Detailed Explanation of the "Farinelli Breathing Exercise"

A reader of this blog wrote in response to the posts about breathing exercises. She gave a wonderful explanation of the exercise referenced as the "Farinelli Exercise". I asked her if I could post it and she agreed. So hear it is.

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Dear Michael:

 

I was rereading your blog and noticed a mention by one writer in his question (dealing with silent breathing exercises) about the Farinelli breathing exercise.

 

I am very familiar with this exercise, and even though it is mentioned and given by Mr. Miller in his book on singing, he really doesn't go into it enough. It is not an exercise that is unique to Farinelli either, but was a common breathing exercise of the day.

 

As we discuss the Castrati, we have to remove all this junk now associated with them. Firstly: castration did NOT increase the ability of the singer to sing long phrases, or the lung power of the singer, or what have you. Secondly: it did not give the castrati their huge voices (which must be seen today in light of the times; orchestras were smaller, and even if some theatres then did seat large audiences, the reverence we show during performances didn't occur; it was a bedlam of noise, and often the critics we read were well placed in boxes and not amongst the regular attendees; voices of today are required to sing over orchestras many times larger with instruments with far larger and more piercing sounds; we also sing at a much higher diapason for the most part, and the average theatre today is the size of their large theatres of that day). Nor were all castrati, even sopranos, high pitched in sound. Whenever a castrato was replaced by a female singer, the one used most often was a contralto or mezzo, not a high female soprano. Also, according to Tosti, who was a castrato, the voice did change, but not as drastically as normally, but it did change through time. That is why it was not rare to hear a soprano castrato when he was 16 later in his 30s becoming a contralto. Also, as they reached about 30 the lower extension entered the voice, often of an octave or more below middle C. And they were want to use that range a great deal. Of course, since all singers are unique, one cannot apply everything to every singer.

 

When one goes through their music, as recorded by them, not just hearers of performances (and yes, most castrati wrote out their embellishments, they did not do them as we are often lead to believe ad libium, though some did; Farinelli wrote out his ornamentation in detail, and in most all his famous arias we have record of all his variations, and seldom did he even venture above the staff, though it was not rare for him to descend to the F below middle C; Velluti was known to have at least 3 sets of variation for whatever he sang, and if you can still find it, the printed piano score of Meyerbeer's opera Il Crociato in Egitto - by a no longer existent German printer -- contains all his variations that he used in the score; interestingly he often lowered Meyerbeer's keys as much as a 5th, and his embellishments often took him to the D below middle C, and only to the A above the staff; and his embellishments are extraordinarily difficult, but with one major flaw -- the melody is often so overly embellished the actual tune vanishes), one will see just where their voice centers lie.

 

People write of their ability to sing a full minute without breathing, and we get such accounts from observers who couldn't see the signs of breathing normal for that day: raised shoulders, etc. When you study their methods of breathing and their training, it is all very modern, much as we teach breathing today. In that day and age, few singers other than the castrati were taught much in the way of breathing, though some singers really did excel with it by observation of good singers. Women wore corset and had very shallow breathing (and the corset actually became their support, which I will deal with when speaking of the use of an elastic rib brace to learn to breathe). I do not doubt they could hold their breath for two minutes, but so could Montserrat Caballe. When one reads the writings of famous castrati who taught singing, one is aware of the teaching that one can breathe anywhere one wants as long as one don't spoil the musical line. That is a key to remember.

 

Since the castrati has such low breathing methods, low in the body, one never noticed any signs of breath being taken. In fact, with many good singers today, one doesn't notice any breath being taken. The biggest difference is they perfected the art of partials or half-breaths, to which we do not attach much importance.

 

Though Miller does mention the idea of partials when explaining this exercise, he really doesn't go into detail about how the exercise works, at least not to the point it really becomes clear. I had a teacher who worked me with this exercise all the time, and she explained it in detail (she had learned it from Calve who learned it from some famous Castrato of the Sistine Chapel).

 

The most important point to remember is it is NOT an exercise to build large expansion or lung capacity. It is an exercise to learn breath control. It is easy to confuse its purpose just by reading the explanation of how it is done.

 

As we know, one inhales for so many counts, holds the breath for an equal amount of counts, and releases the breath with the exact same amount of counts. That is the exercise in a nutshell. As you repeat the exercise, you increase the number all across the board. let us say, you began with 6 counts, when you repeat it you do 7, the next repeat you do 8, etc. On the surface one would think you increase the amount of breath you take in with each increase in the count. That is the mistake. One takes in exactly the same amount of breath from the beginning of the exercise to the end. All one is changing is HOW LONG it takes to take in, hold, and release that same amount of breath. The other important point is that at no time do you stop between sets. When you finish your 6 count set, you immediately begin the 7 count set. This is where the difficulty often arises: one is want to take a breath in, a full breath in, as soon as you finish the exhalation, but you must not do that; instead you must immediately begin a very slow inhalation. The expansion of the chest and lower breathing muscles never increases in capacity, but goes from the exhaled position to the full breath position (which is attained by the end of the inhalation). Also, even though the holding portion of the exercise is seen today as not needed in singing, its purpose is to learn to hold back air with the body, not the throat. One attains full expansion and keeps it, and one maintains full expansion throughout the exhalation process as well. The only thing "coming in" is the lower abs, and only at the last moments of exhalation.  

 

One also is to do the exercise at a slower tempo. Now days, we often read that to set the metronome at about 50 beats to the minute is the best way of doing things. We must remember that back then, in Farinelli's day, the metronome was not invented. The only time on which they based musical pulses were the natural rhythms of the heart; basically the human pulse rate. The speed of music was governed basically as faster than the natural pulse or slower. It is because of this fact that we often have troubles with Baroque Music. In the Victorian times, it was conducted so slowly and stately that it literally didn't hold together. We still hear performances of Handel's Messiah that way. The piece becomes deadly dull, and many of the fine choruses and solos drag, and almost become "too religious" in nature.

 

Many more "authentic versions" have realized that the pulse of the music was much faster than we hear it today. And often the rate of the heart beat is used as a reference. As a results, many of Handel's "grave" markings in 4/4 time are given 8 beats to the measure because with each eighth note receiving about 65 beats to the measure, the entire piece does become slower, more a grave marking, but doesn't lose its forward momentum.

 

That is the other key to doing this exercise: one must constantly think of forward momentum. Yes, you may not be singing notes, but you are keeping time, and the exercise must MOVE, or it becomes too boring to do, and too hard to keep the breath.

 

Now a curious thing happens as you increase the length of time doing the exercise: as you take longer and longer to inhale, the body needs to stop taking in a very smooth breath, like you were able to do in the beginning. The number count varies with the individual, but for me, about the count 12, I need to take in very small breaths. I will begin at that count taking in a very smooth measured breath, but as I near 9 my body needs to stop taking breath in and inhale through small partials until the lungs are full, or when I reach 12. The sustaining part is then quite easy, and even though the body muscles not the throat are holding back the breath, an extreme sense of calm fills the body, then one begins the release of breath, and because of this calm, it releases very slowly without forming any gagging motions or sensations. Once this partial inhalation begins you can increase the overall count as high as is comfortable, but I seldom went higher than 20. It really isn't needed. 

 

The other key in doing this exercise is that at no time do you ever feel the breath rising any higher in the body than the sternum. It is as if all breath stops there. Everything above that point on the body feels calm and relaxed. And in fact, at no time during any part of the exercise does anything above the sternum feel like it is in any way involved with what you are doing.

