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CONCEPTS OF BREATHING |
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Methods of Cultivating Breath Control in Singing psychological approach
The 95 concepts in this group are subdivided as follows: 48 statements advocate natural breathing methods for singers; 23 statements endorse the principle that singing develops breathing; 24 statements advocate interpretational controls of breathing in one form or another.
Natural breathing advised. A natural function is one that is not artificial, synthetic or acquired by external means. (W) Natural breathing, therefore, is breathing that has not been influenced by direct technical training or localized effort. It is a spontaneous, normal and unconscious activity without any attempt at voluntary control; a reflex action.
The advocates of natural breathing do not allow a pupil to think of his breath while singing. "Forget all about the breath/1 is their slogan. To them, this is a fundamental law of singing. [Stanley 577, p. 39] In the opinion of Jussi Bjoerling, Metropolitan Opera Company tenor, the minute a singer begins to think about his breath while he is singing, he becomes short-winded. Therefore, breathing should always be a perfectly natural process. [47] In this belief he is upheld by Lauritz Mel-chior, renowned tenor, who also declares that breathing, upon which all singing rests, must be an entirely natural affair. Any constriction is wrong. "The best teacher for breath control is a young baby/' he suggests. The student of singing is also advised to recapture the experience of natural breathing in a recumbent position, preferably while lying "flat on your back on the floor/' [388] 'Inhale with the complete relaxation of a sleeping child/* says Rimmer . . . "or with the ease of a healthv yawn . . . and the secrets of deep breathing have been learned Frieda Hempel, well-known operatic and concert soprano, insis* singer should not be troubled with complicated theories of br port unless a definite need arises. [239]
Evetts and Worthington believe that respiration in singing, is governed mainly by the body's oxygen requirement. [167, p. their contention that excessive breath intake before attack is a 1 fault among singers which can only be corrected by ignoring the altogether and by beginning the song at any point in a normal rt tory cycle. [Ibid., p. 83] Shaw, a prolific writer on the singing Vv declares that breath support in singing is a spontaneous action controL by natural reflexes. This involuntary process may not be disturbed b# conscious breathing techniques without disastrous results. [518, p. 126] Shaw insists that the management of the singer's breath is about as absurd as the management of his heart beat.[536] "Correct breathing for living is correct breathing for singing. There is no other/' [519] |
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