Imagine you’re onstage for opening night of the biggest show you’ve ever been a part of. All your friends and family are in the audience awaiting your big number, your chance to really show off your singing chops. Then suddenly, mid-performance, you find yourself frequently struggling for air as you’re trying to hit all the right notes. That there is the cause of tension and strain in your body. Fortunately, Backstage Expert and vocal and performance coach Arden Kaywin has some tips to overcome all that, and she suggests that this tension and strain can actually be used for your advantage while singing. Kaywin sat with us for a second YouTube Live as part of Backstage’s new video programming, The Slate, where she discussed why tension and strain exist and how to navigate them as a singer. Watch the full video below!
How to Break Free From the Fears Holding You Back During the Coronavirus Tension and strain are only reactions to our fears and insecurities.
“Tension and strain are a giant mirror. Tension and strain are your body’s physical reaction to fear and insecurity. We all have physical reactions to our thoughts and our emotions, that is just part of being human. That is just what we do. Tension and strain are the physical manifestations of fear and insecurity in your instrument, in your body, when you’re singing. As a singer, performer, and actor when your body is your instrument, if we’re physicalizing our thoughts and our psychology in ways that are detrimental to us, it prevents us from doing our job.”
Take control of your body while singing to underline the root of the problem.
“The tension and the strain are symptoms of the greater problem, which is that an unexamined mindset is running the show. Really get to know how and where and when they show up in your singing, then you’re going to have the first clues to understanding why they show up. And once you understand why they show up, what’s the fear that's driving them to be there? What's the insecurity that’s causing them to be there in the first place? Then you’re equipped to do the work that's going to transform those fears. And once you do that? Poof! Tension and strain begin to disappear.”
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