 

In addition to this exercise, my teacher then had me (immediately after finishing it; it seems these exercises become more beneficial if done this way) she had me do measured inhalations and singing combined. We would take a very quick inhalation (which should fill the lungs with all the air you need, even for a very long passage), then sing a line of music (it didn't matter what, as we used repertoire most of the time, in fact, the music I was learning as it helped phrase it more effectively). Whatever length of time was written in the rests in the music was how long I had to take to inhale. If it were a single 16th rest, that is all the time I could take; and if it were a whole rest, I had to take that amount of time exactly. If the rests occurred over more than one measure, I slowly took in the breath at whatever pace I wanted, but allowed myself quite a bit of time for the pause before I began to sing. If multiple measures of rests occurred (you know, about 6 or more) I simply took in the breath at the end of the original phrase as the body wanted to take it in (which was quicker than one would think, like is natural when you need more breath), and I would breath normally and in the most relaxed fashion as I awaited my entrance. Now there after we used two different approaches to the next phrase of music: if I knew I would need a touch more breath than just what was in my lungs from normal breathing, I would anticipate the phrase, taking a measured breath in a few notes prior to entry but still allowing me time to pause before singing; but I was to make certain that at no time did I feel "filled up" with this measured breath, I was to feel simply like I was ready to sing; the other approach, if the amount of time was not too long a wait, was to simply activate the breathing mechanism as if I were going to sing right then, letting out a touch of air, pausing, then beginning the musical phrase I was to sing. It was completely up to me to decide which method best suited the situation. The key was to make sure there was no built up stress or pressure around the throat and no choking sensations. One was NEVER to feel "too full" of breath. If ever I felt too full, I was told to release as much breath as needed to remove that sensation, but do it before the time I had to sing, and still allow me time to pause and prepare all the support for the phrase.

 

After singing a while like this, we then went to extremely long coloratura passages, ones that were many measures long, as long as 30 measures (we used much music written for the castrati). It was here I learned the art of partials and just how quickly they can flit by. Before beginning any long passage like that, we went through it to discover the musical phrases. Yes, long passages like that are actually made up of many much shorter phrases, and to make it seem as if you have never taken a breath at all it is absolutely essential that breathing never happen in the wrong place. Even if it is the shortest breath imaginable, it shines like the sun, as the hearer instantly hears an inappropriate break.

 

I marked all these musical phrases with ticks. Actually, most of the castrati of old did the same thing with small dots over the ends of musical phrases to mark when partials were to be used. I had to remember that these partials were to be as small as possible, and that I was NOT filling the lungs to full capacity with them, but rather, only restoring what air I had already used. We began a bit slower so as to make sure I was accustomed to singing partials in the correct place and not lose the momentum of the music. Once I was used to the idea of where and when to breathe, we increased the tempo to the correct speed, and I had to keep all the partials where I had them marked. Once the skill is learned, one realizes that one NEVER has to tank up with air (which defeats the entire purpose of breathing forcing you to exhale all your air immediately). And one always has quite enough for any given phrase, for even the longest phrase is made up of many very small phrases.

 

One other thing with partials is there is no motion in the body. One doesn't feel the release of the inhalation muscles one feels when taking a regular breath. One feels only a pulse at the solar plexus area and nothing more. It is a very small pulsation to be sure. Also, so that the partials work, one doesn't feel the slightest bit of collapse in the chest. One does push out but one doesn't allow things to fall in. This is where the holding part of the exercise, so often discounted today as not needed, helps, for you accustom the body to keep itself in the full inhaled position, which is needed to allow the partials to enter the body without obstruction. If things are allowed to fall or come in too far, as one does with normal singing, there is too much body to move or reinflate for the partials to work quickly and as they should.

 

Also, when partials are used properly, there is no sensation of "stored up air" like one often feels when they don't have time to release all the air in their body during dramatic fast moving music. The art of using partials would remove that problem from most dramatic singers, as they would not be filling up their lungs during rests, and ultimately storing it, but rather they would be restoring only a small portion of what was used and never over-filling the lungs.

 

I also learned it takes time, a long time, to perfect the use of partials so one can sing extremely long lines of coloratura, or many super short dramatic phrases without feeling tanked up with air. For the short phrases, the "cough off" is often used, and most effectively, but one cannot use that with long coloratura phrases. One has to keep an equilibrium of breath with the feeling that everything is relaxed and open.

 

I hope this helps in understanding more fully that Farinelli exercise that Miller talks about, that was mentioned by a person who wrote in a question about breathing for you to deal with. As I say, it is a very involved process, but well worth the time to learn.

 

Thank you for your time

Bea Stewart

More Questions about Breathing

I would like to know how much emphasis is put on silent breathing exercises by this school. I'm eagerly waiting for Mr. Jones' book, but it was not published yet.
I came up with another doubt. I perceive that somehow many singers take the admonition of suspending the breath too far and sing in apnea, I mean, not allowing the airflow to come out in a controlled way, naturally, attempting to sing with a minimal breath. It causes a sort of muscular struggle, too much effort around the neck, veins visible, the larynx unstable... My question is: should the singer focus on the air flowing through the open larynx(under the control of the muscles of the torso)or should he focus on the opening of the ribs? I suppose the latter is conducive to hyperextension...am I wrong? I think that there lies the importance of silent breath exercises. You have the mechanics, so it happens automatically, only in difficult passages your attention to the intake of air is called for, and you can sing freely. Sadly, I notice teachers claiming it is unecessary to practice silent breath exercises because the coordination is only obtained through vocalizing...I think they take the teaching of Richard Miller too far, because even Miller mentioned and prescribed the famous Farinelli exercise. And if he wanted, he couldn't deny it and still claim any fidelity with the teaching of the old italian school.


These are good questions and I don't know if I can give definitive answers. But I can give you my view. This school of training does agree that the breath should be silent. That was something that was stated clearly by Lamperti and it was recognized by the Swedish practitioners. It is easy to see why this is recommended, when we can hear the inhalation it tells us that the airway is constricted. This is a closed throat and will have a negative influence on the resonance and freedom of the phonation. I agree that it is possible to take the concept of suspending the breath too far. We can take any concept too far. That is why I try to frequently remind people that we are after balance. The purpose is not to suspend the breath as much as we can. It is to suspend the breath to the necessary degree that allows our voice to vibrate without the release of excess, unvocalized breath. You are correct that there should not be muscular effort around the neck. We suspend the breath to avoid the struggle around the neck. That is a response by the body attempting to compensate by closing the throat, restricting the breath from escaping too fast because it isn't being coordinated by the body. Another important part of this coordination is the adjustment of the vocal folds and the glottal opening. The more naturally the glottis closes the less difficulty there is in suspending the breath appropriately and the more open the throat will stay. Joseph Hislop once told Allan Lindquest to let the glottis control the breath. In other words let the vibration control the emission of the breath. This makes a lot of sense since this is what our purpose is, to phonate and sing. So everything we do needs to be in relation to our ultimate purpose, to sing. So I would say we should never have air flowing through an open larynx. The larynx needs to be closed to provide a pure vibration. The airway/pharynx above the larynx should be open to provide an effective resonator to amplify the vibration sound created by the larynx. Silent breathing exercises are helpful for sensitizing our body and for keeping the airway open when we inhale. They also help to reinforce the coordination of the torso for the preparation to sing. But only through singing do you really develop the coordination to sing because singing is not about suspending the breath. That is only the preparation. The breath must be suspended so we can allow the glottis to close and then use the abdomen to provide a compression of breath to cause and continue a vibration of the vocal folds. What I observe happening usually is people trying to sing while exhaling, which is contradictory. You either breath or you sing, but you can't do both at the same time. At least not very well. This may be new for some readers, but it is a fact of nature. We have to stop breathing and then sing. This is because the glottis opens when we breath, which weakens the vibration. The body then reacts by using the root of the tongue to try and control the breath. Making sure the glottis closes is the most important part of having an open throat as well as providing a clean vibration.

