> First I hope we agree that the abs
> of which we speak, is belly-button to ribs
Egad, no. I don't think I could possibly expand my
lower ribs and back while pulling in my belly button.
I speak of "abs in" as the lower belly, i.e. belly
button down to pubic bone, which moves inward as I
sing. My ribs and back stay expanded as I sing, and
these two balancing forces allow me to adjust how much
air is coming out of my mouth at any given note.
I call this the "in and up" method, although there
isn't really much "up" involved unless I have a
staccato or cold attack up high. Lower belly. And
it's not a sucking in or a pulling in, it's just the
way my belly moves when I exhale (more pressing in, as
if from the outside of my skin towards my lower spine,
a slow, firm process).
I call the "down and out" method the one where you
relax the stomach, breathe in and pooch out the tummy
with air, and then maintain that pooched-out position
while exhaling/singing. It's a sensation of pushing
outward with the abs/belly. Some people wear a tight
belt to help give them the constant outward-pressure
feeling. Stories about great tenors who could stand
next to a piano and push the piano away with their
stomachs while singing a phrase. Many people use it;
I think it works just fine, but the in&up gives me a
longer line and a more relaxed larynx.
The feeling of inhaling while singing (or not blowing
the candle out while singing) comes, I believe, from
the expansion of the ribs and the firmness of the
lower ribs in particular. I do NOT hold the breath
out of the tone with my throat (egad), nor do I get
that inhaling feeling by simply stopping the breath
compression (i.e. totally relaxing the abs).
Sorry for the confusion about the word "abs." Lower
half, not belly button.
Isabelle B.
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Isabelle Bracamonte
San Francisco, CA
ibracamonte@y...
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