2. The problem: Meaningless gestures
As I explained in my introduction, my research is about finding a solution to the problem that I tend to make meaningless gestures when singing. In order to get a better understanding of what my problem is and how to solve it, I created a few sub-questions: 1) ‘What is my description of meaningless gestures?’ 2) ‘What do meaningless gestures look like?’ 3) ‘What causes meaningless gestures?’ 4) ‘Are meaningless gestures dependent on certain circumstances?’ and 5) ‘What should I do in order to eradicate my meaningless gestures?’
2.1 What is my description of meaningless gestures?
In order to give a balanced answer to these questions I consulted my own ideas as well as those of others in the field of classical singing. I created a questionnaire (see pdf 1) filled out by 15 experts in this field, who are gratefully acknowledged for doing so. Amongst them were students in classical singing, voice teachers, co-repetitors, body work movement teachers and dramaturges. It intrigued me to find many similarities but also differences in their answers. I would like to note that in the questionnaire I did not use the term itself, but rather I gave a description of ‘meaningless gestures’. This is: “excessive, coordinated and unwanted movements of the hands and arms”. I gave several descriptions of the term ‘meaningless gestures’ in order to achieve a better understanding of what I meant with this.
The term ‘meaningless gestures’ is defined here as gestures which do not contribute to the meaning of the lyrics of an operatic piece or Lied. The term originates from comments I received in the past about how I gesticulate while singing. People in my audience mainly described the movements of my hands and arms as “meaningless” and as “a disturbing factor for the audience”. They commented that my gestures were not contributing at all to the emotion I was expressing or to the story I was telling. For the purpose of this Master thesis, therefore, I define ‘meaningless gestures’ as gestures which don’t contribute to the meaning of an operatic piece or Lied.
2.1.1 Why I understand the comments I received on my gestures
When we look at how humans communicate in daily life, we notice that their hands and arms are always moving. The arms can be moved downwards to emphasise a word, or the hands can make certain shapes contributing to a word’s meaning. All these movements we create to emphasise our statements, make our stories more convincing, and our ideas more clear [a]. What I learned from various teachers is that it is desirable for a singer to be as physically involved while singing as they are while speaking in order to act in a believable way. I think this means that gestures should be initiated from an impulse coming from a physical sensation triggered by the motivation behind what we say. This implies that gestures during speech are expressively closely related to the emotional component of what is being said. For example: a sung dialogue, or recitativo, often looks more real when a singer sings to his opponent as if it is a real-life conversation. For a Lied it can mean that a singer describes the character’s thoughts as if they are telling a story to the public. Hence, I understand that in situations where my gestures were not in accordance with the meaning of the text, audience members perceived this as “disturbing”, “not credible” or even “funny”. For reference, in daily life I probably would not wave my hands in circular motions when I say: ‘I love cheese’. I would rather make a shape with my hands as if I am praying or put both hands on my chest [13]. In other words, the gestures in my singing should be coherent with the meaning of what I am singing.
2.2 What do meaningless gestures look like?
I concluded, based on the answers of question one in the questionnaire, that meaningless gestures can appear in two forms. They can be: 1) energetic or 2) lifeless.
Concerning the first, we find: “conducting, drawing or painting, circular, swimming and arm-flapping movements”, whereas for the second we find: “stiff hands or arms which get stuck in one position next to or in front of the body and move in a robotic way”. Other examples people gave of these positions where: “ballet arms, penguin arms or crossed arms”. As an illustration I refer to examples in video recordings from my own performances.
Video 1: between 00:00 -00:25 and 03:10-03:25 you can see an example where the hands and arms get stuck in a sort of robotic position. The arms stay most of the time in an angle of 90 degrees and the fingers stay spread. From 00:52-00:58 you see also an example of penguin arms.
Video 2: Between 04:16- 04:20 you see that I make a sort of circular motion with my right arm.
Video 3: Here you see an example of ‘prayers arms’. They are glued together and held in front of the body. I continue doing this during the whole video.
Video 4: Also here I hold my arms almost the whole time in one position and in a weird angle.
Video 5: Between 00:42-01:14 and 02:19-02:44 you can see another example of prayer hands, hands which get stuck in one position, and some conducting movements are made around 01:09. Between 04:17-04:38 my right arm gets stuck in a weird straight line. This is another example of penguin arms.
During my studies I have seen similar movements of the hands and arms with fellow students. Therefore, I assumed that there must be an underlying, universal, reason for it.