Another Comment on Breathing

I think that at least 50% of singing is knowing how to breath and how to spare the breath. When one reads the old masters of bel canto (Mancini, Tosi, Garcia, Francesco e Giovanni Lamperti), they all agree with that, and always emphasize the importance of breathing exercises.
Montserrat Caballè, for example, declared that at the beginning of her training, for 8 to 9 months, her teacher had her practicing ONLY breathing exercises, so that the muscles were used to the task they had to do. And she always states in her masterclasses she is unable to proceed her daily obligations before facing 20 minutes of breathing exercises.
By observing singing teachers today, I myself believe this breathing issue is much overlooked and, when it is taught, it is done the wrong way, I mean, pushing down and out (when it is only a natural and discrete reflexive response of a well-developed apparatus, a slight resistance), hyperextension of the rib cage, and other "inventions" that I feel end up giving a feeling of choking. It seems that the student is preparing to become a professional diver. It creates only tension on the voice, I feel.
I know of many singers that dare to sing difficult repertoire (beyond their reach) who don't have a clue of how to breath. They usually repeat what their teachers say, defending it is useless to train at all, a position that contradicts the teachings of old school.
I would like to pose a question here. What the Swedish/Italian school has to say about the practice of breathing in terms of muscular training? I have read for years the articles of Mr.Jones about the concepts of the school, but I feel it is particularly difficult to put in practice the "breathing to the small of the back". My question is: practicing the intake of air based on this principle and expirating slowly is enough, or one must also keep the chest (la fontanella, solar plexus)CONSCIOUSLY up all the time? I always thought it should be acquired with time and practice, when one gains strength and not by imposing this position to the torso.
I beg your pardon for my english. I'm a 27-years-old brazilian guy and still learning...

Thank you for your comments. I agree with your first statement to a degree. The problem is most people don't know what it means to spare the breath. But you can describe what I'm talking about that way. Unfortunately, at the same time I see too much emphasis on breathing and breathing exercises. What I mean is there are too many people who place too much importance on the breath itself. Now, learning how to coordinate our breathing is very important, and Lamperti is quoted as saying the breath should be a year in advance of the voice. But that does not require exercise of a building or strengthening nature, the breath doesn't need to lift anything with its flow. It is more about developing flexibility and coordination in the posture and breathing muscles in order to sustain the necessary suspending and compression of the breath. I encourage people to look at what happens naturally to our body when we have positive emotional responses. When we are excited and celebrating, joyful, enthusiastic; emotional conditions that we can imagine would stimulate singing in nature; the body responds with an uplifted condition. There is a gentle stretch in the torso and an opening in the ribcage. This uplifted condition corresponds to an inspired feeling. Along with the lift in the sternum and ribs the abdomen takes a slightly drawn in position. It is important to note that when doing these things we need to watch out for the unconscious tendency of thinking, "If a little is good then more is better". This invariably leads to over-doing things and destroys balance. Remember that balance is the objective in everything we do. If we keep the abdomen drawn in as we inhale, the sensation of the breath is felt in the lower back. This must never be an extreme thing. I have heard some people claim that if the abdomen is kept in while breathing that you will be forced to take a high chest breath. This is just not so. Even while keeping the abdomen drawn in there is still enough flexibility for there to be a slight expansion in the abdomen, along with the lower back and the lower ribs laterally. This becomes much easier to accept when we realize that we don't need a maximum amount of breath in order to sing. We should always breath positively but comfortably. Because of the emphasis on the breath there tends to be quite a bit of over-breathing. This is just about equal to the amount of under-breathing there is. Our objective is to find that balance in the respiration that we can comfortably suspend the breath and allow the vocal folds to vibrate freely and intensly resulting in an accoustically productive tone. I agree that there is a general ignorance to the natural coordination of the breath that was demonstrated by the older, great singers. What tends to happen is an exaggeration of what comes natural. And instead of allowing things to come naturally we are encouraged to exercise deliberate action on our body and over-ride the instinctive reactions that would happen to fulfill our desire for tone. That is ultimately what singing should be, an instinctive reflex of the body to fulfill the desire for tone to express emotion.

Question About Big Voices

I have a question.  I was reading the article in Classical Singer about Dolora Zajick and the Institute for Young Dramatic Voices. With the Swedish-Italian method, are there changes made for voices that are large?  Is it healthy vocally for voices of any size to work on the tiny whistle concept? I assume so, but after reading the article, I'm wondering in what ways large voices are hampered.

Actually the Swedish school became noticed for the development of the bigger voices. Many of the singers that came from Sweden in the early 20th century were Wagnerian singers like Kirsten Flagstad, Karen Branzell, Torsten Ralf, Joel Berglund, Set Svanholm, and later Birgit Nilsson. The tiny whistle concept, or small head voice exercise, is not only healthy for all voices but it is especially important for the larger voices. A naturally large voice has a stronger tendency to sing big, at the glottis, than the smaller voices. Being big at the glottis makes the voice harder to coordinate and keep balanced. This causes a loss in efficiency and register balance. It also causes a loss of focus and acoustic energy in the tone which makes it harder to sing with ease and be heard. As a result the singer feels a need to sing louder and push the tone bigger. There is a quote by Flagstad that she said to a younger colleague to the effect of, "we big voices tend to sing loud all of the time and we're the ones that don't need to." Because of the heavier orchestration and larger characters it is easy to fall into the trap of singing big. This will kill a voice regardless of its natural size. So they need to use the voice with care to make sure they are depending on pure vibration and good resonance to amplify the tone and achieve acoustic energy and not resort to singing loud. It is the difference between singing loud and singing with intensity. Loudness doesn't carry through the hall very well. Intensity does and with much less effort. There is an opposite effect that happens. The smaller the voice is at the glottis the bigger the effect in the hall and vice-versa.

Needs Help With Breathing

Recently I have been to a masterclass with a very competent Italian soprano and voice teacher, Ms. [Name Deleted]. What she said to me was quite shocking. She said that my voice came out tiny (even for a soprano leggero) and that the kind of sound emission I was using was never going to work in an actual stage. My speaking voice was actually louder than my singing voice. The notes were all in tune and in the right place, she said, but mainly I was using almost no breath to sing. "You're holding it all back" she said "Unfortunately, I cannot teach you to sing using your breath effectively in 4 days, you're going to have to work out for yourself. Unless you learn how to breathe properly you're never going to actually sing. Take it slowly and focus solely on the fiato". At that moment, I felt terrible. But she was very kind, and gave me a bunch of breathing exercises that are quite extreme (mainly to learn how to use the abdominal muscles correctly and push the air out). I have been working on them for these past weeks and trying to activate those muscles - now I am starting to open my rib cage independently. However, I am having trouble coordinating the breathing with the actual singing. After I vocalize, I am noticing that my throat is starting to feel sore. And I know this is not a good sign. I am scared that I might be "spingendo la voce" in order to make up for weak muscles, but I cannot be sure without some actual professional help.


