Dear Lloyd,
I agree completely with your latest synthesis on this subject (under an ugly thread title that I don't use either in my teaching!). Nevertheless, I find it overly optimistic or idealistic. You write :
<<The body does not really need all this instruction to work effectively. For that reason I prefer to have the singer "notice" the lower firmness that occurs during the warm, moist breath exhale and during the approach and singing of high notes.>>
This is perfect for singers who have already a good amount of natural coordination. Unfortunately, due to a mislead instinct or an incorrect former training, many singers will not spontaneously experience the right degree of "lower firmness". When singing high notes, they may either "tuck the belly in" or push it out, be too relaxed below and too tense above the waist line, or too tense below the navel... I am no exception to this variety of natural abilities, and I have erred in several directions before progressively choosing a limited set of coordinations that I know will work for me... and some more possibilities that will fit my students.
The first few times when I read your image of the "warm moist breath", I tried to do it as spontaneously as possible, while reading your messages. What I experienced was a relaxed free exhale, with my diaphragm going up without resisting the exhale at all. Yet, the air was warm and moist. Now, if I read you further and tell me "this is an exercise for support, and Lloyd wrote that I must feel a lower firmness and a resistance from the diaphragm", I can feel it, but not without telling me "I must support my breath" or "the air flow must be very limited and regular". And when I support my breath, I can feel the same action in my body with the idea of cooling my fingers as well as warming them! So that the "warm moist breath" may not be a universal trick to trigger a supported breath.
| Alain Zürcher, Paris, France | L'Atelier du Chanteur : | http://chanteur.net
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