Quantifying the Breath: Exercises for Breath Control
In my experience breath control is the first thing to deteriorate if I am not singing regularly. Unfortunately teaching voice lessons and running choral rehearsals is not really singing regularly, despite what people may think. I first noticed this when one of my voice students was working a piece I had sung on my senior recital. I had difficulties making phrases that had not been a problem when I’d sung it a year and a half before. The difference was my lack of doing exercises and regular, daily singing.
Why Breath Exercises are Important
Doing regular breath exercises can seem superfluous. We can often fall into a trap of thinking that once we have attained a certain technical level we don’t need to worry about it anymore. This is wrong. Part of the problem also comes with a certain lack of definition to our breath control. We are used to the idea of doing warmups and things to work the tone but that doesn’t always come with thought of the length of time we can support a sound. When strength training the body, the amount of weight and number of repetitions can be used to track progress. We don’t usually do similar things when it comes to our vocal strength. With that in mind I find that putting a number to our breath control can give us a metric to track, and I do this by using a metronome. The beats per minute is the number we use to help track things. It can also give additional motivation to compete with ourselves, and with others if done in a group.
How to Track the Breath
There are four methods that can be done with these exercises. All have their uses.
1) Simple inhale, exhale
2) Inhale, sustained “s”
3) Inhale, sustained “z”
4) Inhale, sustained note
Each of the following methods presents its own challenges and works well for different aspects of technique. I start with the “s” because it is a sound that is simple for students to make and also helps them to feel how the breath itself is working. It provides feedback in a way that a simple exhale does not.
The “z” is the next progression, because it provides the same sort of feedback as the “s,” but adds pitch to the equation. Then opening fully to a vowel completes the process. I work with “ah” the most, but all vowels should be used, and at various pitches. Notes in the high part of the range use air differently than notes in the low part, and vowels can play a role too. So the combinations are basically endless. It is important to note that these last two methods should be done carefully with shorter exhales. Because of the addition of pitch the vocal cords can be strained if the air is pushed too fast. This doesn’t happen the same way with a plain exhale or an “s.”
Establishing a Baseline
To begin we must establish our baseline. To do this I set the metronome on 60 bpm, breathe in for four counts and then exhale as long as possible, tracking the number of beats on the exhalation. The baseline can be established for each of the four methods (and will likely be different for each) but I typically work just with the “s” in the beginning. I do this exercise three times to get an average which becomes our baseline. Some students will try to conserve the air in order to make their number higher. They should exhale with whatever force they would normally use to sing.
Regulating the Inhale and Exhale
Once the baseline is established I change the goal of the exercise. I still work with the metronome and an inhalation of four, but now I limit the number attached to the exhalation, initially beginning with four beats. This is when I stick to the exhale and the s, avoiding pitch because of the potential for strain I mentioned earlier. The goal is now to completely empty the lungs in those four beats. We cycle through this a few times and then I’ll increase the number of the exhalation, usually to six or eight, depending on how well the student is doing. When we get to eight is usually when I add pitch with the z and vowels.
Including a numbered inhalation is crucial. Regulating the inhalation is as important to good vocal technique as the support of exhalation. There are countless times when I have decided to breathe four beats before I have to sing and I fill my lungs on the first beat, which leads to a need to exhale and then inhale again quickly, meaning I don’t get a good breath. Thus practicing a regulated inhalation. I usually stick with an inhalation to four in the initial stages. Eventually I will change that number as well, both increasing and decreasing the counts, but I wait until the student has made significant progress controlling the exhalation.
Outside of Voice Lessons
This is the exercise that I use with my private voice students. It can be modified in many different ways to be used with choirs and students with other needs. I could easily see the competition element coming into play in choral classrooms for example. I imagine it would be very effective for wind and brass players as well, with the additions of work with the mouthpiece and long tones. Two variations I have used over the years to great effect are as follows:
1. Inhale and exhale for the same number of beats, usually beginning with six and then counting down until a single beat for inhalation and exhalation. The goal is to move as much air during the last round as the first.
2. Stay within the same number of beats but modify the inhalation and exhalation numbers. If the total is ten, round one would be in for nine and out for one, then in eight out two, until the pattern is reversed at one in, nine out. Again the goal is to move as much air the last time as the first time.
There are countless breath exercises that can be found online and in various books, but I find that any of these exercises that attach a number to it are really good for any vocalist. It gives us the ability to quantify our technique, which doesn’t happen often in the vocal realm. Increasing the number can also provide incentive for many who wish to be constantly improving.
Notes
The main exercise presented in this post is a modification of one presented by Dr. Z. Randall Stroope during the 2015 Rome Choral Festival. The two other variants at the end of the article were taken from Dr. Linda Mack Berven, Professor Emerita at Fort Lewis College, and Chris Argotsinger, former Director of Bands at Farmington High School (NM).