There is a lot of truth in what you were told at the Masterclass. I did a search for the teacher and found a couple results. One was a recording, the other her web site, and if it is who you worked with I wouldn't be too set on trying to accomplish what she recommends. The singing I heard was quite pushed and over-blown. But the basic concepts she told you are correct, if they are correctly applied. From what you said it sounds like they are causing you to force the breath and overpower the voice. This is the danger of placing too much emphasis on the breath without knowing how to coordinate it. The part that is missing, and is the most important part, is the role of the larynx providing a stable opposition to the breath. This is felt as a "platform" of resistance at the bottom of the neck or the top of the chest because we don't feel the larynx itself or the vocal cords because of the lack of nerve endings there. This allows us to use the strength we get from the breath without forcing it out causing the tone to blast. The body functions the same for singing as it does for coughing, grunting, clearing the throat, laughing, crying. Any number of bodily functions are in the same "family" as singing. We need to learn how to function in that natural manner when we sing. The difference being that we are singing instead of doing these other functions. But they are all based on compressed breath. The difference in the sensations between compressed breath and loose breath are clear to us when we experience them. Loose breath feels like a flow of breath, compressed breath feels like the breath is static but there seems to be a flow of tone. The "platform" of resistance that I mentioned has a very subtle feeling. It can easily be overdone with the help of the tongue, but this does negatively affect the freedom of the vibration and subsequently the tone. So we should be able to notice if we fall into this trap. 

Is it Nasal, or Good Facial Sensations of Resonance?

Sometimes when I am working in this new way I feel the voice becomes nasal... but then again, it might be that I am still not very familiar with the correct feeling. How can I tell the difference?


The feeling of being nasal is probably a good one. Most of us are not familiar with the sensation of resonance in that area so it can seem wrong. Good function does feel like we are singing through the face around the nose. Many have a habit of singing through the mouth with a lack of head/facial resonance. This feels like the tone is going through the bones instead of through the air of the mouth. So when you experience the sensation of tone in the bones of the face it can feel nasal or wrong. The best way to tell the difference is by how it sounds. If you record yourself check on how it sounds. The way you can tell by how it feels is an undesirable nasal tone feels tight or constricted in the nose. A good tone feels like it is all over the space above the mouth, as well as in the mouth and throat. A bad nasal tone needs to be pushed forward into the nose, a good one feels like it fills the spaces behind the nose. Pitch also has an influence on how this feels. On lower and middle pitches the resonance feels all over. As the pitch ascends we feel the resonance exist more in the upper pharynx and head, which sympathetically is felt in the face. But again, we don't want to try and create this effect. It is a result of good, vibrant phonation and a good resonance form. An undesirable nasality is usually the result of trying to create this result, which causes muscles in the throat to constrict and restrict the resonance in the nose.

Question on Body Connection and Singing too Dark

When I feel like I get things right, I feel very "connected" to my body, and there is no pain of any kind. I have done some recordings of me studying, and I was surprised to hear that the voice sounds much richer in tone, and very dark. In fact I am worried it might be a little too dark... I was a little scared, since I got used to the thought of my voice being light and clear...


The connected feeling to your body is a good thing. All voices should have darkness and richness. There should also be a brightness, but it is probably not the kind of brightness you are used to. It can get too dark, and we want to watch out for that. That is why we need to keep a slight lift in the face and upper lip. It is often referred to as a slight smile, like in the Mona Lisa painting. If the voice gets too dark it will feel heavy, and that is not wanted. Even so-called heavy voices should not be heavy. This is a sign that there is not enough resonance in the upper part of the pharynx behind the nose. The lift opens that area allowing the tone to exist there. This is what traditionally was called singing in the mask. It must be done right or it can cause a constricted feeling and/or nasality. 

Question about Larynx Moving with the Vibrato

I have a question about something I have just started experiencing. When there is vibrato in the voice, the larynx starts moving slightly up and down - it has never happened to me before, what is that?


The bobbing of your larynx is a sign of release. That can be good or not depending on other factors and how severe the movement is. I would say that you should never try to fix it. Think of it as a symptom and work on the overall coordination instead. Ideally the larynx should be stable and the tone steady. It is possible that what you are noticing as vibrato and the larynx moving is actually a slight instability. Observe if there are times when it doesn't move, but don't try to change it directly. That will cause interfering tensions and create new problems. It will change with improved coordination of the whole instrument.

Question on Stage Fright

I'm a 58yr old spinto tenor, studied voice part time for 25 yrs I sang in weddings, funerals, and at senior living places, but I always had a problem singing in front of people or an audience, my voice is never up to par when I sing in public, but when I'm at home alone I'm at my best vocally, I was told when I was in my mid 30's and even today should be in the opera house singing opera, is what I studied for, but I guess stage fright is what I fear the most, is there something I could do to fix this? I feel I'm never at my best, is it possible I can send you a youtube video of me singing an aria?, so you can see if I'm doing something wrong. I will probably die on stage like Caruso, but of fright.

I can empathize with your situation. I feel the same but only in auditions. Performances I'm usually OK. I would be happy to review a recording or video. The main thing we can do to conquer stage fright is to be well prepared both musically and vocally. If we are confident in what we are to do we can convince ourselves to go through with what we fear. Being prepared musically consists of knowing your music with absolute certainty. For me this comes through repetition. The more the better. Being prepared vocally means knowing exactly what to do to make your instrument work. Many of us function well without thinking when we have no stress in our studio at home. We get used to this automatic approach and then when we go onstage the added emotional stress changes the condition of our body. This change of condition interferes with our automatic functioning that we enjoyed in the studio. To overcome this we have to learn and understand the principles that govern the function of our body when we sing. By knowing what the body should do when we sing naturally we can consciously make sure we do those functions in performance that might fall apart under the stress of the situation. This is essentially the basis of technique that singers talk about as being so important.

Question about going from exercises to songs

My frustration is that I can vocalize on vowels well, but not when I apply them to a song. I know my throat needs to stay open, however I can't seem to coordinate it. Do you have to be concious of raising the soft palate and stretching the throat by imagining an egg in the back of your mouth or yawning?

You don't want to try and lift the soft palate consciously. The only benefit to yawning is feeling the release of the larynx down. But yawning while singing is a bad idea. It pulls the tongue back so it clogs the pharynx. The challenge you are referring to (OK on exercises, difficulty on songs) is because when we pronounce the constantly changing words we move the throat and mouth too much which disturbs the poise of the voice. We need to be able to keep the larynx stable against the pressure of the breath while we pronounce changing words. This requires us to learn how to pronounce with moving the throat and mouth as little as possible so we can keep the instrument-like quality of the voice and not drop into a talking quality. Part of the situation is learning to keep the jaw out of the way, which requires more stretch than we are used to. To keep the larynx stable it is helpful to think of pronouncing the words from the bottom of the neck or the top of the chest. This encourages the larynx to lean into the breath instead of being over-burdened by the breath pressure. Hope this helps.

