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CONCEPTS OF BREATHING 91
are of interest to the teaching profession. These concepts are not always
pedagogically sound, but they provide valuable technical insights for the teacher of singing. The following interviews are therefore reported:
1. The manner and distribution of exhalation are more important than inhalation to the' singer. Never push on the tone. Large inhalations are not necessary. [Kerstin Thorborg 611 and 612]
2. The chief point is to take enough breath to last the phrase. Trial and error will demonstrate this. [Conrad Thibault 605]
3. Taking too much breath for a short phrase is as incorrect as taking too little for a long one. [Jessica Dragonette 146]
4. "The secret of the singer's breath lies in its conservation." Breathing for singing should be as natural as for ordinary speaking. [Brana Castagna 94]
5. Breath control means budgeting the breath so that "just the right amount is used for the vocalization of tone." [Margit Bokor 54]
6. Breath emission must be reduced to an absolute minimum. [Lilli Lehmann 337]
7. "I advise you to give supreme attention, not to the drawing in of breath, but to its budgeting." [Ernestine Schumann-Heink 499]
b) Breath pressure and support. It is commonly accepted that voice is inseparable from breath. Therefore the consideration of the former must always include the latter and vice versa. This concept of interrelationship no doubt led to the adoption of the voice on the breath formula which the old Italian masters taught. [Herbert-Caesari 269, p. 42] But the expression "sing with the voice on the breath" is also misleading in that it invites a correlation between voice pressure and breath pressure which is contrary to common pedagogical belief. White insists that "no pressure of any kind is needed to generate vocal tone, much less a blast of air." [659, p. 39] Stanley concurs in this opinion when he says, "In singing, there is not a stream of fast moving air, i.e., a draught; the breath escapes very slowly when the technic is good." [578] "The common sense point of view," says Bonavia-Hunt, "is that the amount of breath pressure employed to produce a given note should be the minimum required for the purpose." [55]
When the voice is being properly used, the flame of a candle held a few inches away from a singer's mouth, will not 'flicker while he is emitting a tone, regardless of its loudness or intensity. This is frequently offered as a test of breath economy during voice production. If excessive breath is escaping either at the (vowel) attack or while singing, the candle flame will |
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