Why is breathing so important for a vocalist

A professional teacher will immediately distinguish a beginner from an experienced vocalist in setting his breath. The main signs of unsettled breathing are: Inability to stretch a long note. The beginner simply does not have enough air to hold it, so his voice begins to tremble on long notes, a falsity appears, the timbre becomes dull or the sound disappears completely. Inability to sing a phrase in one go. Often such a singer begins to take a breath in the middle of the words, which distorts the transmission of the meaning of the song and its mood. This is especially pronounced in slow or, conversely, very fast compositions. The voice sounds dull, not at full strength. It does not fully reveal its timbre, characteristic intonation, even in some cases it is difficult to understand who sings, soprano or mezzo, tenor or baritone. Without proper breathing, good vocals are impossible.

The breath is short, short, when you inhale the shoulders rise. This is because the layman breathes only the tops of the lungs, so he does not have enough breath to hold the whole phrase to the end. Continue reading →