Speaking of Voice: “Breathing in the Warm-up,” by by Bonnie Borshay Sneed

(This vocal pedagogy commentary is excerpted from the Choral Journal article, “Teaching Good Breath Technique: It Starts in the Warmup,” by Bonnie Borshay Sneed. Share YOUR vocal expertise by writing a future installment of “Speaking of Voice.”  Contact Scott Dorsey, .)

 

       Choral directors regularly endeavor to find efficient ways to teach voice in the choral rehearsal. Unfortunately, administrative necessities often rob precious class time, especially the time devoted to the most important part of rehearsal-the warmup. Ten minutes of a fifty-minute rehearsal three times a week is all I can devote to the warmup period. Yet the warmup is the most crucial component of any ensemble's repertoire. If warm ups are central to establishing and teaching good vocal technique, then breathing must be the focus for the foundation of good vocal tone.

       The value of warm ups need not be justified; however, choral directors should remember that singers walk into rehearsals with a wide variety of backgrounds. Very few of them come into the rehearsal from a day of singing, so it is critical that conductors find a way to focus students' attention on those things they generally do not concentrate on in everyday life: posture, breathing, vowels, ensemble sound, sightreading, theory, and aural memory. Assuming that the singers understand and can implement good singing posture, the most essential component in producing good tone is efficient breath management.

       Warmups should begin with attention to breathing. A teacher who begins with vocalises that emphasize resonance and placement, for example, when the singers cannot maintain a well-supported tone, is not proceeding in a logically ordered rehearsal sequence. What the conductor may hear or sense as an issue of resonance or placement may very well be an issue of breath management. Once the breathing mechanism is understood and properly working, resonance and placement can play an even greater role in improvement of vocal tone. It must be restated, though, that the singers must clearly understand efficient body alignment (posture) to achieve optimal breath management. The body is the singer's instrument; therefore, how that singer stands or sits will affect the tone produced. Efficient alignment, which includes the expansion of the body through the rib cage, a lifting of the rib cage off of the stomach area, and a feeling of lift from the sternum can be demonstrated by the director (while either standing or sitting) and modeled by the singers. Just as proper breath technique must be in place before a choir can sing a well-sustained phrase, so too must correct posture be in place before the most efficient breathing techniques can be practiced.

 

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