Oct 15 2008

Breathing Lesson

Published by at 9:34 am under vocal health,vocal power

The American Lung Association says that professional singers have an average life expectancy that is 25 years greater that the rest of the population because of the way they breathe.  I have an image in my head of the world ending on a high note. :-)

I am constantly grateful for the set of lungs I’ve developed over the years.  I was asthmatic as a child and have had little of that since developing my voice!  But as a singer, and maybe because of my asthmatic condition, it took me a while to get the technique of good breathing.  I finally sat down with several books, tapes and songs and tried everything I read until I got the results I wanted.  The results I wanted were

1.  Lots of air for long phrases

2.  Effortless appearance

3.  An improved sound through improved breathing.

I got all of the above and also better health and great abs!!  If you’d like to try what I learned, I have included an audio track of a lesson in breathing here  06-how-to-breathe.  Please download it and try it out!  Let me know how it goes.

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3 responses so far

3 Responses to “Breathing Lesson”

  1. # Drewon 11 Dec 2008 at 2:39 pm

    Hi Kate- Nice audio- you do have a lovely voice! I understand the breathing technique you describe, but I can’t imagine remembering to do it when I’m in front of a class and focusing on my talking points. (I’m just a guy- I can’t multi-task that much!) Any advice on how to make this an ingrained habit? Many thanks!

  2. # kateon 22 Dec 2008 at 10:40 am

    Drew,
    The secret to being able to do this in front of a class while still focusing on talking points is…PRACTICE. The more you work on this outside of the time you spend in class, the more it becomes a part of what you do naturally rather than something you have to think about. Practice makes you aware and awareness is the key to change. Take time every day to breathe consciously and you will be surprised at how quickly you incorporate it into your everyday world!!!

  3. # Kate'sVoice » How studying voice in 2010 satisfies all Top Ten New Year’s Resolutionson 30 Dec 2009 at 4:35 pm

    [...] shape. Singing is a very physical activity.  Breathing for singing alone can be very demanding if done correctly.  Little known fact: It’s quite possible to get a “six-pack” from practicing [...]

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