On Tue, 23 Oct 2001, despina@p... wrote:
> Hi everybody,
>
> Can any of our sages give me some advice on taking quick breaths? I'm working
> on a Handel aria ("Rejoice greatly") and have to take quick breaths in two of
> the runs. When I breathe "in rhythm," I can't seem to get enough air to
> complete the passage, but breaths that allow me to get adequate air take too
> much time and interrupt the flow of the music.
Try a different approach. Instead of worrying about how to take in breath
quickly, concentrate on allowing your body to release the compression at
the end of the phrase/passage after which you want the breath to "go in".
If the last word you sing ends with a consonant, use that consonant as a
"springboard" to gently "bounce" the mouth into a released, non-tense,
non-compressed position; also use that little "bounce" to release any
abdominal or intercostal compression/tautness. Try this, and see if you
don't notice that the breath just "goes in" to fill the vacuum created by
the release.
It's very likely that your attempt to get enough breath is actually
causing you to (1) tense up the intercostals, so you aren't actually
getting as much breath as you think; (2) hold onto the breath for a split
second, so it isn't used as efficiently as it should be. It's also likely
that the intercostal tension is also setting up a sympathetic tension in
your tongue and/or jaw, which is causing you to gulp the breath, which
causes more tension.
Also, don't be afraid to allow the sound to taper off naturally (as the
compression releases) at the ends of phrases. Trying to "hold on", i.e.,
to continue sustaining the note with the exact same level of vibrato and
compression until the very end will create more tension, and will make it
harder to release when you need to to allow the next breath in.
Start paying attention to how you breath during the rest of your life
-particularly when you speak. Don't become so selfconscious that you start
artificially altering your natural breathing - but do try to become a
little consciously aware of it, just to observe how it works. You'll
notice that very seldom do you actually have to "take" a breath. Instead,
you just end a sentence or phrase, and the breath naturally fills the
lungs to whatever capacity the brain anticipates you'll need, based on the
next thing you plan to say (or do) - or just to live. Breathing for
singing should be no different. The difference is not in how the breath is
taken in - the inhalation should be identical - it is in how the breath is
released. The difference with release in singing is that the compression
is often sustained longer, and under more careful control, than it is in
speech. Think about that - and not about how you inhale - and you'll
probably find that much of your problem begins to solve itself.
KM
===
On Neil Shicoff - http://www.radix.net/~dalila/shicoff/shicoff.html
On yours truly - http://www.radix.net/~dalila/index.html
+-------------------------------------------------------+
| For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that |
| appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. |
| - James 4:14 |
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