As we wrap up our discussion on breath management I’d like to share a story. One of my voice teachers early on was fond of saying, “Dina, you need to ‘hook’ your breath into your tone!” I had NO idea what he was talking about. He was making the incorrect assumption that I totally and completely understood the breath management process and all of the anatomical functions involved. Not so. NOW I totally get it. As you are starting to sing your phrase and begin that initial movement to stay expanded there is a sensation of the breath process ‘hooking’ into the sound. The ‘hook’ is that very moment when the muscles have, instead of collapsing and contracting, remained expanded and buoyant. This is yet another example of students needing to understand the process so they can control the process. If this concept makes sense to you and you think it would help your singers use it!
Another thing I’d like to focus in on is the fact that breath must never be used as weight, ever. It is energy, something that is always moving. Keeping this a mantra in your rehearsals or studios will pay huge dividends and keep you from having to diagnose and fix all of the issues that come from forcing the breath process and using your air as weight.
My favorite metaphors for the energized, focused airstream versus the breathier, unfocused tone are; the diffused light of a flashlight versus the focused light of a laser beam and the fine spray mist coming from a spray bottle or hose versus the more focused, powerful stream of water you can get when you adjust the nozzle.
Rather than the idea of feeling like a singer has to transport their breath out into the room, I find it very useful to work with the idea of ‘going down into the breath’ or the feeling of ‘keeping the breath in your body’ as the tone leaves your face.
I have a few maxims from Giovanni Lamperti that I’d like to leave you with as we venture beyond breath management…
“As a blossom draws strength to bloom from the plant, so the voice draws energy to sing from the body.”
“Exhale through each note.”
“The moment you have energy of breath sufficient for the phrase, re-adjustable for all details and all pitches in the phrase, yet continuous from start to finish, you can sing.”
Loose, pushed out breath is useless even injurious, though you have lungs full, for it causes local efforts, irregular vibration and disrupted energies.
(original posting: November 4, 2013)
Khuu Tu says