Kate's Voice

I had been singing and  teaching voice for quite awhile when I had an important realization; I have learned a lot about living by learning a lot about breathing.  Frankly, breathing is essential for living.  It is natural and reflexive.  It should be easy, but when the physical demands of singing are added to this natural process, problems may arise.  Now, isn’t that just like Life itself?   One day things are going along smoothly, and the next day, some demands are made upon us that suddenly engage us in the complexities of balancing, controlling and analyzing what once seemed so simple and natural.  I decided that if I wrote down some rules for better breathing, I might have some tools I could use in life, too. Here’s what I came up with:

1. Remember to breathe.
2. Take good care of your body.  It is your instrument.
3. Gradually increase your capacity to breathe by challenging your “limits.”
4. It takes work to make your breathing feel natural.
5. Breathe ahead.
6. Breathe into each phrase and keep the breath flowing with energy.
7. The beginning is often the hardest part.  The secret of a good beginning is to breathe into it.
8. The cut-off, or final word, takes breath, too.  Keep the air flowing even after the sound stops.
9. Always give yourself time to breathe even when there’s not much time to breathe.
10. Talent, practice and skill are very important.   But if breathing is a problem, it’s a lot harder to demonstrate talent and skill.

Related articles:

Breathing: The Seductive Key to Unlocking Your Vocal Variety on Six Minutes

Are Presentation Skills Like Riding a Bicycle? on Kathy Rieffenstein’s Blog

Yoga Breath Blog

While sitting at a four way stop  in the July gloom of this Southern California morning (whatever happened to June gloom ending on July 1????) it occurred to me that this is a good time to reflect on the last couple of years of Kate’s Voice.  What has worked?  What hasn’t?  Where shall we go from here?

My partner, Doug, takes inventory on how he’s doing in business using a method he calls Keep, Stop, Start.  It’s pretty basic, but it’s a great way to check in from time to time.  What do you keep doing/being/having?  What do you stop doing/being/having?  What do you start doing/being/having?

So now, I’d love to hear from all of you before I write another post.  Please comment below, or contact me via my web form, or tweet me up, or something, but please respond.

1. Keep:  What do I keep doing here?  What do you like?  What’s interesting?  What’s helpful?
2. Stop:  What drives you nuts about this blog?  What’s too much?  What do you never want to read about again?
3. Start:  What’s missing?  What do you want to read about but I never seem to mention?  What topics would you like to see covered?  What issues with your voice do you want to see addressed? What do I need to add to my posts?

Special Offer:  Anyone who posts a comment in response to this post or contacts me with a response via Twitter, Facebook,  or my comment form, will be included in a drawing for a free 30-minute vocal consultation.  I will choose 5.

I am grateful to all of you, my readers, for your interest in this work, as well as your loyalty.  I have gotten to know some great people and I enjoy the conversation as it  extends to other blogs and other forms of social media.   This blog has taken me  all over the world.  How cool is that?!