Now that we’ve ensured the proper body alignment is well underway and have established the basics of breath intake, let’s journey a step further.
As we wrap up our discussion of breath intake, I would like to point out that we don’t think about breath in our everyday-normal breathing. The muscles just automatically take the breath in, similar to how they do when we are sleeping. For singing, however, we have to breathe when the music tells us to; we breathe at specific times according to the phrasing and rests in the music. This is why it’s necessary to train yourself to be aware of what the natural action is. Once you have heightened your awareness of the natural action you can learn to trigger it. A singer’s goal is to take the automatic action and turn it into a conscious process. You still breathe when you want and need it, but you are doing so along natural lines.
Speaking of taking a breath when we want or need it…similar to speaking, the breath should be inspired by the thought about to be communicated in the music. The breath for singing should be a natural response to the musical phrase the singer is about to sing.
Noisy versus silent breath intake. I’ve come to realize this is a more controversial topic than one would think. My two cents worth is to aim for silent. The silence indicates that the root of the tongue muscle is out of the way, the soft palate is raised and the pharyngeal space is nice and open. Silent breath also encourages the singer to ‘allow the air to drop in-down-and out’. Noisy breath is usually associated with a high, clavicular breath.
I was recently working with a colleague whose college voice teacher had taught him to audibly breath in on the vowel. I don’t have a problem with most of this concept and I’m fine with the idea of breathing in on the vowel you are preparing to sing. What isn’t okay, in my humble opinion, is the ‘audible’ part. That constriction of the airway is an unnecessary step that will ultimately affect the tone being produced.
Join me next week as we discuss the conductor’s gesture in regard to breath intake!
(original posting: September 23, 2013)
Joy Grotenhuis says
Bob Anderson says