2.3 What causes meaningless gestures?
I am wondering what the main reason is for why singers make meaningless gestures. Is it just randomly occurring or is there a reason for it? Apparently, according to most people who filled out the questionnaire, these meaningless gestures appear when a singer is too focused on their singing technique instead of on their acting.(see pdf 1: question 2) A student gave the example that in order to maintain her flow of breathing in singing her hands start to make circular movements. (see pdf 1: question 8: Student 7) Furthermore, someone mentioned:
“I think the unwanted movement usually has to do with singers being busy with singing technique. Because singing is abstract, the instrument is not visible, it needs suggestion of flow, direction and movement (up, down, front, back). Physical movement is a way to suggest and understand this.” (see pdf 1: question 2: Dramaturg 1)
I agree with this. I remember attending private and public singing classes in the past where singing teachers sometimes would guess correctly what crossed a singer’s mind, only by reading their body-language. A circular movement of the arm(s) could for example mean that a singer wants to have more spin on their notes or, in other words, wants to let their coloratura run by managing the flow of breathing. (see pdf 1: question 8: Student 7) Drawing long lines with the arm(s) in the air can mean that a singer wants to sustain his or her breath to create more legato. (see pdf 1: question 1: Voice Teacher 3) Furthermore, stiff or stagnated movements also serve a purpose. They can suggest that a singer is trying to connect to their support system.
It is clear that the meaning behind our thoughts, which we do not necessarily need words for, and the things we say, trigger a certain physical reaction in the hands and arms. But more importantly, the findings above show that meaningless gestures are the result of thinking technically while singing.
2.4 Are meaningless gestures dependent on certain circumstances?
I learned by reviewing my video recordings that meaningless gestures seem to appear in circumstances of mental stress like singing exams, auditions, masterclasses, recitals and video recordings meant for large audiences or publishing. Some singers shared similar answers to question five in the questionnaire (see pdf 1: question 5). What the situations mentioned have in common is that they are experienced as stressful. I remember situations in the past where I often felt insecure, being too aware of what was happening in the audience. As a consequence, worries and stressful thoughts then also arose regarding my singing technique. Furthermore, because of the comments I received a few times about my gestures, each time I sang I was worried about people sharing the same critical opinion. In summary, I was too aware of myself and my actions when singing.
In the previous section I concluded that meaningless gestures are the result of thinking too technically. Furthermore, in this section I explained that meaningless gestures occur mostly under stressful circumstances. Therefore, I argue that stressful performance situations are a trigger for the mind to start to worrying about technique, leading to the appearance of meaningless gestures. In my case, however, stressful performance situations are not the only circumstances in which I experience a feeling of stress. In section 2.5.2. I explain how some of the coaching I have received in the past has also contributed to the level of stress I sometimes feel when I perform.
2.5 What should I do in order to eradicate my meaningless gestures?
In the previous section I discussed how stressful situations cause me to become more aware of myself and my actions, especially as related to my singing technique, which leads to the production of meaningless gestures.
2.5.1 The first step
I realised that, with the information I gathered until now, there are three possible ways to get rid of my meaningless gestures. The first is to try to suppress the feeling of stress I experience in specific circumstances. Unfortunately, it is not possible for singers to change much about the circumstances they are in, like auditions or singing exams for example. This means I will have to dig deeper into my own psyche, for which I think an expert would be needed. My intention is not to turn this research into a psychological analysis; therefore, I leave this aspect out of consideration.
The second possibility is to force myself to not think about technical matters in a performance situation. I assume that, as a result, my hands will stop making technique-related gestures that do not obviously contribute to my physical and emotional performance. However, not thinking at all about technique may be quite rigid, because in some situations I believe it is inevitable - as, for instance, when you sing something that is technically new and difficult. Considering my current technical level, I think it is fair to say that I still benefit in some circumstances from thinking technically. However, I think it is rather important to be engaged with technical issues no more than 10% of the time when I am singing. What should I then be focusing on for the other 90% of the time?
As I mentioned in 1.1.1, it is desirable for a singer to be as physically engaged while singing as while speaking in order to act credibly. This implies that if I express myself in my singing as I do in my speaking, my gestures will become more meaningful. I asked myself whether the urge to express myself physically in my singing feels the same as in my speech. I concluded that this is not the case. My physical engagement when singing feels less than when I am speaking. This brought me to the third possibility: that in order to eradicate meaningless gestures I have to find a way to strengthen my physical connection to a text, or as I called it in the introduction, my ‘performance focus’. Hence, the aim is that my expression in singing will have the same credibility as when I speak, thereby eradicating meaningless gestures while indirectly replacing them with more meaningful ones. Thus, I think my mind should stay at least 90% of the time in physical connection with my expression when I sing in order to act credibly.
2.5.2 Why a positive approach is key.
This approach of staying physically connected to my expression, is also supported by information I collected from literature regarding acting. In order to train your physical involvement in singing, dramaturges as well as voice teachers strongly advise getting into character. This means that you should get into the character's mind to believably execute their actions [16][17][18]. The most important factor in this is that your motivation behind what you say is sincere and should come from the character’s spirit. This implies that by connecting physically more strongly to the text, singers tend to also stay more in character as a result. Also, it helps a singer to get less distracted by thoughts regarding other matters. The idea is to give yourself a strong task to focus on, aiming to keep the mind from drifting away towards thoughts of technique. This means that I should force my mind to do something instead of preventing it from doing something. Telling our mind what to do instead of what not to do appeals to me as a positive approach. This positive approach is in my opinion crucial for an artist’s development. Andrew Newberg and Mark Waldman mention in Psychology Today, a website, that hearing and saying ‘no’ or other negative words to yourself releases a huge amount of stress-related hormones and neurotransmitters [1]. As a consequence, this may be the same for negative feedback. Indirectly, I think this means that if we remind ourselves of the negative feedback we have received or given to ourselves, we relive each time the accompanying feeling of stress.