Question about "Laryngeal Tilt"

In the exercise for the laryngeal tilt, David Jones speaks of using a slightly deeper vowel on the second, higher note. What does he mean by “a slightly deeper vowel” – does one achieve a slightly deeper vowel by lowering the larynx slightly, by imagining the larynx lowers slightly, or by colouring (covering) the vowel slightly?

Thanks for your question. Actually you answer your own question. All three things you mention are involved. Generally the last one, adjusting the vowel, is the most common and easiest tool for influencing the laryngeal tilt. There is one other important aspect involved that tends to get overlooked. The tilt only really happens if the vocal cords are approximated effectively. This means that they are close together and slightly stretched while vibrating and not leaking unvocalized breath. The majority of the functioning of the voice involves muscles, and these muscles need to be freely active, not passive or relaxed. This is the only way to ensure complete functioning of the voice. So the tilt only happens as a part of the complete function, and is dependant on the proper lowering of the larynx. (which is really just the stabilizing of the larynx) These things don't happen because we try to make them happen because someone told us they should happen. They happen naturally as part of the complete action of the vocal mechanism. We have to set up the necessary conditions and then the coordination of the muscles happens as a reflex to what is needed to fulfill the desire of a pitch and vowel. The tilt is the way the body is designed to stretch the vocal folds thinner for higher pitch, so it should be an automatic reaction to the change of pitch. And this all starts and is stimulated by the perfect attack. Garcia popularized the concept but it was the norm of traditional singing that the attack controlled everything during the phrase. Lindquest talked about this a lot, that if the attack was right everything else tended to fall into place. So I guess my point is that if the attack is off then the attempt at laryngeal tilt will likely be fruitless.

Comment on my last post about Rolando Villazon

It is sad that operatic singers mistake the craft of singing for the more popular form of self-expression which is pop music. In Opera, the singer must train his vocal function into an instrument, whereas in pop music, the performer is basically expressing himself, through sound. The operatic performer must never, while performing, stand in the way of the composers wish. This can be expressed in other ways to clarify: The singer must not FEEL the emotions that the music is already expressing. The singers job is to allow the instrument, his/her voice, to be totally unaffected by emotions, i.e "sound effects", because that will cause damage to the vocal membranes. Emotional actions inside the throat causes cramps and puts the voice in a very sensitive state. If a singer is at the same time using a strong appoggio, effective for operatic singing, the voice is slowly destroyed.

The only way to protect the vocal instrument while using a classic "appoggio" is to be cool and controlled, and not tense and emotional.

The music is supposed to achieve the emotions, not the singers inside. And the voice is not supposed to "demonstrate" the emotions of the singer, it must "communicate", which is done by technique, not by "demonstration" of your own inner emotions.

You can clarify this by allowing someone to stand on stage and try to conjure up the emotions of extreme sadness. This causes small cramps in the throat, tightness in the chest and the tear canals well up. All this is detrimental to singing, but by no means effective as a way of communicating sorrow to 2500 people, some of them 100 meters away, and often times across the sound barrier of 90 instruments or more. To demonstrate this emotion by shouting out "i'm sooo saaaad" is just hysterical. It requires extreme control to make it effective.

I appreciate these anonymous comments. They make some important points. I have talked about this as well in my article about Emotions (http://www.vocalwisdom.com/emotions.htm) The one part of these comments that I don't completely agree with, or think they leave out, is their point of the singer needing to have no emotions. I agree that the singer must not be feeling the emotions of the character, that must be left to the music and text to communicate. But if the singer is feeling no emotions they are at risk of being filled with their own emotions of fear and nervousness.

What I teach and try to do is make a habit, right from the beginning of training, of the singer filling themselves with the emotion of love and joy for the act of singing. Singing, in its natural state, is an expression of joy that is filled with enthusiasm and celebration energy. It is like laughing or cheering at a party, only through music. Singing also requires a great deal of energy to fulfill the demands required. The most natural source of that energy is positive emotions of inspiration, joyfulness, enthusiasm, love. But I do agree with the commenter that these emotions need to be calm or cool in comparison to the heated emotions that the music might be expressing or a character might have. These heated emotions have a negative influence on the parts of the body involved with singing. The other, more loving emotions have a very positive influence on the body, and through experiencing them becomes the most effective way of creating those conditions ideal for singing.

Some of those conditions are a buoyant chest and rib cage. This avoids the problem of a collapsed condition which impairs breathing function. A hollow and open throat, providing good resonance and free phonation. Good flexible upright posture without stiffness which allows the body to function freely in response to our desire to sing. And as I already mentioned, abundant energy to feed the voice while singing. These conditions, when experienced, make the singing act much more committed and effective. Which is ultimately what we are all after.

Question About the Low Larynx

How can l lower my larynx using appoggio instead of my throat muscles, l know the second one can be damaging to the voice, but I don't quite get it.

The main thing I emphasize is not so much the lowering of the larynx as the stabilizing of the larynx. We want to make sure that the larynx does not rise when we start to phonate. This is a sign that there is a lack of stable resistance to the breath by the larynx. Although the larynx takes a lower position in good function, it is not helpful to try and lower it. The lower position needs to happen naturally through good function and not through deliberate placement. The way we accomplish this is by making sure that the larynx is active in the phonation and not passive. Signs of a passive larynx are breath flow, rising of the larynx, disconnected quality, lack of depth, sensation of placement in the mouth area. If the larynx is active we feel like we are pronouncing deeper, from the bottom of the throat. We actually can learn to sense the start of the vibration at the vocal cords. By thinking with the voice instead of with the breath we stimulate the nervous system to activate the muscles in and around the larynx. This activation is not a tensing or stiffening, but simply action that stabilizes the larynx so it does not rise and stays in balanced opposition with the breath in order to keep the vibration going. So it goes back to the descriptions of Manuel Garcia that the start of the vibration controls everything. He referred to this as the "Coup de Glotte", or the Perfect Attack.

Question and Rant About Diaphragm Support

I don't get this support from the diaphragm stuff. All it does is put an excess of pressure on the vocal chords so that I cannot sustain like I use to. As a Operatic Dramatic Baritone I use to be able to sing the two big baritone arias from Pagliacci and Un Ballo back to back with interpolated high A flat and could sustain beautifully. People marvelled over the ease and power of my upper notes saying I should sing HeldonTenor. I had a full rich lower and middle register and a soaring upper register and never sang in a production anywhere where my voice was not the most powerful(decibel wise)male voice in the cast by far. But my voice teacher says I was shouting and that I had a fast vibratto and that I supported from the chest which was incorrect and that I needed to sing with an open throat,control my larynx position,breath and support low and sing with resonance. Well after 1 1/2 years of this I now sing with resonance and support and a properly open throat. I can't come near to singing upper notes like I use to and am lucky to make it through a single aria, the whole business has gotten so complex I find myself not even wanting to sing half the time. Before I use to be able to sing piano or forte depending on what I wished. Now it is uncomfortable to sing anything but mezzoforte, if I sing lighter I lose my connection if I sing louder I lose my voice. The warmth of the voice is gone the shining upper notes are gone the power of the voice is gone I can't sustain like I use to. But at least I am singing correctly,

Well, I thank you for sharing your feelings with me. You sound frustrated, and I don't blame you. I think you would agree with me that it doesn't seem like you are singing correctly, even if someone is telling you that you are. Your story speaks to me because one of my greatest disappointments is the prevalence of opinion in voice training. You are singing correctly according to your voice teacher, which is his opinion. We need to always gauge our functioning against what is natural for the voice and not what someone thinks it should sound like. That's why I don't really talk about technique anymore because technique is subject to opinion. I focus on function, which is set by nature in the design of the physical body. If we behave in line with natural function we will get the result of the best tone we are capable of.

