Cross-training

If you agree with me that singing is an athletic activity (and it is!), then cross-training is CRUCIAL to vocal development and vocal health.

One of the stories I have always loved is about Kobe Bryant. In the off-season he would take tap dancing lessons to strengthen his ankles and his quick movement so he wouldn’t be injured on the court. THAT is cross-training!

As performers, we don’t really have an “off season” per se. Cross-training has to be year-round in order to keep the physicality of the voice in good health.

How are we supposed to do that?

First, recognize the demand on your instrument for the genre you inhabit.

Second, comes to terms with what it is you need to develop in order for that demand to be met.

Third, don’t neglect what the antagonistic muscles need.

Fourth, find the other athletic activities that strengthen the body in order to access the ongoing athleticism the voice needs.

This is why I started my Cross-Training Course! Cross-training allows for strength and power to develop in opposition - and will enhance what you DO.

Just like any athletic activity, repetition without cross-training can set up the body for injury. As singers, we need to discover what that cross-training means to you to strengthen the body, the mind, the spirit AND the voice.

All my opera singers learn how to belt. Why? Because it cross-trains muscular that they aren’t always accessing. Accessing this muscle balance and this resonance balance allows operatic voices to develop more power without pressure in their middle voices especially. This will give their register balances more ease and power and won’t fatigue the voice.

All my theatre singers learn how to create classical verticality. Why? Because it cross-trains muscular that they aren’t accessing especially in an 8 show week (depending on the show). They access the muscle balance, the resonance and the acoustic projection that they won’t need on mic, but when they know how to balance it, they are able to sing with further freedom and not sing to exhaustion.

And the list goes on…

Just like sports athletes work on different modes of physicality so should we. Just like dancers of one genre train in other genres, so should we as singers. Every mode of physicality influences the mode an artist inhabits.

Do singers lift weight? Yes. Do they play softball? Yes. Do they do pilates? Yes. Do they dance? Yes. Do they walk, run, do yoga? Yes.

Find what your body NEEDS. DO THAT!

The voice is the instrument yes, but the BODY is the COMPLETE instrument. If the body isn’t working, the voice cannot be sustained.

Cross-train. The body AND the voice. If we want endurance, longevity and accessibility without being prone to injury, we cross-train. Period.

with fondness and fierceness,