Jazz / Pop Singing at the Crossroads of Movement and Musical elements (copy) by Daniela Fanelli

Research question - How can focusing on the connection between body movements and the key musical elements of rhythm, lyrics/mood, pitch and dynamics positively affect the expressiveness and vocal freedom of jazz / pop vocalists? When considering the attributes of captivating performances, jazz and pop singers often tend to underutilize their bodies on stage. This observation prompted a deeper examination of the interplay between body awareness, singing, and movements, resulting in the question “How can focusing on the connection between body movements and the key musical elements of rhythm, lyrics/mood, pitch and dynamics positively affect the expressiveness and vocal freedom of jazz / pop vocalists?” The research aims to address this question through a series of investigative stages. Firstly, the analysis of my 2023 end-of-year performance revealed a clear correlation between gestures, expressiveness and the four musical elements mentioned. Further research supported this finding and led to the development of movement-focused singing exercises, whereby vocalists sing while consciously engaging their bodies in alignment with each key musical element individually. This methodology underwent testing with six vocalists, yielding valuable empirical data. The data shows that this set of exercises can be a helpful, holistic tool in increasing expressiveness, enhancing awareness and improving embodiment while singing, as I have also experienced for myself. By sharing this research, I hope to encourage all musicians to deepen their connection with themselves, their instrument, and the audience through movement and body awareness.

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E. Part 2 - Formulate the Model

In order to investigate my hypothesis, I explored the outcomes of singing whilst consciously choosing to move along to lyrics/mood, rhythm, melody and dynamics. Hence, my first steps in formulating the final model began by carrying out preliminary tests on myself, on a student and on my teacher. When practicing moving along to musical elements whilst singing, I understood that it was easier and more effective to work on these exercises whilst singing a jazz standard I knew well rather than a song I don't know as well. Indeed, as discussed by Williams S. and Brand in the articles mentioned in the literature review, the extra task of focusing on an external focus while singing does require a certain amount of attention. Hence, in preparation to guide other singers through the sets of exercises, I decided I would ask them to choose a song they are already very familiar with.

As I sang whilst focusing on movement, I noticed I felt looser physically and my vocal choices were creatively influenced by the larger movements I was producing. As explained by Koch’s extended bidirectionality model, “cognition and affect play a central role in movement behavior and both movement shape and movement quality play a causal role in the perception of emotions, the formation of attitudes and behavior regulation” (Koch, 8). Hence, my improvised movements not only echoed my singing but they in turn influenced my singing itself. Overall, the sets of exercises sparked a feeling of curiosity, which is easy to lose touch of when singing repertoire that you’ve already sung for many years. Additionally, the exercise helped me unlock new interpretations of these songs, finding new stories to draw parallels to in the lyrics. It became clear that this approach of moving as an active response to musical elements heard / produced differs is not meant to be used as a tool on stage but as a tool to encourage self-exploration and expansion of expressive horizons. Additionally, this approach is very different from moving according to a premeditated choreography, which I won’t be investigating in this research. For a discussion of topics I chose to exclude from this research, please see Chapter G - Conclusions + Future steps.

Before testing the model on official volunteers, I carried out some preliminary testing on a singing student, where I asked her to perform a song she knew well while focusing on moving along to each of the four categories separately. Through carrying out this first version of the exercises, I concluded that I should request volunteers to perform a section long enough for them to experience the effects of the focus on the movements but not too long that it becomes challenging to maintain the correct focus on movement for the duration of the section. After seeing videos of the experiment, the student mentioned she preferred her performance where she moved following the dynamics she perceived in the music. It was interesting to note that she had a preferred performance and that it coincided with the movement that she felt most comfortable doing. This informed my future choice to both begin and conclude the experiment with a “control” round. Here I instruct the singer to perform the song as if they were performing it for an audience without a specific focus on movement, allowing them to more easily compare their experience of singing as they usually do with their experience after applying the movement focuses.

Based on this experiences, I created an initial set of instructions to guide volunteers through a set of exercises and tested this procedure on my teacher Yvonne Smeets. When asked to sing whilst moving along to rhythm, Yvonne asked whether she should dance along to the rhythm of what she sings or of any rhythmic elements she perceived. This query made me realize I should specify that volunteers can move to any rhythmic elements they perceive in the music. Additionally, this preliminary test highlighted the practical things I would need to carry out the set of exercises successfully, including making sure to have a speaker ready in case the volunteer wishes to sing with a backing track.

Hence, the above experiences resulted in the following testing procedure:

By guiding six volunteers through the above process, I collected valuable empirical data on their experience. For the full text of notes and insights from each volunteer, please check the Appendix. In the next chapter, highlights from these findings are analyzed and discussed.

Ask volunteer what is a song you:

can sing comfortably a cappella or they have a backing track for it
are familiar with, especially lyrics and melody wise

Select what section of the song they will sing
Give volunteer an overview of experiment: 5 minute physical vocal + warm up, then you will sing the section a few times following my instructions and after each round, I will ask you a few questions
Guide the 5 minute warm up, including⁹:

A physical warm up, including putting on music and inviting volunteer to dance/move to the music with closed eyes
Vocal warm up - lip trills + any vocal exercise they usually do to warm up when they have little time

Go through each round of singing

To rehearse it
As if you were performing it on stage for an audience
While allowing / inviting / welcoming your whole body to move according to:

the rhythmic elements
the different pitches of the melody that you sing
the dynamics that you sing
the lyrics that you sing

Sing as if you are performing for an audience, forgetting everything we've done so far and allowing your body to be free to move or not as it wants to

After each of the above rounds, ask

How do you feel?
From 1-5, how emotionally expressive was your delivery and why? 1 being least expressive, 5 being most expressive
Did the movement aid or hinder your vocal technique, and how so? 1 being it hindered you, 3 being neutral, 5 being it helped
Was it easy or less easy to sing this time? // How free did your voice feel and why? 1 being not free at all, 5 being very free
Was it more musically creative this time, and why? 1 being not very creative, 5 being the most creative possible
How authentically were you singing? And how so? 1 being least authentic, 5 being most

After the final round, additionally ask

Which was your most favorite performance and why? Least favorite?
How did the exercise affect the way you connect to the song?
How do you feel your emotional expressiveness and vocal freedom changed throughout the exercise?
What new things have you felt or discovered about your singing through this exercise?
Anything else you want to add?
Do you feel like you will move differently next time you sing from now on?

go to Part 3 - Test the Model ⇒

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E. Part 2 - Formulate the Model