The key is to really understand the characteristics of natural function. Since we are interested in singing opera we tend to look at things through the filter of that style of singing. But we can be influenced by style in opera just as Broadway singers are negatively influenced by their style. The function of the instrument should be the same regardless of what style you are singing. Just like a trumpet functions the same whether it is playing in a symphony or a jazz band. The expression and style of music is different, but how we make the instrument work is the same. It sounds to me like your teacher has something in mind regarding the sound and is not in tune with the functioning of your instrument. If the voice is functioning in balance with all parts of the body you should have the result of fulfilling the potential of your instrument. Full range, dynamic flexibility, ease, comfort, intensity. All of the qualities of a good voice.

Regarding your specific question about supporting from the diaphragm, I don't do it. That is not to say that there aren't things happening in the midsection while we sing. There is, but it is not the deliberate pushing or tensing that people usually do when "supporting". First we have to ask ourselves what are we trying to support? The tone? Tone is air resonating sympathetically with a vibrating material. In the case of the voice the vibrating material is the vocal folds, which is the source, and the tone starts in the pharynx and is amplified through the principle of resonance. The tone then radiates out relative to the intensity of the source until it reaches the ear of the listener. Since tone is energy moving through air we can't really support it. And it doesn't need to be supported. What tone needs is a constant pure, intense vibration to keep it complete. How does that happen? By taking care of the source vibration of the vocal cords.

So we need to understand how we can keep the vocal cords vibrating in a pure and intense manner. The first step is to establish a clean contact, or closure. I try to avoid saying closure because people tend to over-do it and add pressure to the cords. That is not what I am talking about. We just need to have a light contact so we don't waist breath. This is where the vibration starts. We do this by stopping the normal breathing cycle. Simply hold the breath. Not with the throat but with your body, the breathing system. Suspend might be a better term. Then we can cleanly say the vowel and pitch. But we need to conceive of saying the vowel and pitch with the vocal cords. Like a violinist plays on the string. This will let the vocal cords react spontaneously without being burdened by breath trying to escape through the glottis because of the breathing reflex. The breathing reflex opens the glottis to let the breath pass through into or out of the lungs. This obviously destroys the ability of the vocal cords to vibrate purely which kills any balance in the production. Once the glottis closes it creates a compressed air condition in the lungs. When we do this it makes singing easy. The compressed air supports the voice by always having energy available to refresh the vibration. It is similar to the buzz a trumpet player makes with their lips. The body reacts instinctively to our desire to continue the vibration by unconsciously squeezing the body, keeping a steady compression of breath against the vibrating vocal cords. This keeps the voice vibrating and producing tone. This is the key to long phrases, not taking incredibly large breaths.

From your description I would guess that by supporting you are giving some pressure in a downward direction. This will add weight to the voice and make it feel heavy. This happens when we think of breathing and supporting low. This concept is an overcompensation for the high chest breath that we want to avoid. But we distort the body in order to breath as low as many voice teachers want us to. The abdomen loses its natural position of slightly in, where it can react reflexively to the needs of the voice by holding the breath and compressing it as necessary. Thinking of supporting can also burden the vocal folds with too much breath pressure, causing them to "over-vibrate". This is the same as forcing. The worst condition is singing with breath-flow and then supporting. The act of "supporting" in this case just pushes the breath out even more causing the glottis to enlarge and make the voice heavy and loud.

Another effect of consciously supporting is the tendency for the resonator to close. Some degree of constriction of the airway tends to happen when we tense or push out with the abdomen. This cuts off the upper resonator behind the nose because the tongue tends to go down, causing heaviness and stiffness. The voice loses clarity and ease. It gets louder and darker, which can fool some people into thinking it is good. But that is a very limited viewpoint and misses the limitations of range and flexibility which are lost.

I thank you again for sharing your situation with me. I hope my response will help you to look at your voice in a more complete way. If I can be of any more help please let me know.

More Bad News for Rolando Villazon

It was announced last week that Rolando Villazon will have surgery to remove a cyst from his vocal cords. This is sad news, indeed. But we went over this a month or two back. There really is no such thing as singing too much, the problem comes from not being functionally capable of singing as much as you choose to do. Jussi Bjorling sang often, sometimes on consecutive nights, but he had the functional capacity to handle it. Villazon has such poor coordination of his voice that any amount of singing will be too much for the instrument to handle. Just saying that he sang too much, or worse the wrong repertoire, is just a cop-out. Saying that problems come from singing too often without enough rest implies that singing in itself is injurious. Granted, the way it is being done it very often is. But that is not how it should be. Good functional singing is therapeutic to the voice. It builds up rather than tears down. This latest event in the saga of Villazon is just the medical outcome that proves my point that he has been abusing his voice for years. He is an exciting performer, and audiences love that. But sometimes that adulation can blind you to what is the right thing to do. Just because it makes an impressive effect doesn't make it a good thing to do. We can learn that from observing the career of Giuseppe Di Stefano. Actors step over that line all the time now with realistic acting, but singers can't afford to let the emotion go past that point where the voice is still under control. Both Villazon and Di Stefano suffer from the effects of singing without a balanced resonance to naturally amplify the tone so they don't have to sing loud all of the time. Jussi had great resonance balance so even though the tone seemed loud, he didn't have to work hard vocally by singing loud. It is called vocal efficiency. Without it the voice breaks down. I don't expect him to completely recover. A loss for opera lovers.

Response from previous post

Michael,
WOW! This advice was so absolutely SPOT ON! This is working beautifully for me. Thank God for you, because I rehearsed with my son several days ago and he said my voice sounded great! I'm amazed. The advice about my throat staying open was so valuable too. That made a huge difference. Thank you Michael!
I really appreciate this advice from you.

I am so glad to hear this from you! There was another aspect to your situation that I neglected to mention. The registers. The break that you are referring to is the transition area between the two registers. So what you described tells us that your lower register is weak. The remedy is what I discussed in the previous e-mail. The lower register has a different feel than what you are used to in the rest of your range. It is more of a spoken quality. Exercising the lower register is actually beneficial to the whole voice. Doing 3-note ascending scales starting as low as comfortable and working up is a nice, basic but effective one. You basically imitate a man and work that up. This should absolutely stop at the E where your break is. This is strictly a strengthening exercise and should not be the normal way of singing, even in the low range. This helps the upper register as well because it strengthens the action of the voice.

Question about “quavering voice”

I used to sing weekly and practice daily in my job. But I resigned and for about 5 years haven't used my voice much. I'm trying to get it back in shape to sing 2 songs at a friend's wedding. I'm a soprano and I'm 54 years old. In one of the songs I have to sing below my break, which is at E above middle C. I have a problem I've never had before: I have noticed that my voice now quavers (like a "little old lady") except in the upper range. The quavering starts at about my break and lower. I'm using the vocal exercises my voice teacher used to have me do. The first exercise is: using a very light "whoooo" sound I vocally slide down a fifth. I repeat going down chromatically then do the same going back up. The object is to use proper breath control, keep the roof of the mouth open, cheek bones high, jaw relaxed, etc. The second exercise is like the first only slide down a fifth stopping on the thirds. And there are some more exercises that I do too. Could this quaver be from not using my voice and maybe it is just weak now? I realize it isn't possible to diagnose perfectly without actually seeing me, but if I keep gently vocalizing the way I was taught, could this quaver possibly be "cured" and my voice sound stronger again?

