This week in Vocal Ped, we have been learning about the power behind breathing, respiration and breath options. What this means is that we have been learning about why and how do we breathe? All throughout high school, my choir director would review proper breathing techniques such as breathing low as well as give us little run downs on the function of the diaphragm. It wasn't until college that I really understood the physics of breathing and the relation between the spine, diaphragm, rib cage and lungs all shared in the process of breathing. After talking about the physics of breathing over the course of about four semesters with Dr. Hoffman and after watching this weeks videos of breathing, I found some interesting knew tips and busted a few breathing myths.
One of the myths I learned was that low breathing doesn't always have to be your only method of breathing, there is also higher breathing called clavicle breathing. From my experience at this time I was told that light breathing was a no-no. My high school choir director called these small, unsupportive breaths that involve movement of the shoulders "tea cups breaths" due to the low volume of air they could contain. Now while tea cup breaths are still frowned upon, breath that takes place higher in the torso are encouraged when done correctly. That is because when you are breathing you don't breath in one direction like down or up, it is more 3-D. That means that when you inhale, your lung space extends in all directions so you should feel outward expansion in your spine, abdominal muscles, chest and sides. Higher breaths are okay as long as your shoulders stay in place and you feel more expansion in your chest.
Watching animations of the diaphragm in practice was so fascinating and really helped me connect with that feeling in my own singing. Charts and displays always help with my own body mapping and understanding breathing has really helped me concentrate on other parts of my body that I can focus around my breathing.
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