BREATHING EXERCISES
Enough has been said in the preceding chapter to make clear the
necessity of breath control, and to show what constitutes this control
for the singer--the professional breather.
If the singer's breathing is nothing but an amplification of normal,
healthy breathing, why dwell upon it, why not let it develop of
itself?
Unfortunately, many teachers have taken this attitude, overlooking the
fact that, although life is dependent on normal, healthy breathing,
such breathing is, in civilized communities, not the rule but the
exception, simply because normal living is rare; the artificiality of
modern life forbids it. The high pressure under which most people live
induces mental tension together with the consequent nervous and
muscular tension. We are, without being conscious of it, so habituated
to unnatural tension that automatic breathing is shallow and irregular
instead of being deep and rhythmic.
The task, therefore, is to reclaim a neglected birthright--natural
breathing--to make it habitual and amplify it.
PRELIMINARY SUGGESTIONS
1. Breathing exercises to be invigorating and purifying demand plenty
of fresh air.
2. At first do not practise longer than ten minutes at a time, three
times a day.
3. Gradually lengthen the time without overdoing. When tired stop.
4. The best time is before dressing in the morning, with the window
open. The worst time is directly after a meal.
5. Maintain throughout an easy, flexible poise.
6. Breathe as _deeply_ as possible without abdominal distention. The
greatest expansion should be felt at the lower end of the breast-bone.
7. Breathe as _broadly_ as possible, expanding the sides without
tension.
8. Breathe as _high_ as possible without shoulder movement or
stiffness.
9. Use not the high breath alone, or the mid-breath, or the low
breath, but use the _complete_ breath.
10. Breathe _rhythmically_ by counting mentally.
11. Breathe _thoughtfully_ rather than mechanically.
12. Do not crowd the lungs or lay stress on the mere quantity of air
you can inhale. The intake of breath is, for the singer, secondary to
its control, economy, and application in song. Increase of lung
capacity will duly appear.
13. When not singing, speaking or practising an exercise that demands
it, _keep your mouth shut_.
ATTITUDE
Dress the neck and body loosely, so as to give the throat and trunk
perfect freedom. Place the hands on the hips, so as to free the chest
from the weight of the arms. Stand erect, evenly upon the balls of the
feet; the body straight, but not strained. Raise the back of the head
slightly without bending the neck. This action will straighten the
spine, place the chest forward, and bring the abdomen backward into
its proper relation.
The great majority of people are shallow breathers, chest breathers,
who when told to take a "deep breath" do not know what is meant. It is
therefore necessary for them first to learn what a deep breath is, and
then how to take it.
Exercise I
FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT KNOW WHAT A DEEP BREATH IS
Before rising in the morning, remove your pillow and while flat on
your back place one hand lightly on the abdomen, the other on the
lower ribs. Relax the whole body, giving up your whole weight to the
bed. Inhale through the nostrils slowly, evenly, and deeply, while
mentally counting one, two, three, four, etc. As you inhale, notice
(_a_) the gradual expansion of the abdomen, (_b_) the side expansion
of the lower ribs, (_c_) the rise and inflation of the chest, without
raising the shoulders. Hold the breath while mentally counting four
(four seconds), then suddenly let the breath go, and notice the
collapse of the abdomen and lower chest. Remember _the inspiration
must be slow and deep, the expiration sudden and complete_. Practise
this preliminary exercise for not more than ten minutes each morning
for a week. The second week hold the breath six seconds, instead of
four, and gradually increase the time, without overdoing.
While, for a novice, the exercises may be taken at first in bed, this
is but a preliminary to their practise standing in easy poise as
directed in the preceding section.
Exercise II
SLOW INHALATION WITH SUDDEN EXPULSION
Inhale as in I; hold the breath four counts (seconds) or more; then
expel the air vigorously in one breath through the wide open mouth.
The beginner is often helped in acquiring a deep breath by slowly
sipping breath. Therefore as a variant to Exercise II practise:
Exercise III
SIPPING THE BREATH, WITH QUICK EXHALATION
Through the smallest possible opening of the lips, while mentally
counting, inhale very slowly and steadily; hold two to four counts,
then expel the air all at once through the wide open mouth.
Exercise IV
FOR RIB EXPANSION
To more completely arouse dormant muscles that should play an
important part in breathing, place the hands against the sides, thumbs
well back, take, through the nostrils or the slightly parted lips,
six short catch-breaths, moving the ribs _out at the side_ with each
catch-breath. Hold the breath two counts, and exhale through the mouth
with six short expiratory puffs, drawing the ribs _in at the side_
with each puff.
Exercise V
SLOW INHALATION WITH SLOW EXPIRATION
Inhale as in I, while mentally counting one, two, three, four, etc.,
until the inhalation seems complete. Hold the breath four or more
counts; then exhale through the nostrils slowly and evenly while
mentally counting to the number reached in the inspiration. With
practice the number of counts will gradually increase. Do not,
however, force the increase. The muscles that control inspiration are
powerful; do not, therefore, make the mistake of seeking to control
expiration by contraction of the glottis. Practise these exercises
with an open throat and depend on the breathing muscles for control of
the outgoing air. Remember that _singing is control of breath in
exit_.
Exercise VI
RAPID INSPIRATION WITH SLOW EXPIRATION
Inhale through the nostrils quickly, deeply, and forcefully (one
count); hold two counts; exhale through the nostrils evenly, steadily,
and as slowly as possible while mentally counting one, two, three,
four, etc. With practice gradually increase the number of counts for
the exhalation.
Exercise VII
FARINELLI'S GREAT EXERCISE
The Cavalier, Don Carlo Broschi, better known as Farinelli
(1705-1782), the world's greatest singer in bravura and coloratura,
was a pupil of Porpora and Bernacchi. There was no branch of the art
which he did not carry to the highest perfection, and the successes of
his youth did not prevent him from continuing his study, or, when his
name was famous, from acquiring by much perseverance another style
and a superior method. His breath control was considered so marvelous
in that day of great singers, it is said, that the art of taking and
keeping the breath so softly and easily that no one could perceive it
began and died with him. He is said to have spent several hours daily
in practising the following exercise:
As in Exercise III, sip the breath slowly and steadily through the
smallest possible opening of the lips; hold it a few counts, then
exhale very slowly and steadily through the smallest possible opening
of the lips.
Farinelli's exercise is not for beginners.
Exercise VIII
THE CLEANSING BREATH
For ventilating and sweeping the lungs, for quick refreshment after
fatigue, and for use always at the close of your exercises, inhale
through the nostrils slowly a complete breath; hold two to four
counts, purse the lips tightly and expel through them a small puff of
air, hold two counts, puff one, hold two counts, puff one, and so on
until the exhalation is complete. A few trials should convince you
that this simple exercise is of great value.
HALF-BREATH
In both singing and speaking, the sustained delivery of long phrases
or sentences sometimes makes unusual demands on the breath supply. It
is a law of good singing that every phrase should end with the breath
unexhausted. When the flow of text and music forbid the taking of a
full breath, half-breaths must be quietly taken at convenient points.
Instead of letting the whole reservoir of motive power exhaust itself
and then completely refill it, we should, by taking these
half-breaths, maintain a reserve. A notable advocate of the use of the
half-breath in singing is that past mistress of sustained and smooth
delivery, Marcella Sembrich.