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You want the same confidence in your posture when you’re singing and playing the guitar or the piano (or even the banjo or organ). Practice finding the alignment in the chapter and then sit down at the piano. Notice that you can allow the bench to support you and sense the buoyancy in the spine. Feel the weight of your body sink into the bench so you can remain flexible no matter which way you turn. Lifting your leg to use the piano pedals is different from just lifting your foot. You can do either one, but just notice that lifting your entire leg engages the abdominal muscles. The breath work from Chapter 4 helps you explore using the ribs or the abdominals to help you sing well. If you’re performing, you may need to turn your head toward a microphone. Even when you turn your head, try to maintain fluid motion in your body instead of tightening the spine or neck when you turn.

Singing while playing the guitar is really fun. Practice finding your alignment with the exercises in the chapter and then grab your guitar. If you normally stand and play guitar, then put your guitar strap around your neck and find your alignment from the exercises in the chapter. Notice what part of your body engages to hold up the guitar. If the guitar is balanced across your body, you may feel that your legs do the work of holding up the weight of the guitar. After exploring the sensations of holding the guitar and maintaining your alignment, start to play the guitar without singing and monitor your posture. Notice what muscles you’re using to hold yourself up while your arms and hands are busy playing the guitar. After you find a good balance of muscles moving while just playing, try playing the guitar and singing. Take your time between phrases to make sure you focus on allowing your breath to drop into your body (see Chapter 4 for help with breathing for singing). By allowing yourself longer pauses between phrases, you can monitor each aspect of the technique: alignment, breath coordination, singing phrases, playing the instrument. It takes time to be able to do all of this at the same time, but you can do it with practice.

After you explore playing the guitar while standing, try sitting in a chair and holding the guitar. Notice the muscles that engage as you hold the guitar. You don’t have to sit stiffly, but I suggest that you explore an upright posture before leaning over the guitar. Notice that leaning over the guitar not only affects your posture, but it also affects your muscles for breathing and singing. Next, compare the sensation of singing while playing the guitar with upright posture and when you lean over the guitar. The slumped posture can cause your organs to be squeezed with less room to move when you breathe. You can sing well while leaning over your guitar, but I recommend you practice the alignment exercises until you can recognize tension in your body. After you can recognize and release tension, you can sing well and rock out playing your guitar in different positions.

To find some inspiration, watch your favorite artist sing and play the piano or guitar. Do they maintain their posture while they’re playing? Some celebrities to watch are Darius Rucker or Justin Timberlake playing the guitar and singing and Lady Gaga or John Legend playing piano and singing.