Good stuff everyone! Way to help each other.

Brian Beck's and Jim Dodge's email both earned a permanent place in my music
binder.

Also Phil Richards wrote:
> The key to having enough breath is found in taking a
> large enough breath not just before the long passage,
> but the breath before it as well.

Even better you should try to make every breath a big one. Make (good
quality) big breathing a habit. Then the big passages become more routine.
You don't want to be thinking about breathing tricks while you perform. You
have more important things to think about.

Steve

On Wed, Sep 23, 2009 at 11:47 AM, <bbeckbass@...> wrote:

>
>
> I'm with Jim Dodge - a perfect description of what happens.
>
> I studied with Joseph Klein way back there, and he was huge on "lift-drop."
>
> It's what I teach today - never seen it not help a person sing better.
> After you take that singer's breath, the lifting of the abs sends good
> nerve
> signals to the larynx and environs, according to the physiology professor
> who co-wrote Mr. Klein's book. I'm re-writing it now and putting in my own
> stuff. It'll be out soon.
>
> While I was the AD/Vocal coach with the Vocal Majority I developed a little
>
> system for guys to think about. I call it Ten Steps to a Note. If you
> do this every time, you'll be much more consistent.
>
> 1. Hear a Pitch - we talk about being more discriminating - two cycles (2
> Hz).
> 2. Find Your Note - scale step awareness
> 3. Posture - especially head position - too many singers sing with their
> chins in the air. I have them let their head drop "two degrees." If the
> head is a little down from level, the chin will never be in the air. And
> chin in the air is bad because it stretches the mylo-hyoid muscle under the
>
> chin - leads to vocal tension
> 4. Drop the jaw - too many singers don't open their mouths enough - you
> need to do that to engage all the resonating space back there, not to
> mention defining the vowel sounds better.
> 5. Open the throat - that's the feeling of yawn that the opera singers
> talk about. See Great Singers on Great Singing by Jerome Hines.
> 6. Form the vowel - if you're starting on an AH, breath on an AH, and when
> you sing the vowel will be there immediately. If you're starting on an
> EE, don't pinch that much but maybe breathe on an IH. Same for OO, breathe
> on an OH, then get to the OO the instant before you sing.
> 7. Open the vocal folds - this is usually not much of an issue, but
> occasionally someone will inhale with the folds more closed than they
> should be,
> and the inhale is noisy. Bad for the folds, distracting to listeners.
> 8. Singer's breath - just exactly what Jim Dodge was talking about.
> Diaphragm (which is inside and you don't see it), drops, tummy muscles
> relax
> and get out of the diaphragm's way, and you should feel like you have air
> all
> the way to the bottom of the tummy. The diaphragm is the piston that
> works all the air. Only moves about an inch to inch and a half, but it's
> big,
> so it moves about two liters of air.
> 9. Nothing - my "cute" way of saying nothing happens here: especially,
> the vocal folds do NOT close again after you breathe. There's air wafting
> up
> the back of the throat to the nose, and you'd drown if someone threw you
> into the pool.
> 10. Support and add air - in that order. Support starts, air starts,
> sound starts. Sound quits, air quits, and then the support quits. All in
> that sequence.
>
> Enjoy!
>
> Brian Beck
>
>
>
> In a message dated 9/23/2009 12:09:19 A.M. Central Daylight Time,
> jamesdodge@... <jamesdodge%40comcast.net> writes:
>
> Breathing through the mouth is the proper way to breathe when singing.
> Breathing through the nose is what you do all day every day or you will
> die!!
> It is normal and natural.
>
> Stop for a moment, exhale all the air out of your lungs (well, as much as
> possible...you'll never get it all) and take a deep breath through your
> nose. Notice what happens to your body. Your stomach expands and seems to
> fill with air. What is really happening is, as your stomach gets out of the
>
> way, your diaphragm drops, allowing air to rush into the lungs. That's
> what you do all day, every day. Your little old tummy keeps going in and
> out
> and that old diaphragm keeps dropping, and you are alive to tell about it.
>
> It is exactly the same sensation you get when you lie on you back. Check
> it out tonight when you go to bed. That old tummy just keeps going up and
> down all night!
>
> Now, if the body does that all day, every day, why would anyone want to
> use the body to breathe any other way? So learn to use your body to take
> breaths while singing. Singing is one of the few times you have to
> manufacture breath on command. When you take a breath, pop the gut, let the
>
> diaphragm drop, let the lungs fill and proceed to the next breathing place.
>
> Now where were we.....?
>
> Jim
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------
> ----
>
> Jim Dodge
> Director - Portsmouth (NH) Seacoast Vocal Union
> NED/HEP Singing A's Coach
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: johnsondp@... <johnsondp%40aol.com>
> To: BBSBasses@yahoogroups.com <BBSBasses%40yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, September 22, 2009 10:02 PM
> Subject: Re: [BBSBasses] Re: Proper singing
>
> I share Alex's preference for breathing through the mouth, in normal
> circumstances. When standing with good posture, i.e. erect, with rib case
> expanded, shoulders back but relaxed, lowering the diaphragm will cause
> the air
> to fill the lungs to capacity through either the nose or an open mouth.
> Because their is less restriction to air flow through the mouth, the
> breath will
> be quicker and less noisy.
>
> George, I suspect that if nasal breathing seems to provide greater
> capacity for increased note duration, something else is going on involving
> posture, chest expansion, or diaphragm action. Perhaps being consciously
> aware of
> the breath process is causing you achieve fuller rib case expansion and
> lowered diaphragm. I doubt there is a significant difference in air
> temperature. On the other hand, if it works for you, great!
>
> Some people advocate nasal breathing for health reasons, but that's a
> whole
> different story. But it's a less efficient process, as you quickly find
> out if you attempt to breath through your nose during heavy exercise.
>
> Duane Johnson
> Hoosier Gentry and Summit City Chorus
>
> In a message dated 9/22/2009 9:13:38 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> beardedtree28@... <beardedtree28%40yahoo.com> writes:
>
> There is one thing that concerns me about this. Yes breathing through your
> nose can fill your lungs, but there is one thing that breathing through
> your mouth really benefits over singing through your knows, and that is to
> help with proper placement in order to create the ultimate resonant sound
> by
> lifting the soft palate and giving you space for creating the best
> overtones. Breathing through your nose fills your lungs, but leaves the
> mouth with
> nothing, meaning all the more work that you have to do to get your voice
> into the best placement. It also might have a tendency to cause a droopy
> sound
> that might cause you to dig at the sound versus float on top of it to get
> the best resonance.
>
> This is just my thoughts, if someone more knowledgeable would be willing
> to share their $.02 that would be great.
>
> Alex Donaldson
> Bass in the Great Northern Union (Hilltop Chapter)
>
> --- In _BBSBasses@yahoogrouBBSBas_
(mailto:BBSBasses@yahoogroups.com<BBSBasses%40yahoogroups.com>)
> ,
> "george.luken" <georgelj@..g> wrote:
> >
> > Gentlemen: I discovered another secret and you tell me if it works for
> you. Do you have problems on tags or just long passages where you don't
> seem
> to have enough oxygen to make it through the phrase?
> > Close your mouth and pull the air in
> > through your nose only, the warm air warmed by your nose that you use
> > for singing will let you belt a tag out or make it through a phrase like
> nobody's business!
> >
> > What say you? George Luken
> >
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
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> ------------------------------------
>
> Keep The Whole World Singing
> and
> Harmonize The World
> Singing LOW!
>
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>
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