Jan-Feb 2006
This is part three of a five part series written by Bill Biffle, BHS director, music category judge and Society board member.]
Last month I promised you a second segment on inhalation; and here it is.
As you know, session one in this series dealt with STANDING UP STRAIGHT. Session two was BREATHING IN and dealt with what happens to the lower abdominal area during that vital process. This session I want to discuss the rest of the inhalation process, that is, what should happen to the "upper apparatus" every time you inhale?
The idea here is to make the area where the sound resonates (the area between the larynx to the lips) as large as possible while not inducing any unnecessary tension. The components to this process are:
1 Lowering the jaw - both in front and in back (the space between your back teeth should increase, too). Now, be careful and don't overdo this! You should NOT create tension in the base of the tongue!
2. Opening the throat and gently raising the roof of the mouth (primarily the soft palate at the back). You can make this happen by producing coolness with the breath as you inhale. This is the "inner smile" or "bowl" feeling. It's very akin to the movement you make when you have a bite of very hot food in your mouth. (Another way to create the sensation of space is to imagine that you're listening to a very faint sound that's very far away.)
3. Lightly placing the tip of the tongue on the back of the lower front teeth AND letting the tongue RELAX forward in the mouth. It should be pretty high in front. This will keep the space at the back of the mouth (top of the throat) as open and large as possible - without undue tension, of course.
4. Extending the lips off the teeth, gently tucking the corners of the mouth, and creating a tall, oval mouth shape. The idea is to make these four events happen simultaneously every time you breathe in. This will take a little practice to isolate the muscle groups, but the effort will, as always, repay you handsomely. You'll be a better singer and that will make singing more fun, and, gosh, that's what we're all in this for, right?
So, to recap, the "singer's breath" consists of connecting the expansion of the lower abdominal area (see last month's CC) with the proper positioning of the throat, mouth, tongue and lips. If you'll make the effort to master these movements, and take EVERY breath this way EVERY time you sing (assuming you've still
got the good posture from lesson one, of course), you'll be at least half way to our goal: better singing!
Watch out! Next week [issue] - EXHALATlON! Good luck and good singing!