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
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