Why is the skeleton important for voice work?

A note from Robert Sussuma, part 2 - The 4 levels of “skeletal voice”

Hi again,

As you know, I'll be leading a workshop in Brussels this October (Oct. 2-5) called LA VOIE/X SQUELETTIQUE. There are only a few slots left, by the way, so if you were thinking of attending, register soon!

In the meantime, let's unpack this idea of "The Skeletal Voice"/"The Skeletal Way"... what's that all about?

Well, as I see it, there are 4 Levels of meaning here. And each is not only a useful somatic concept applied to voice, but a unique field of exploration and vocal learning in itself.

Level One: The Skeletal Frame (The Big Body)

The actual human skeleton (206 bones in all) is the structure around which our muscles, tendons, fascia, nerves, veins and organs are attached.
And, although we understand movement as generally a neuro-muscular phenomenon, the bones actually play a large role in motion of all kinds.

As Feldenkrais helped us discover, looking at movement primarily from the perspective of the bones can actually optimally organize the use of our muscles in ways the thinking just muscarly does not.

Making this experiential shift, which is largely sensory-perceptual, will change everything about how you see your body, how you think about movement, and all of that, of course, will improve your singing by default.

Level Two: The Hyoid Bone

There is one skeletal bone that is different from the rest: the hyoid bone - also known as the "tongue bone" or "singing bone".
It is a U-shaped bone situated in the front of the neck just under the tongue and just above the thyroid cartilage of the larynx. It's a free-floating bone, as it does not articulate with any other bone, like most other bones of the skeleton.
Finding, sensing, releasing, mobilizing and coordinating the movement of this bone with other structures not only is a crucial and fundamental vocal skill, it opens up a whole new understanding of how the throat/larynx/vocal tract can function.

Level Three: The Skull/Cervical Spine

With its many puzzle-like bones, the skull is an amazing aspect of the skeleton to explore from the perspective of resonance mapping, and freeing up the many bones in the head to sympathetically vibrate with the vocal tract as a form of vocal support and amplification.

The bone/resonance/vocal tract formant connection is a complex and beautiful one that we can learn to harness and enjoy. It's possible to "steer" the voice by way of the bones and vice versa. Learning to do so can relieve strain from the vocal mechanism, as well as bring an unbelievably sensual and pleasant dimension to singing and voicing.

By the way, we can do this with the bones of the skeleton below the head too. This can bring new functional clarity to many old vocal technique ideas that talked about head, mouth and chest resonance. What about the bones of the feet and hands? Foot voice? Hand voice?!?

Level Four: Invisible Bones (The Small Body)

Learning to organize around the bones is a leap forward in functionality. But, what do we do with an area like the vocal tract with it's many parts and pieces (cartilages, membranes, muscles and more) that form an inverted "small body" with as much movement variation and complexity as the "big body" itself?
It's like one lives inside the other. But, this one, insead of being built around bone, is built around space, suspended (almost up-side-down) from the skull, spine and jaw! WOW!

What do we do with that? How do we organize vocal space skeletally? Well, this is the big question, but there IS a solution!
And that's exactly what we will explore - theoretically, experientially and vocally. This will become much clearer once the other levels are also explored.
Here's a clue: A boney logic emerges that can be transposed.

In this workshop, we will explore all of these levels in linear/non-linear ways, weaving and integrating them together, in the Feldenkrais style, as we explore the idea that "every vocal obstacle has a skeletal solution."
Whether it's posture, resonance, tone, agility, dynamics or style, we can explore any concept or skill in the vocal world from a skeletal perspective.
And, we WILL! But, we will, of course, do it in a collaborative, experiential, somatic, and systemically respectful way. No pushing or forcing. Just sensing, learning, discovering and enjoying!

So, if you will be there for the event, you'll see, not only will you sing and speak more clearly, freely and easily, you'll feel better, breathe better and understand things about yourself and your voice that very few people in the world (singers or otherwise) ever do!

Learn more about the workshop and registration here: https://feldenkrais-education.com/en/workshop-with-robert-sussuma/

I hope you'll join us for this special skeletal singing adventure together!

In sympathetic vibration,

Robert