It can sometimes be forgotten that by trying to stand or sit up straight, a singer or speaker can over-compensate and produce restrictions to vocal freedom that he was trying to avoid - different ones from those brought on by slouching, but restrictions nevertheless:

- If you pull the small of your back in (in attempting to "stand up straight") you are forced to breathe mostly in the upper chest, however aware you may be of using your diaphragm, and the back loses a lot of its width at the point where the lungs are largest, leading to shrillness and lack of rich resonance;

- When people try to "stand up straight" they are often tempted to lock their knees, creating a tightening of other muscles, including the muscles of the glottis, in a knock-on effect;

- If you pull your head back, in trying to be "straight" when taking a breath to speak or sing, this has the effect of closing part of the throat and puts the larynx in a poor state of relationship with the breath. Even if the movement you make is very small, it has a profound influence on the sound you produce: it leads to lack of control of the soft palate and the tone you produce will be overly nasal. This also leads to a strain in the higher notes and a generally thin resonance. INSTEAD: *drop* the jaw when taking a breath to speak or sing.

I think it's important to stop *trying* to do anything. Learning to use your voice well, as nature created it, means learning "not to do" rather than "doing". As soon as you think of it in terms of "doing something", a tension is created, which restricts vocal freedom. That's why voice teachers are so fond of the Alexander Technique: a way of re-creating the relationship between the head, neck and back which nature intended, which will release your voice to its full and beautiful potential, too.

- jeanie