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From:  "drama_diva_au" <drama_diva_au@y...>
Date:  Mon Jan 28, 2002  3:40 am
Subject:  Re: critical commentary/ breathing exercises

Lea Ann, I always start all my students with only one basic breathing
exercise which is part of the "larger scheme of things" that I try to
impart, as it is also used as an anchor for diminishing performance
anxiety. After that depending whether the student has got the "hang
of" breathing correctly (ie the coordinated process without raising
the shoulders) or not I either give them more to guide them on their
way or never mention them. (This is an entirely different subject to
co-ordinated onset.) Some lucky individuals just NEVER
need 'breathing' exercises per se and just get confused when
confronted with redundant drills. That is not to say I don't talk
about/teach the process with those who are "serious" about their
singing.

The exercise you mentioned sounds like a variation of the basic one I
use, which I think is pretty fundamental to many disciplines. (If you
want to know it anyone, just ask.) I was initially taught it by my
first singing teacher, and then also by a couple of subsequent ones
and also in Yoga and acting as well. There is a lot to be said for
breathing exercises, but the danger is in getting hung up on them. I
find them of greatest use in calming nerves pre-performance, by not
only doing something fundamental and familiar to your usual routine
(and therefore reinforcing your "confidence in your abilities"
because "you do this every time you go to sing") but by steadying the
diaphragm by taking conscious "control" of the breathing process.
Vennard (or is it Miller?) has a tough version of the exercise which
I don't like, but the principle is the same. Keeping the beat/pulse
the same by initially using a timer (like a watch, clock or better
yet metronome etc) I find is of value also. When you do it every day
as part of your normal warm-up routine I have found you learn, just
like relative pitch, to get fairly accurate at keeping the same pulse
going in situations where you can't utilize the
watch/clock/metronome. (Like standing in the wings!)

Anyone else got any breathing exercises/ideas they just couldn't sing
without?

~Michelle





  Replies Name/Email Yahoo! ID Date  
16977 Re: critical commentary/ breathing exercisesJohn Link   Mon  1/28/2002  

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