This brings me to another reason for why I make meaningless gestures. In the world of singing there are teachers who claim that you are only really connected with your body to the text when you are capable of holding your arms still during singing. They believe that physical expression comes from an inner feeling for which gestures are not necessarily needed. However, this approach never really seemed to help me. It resulted most of the time in false tension in my upper body, a feeling of discomfort, and the sensation of being physically trapped. I thus think these ailments arise due to the fact that I’ve been frequently told in the past to keep my arms still. If a singer in his early development is being coached to not use the hands too much and to stand still, it may be possible that this gives negative feedback to the singer’s mind, which causes stress and affects the body. Each time I perform these comments cross my mind. Thus, by being in stressful situations as I explained in section 1.4, and then by being aware of my gestures (in particular in a performance setting), I experience a sensation of stress.
As outlined in the beginning of this chapter, the sensation of stress causes my meaningless gestures. Therefore, I find it very important that, in my search to become physically more engaged with the expression of a text, I use a positive approach. In addition, I think this is something that singing teachers and dramaturges should generally aim for: namely, telling students what to do, rather than what not to do. But if the teacher still chooses the approach of giving negative feedback, they should concurrently offer constructive and practical advice. I think this was lacking in the coaching sessions where I was being told to hold my arms still: after telling me what not to do, while the teachers did explain what I should do – that is, to connect more physically deeply with my inner feelings -- they did not tell me how to achieve this. They probably assumed that how to connect physically with your inner feeling was known to me, which it was not. Therefore I often felt stupid for not understanding them. Fortunately, after having worked with Fajo Jansen, I learned that nothing was wrong with my mental capacity. Instead, I simply have not received the right tools for training my physical expression. This is something I will further explain in chapter 4.
Thus, from these experiences I learned that in my case it is probably better to involve my arms and hands in the process of finding a deeper connection to the text in order to find a deeper physical connection with my expression. I called this a positive approach.
2.5.3 How do I think I can solve the problem of making meaningless gestures while singing?
I continued my research in finding the right tools in order to become more physically engaged with my expressions in my singing. Therefore, I asked myself if my feeble physical connection with the text only appears during a performance, or whether it occurs as well in the practising room? I recalled comments I received from teachers I have had over the years to see if any detectable pattern was present. Quotes like “make it bigger” or “get even more physically into it” were frequently mentioned when I performed an aria or Lied as I would in a concert. As a result I desperately tried to get physically more expressive. However, I often felt a weird block in my body, keeping me from achieving what I had in mind. It was as if my body could not understand what I asked from it. Thus, my next quest became to find an answer to: “How can I train myself to get physically more engaged with a text, in order to get rid of my meaningless gestures?”.
Before starting to work with Fajo Jansen I constructed a theory, which may give an answer to this question. I felt that the answer lies in the embodiment of gestures by rehearsing them. These gestures have to be coherent to the semantic meaning of words in the text (see 1.1.1) Through this, the hands and arms become acquainted with a physical sensation that is linked to a specific word. This idea raised the question: ‘Should these gestures be fixed and thought out in advance or not?’
In addition, I think that the embodiment of gestures in my practicing would make me feel more secure on stage as well.
My method of vocal studying led me to the following theory. When I practice a new piece, I sometimes need to figure out in which moments I should open my mouth less in order to create more overtones. If I teach myself over and over again not to widen my mouth at certain spots, my brain and body start to remember this. Because I know what to do in order to sing beautifully, I will feel much more confident in a performance setting. In an ideal situation I will not even have to think about technique anymore, which strongly enhances my self-confidence. Rehearsing my gestures will give me a similar, or maybe even stronger, feeling of confidence in a performance, because my body then knows what to do in order to express itself in a credible way. I assume then that the physical confidence I gain through this will make me feel less insecure and aware of the actions from my arms and hands. Therefore, my sensation of stress should become decreased as well.
By practising my physical movements (and in particular my gestures) I can create a deeper layer of physical trust, which indirectly implies that stressful thoughts regarding my singing technique and my gestures will have a less strong influence on my performances.Thus, by embodying the physical expression of the meaning of a word through rehearsal I assume that my physical connection to the text becomes stronger in such a manner that it will not become interrupted by unhelpful thoughts in a stressful situation. If this goal is reached, my meaningless gestures will diminish or even disappear. What is important, then, is to find the right shape for these physical utterances. To refer to my previous question, I wonder if they should be more fixed and designed in advance or not. In the following chapter I elaborate on the history of singing and on neurobiological research leading me to answer this question.