The Power of Intention in Singing - Sing to Express, Not Impress
Why what you think shapes what you sound like.
If there’s one thing I find myself often saying in the studio, it’s this:
Your intention is the first thing that sings - not your vocal folds.
As Jo Estill would say “Sound begins before the voice is heard.” SILENTLY prepare to joyfully celebrate “Yay!”. SILENTLY prepare to SOB “Oh no!”. Can you feel the different set up for each intention?
But before a single muscle engages, before breath flow changes, before tone emerges…the brain sends instructions based on what you want to communicate. This isn’t poetic metaphor, it’s physiology.
Voice researcher Heidi Moss Erickson writes extensively about how intention, emotion, and meaning influence the motor system long before we consciously “try” to sing. The brain receives the message, then primes the respiratory system, larynx, and articulators with muscular and acoustic conditions that match the communication goal.
In everyday conversation, this shows up effortlessly. Think of how different your voice becomes when you:
WARN someone of danger: “Watch out!”
CONSOLE someone who’s hurting: “Oh… I’m so sorry.”
INSTRUCT with authority: “Get off now.”
Each intention produces a different combination of volume, weight, pitch, tone, muscularity, airflow, and energy — and we do it without thinking.
But singing is different…
In spoken communication, you choose:
the pitch
the speed
the rhythm
the dynamic
the shape of the phrase
In a song, these things are given to you by the composer which means:
You must supply the intention that justifies the musical choices, or the voice won’t match what the song requires.
Your job as a singer is to find the arc of impulses that aligns with:
the melodic shape
the dramatic arc
the emotional stakes
the physical demands of the phrase
A practical example:
“Go and hide and run away” (Still Hurting - The Last Five Years)
Let’s look at the moment Jason Robert Brown gives us:
dynamic marking: forte
the phrase starts on: Bb4
dramatic context: the emotional climax of the song
If the character chooses to grieve inwardly, the intention sends the voice into a configuration that is soft, pulled back, and internalised. This is the correct psychology, but this intention doesn’t match the forte sound required.
The musical moment demands something outward, released, resonant, and emotionally exposed. If the intention shifts to:
calling out in despair, or
protesting,
pleading outwardly,
…the voice is primed into a posture that naturally supports a strong mix or belt without pushing.
Right intention = right setup. Inappropriate intention = physical effort and strain.
When singers can’t find the belt, they often try to force the sound instead of shifting the impulse.
The problem of speed: singing stretches time
Here’s something that consistently surprises my students: a phrase that would take 2–3 seconds in speech can take 6–7 seconds in the song. Try speaking a sentence at half speed - it feels unnatural and uncomfortable.
When I get students to speak lyrics in the actual rhythm and tempo of the song, the response is always: “That feels so weird!” That weirdness is important.
It means we must find:
why the thought takes that long
why the character can’t say it quickly
why it needs to be sung, not spoken
In musical theatre, we sing when speech is no longer enough. The stakes demand more time, more vulnerability. Your intention must stretch to match that.
Acting a scene vs Acting a song
I saw a brilliant post recently that said:
In a scene, you’re making someone else’s words feel like something you’d naturally say.
In a song, you’re making someone else’s words feel like something you’d naturally say - at a specific pitch, speed, and emotional intensity chosen for you.
In spoken acting you choose:
pitch contours
rhythm
speed
how much voice you use
In singing, the composer dictates:
exact pitch
exact rhythm
exact pace
often the dynamic too
Your job is to justify why this character is expressing this thought at that pitch and in that way.
Why does your character need to say it there, that high, that long, that loudly?
Find the intention that matches the musical demand, and your voice will align with freedom instead of force.
In summary
Singing isn’t simply “making sound.” It’s expressing thought through sound, and the thought comes first.
When intention leads:
tone finds clarity
breath recruits appropriately
resonance adjusts instinctively
the vocal setup becomes efficient
the dramatic arc becomes compelling
belting becomes safer and more authentic
storytelling becomes instinctive
And perhaps most importantly: