Breathing Exercises
  • bhcordovabhcordova
    Posts: 1,164
    At the last Summer Chant Intensive, several people were discussing how to increase lung capacity. I got these exercises off of The Trombone Forum (of which I am an administrator and moderator). I don't know who originally posted these (the original post was deleted).

    Breathing Exercises
    Careful, these might make you lightheaded.
    I = inhale E = exhale H = hold breath in or out
    EXERCISE FOR CAPACITY
    I for 1 second ("), H for 1", E for 1", H for 1" Repeat: I for 2", H for 2", E for 2", H for 2" Repeat: I for 3", H for 3", E for 3", H for 3"
    ..... keep repeating until you get to 12", then leave out the last H .....
    Repeat: I for 12", H for 12", E for 12" (no H out) Repeat: I for 13", H for 13", E for 13"
    ..... keep repeating until you get to 20", you are now taking 1 breath per minute!. ....
    EXERCISE FOR SUPPORT Do all 3 parts.
    1). TEMPO: quarter note = 60m.m.
    I for 1 beat, H for 1 beat, E for I beat, H for 1 beat Repeat: I for 2, H for 2, E for 2, H for 2
    ..... keep repeating until you get to 16 then change the tempo to: .....
    2). TEMPO: quarter note = 100m.m.
    I for 1 beat, H for 1 beat, E for 1 beat, H for 1 beat Repeat: I for 2, H for 2, E for 2, H for 2
    ..... keep repeating until you get to 16 then change the tempo to: .....
    3). TEMPO: quarter note = 160m.m.
    I for 1 beat, H for 1 beat, E for 1 beat, H for 1 beat Repeat: I for 2, H for 2, E for 2, H for 2
    ..... keep repeating until you get to 16 .....
    EXERCISE FOR CAPACITY AND SUPPORT
    I for 1", E for 1"
    Repeat: I for 2", E for 2" Repeat: I for 3", E for 3"
    ..... keep repeating until you get to 8", then reverse: ..... I for 8", E for 8"
    Repeat: I for 7", E for 7" Repeat: I for 6", E for 6" Repeat: I for 5", E for 5" Repeat: I for 4", E for 4" but as big a breath as the 8" I
    Repeat: I for 3", E for 3" but as big a breath as the 8" I Repeat: I for 2", E for 2" but as big a-breath as the 8" I Repeat: I for 1", E for 1" but as big a breath as the 8" I
    In all of these exercises, be taking as full and relaxed a breath as possible. Keep the shoulders and neck relaxed. Sit straight or lie flat on your back. Breathe through an open throat to the center of your solar plexus.
  • ContinuousbassContinuousbass
    Posts: 357
    I think Gregorian Chant in general is good as breathing exercise.
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen Cantus67
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,193
    Want to learn how really to breathe? Learn to play the Oboe.
    Thanked by 5Ben JulieColl canadash kenstb Cantus67
  • bhcordovabhcordova
    Posts: 1,164
    Musical instrument that takes the most air - any member of the flute family
    then, any member of the trombone family.
  • incantuincantu
    Posts: 989
    Please note, these exercises are for trombone, not for voice. As singers, we do not want to use vocal cord closure to "hold" the breath (thus building up unnecessary subglottal pressure). Rather, we "sustain" the breath by keeping the glottis open (so if someone punched you in the stomach, you would go "hhhh" and not "uh!"), which helps to develop the intercostal muscles for optimal ribcage expansion. I also like to speak of "sustaining" or "prolonging" notes, not "holding."

    I have also seen a version of this exercise where the singer is instructed to breathe in for 4, out for 4 and then in for 4 and out for 3, and so on until all the air is expelled in one beat. Why would we ever want to train ourselves to push all of our air out at once?! Inhalation is the active phase of breathing. The exhalation phase is a gradual release.
    Thanked by 2chonak CHGiffen
  • Chris Garton-Zavesky
    Posts: 6,902
    The essential aspect of breath control is in the release. Holding one's breath while closing off the throat is bad for the vocal chords as well as the sound created when breathing or music begins again. Holding breath through diaphragmatic exercise is essential.

    Here's another idea. Practice singing on a single pitch (a440 works, but any comfortable pitch will do) around the choir loft, to see who can keep pitch for the longest time. IF Mary Ann sees this, she can provide other ideas.

  • MaryAnn Carr WilsonMaryAnn Carr Wilson
    Posts: 1,738
    Agreed with Incantu (Sven?), especially as regards subglottic pressure, and not holding air as singers. That can be very damaging, it's true.

    This might help, too:
    Breath cycle for singers
    1) Release (expel/ let go of old air)
    2) Breathe (inhalation needed for length of phrase- very important to not "stuff" too much air)
    3) Arrive (poise the body, incl. abdominal support and balanced onset)
    4) Sing (freely, wisely spent exhalation- neither "dumping" nor "holding" air)

    All happens in one cycle of action.
  • MaryAnn Carr WilsonMaryAnn Carr Wilson
    Posts: 1,738
    I have some decent exercises, will share ASAP but my phone is dying and I'm tired. :)

    As one who makes a living through singing, and a lifelong asthmatic who has 71% lung capacity on a very good day, let me assure folks that...

    in general...

    It's not how much air you have, but how you use it.

    Thanks for this discussion- important topic!
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,980
    Please share! :-)
  • bhcordovabhcordova
    Posts: 1,164
    Incantu, I really don't understand how breathing is different for singing or playing a musical instrument. I do both.
  • incantuincantu
    Posts: 989
    Think of it this way: in breathing for a wind or brass instrument, the air is not turned into sound until after it has left the body. In breathing for singing, it is turned into sound at the level of the vocal cords.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,980
    That's why I play the pipe organ. I never have to worry about breathing.
  • bhcordovabhcordova
    Posts: 1,164
    Incantu, you still have the same need for support of the sound and for lung capacity. I don't really find myself breathing any differently for singing or playing.
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,216
    Singers don't generate anything like the pressure a brass player needs.

  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,193
    Singers don't generate anything like the pressure a brass player needs.
    Neither do oboists (most of the time). I cited oboe playing because of the great control that an oboist has to exercise in breathing and "holding back" the reservoir of air while blowing such a small stream of air.
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,216
    "It is much better to take a moderate breath and learn how to use it efficiently than it is to concentrate on taking vast quantities of air.... If you have good breath control, and are producing a good vocal sound, it is surprising how long you can sing on a rather small breath." -- James McKinney, The Diagnosis and Correction of Vocal Faults (widely used vocal pedagogy text)
    Thanked by 4CHGiffen M. Jackson Osborn Aristotle Esguerra Adam Wood
  • incantuincantu
    Posts: 989
    100 times YES to the quotation that chonak posted.

    I'm not a wind or brass player, but I believe it is necessary to push air out of the body in order to generate the kind of energy needed to create sound with a reed or mouthpiece. For optimal singing, it is not necessary to use more air than it takes to fog up a mirror. I can't imagine that working with a piccolo trumpet!

    Many singers believe they need to push air out of the body as well (they often ask me "but how do I get all the air out?"). The result is less than optimal phonation, and less than ideal vocal sound. When one is singing efficiently, there is the sensation of finishing a phrase with as much air as when you started. We then only need to replenish for the sake of more oxygen, not more air.
  • bhcordovabhcordova
    Posts: 1,164
    Be that as it may, as I stated when I posted, at the 2014 Summer Chant Intensive, some of the participants were asking how to increase their lung capacity. While lung capacity cannot be increased and actually decreases with age, the exercise I posted was designed to allow someone to be able to use all the capacity they have. Only reason I posted.
    Thanked by 1chonak
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