Everybody breathes. You've been doing it your entire life, how can you need to learn how to breathe?
The sad truth is that very few people breathe properly. Yeah, I know, how stupid does that sound? But, it's true. Most people breathe very shallowly, using only the top part of their lungs, when they should be breathing from their diaphragms and utilizing much more of the lungs' capacity.
Once again the first sub-point is: (drum roll, please!) Good Posture! How you stand matters!
I'm going to keep harping on this. Get used to it.
The second point is: Take small breaths, down low, expanding the lower ribs in a barrel-like fashion. (This is called "breathing from the diaphragm." Take notes; there'll be a test later.)
Let's take a moment to look at what happens when we breathe.
The diaphragm is an oddly-spelled muscle that has a dome-shape, and hangs out underneath the lungs, keeping them from falling into the stomach, colon and some of the other stuff down there.
(I'm serious - which idiot spelled it D I A P H R A G M? It's pronounced dye a fram, not dye a fragum - English can be stupid.)
When you need to breathe, the brain sends a signal down to the diaphragm, and it flattens. When this happens, suddenly there is more room for the lungs, and they expand to fill it. Air rushes in. You don't need to suck it in, or gasp, or really do anything but flatten your diaphragm. Ah, but there's the rub: how do we do that? I can fill in for my brain and tell my diaphragm to flatten. But does it listen to me? No - it's a diaphragm, it doesn't need to listen to anybody. Once again, we have the problem of not being able to see the item we're working with. "And," you may ask, "how can we possibly get it to flatten if we can't see it and it won't listen when we talk?" We trick it. (Remember? We started tricking our bodies last week. There will be more.)
You can trick it by pooching out your stomach. When you do that, the diaphragm is forced to flatten.
Now, I know, if you pooch out your stomach, you're going to look fat. We are constantly told to suck our tummies in. And that's the problem. If your tummy is always sucked in, then you simply cannot breathe properly. Look at runners. They are breathing from the diaphragm. Check out this video: this is a man talking to runners, not singers; but the technique is the same. He even talks about posture!
One of the many ways to experience abdonimal breathing, is to lie down on the floor, flat on your back. Place a hand on your stomach. Relax, and just breathe. With any luck at all, you’ll feel your abdomen rise and fall as you breath in and out.
While this has so far talked about the frontal part of proper breathing, Herr Weinsinger did stress the "barrel-like fashion" part. Because, as you might have noticed in the first video, the ribs should expand all around. I have students put their hands on my lower back, to either side of my spine, and feel the expansion when I breathe. The easiest way to feel this for yourself is to stand up and bend forward at the waist. Place your hands on your back, roughly where your kidneys hopefully are. While you are in that position, inhale; you should feel the expansion for yourself.
(Do it now. I can wait.)
Once when he was being interviewed, Placido Domingo was asked what he felt was the most difficult thing about singing. With no hesitation, he responded, "Breathing properly." (Of course, he said it with a strong Spanish accent.)
(I'm going to pretend that all of you know who Placido Domingo is. If you don’t: take the time to look him up on Wikipedia or YouTube.)
With this in mind, I’m going to spend two posts talking about breathing.
I do have a story for you. Since I have been singing since I was a baby, I have been very lucky in that I have always breathed from my diaphragm. (Yes, even when I was a teenager and didn’t want to look fat.) This has had many benefits for me as a singer. And I have medical proof of how much this can increase your lung function.
I was in my mid-20’s, and had a horrible upper respiratory infection. I couldn't talk, couldn't sing, could barely breathe without setting off a coughing fit. The doctor wanted to rule out pneumonia. So he ordered a chest x-ray. The tech lined me up with the markings on the wall, and told me to take a deep breath. I knew exactly how much air I could take before the coughing fit would start. So I carefully inhaled as much as I was able to, feeling my rib cage expand to roughly half of what it usually could.
Pictures taken, my husband and I were told to wait while the radiologist looked over the x-rays. After a little while, the doctor came out, and asked how long I had had asthma. I immediately panicked, imagining scar tissue on my lungs. But I really could not do more than croak. So Bill calmed me down, and asked the doctor why he thought I had asthma.
The man held up my ex-ray, and pointed out that my lungs were hyper-extended; apparently, a clear sign of asthma. It is also the sign of someone who routinely uses more of their lung capacity. Bill tried to explain to the man that I am a classically trained singer, who has always breathed from the diaphragm. The ignorant sack of snot looked down his nose at me (25 years ago, I was 50 pounds lighter - keep this firmly in mind) and said:”We occasionally see this type of lung usage in long-distance runners, which your wife is obviously not. She has asthma.” And he turned and walked off.
What that man was seeing was the full utilization of my lung capacity. The result of proper breathing.
