BREATH SUPPORT FOR SINGING (Lesson 7): Two Coordination Errors of Inhalation
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 4 сен 2024
- While there are a number of possible coordination errors that pertain to the inhalation phase of the breath cycle, in this video I discuss two that presents themselves in my student on occasion. Both of these coordination errors make drawing in the breath less efficient.
www.singwise.com
karyn@singwise.com
/ singwise
/ singwisevocals
/ singwisevocals
Hello, Karyn! Thank you ever so much for your informative and detailed videos! They have helped me a lot! However, I still seem to struggle with applying my support to songs. What I mean by this is that I keep my ribs open almost all the time while singing. I lean on that expansion of the ribcage to create appoggio. Sometimes I also lean on the back muscles. I love the freedom it gives me in my throat and the sound becomes that much more pleasant and strong. However, after a few songs, I become tired and tend to shift my focus from the ribs to my mask and my face, especially when I hold a mic close to my face. This results in more tension around my neck. In these cases, I keep my tongue out of the way by maintaining the "yawn" position so as not to put too much pressure on the chords. After an hour of singing 14 standard jazz songs (Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Bobby Darin), I feel really tired physically, even though there isn't a lot of belting going on in these songs. I know it's hard to tell without seeing me sing, but what do you think I'm doing wrong?
sing...reset...sing...reset...sing! Thanks for the nudge, Karyn!
You're welcome!
I do have chronic dehydration because I forget to drink enough water. Thanks for the link. I will check it out
I love the way you explaining!
I'm so glad to hear that!
Did you see the video that I posted yesterday in which 16 teachers briefly discuss breath management for singing? ruclips.net/video/d89jOUt1H7M/видео.html&lc=z222u1dorxzniro0wacdp433am3clfdv1qdog2heb2pw03c010c
Thank You very much! So great!!!
You're welcome.
Have been watching your videos very keenly, sometimes over and over again and again. Do you have any video on partial breath renewals that you had mentioned about in Farinelli exercises video? Please educate about partial breath renewals
Is it normal for the air to feel dry when I inhale with my mouth? It makes my throat dry. When I inhale thru my nose, that doesn’t happen. However, I can take in much more air with my mouth for long phrases.
Mouth breathing is inherently more drying than nose breathing. (I explain why in this video: ruclips.net/video/PaU3gQZ4qV0/видео.html) If it always feels drying, though, it could be that you're not adequately hydrated to begin with or the air in the room is dry.
I was told to expend the lower part of my belly then bring the air to my chest (upper part of my lung) hold it and sing from there. I believe as result of that my voice is shaking. My pitch is from C3 to F5. However, when I go from B to C3 and #C I have trouble. My voice shaks, I have trouble projecting my voice, and I do feel pressure on my solar plexus. Any tip on how to fix it. I also watched your video on Farnally Exercise. It's great but I'm a bit confused. The way you explained the exercis is awesome and I got it. But how do I apply that during singing. If you please give me some advice I wouldreally appreciated.
Thank you in advance.
Can you explain a phrase you use: "Inhale a soft K sound." Obviously, a K is made thru an exhale of air, so I don't understand it.
Also, not to be argumentative because how valuable your input is, but what you say herein is in direct confrontation with what the most older elite singers in opera espoused. Joan Sutherland was adamantly opposed to any movement out below epigastrum, and said directly to me "singers today have it completely backwards. The tummy comes in when I inhale to sing, and the chest comes slightly up because of it." That's not word of mouth. I was in the room, when she hiked up her shirt and showed us, and said: "look. nothing goes out, it MUST go in." Also, Salvatore Fisichella said the same to me last month. Jussi Bjoerling was also famously quoted as saying "the idea of 'low breath' is what kills tenors." Thoughts?
As always, thank you for your work.
To 'inhale a soft K sound' is merely to form the K (with the tongue and soft palate touching and forming a seal), then allowing the inhale to separate the two articulators. This can simply trigger velar elevation in some singers.
As for the breath, when I say 'low,' I never mean in the hypogastric area. I've stated this in previous videos and also on my website. I say 'low' in contrast to 'high' (clavicular, upper dorsal, etc.) breathing. I've always stated that expansion should be lateral (not just forward, or muscularly pushing out the diaphragm or abdominal wall) around the epigastric region wrapping around the 10th through 12 ribs in the back, as this is where the diaphragm attaches.
As for not allowing any expansion in the epigastric area: That defies the science of physiology and what's natural to the body. Volume of the thoracic cavity is actually decreased when the breath is taken up high because the cavity expands primarily horizontally but without much vertical expansion. Sundberg (The Science of the Singing Voice, p.31) cites a study by Hixon and Hoffman (1978), who studied the pros and cons of both the 'belly in' and 'belly out' strategies. When the abdominal wall is pulled in ('belly in'), the singer has access to the expiratory intercostals (which are stretched) and diaphragm as a means of generating immediate subglottal pressure, but doesn't have access to the abdominal wall muscles (they're not stretched, they're contracted already before the phrase begins), which are considered to be the primary expiratory muscles. This means that the singer is more likely to have difficulties maintaining a consistent subglottal pressure later on in the phrase. The temptation is often to let the chest drop (and sternum sink in) in order to further compress the air inside the lungs, which typically leads to the head dropping down and forward. These postural problems will have a negative impact on the voice. Additionally, all the muscles used in 'shoulder' or 'chest' breathing are inspiratory. Dan Marek (Appoggio: The Historical Method of Bel Canto Breathing, p.79) suggests that keeping the abdominal muscles (expiratory muscles) contracted during inhalation will fatigue the external intercostals (inspiratory muscles that act as antagonists to the abdominals), and is a little like driving with the emergency brake on. I tend to agree. The 'belly in' strategy essential calls upon the expiratory intercostals to either assist or replace the abdominal muscles in their roles (Sundberg, p.28).
