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.