From what you have told me it seems that your time off has allowed your voice to weaken some. The basic function of the voice is the elastic resistance of the vocal cords against the breath which causes them to vibrate giving the source of the tone. If there is not sufficient resistant strength in the vocal cords they will not be stable which will be noticed both in the body sensations of the singer, as uncertainty and lack of confidence in the voice, and in the tone. The quavering you describe is one of the symptoms of this condition. When this happens it takes more attention to keep the throat open, where if the vocal cords are properly active the larynx stays stable and the throat stays open almost automatically. Unfortunately doing exercises that focus on the breath will not re-strengthen your vocal cord function. You point out that you mainly notice it from your break and lower. This is the part of the range that is more like speaking which does not require much breath and is primarily voice.

An explanation may help. The function of the voice is governed by a balance between the voice (larynx/vocal cord action) and the breath. The better we are able to coordinate these two opposing forces the better the function, resulting in better tone. That is the skill of singing in a nutshell. If we only focus on the breath as we develop and practice we will be neglecting half of the situation. For some this doesn't pose any obvious problems. But over time they gradually creep in. For others this is why they never really get their voice figured out. It all depends on the normal condition of the larynx. But without exercising the larynx it will gradually weaken and make singing more difficult than when we were young. My guess is your larynx was naturally well-coordinated so you could just "play" it by focusing on your breath. Then when you stopped singing that natural coordination was not being used so it weakened.

My advice would be to practice very simply. You seem to have a good idea of how to set-up things. So once you are ready to start your tone just say it. Don't deliberately use your breath to get it started. Let it be a reflex to your desire to express/communicate. Remember the saying, "the breath comes because you have something to say". Lamperti stated it as the voice takes the breath it needs. But if you exhale the body instinctively opens the vocal cords. This obviously weakens the approximation that is necessary for phonation. Then we have to use extra breath to get a clear vibration, which never really happens. This equates to pushing or over-singing. So try to sensitize yourself to not depending on the breath to activate your voice. The body will learn to provide what is necessary. There is more that can be done, but it has to be closely supervised to make sure it is done correctly or it could be harmful.

Another Breathing Question

I am a very dedicated 17 year old vocalist living in Westchester, NY. Some background info- I've been singing seriously for about a year and a half now. I sing classically and r&b style. I've performed at many venues, mainly pro bono, to increase my performance experience, and for good causes. I have performed in front of Capitol Hill in Washington DC in front of 25,000 people at the Global Peace Festival, and that has been my largest audience up to date.

I consider myself a good vocalist with exceptional control in terms of melisma (vocal acrobatics, w.e. you want to call it) and I stay on pitch quite well.

However, the reason why I am writing you this is because I have recently been struggling with one issue: breathing. My singing training has been a self-taught process; I've read and relied on numerous online resources to enhance my singing ability. Around 6 months ago, I stumbled across an article that explained the benefits of diaphragmatic breathing. Upon reading it I decided I was going to condition myself to breathe like that.

I started by squeezing my midsection (diaphragm) with my hands, to isolate my breath. When I breathed in, my sides/lower ribcage protruded, I could feel my stomach, lower back and buttocks area tense up slightly. I decided I was doing the right thing, so I continued to train that way. I have even tied a belt around my waist, wearing it all day, in order to isolate my breathing into my diaphragm. It's been several months since I have started this endeavor.

But recently- and I'm presuming it's because of this entire breathing re-configuration process- it's been difficult to breathe. The major problem is my throat feels tight. I feel bloated, I always have to burp- and my burps seem to be coming straight from my stomach- a low, deep gurgle- and sometimes the tight throat prevents it from coming out. When I stand up, I can't seem to relax when I breathe, I feel like it's forced breathing, and all my air intake seems to be going to my chest and other parts not my diaphragm.

I really would appreciate it if you would take the time to help me overcome this problem, and teach me how to BREATHE properly.

How we breath is an important topic for singing. The basic manner of breathing you describe sounds correct. But it is possible that in your dedication you have gone too far, and are trying too hard, in your exercising. Natural breathing should be free and flexible. There is tension involved but it should not feel tense. I prefer to describe it as taut, always feeling elastic. Active but not a struggle. It is helpful to understand the basic physiology involved when we breath to make sure we are not overstepping the capabilities of the body.

When we inhale the diaphragm contracts (it is a muscle) and pulls against the lower ribs and back, where it connects. This contraction requires a stable bone structure to pull against or it will not be balanced. This requires the muscles of the rib cage and lower back to be coordinately active, through posture, to balance the contraction of the diaphragm. If this coordination does not happen we get the result of either high chest breathing or undesirable abdominal breathing, depending on the posture conditions and the individual habits.

Some helpful things to keep in mind when breathing are, 1. Feel like you are breathing into your lower ribs and lower back. This is because the largest area of the lungs are the lower lobes which are felt in these areas and because this is where we feel the muscular activity counterbalancing the contraction of the diaphragm. 2. Keep a good uplifted posture. Standing in an up-stretched condition is important to combat the typical sag we see in the majority of the population. This alone nearly guarantees improved breath function. 3. Don't over-breath. There is such a great emphasis on breathing for singing that people have a tendency to over-do it. We should strive for a comfortable fullness but not a feeling of being completely packed. We just want to make sure that we don't allow the lungs to be deflated so there is an insufficient amount of air to be compressed and provide the energy necessary to feed the vibration of the vocal folds.

We need to remember that the purpose of the breath is to feed the vibration of the vocal folds, it is not the sound itself. So we need to always balance the breath with the resistance of the vocal folds and not send it out as if it were the sound. This misconception is what makes people over emphasize the breath and over-burden the voice with too much breath. If you are over-breathing when you inhale the body will feel a need to let that breath out. If we let the breath out while we sing we will disturb the balance of the phonation. If the release of the breath disturbs the vibration too much the body will unconsciously constrict the throat to resist the breath to compensate. This reaction could be the cause of your tight throat.

The problem of burping is a sign that you are being too vigorous and disturbing your digestion. I think it is likely that you are just trying too hard with your breathing practice. Try being more smooth when you breath and don't take in more than you can suspend comfortably. This will allow your voice to vibrate freely without being burdened with too much breath pressure trying to get out through the glottis, which is the cause of throat constriction.

A question about the “ng” hum

I am from Argentina and have a technical question, How can I achieve the “ng” position for the tongue? I don't understand the position for the word hang or sing. Is it the position for the tongue in the “n” consonant? In the “n” consonant I can't see the bottom of my throat. Is this OK? Thank you very much!

I take it the "ng" consonant is not natural for you maybe because of your language? It is like "n" except the back of the tongue is touching the roof of the mouth instead of the front of the tongue. I recommend experimenting to find a balanced pronunciation. It is important that the larynx does not rise when pronouncing this kind of "hum". Is that what you mean when you say you can't see the bottom of your throat on "n"? That is why "ng" is generally preferred over "n". The "n" tends to cause the larynx to rise, which is undesirable for singing.

Some also have difficulty finding the proper position of the tongue against the roof of the mouth. What I suggest is to observe yourself swallowing several times. As you do this you will notice the back of the tongue rises against the soft palate as the larynx squeezes up and then resets down. If you leave the tongue up against the soft palate while allowing the larynx to completely reset down you will have an ideal position of the tongue for pronouncing the "ng" hum.

