Presumably, one of the best ways
for a vocalist to position him/herself to perform is by standing to sing. Standing
to perform 'ignites' energy; there are no doubts our choirs always perform on
the stage while standing. Standing is better for singing, it allows you to
project more.
Most at times, at our choir
practices, we ask choristers to stand and sing; and we can all attest to how
the singing goes. It is either they sing well genuinely or they put in much
effort so that they can sit down early.
But we need to take note that not all the standing-to-sing during choir practices help, some of them drain our energy to sing.
Sometimes, choristers get tired
already before attending practice and so if you always insist they should stand
and sing, without considering their ‘situation’, in the middle of the choir
practice, you are just doubling their tiredness; you will never get the
feedback you want.
The practice activities can also
make them tired and so if you ask them to stand and sing to be able to correct
a particular challenging section of a song, you add loads to their loads. Some directors don't even sing the correct thing to them and so the choristers
stand to sing, and continue to sing the wrong thing, and waste the time.
In another situation, choir
directors sometimes ask choristers to stand as a means of ‘punishment’ for
talking during the practice session. For all you know, they might be tired and
are just chatting to release some tension. One of the ways to make use of their
situation can be asking them to listen, follow, and be judges of the part that
is singing, while they keep mute.
Standing is always better for
vocal performance, and I've never heard of any exceptions to this. But you must
always study your choristers to know when ‘load’ is good or isn't good for
them. If you put much load on them, especially during the practice sessions,
their vocal folds are affected; and you will never get the sound production you
expect.
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