I go into each myth in depth in my video but here is a list of them to keep track:
Inhalation Myths
- We need to feel the air
- Work to get the air in, need to inhale against a resistance
- The air pushes the diaphragm down
- Lungs fill upwards
Exhalation Myths
- The diaphragm inhales and exhales
- Abdominal muscles push the air out
- The solution for all vocal problems is support
You many or may not have heard these myths but they can be very detrimental to a singers technique and are hard to break these if they have become habits.
I have heard all these too! I really didn't understand breathing technique still I started trying new things on my own to get a better, comfortable sound. I have learned even more after reading about it and having to explain it to my student and choir friends.
ReplyDeleteHaha, all of these sound so familiar! I think this is a huge problem with high school choirs... they hear this sort of thing and never get one-on-one attention to correct problems. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteYes! I have also heard all these. It's unfortunate how misunderstood we all were at one point on how to correctly breathe when singing. I know my voice student had it completely wrong, and when we fixed it, the difference was incredible!
ReplyDeleteIt's kind of crazy how just THINKING about breathing incorrectly can cause problems with singing. I mean breathing is breathing, it's a natural anatomical physical occurrence, but we can screw it up so much just by thinking the wrong thing. Our minds have too much control! If we could just trust nature and breathe, we wouldn't have to worry about these sayings or myths affecting our singing.
ReplyDeleteAn incorrect breathing will cause many problems to singers, and we all heard some of the wrong technique somewhere, and it is really bad.
ReplyDeleteI've heard many of these myths before and even struggled with some myself. It's good to know what myths may be out there so that we can look for them in our own students and hopefully correct them before it becomes an even bigger problem.
ReplyDeleteI've heard a few of these myths before and I think it's important to have a better understanding of these, especially going into an education setting. By understanding the myths, we can correct these bad habits both in a choral setting and an individual lesson setting.
ReplyDeleteOne of the more enlightening moments I had as a singer was when Nick told me that breathing was just an exchange in ambient air pressure, essentially. The lungs expanding pulls air in, not the other way around.
ReplyDeleteI remember when I was first starting as a singer, I was told several of these myths. I remember when I first came to OSU, I was working with Ruth Dobson as my first vocal instructor. I remember there was so much time and effort put into simply trying to help me learn to breathe correctly. With many of these myths now dispelled, in my own training, it's my hope that we can teach this next generation to avoid these myths and breathing pitfalls.
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ReplyDeleteYeah I remember a workshop on breathing that really helped me develop my ideas on proper breath support. They talked about "silent breathing," where you keep the ribcage raised and simply relax the abdominal wall to allow the lungs to expand. It causes air to effortlessly and mostly soundlessly to flow into the lungs as if by magic, and it was so different from how I had been breathing previously.
ReplyDeleteIts a shame there are so many misconceptions about the most necessary part of singing! I have heard so many of these myths and believed them for an embarassing amount of time. I used to think I had to flex my abs (squeeze in) to get the air moving faster.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, during my choral experiences I have heard almost every single one of these myths and yes, they were all detrimental in some way, hopefully newer generations of choral conductors can pave the way to eradicating those myths.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate studying with Richard, as he has a pretty good understanding of this entire concept. I think it's tough to eliminate these myths because they start out as figurative language that can help a student, but then are passed on as a universal technique.
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