Stand with the right arm hanging limp by the side. Lift it to a horizontal
position, the back of the hand upward. While lifting, grip and contract
every muscle of the arm and hand out to the finger-tips. This is much like
the contraction placed upon the muscles of the body and of the throat by
the conscious-breathing, local-effort school. Lift the arm again from the
side, and in lifting have the thought or sensation of letting go all
contraction of the muscles. Make the arm light and flexible, and use just
enough strength to lift it, and hold it in a horizontal position. This
should be the condition of all the muscles of the body under the influence
of correct, _lift, expand, and let go_. Lift the arm the third time
without contraction or with the sensation of letting go, hold it in a
horizontal position, the back of the hand upward. Now will to devitalize
the entire hand from the wrist to the finger-tips. Let the hand drop or
droop, the arm remaining in a horizontal position. This condition of the
hand is the _let go_, or the condition of devitalization, which should
be upon the muscles of the face, the mouth, the tongue, the jaw, and the
extrinsic muscles of the throat during the act of singing.
Thus, when we say, _lift, expand, and let go_, we mean lift from the
hips, the center of gravity, in an easy, flexible manner; expand the body
with a free movement without conscious thought of any part of it; have the
sensation of letting go all contraction or rigidity, and absolutely release
the muscles of the throat and face.
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