The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1888-10-13
BREATH IN SINGING.
Advice That Should be Needed by Old and
Young Nocalists.


Young Vocalists.
To properly control the escape of
breath in singing is an Indispensable
adjunct to good tone. l say escape of
breath is the more important as con-
trasted with the act of drawing in the
breath, commonly called inspiration.
It is true that the method of an inspir-
alton influences, to a greater or less
extent, the character of the expiration,
dependent largely, however, on the
singers culture and ability. The alb
dominal muscles and the diaphragm
are the great exploratory muscles. That
is, they both hold back and force out
the breath, when properly used. The
ordinary expiration occupies two or
three seconds Of time. The expiration
in singing consumes from ten to twenty
seconds, and even longer. In the
breathing out for purposes Of life the
sensation is of breath going from us.
In breathing out while singing one
should have the sensation of breath
coming toward one, drunk i'm as it
were. The proper use OF breathing
muscles will cure a husky tone, gut
teral or throaty tone, a tired throat
after singing, wrong information, sing
ing out of tune, and is of great help in
the treatment Of nasal tones.
ssAdvice to beginners (and many adj
vanced pupils) in singing: When
breathing in a perfectly natural and
easy manner and with no restrictions
from clothing or otherwise, shoulders
relaxed and reposing, notice the slight
expansion of the walls of the abdomen
as you breathe in. This movement is
caused by the descent of the diaphragm
as it pushes out the abdominal viscera
before it. You will notice that after
taking in a moderate breath in this
manner the tendency will be for the
abdomen to Immediately recover its
position of rest and the breath to es-
cape. Now instead of allowing this to
take place in two or three seconds, pro-
long it by preserving the expansion OF
the abdomen and holding back the
breath so that the expiration occupies
five or six seconds of time. If you are
wholly unused to exercises OF this kind
you will notice that after a few inspira-
tions and eXpirations the muscles will
appear slightly fatigued, and you will
feel like taking a long breath. You
have been giving them little extra
labor to perform; this will increase the
flow of blood to them, which means in
creased nourishment and strength.
After practicing in this manner once or
twice day for week, you will notice
that your fatigue diminishes as your
strength and power of control in
Creases, and this is the first step in
learning to sing. | do not say that you
may not develop the control in any
other way, as for instance in exercise
coupled with tone, but in one way or
another it must be done.
Do not begin your practice with in
haling more than a moderate amount of
air, as this will be much more difficult
for you to control and will tend to re-
move your efforts from the proper
muscles to interfering muscles. Avoid
raising the shoulders as this affects
sympathetically throat muscles that
should be relaxed. After continuing
this practice for few days and the
muscles become in a manner used to
holding back the breath, tone may be
employed with the syllable ah or 5ah,
reserving the breath in the same man
ner as in the breathing exercise, taking
care to sing with moderate amount of
tone as being easier than one that is
too soft or too loud.-H W. Giles, i15
Atb0ny Journal. ----