Breath Management

Basic Anatomy of the Breath Cycle

Inspiration (Inhalation)

  1. Brain tells the diaphragm to contract

  2. Diaphragm contracts (moves down), making the chest cavity larger

  3. This change in air pressure creates a vacuum, drawing the air into the lungs

  • The vocal folds are open during free inspiration

  • Abdominals release allowing the contracting diaphragm to displace the organs housed underneath it

  • Freedom of jaw, neck, shoulders help with free inhalation

Diaphragm

  • Connects to the sternum, lumbar vertebrae and bottom ribs

  • Dome shaped

  • Separates the thorax from the abdomen

  • Has three holes for the esophagus, arteries and veins

  • Upon contraction

    • it pulls downwards and forward

    • Lower ribs move outward, and elastic lung tissues is pulled with them


External Intercostals - Muscles of Inspiration

  • Originate at the bottom of the ribs and connects to the top of the rib below it

  • This muscle pulls the ribs up


Breath Support

  • Delivering the right amount of breath pressure to the vocal folds

    • Subglottic pressure

  • Breath support is best described as the dynamic relationship between the muscles of inspiration and expiration that are used to control pressure in the air supplied to the larynx

Appoggio, Support

  • From appoggiare “to lean upon”

  • The recoil factor of the lungs and chest wall must be slowed down

  • The diaphragm is not allowed to ascend (relax at contraction) too quickly, thereby expelling too much air for the phrase

  • The abdominals and external intercostals act antagonistically to help keep the diaphragm from ascending too quickly


Basic Patterns of Breathing

Clavicular

  • The pronounced elevation of the upper chest, lifting shoulders and clavicles

  • The problem is not the with the air capacity, but the ability to control air pressure during exhalation

  • Can lead to overfilling/over-pressurizing causing the larynx to step in and act as a valve

Thoracic

  • Relies on contraction of the diaphragm and external intercostals during inhalation, expansion felt in the lower ribs

  • Exhalation cause by release of diaphragm and contraction of the internal intercostals

  • More opportunity for muscular antagonism than clavicular breathing

Abdominal

  • Relying solely on diaphragmatic contraction for inhalation, with simultaneous relaxation of abdominals

  • Exhalation caused by contraction of abdominal muscles pulling in against the viscera, pressing the diaphragm back into its resting position

Combination of Thoracic and Abdominal breathing


Common Habits/Issues

  • Gasping - closing of the vocal folds

    • Solutions: Take a silent breath

  • Taking in too much air/not using our air - “stacking the breath”

    • Quality not quantity

    • Builds pressure in the thorax

    • Breath mapping - speak through the line and use only that much air

    • For not using the air, use lip trills & s’s f’s v’s or t’s

    • Sing to the person across the street

    • Singing into water with a straw - regulating air

    • Semi-aclooted vocal track exercises?

    • Isolate breathing - hissing, how much air do you really need for only 6 counts of air?

  • Collapsing of the sternum during exhalation

    • Arms open and up

    • Pushing against a wall

    • Pushing the back of the head

  • Restricting the abdominals during inhalation

    • Ask them to feel where they feel their breath

  • Alignment that strips the singing mechanism

    • Shaking the head, starfish

  • Perceived need to control air

    • Lip trills

    • Picking up pens for distraction

    • Pretend you’re talking this text to someone else

  • Fear of running out of breath

    • Sign the end of the phrase multiple times in a row so that your body gets used to that feeling and it will regulate the air before it

    • Staying invested in the middle of phrases

Silent-ish breathign excerzises

  • Try breathing in through a straw or {u} to slow down the breath

  • Sustaining unvoiced consonants s, f, ths

    • airflow should be consistent

    • articulators should be free gains 10s-20s

  • Switching between unvoiced and voiced consonants

  • Exhale first, breath depletion conditioning

  • Rhythmic patterns on unvoiced consonants


Expiration (Exhalation)

  • Ribs and diaphragm return to a relaxed state, lung tissue recoils

  • In passive breathing, expiration is faster than inspiration


Internal Intercostals - Muscles of expiration

  • Originate at the top of the rib and connects to the bottom of the rib above it

  • They move the ribs downwards

  • This set of muscles and the external intercostals are adversaries

Abdominal girdle - Muscles of expiration

  • External obliques - large strong

  • Internal obliques - thinner smaller

  • Rectus abdominus - 6 pack

  • Transverse

  • These muscles compress the abdomen


Breathing for Belting

  • Don’t breath as low or else it creates to much pressure

  • Use therabands in order to create resistance and engagement



Checklist for Breathing

  • Ribcage flexibly expanded during expiration

  • Alignment

  • Articulators

  • Glottal involvement for consonant exercises

  • Inhale your vowel, pitch, space and dramatic intention


General Considerations in the Lesson

  • Information Overload

  • You talking vs them singing

  • Permission to make noise, “ugly” sounds

  • Be grateful for each student and teaching gratitude for one’s voice

  • Focusing on what’s wanted vs unwanted

  • How are you recording progress? What does progress look like?

  • “in some cases, a teacher will have trouble implementing a change in tonal quality because the student incorrectly feels he is being asked to change his personality” - Bunch

  • Practicing technically then performing playfully


The Voice as an Instrument with Three parts

  1. Air Supply

  2. Vibrating Structure/reed

  3. Resonating Chamber