

The only 100% voluntary aspect of voice is INTENT. If you look at the nature of your voice closely

1) Pitch happens because you just think a note and it comes out. This has been true for all of us since childhood.

2) Volume happens because of the intensity of sound or emotion. The vocal folds thicken based on the impulse we send to them mentally

3) Pace is also symbolic of intent. You won't put a baby to sleep speaking very rapidly and with a sharp tone of voice. The pace must be suited to the intent

Vocal technique is about coordination, rather than direct control. For coordination, there first needs to be freedom and independence in the various muscular systems. Then we teach them to talk to each other (ie. coordinate) so that the exact tone, pitch, volume and phrasing that we want can come out. This lends a feeling of freedom to a singer. Things seem like they are happening with ease, without direct control and often with negligible sensation. These are all signs that the systems and sub-systems of the singing apparatus are working optimally and in balance and agreement with one another. This can be a scary thing for singers who are conditioned to believe that a sound is "earned" with muscular effort. Or even those of us who think that singing is a high art, an ascended skill that we need to really work hard for. When singing feels this easy, i can seem quite wrong or out of control. But within just a few tries, it also becomes so incredibly empowering, so addictive, so satiating, so emotionally freeing..... that not only does one's dream voice start to come out, but also tone and timbres that have no name yet. When you find balance and bequeath control to your body.... you become expressive beyond your wildest imagination. Thereon, there is only one choice to make. Do I go back to control, familiarity and nameable vocal tones? or Do I grow the guts to trust and discover sounds that nobody has named before, sounds that my body can make .... and completely surrender controllingness? Both choices are legit. We are ultimately free.