Next week: Proper Breathing, Part 2
The sad truth is that very few people breathe properly. Yeah, I know, how stupid does that sound? But, it's true. Most people breathe very shallowly, using only the top part of their lungs, when they should be breathing from their diaphragms and utilizing much more of the lungs' capacity.
Once again the first sub-point is: (drum roll, please!) Good Posture! How you stand matters!
I'm going to keep harping on this. Get used to it.
The second point is: Take small breaths, down low, expanding the lower ribs in a barrel-like fashion. (This is called "breathing from the diaphragm." Take notes; there'll be a test later.)
Let's take a moment to look at what happens when we breathe.
The diaphragm is an oddly-spelled muscle that has a dome-shape, and hangs out underneath the lungs, keeping them from falling into the stomach, colon and some of the other stuff down there.
(I'm serious - which idiot spelled it D I A P H R A G M? It's pronounced dye a fram, not dye a fragum - English can be stupid.)
When you need to breathe, the brain sends a signal down to the diaphragm, and it flattens. When this happens, suddenly there is more room for the lungs, and they expand to fill it. Air rushes in. You don't need to suck it in, or gasp, or really do anything but flatten your diaphragm. Ah, but there's the rub: how do we do that? I can fill in for my brain and tell my diaphragm to flatten. But does it listen to me? No - it's a diaphragm, it doesn't need to listen to anybody. Once again, we have the problem of not being able to see the item we're working with. "And," you may ask, "how can we possibly get it to flatten if we can't see it and it won't listen when we talk?" We trick it. (Remember? We started tricking our bodies last week. There will be more.)
You can trick it by pooching out your stomach. When you do that, the diaphragm is forced to flatten.
Now, I know, if you pooch out your stomach, you're going to look fat. We are constantly told to suck our tummies in. And that's the problem. If your tummy is always sucked in, then you simply cannot breathe properly. Look at runners. They are breathing from the diaphragm. Check out this video: this is a man talking to runners, not singers; but the technique is the same. He even talks about posture!
One of the many ways to experience abdonimal breathing, is to lie down on the floor, flat on your back. Place a hand on your stomach. Relax, and just breathe. With any luck at all, you’ll feel your abdomen rise and fall as you breath in and out.
While this has so far talked about the frontal part of proper breathing, Herr Weinsinger did stress the "barrel-like fashion" part. Because, as you might have noticed in the first video, the ribs should expand all around. I have students put their hands on my lower back, to either side of my spine, and feel the expansion when I breathe. The easiest way to feel this for yourself is to stand up and bend forward at the waist. Place your hands on your back, roughly where your kidneys hopefully are. While you are in that position, inhale; you should feel the expansion for yourself.
(Do it now. I can wait.)
Once when he was being interviewed, Placido Domingo was asked what he felt was the most difficult thing about singing. With no hesitation, he responded, "Breathing properly." (Of course, he said it with a strong Spanish accent.)
(I'm going to pretend that all of you know who Placido Domingo is. If you don’t: take the time to look him up on Wikipedia or YouTube.)
With this in mind, I’m going to spend two posts talking about breathing.
I do have a story for you. Since I have been singing since I was a baby, I have been very lucky in that I have always breathed from my diaphragm. (Yes, even when I was a teenager and didn’t want to look fat.) This has had many benefits for me as a singer. And I have medical proof of how much this can increase your lung function.
I was in my mid-20’s, and had a horrible upper respiratory infection. I couldn't talk, couldn't sing, could barely breathe without setting off a coughing fit. The doctor wanted to rule out pneumonia. So he ordered a chest x-ray. The tech lined me up with the markings on the wall, and told me to take a deep breath. I knew exactly how much air I could take before the coughing fit would start. So I carefully inhaled as much as I was able to, feeling my rib cage expand to roughly half of what it usually could.
Pictures taken, my husband and I were told to wait while the radiologist looked over the x-rays. After a little while, the doctor came out, and asked how long I had had asthma. I immediately panicked, imagining scar tissue on my lungs. But I really could not do more than croak. So Bill calmed me down, and asked the doctor why he thought I had asthma.
The man held up my ex-ray, and pointed out that my lungs were hyper-extended; apparently, a clear sign of asthma. It is also the sign of someone who routinely uses more of their lung capacity. Bill tried to explain to the man that I am a classically trained singer, who has always breathed from the diaphragm. The ignorant sack of snot looked down his nose at me (25 years ago, I was 50 pounds lighter - keep this firmly in mind) and said:”We occasionally see this type of lung usage in long-distance runners, which your wife is obviously not. She has asthma.” And he turned and walked off.
What that man was seeing was the full utilization of my lung capacity. The result of proper breathing.
Next week: Proper Breathing, Part 2
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