Dear Vocalisters
There is no doubt that the teaching of breath support or breath
management is one of the most difficult concepts to impart. And this
difficulty is exacerbated by the tendency to lump everything relating
to the working of the breath under the general term "support". One
corrects vibrato problems with "support"; one corrects breathy tone
with "support"; one corrects neck and throat tension with "support";
and on and on with the use of "support" to solve the all major
concerns of singing.
There is a basis of fact in all of these suggested solutions. When
breath support is mismanaged almost all of the many difficulties that
we hear in singing can occur and breath mismanagement, while not
necessarily the original source of the difficulties, definitely adds
to the problem.
It becomes necessary to determine the fundamental or primary error
that causes any vocal problem. Because this is often not easy to do,
another obvious error is more easily noticed; breath support. But
the inadequate or mismanaged breath support that is present may also
be a symptom caused by the original problem and simply correcting the
breath issue in such cases seldom corrects the underlying condition.
Or, conversely, correcting the breath support mismanagement that is
present might lead the singer past the cause of the original problem.
The original problem disappears and the assumption is made that the
actual cause of the original problem has been found. When it later
rears its ugly head, the singer and teacher again resort to breath
management issues but this time with less success and this is logical
because the cause of the original problem was never addressed
correctly.
The diligence of the teacher and the singer will eventually solve the
original problem if exploration is made beyond what appeared to be
the original cause and other possibilities are considered. It has
been my experience that this is one of the primary reasons for a
student to remain with a teacher long enough for this process to be
carried out successfully.
As regards teaching breath support management in as simple a manner
as possible I use the following:
When you create a gentle, warm and moist breath on the fingers which are
placed at the lips, (similar to the breath you produce when attempting to
clean your glasses), you are creating the ideal breath for singing. Very
little breath flow is used for singing. The old Italian device of singing
to a candle flame and attempting to deflect the flame as little as possible
was an example of a method to test this concept. As one sings higher
pitches, breath pressure increases but breath flow changes very little.
Low voices will have more breath flow when compared to high voices. The
amount of flow is determined by the mass of the vocal folds, the longitudinal
tension across the vocal folds, and breath pressure .
But in all cases, a warm, moist breath is the ideal.
Of course, the control of this breath is what breath support is all about.
If you repeat the "warm, moist breath on the fingers routine" mentioned above,
you will notice some very faint activity happening at the level of the
epigastric area (that area between the bottom of the sternum and the navel)
but within the core of the body. This is a sign that the diaphragm is
active during the exhaling process. The diaphragm is primarily an inhaling
muscle system but it can also be active as an antagonistic muscle system
during the exhale to assist in controlling the exhale process. This
condition must exist if the singer is to have control of the breath.
We have all had the experience of taking a reasonable breath and, after
singing only a few notes, finding ourselves out of breath. Actually, we
are not out of breath but we have allowed the diaphragm to collapse upward
and we have lost control of the breath. We are not out of breath, but out
of control of the breath. This can be easily corrected by repeating the
warm moist breath routine which will reestablish our proper control of the
breath by the activation of the diaphragm during exhale.
Occasionally, a choral director or voice teacher will instruct the singer
that the epigastric area should move inward during singing. When the
epigastric area moves inward, the diaphragm must collapse. When the
diaphragm collapses, the singer loses control of the breath. Although the
epigastric area will move inward near the end of the exhale cycle it should
not move inward too early in the cycle. When singing, the epigastric area
should maintain a sense of fullness, without being pushed out, during the
better part of the duration of the exhale cycle and should only move inward
toward the end of the cycle to obtain the last of the breath supply, if
necessary. Most musical phrases will not require the inward movement of
the epigastric because they do not require the final supply of air. To
repeat, once the epigastric moves inward, the diaphragm has begun to
collapse upward and the end of efficient breath control is begun.
--
Lloyd W. Hanson
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