Hixon and Hoffman cite a slight advantage of the 'belly out' strategy over the 'belly in' strategy in that the singer has a combination of the expiratory intercostals (from an elevated sternum and 'open' ribcage), diaphragm, AND abdominal wall muscles for generating and controlling subglottal pressures. The expanded belly (displaced viscera and stretched abdominal wall muscles), contracted (lowered) diaphragm, and stretched ribs also increase the elastic force potential for generating subglottal pressure. Sundberg (citing Strohl and Fouke, 1985) also states that the expansion of both the lower ribs and the abdominal wall are signs of the diaphragm's descent - of 'diaphragmatic inspiration.' I believe, as do many others, that upper chest breathing might serve to generate immediate subglottal pressures, but that it ultimately proves limiting.
The bottom line is that singers and teachers don't all agree on the best strategy for managing the breath - and apparently on the best postures from which to support the singing tone. (This is actually why I was hesitant to discuss breath management in these videos, and didn't for several months. It can generate many heated discussions and much discord in the singing community.) Singers employ a variety of strategies, and often don't support as they imagine or assume (or proclaim) they do. In the end, if Sutherland, Bjoerling, and Fisichella find that their strategies are effective for them, then so be it. I doubt that this strategy would work effectively for all singers, all styles, or all singing situations, though.
I like Shirlee Emmons words: "Before inhaling, raise the sternum without breathing in. Then, stop thinking how low the breath must be. Stop thinking about how much air you must take in. Stop thinking about whether you want your abdomen to bulge out or tuck in. All of these things will automatically take place in the proper manner providing that you can manage not to move your chest up and down and providing that you inhale sideways."
outstanding breakdown. great work.
I think I meant to quote her as having said "BELOW the epigastric region." you are exactly right to point that out. She was just making sure none of us in attendance were confusing things by belly breathing, which she was against. her point was this same expansion in the lungs themselves.
The Emmons quote is brilliant. And in my experience, none of the people meant the abs must stay contracted. That would be painful. But as a strategy, simply not allowing for the tummy to pooch upon inhale is a great way to direct the breath toward the back to facilitate lateral expansion. A far cry from engaging abs, which only serves to facilitate the grunt mechanism, and vocal suicide. :-)
Just a few thoughts on this now old discussion -- a retired opera singer (I don't want to advertise other people on Karyn's channel) discusses the idea passive and active control of the breathing, and remarked that very large people (300+ pounds) have weight that can aid in singing, aid in dampening the release of air. One of his examples is how pregnancy can alter a woman's breath management because of the weight and other changes in the spatial arrangement of viscera. The retired singer also used a comparison to martial arts, "hard" vs "soft" style -- one where you strike downward, and one where gravity leads the downward motion. That helped me understand why there are very slim and very large singers, and sizes all in between, who can manage their breath and sing with ease. Thanks for the discussion!
you have probably covered this in your other videos.. I sometimes feel like "drowning" when singing (too much air pressure). How do I fix it? (Or which one of your videos should I watch to help me fix this?) Thank you so much!
It’s possible you may not be emptying your lungs enough. The residual oxygen will turn into excess C02 in your blood stream. If you want to test this, you can exhale “completely” or what you feel is completely, and then when you’re done- push out on a “sh” or “ss” and see how much more air is released. If there’s a good amount left over you may want to practice doing this a few times, and when you get to your true baseline 0 empty - then slowly sip the air through an imaginary straw and exhale through the nose a few times in a calming way. Also research Buteyko breathing technique :) I used to have a lot of air problems with singing and this cleared almost all of them up for me. Hope this was helpful.
When you sing, does your belly stay expanded or does it deflate like when you exhale without sound?
It really depends on the breath management strategy that you're calling upon, which may differe somewhat from individual to individual and from song to song or even phrase to phrase. I like to encourage the lower ribs to remain open and the upper abdomen (epigastric area) to remain supple for the first part of the phrase - this paces the outgoing breath by controlling the rise of the diaphragm - while the lower abdominals and transverse and obliques help to generate the subglottal pressure. But we should be careful not to exaggerate things in either direction. We should neither push outward during the exhale nor thrust the abdominal wall inward. At some point, the diaphragm must ascend in order to help maintain consistent subglottal pressures and to prepare us for the next breath, which means that the belly is going to come in during the exhale phase. I just like to control this a bit more by slowing it down a bit.
okay that makes sense, stay open but don't force it - thanks Karyn :)