The benefit of the "ng" hum is it naturally encourages the sensation of resonance in the naso-pharynx above the soft palate behind the nose. This post-nasal resonator tends to be overlooked by many singers and teachers. The inclusion of this resonator frees the voice to function in the weightless manner we are searching for. It is also the main resonator responsible for amplifying the higher pitches of the voice. Neglecting to use this upper resonator is the reason for difficulty in the high range for all voices. The main roadblock to this resonance is the back of the tongue, so the use of the "ng" position helps to train the tongue to allow the tone to resonate completely.

I hope this gives you a clearer idea of how to incorporate the benefit of the "ng" hum into your singing. Thanks.

Question about Breathing for Singing

Wondering if you could help me with my understanding of how the breath works? In the last lesson when I had some vocal co-ordination success by thinking of replicating the feeling of playing sax with the mouthpiece being at the base of the neck, would it be right to say there was more breath compression and less 'loose air'? How exactly does this compression work? If the body has the feeling of squeezing/being thinner/wearing a tight belt etc wouldn't that shoot the breath out faster and 'overpower' the larynx? Because I feel like that 'overpowering' wasn't happening, I feel confused about how the breath 'support' mechanism works. Part of my confusion I think is to do with some people saying push out, some push in, some push down, some say feel the expansion here or there, some say support is automatic if the sound is properly onset and that 'connection' maintained through the duration of that note. Any wisdom :) or analogies regarding this topic would be greatly appreciated.

You have hit on one of the biggest problems with singing. The confusion over differing opinions about the breath. There are several aspects we need to look at to understand this discrepancy.

First, you are correct to say you are experiencing breath compression instead of loose breath. One reference book states that, “we compress air by breathing out.” But this is only partially true. To better understand this it might help to look at normal respiration and compare that to what is needed when singing. When we breath normally the diaphragm contracts to descend and increase the volume of the chest cavity. This increase of volume reduces the internal pressure so air from outside is drawn into the lungs. The air in the lungs goes through a process where the body extracts the oxygen and deposits it into the blood. The blood has also carried waste back to the lungs which is released so it can be exhaled. The act of exhalation in normal breathing is largely a passive one. The diaphragm rises because the contraction is relaxed, decreasing the chest cavity volume expelling the air in the lungs.

When we sing the requirements of our breathing change. The act of inhalation is essentially the same, but our exhale is treated differently. Where exhalation was more of a passive release from a contraction in normal respiration, in singing we need to have a more active exhalation. This involves a steady pulling in of the abdomen which pushes the diaphragm up, shrinking the chest cavity and compressing the air. It should be noted that the active exhalation is performed below the lungs. In order to have a balanced phonation we need to feel like we are NOT exhaling above the lungs, at the top of the chest. If we exhale above the lungs we will have the result of shooting the breath out faster and overpowering the larynx. See, your sensations are attuned to the feeling of resistance that the mouthpiece provides with your saxophone. So you are unconsciously providing a similar resistance with your larynx, that we feel at the top of the chest, when you recreate that feeling.

As I have stated before, we must be careful not to try and have the same amount of compression as we feel with the wind instruments. This is because these other vibrating materials are larger and not as flexible, so they tend to need more pressure than the smaller, more flexible vocal folds to make them vibrate. The other thing to keep in mind is our purpose is to vibrate a balanced sound from the voice. So if we arbitrarily compress the breath with no care for the vibration we are liable to force the breath out, or add excess resistance with the root of the tongue, to the detriment of the vibration. This was the idea behind the Swedish/Italian School's adage that the breath comes because we have something to say. If we are focused on what we are saying/singing, it will protect us from over working the voice with excess breath, as we might if we are just focused on the breath and trying to compress it.

Now the problem with all of the differing opinions of what to do with the breath. Push out, pull in, push down, pull up, expand you belly, expand your ribs, lift your chest, don't lift your chest. There are advocates of just about every possible option. And they all have an element of truth to support them because we are dealing with the concept of balance. Everything that is stated is in opposition to each other. One person says one thing because it helped them, another says the opposite because that helped them. The reason different things helped each person was because that is what was needed to get closer to balance. That is why there are people who believe in each one. A thorough explanation of each possibility and why it works, or seems to work, for different people would be more time consuming than we have time for here. But what I always answer when people ask a “this or that” question is “both”. We are looking for balance and there is an element of both in what we do. The bottom line is we need some kind of air pressure to make the vocal folds vibrate. Even loose air has some degree of pressure. That is why people who sing with a flow of breath can make a tone, sometimes even a good sounding one. Next we need some degree of resistance to the air pressure by the vibrating material, in this case the vocal folds. This resistance can be adjusted many different ways giving us the range of possibilities we hear in different people. Then we need some kind of resonator to amplify the source vibration from the vocal folds. All of these basic elements can be coordinated in a near infinite number of ways. On top of this we all come to learn singing from different backgrounds of vocal habits. So making a certain adjustment may have an immediate improvement because it counters their bad habit. So they latch onto that and think everyone needs to do that. If they teach, that is what they end up teaching, and then wonder why it only helps half their students. This is what I call teaching from opinion. Opinion is the basis of the old statement “there are as many methods as there are teachers.” I feel that this should not be the case. If we have a clear understanding of the nature of the voice and how it is designed to function then opinion goes right out the window. In other words, you can believe whatever you want but until you see the truth you will be disappointed with your results. I don't claim to hold the truth, nobody can say that. The truth of the voice is right in front of us to see. All we have to do is open our eyes and wipe away the blinders that we have on from all of the opinions and beliefs that we call technique.

As we go on we will continue to address the different elements involved, gradually getting more in-depth. Eventually I hope we can illustrate things clearly enough so what we are trying to do becomes obvious. I am not here to convince anyone to believe what I am saying because these concepts are not based on my beliefs. I am trying to describe the truth of the situation we are faced with when we sing so each person can see it for themselves.

Reader response to last post

My question is: why is this sort of "non-singing" taking the place of real singing? One hears maybe a few "pretty voices" but not a real voice, not a voice filled with real emotion (most have no emotion to their singing at all, this singer you shared with us has NO emotion whatever). There is a disconnect happening, at least to me, not just of body from sound, but from emotional connection even from the music and the words. It is like singing empty pages from the telephone book. Why is this happening? What is more, why do the producers of opera feel this is what the public wants? I have seen more often than not, unfilled seats, and people leave during a performance, because the singing was simply unacceptable. Even if it was in tune, it was so wanting that one left feeling they received nothing at all from the evening. Most of us (at least my age) remember well performances that literally blasted us from our seats with emotional intensity. We remember voices that simply grabbed us and overwhelmed us giving us goose bumps all over. Even if the singers were not all equal to the task of singing everything they sang, we were literally drawn into an experience that could not be halted. And people like my mother are so accustomed to hear (at least when she was young) Flagstad and Melchior and other such singers (one of my mother's favorites was Helen Traubel), in performance, she won't even attend an opera with me anymore. She stopped doing so when we could no longer get tickets to Jessye Norman performances. And even with her occasional flaws and pitch issues, to my mother, she was about the last singer of any value out there. What is happening now? I feel nothing. I feel like I am eavesdropping on a conversation that I am certainly NOT supposed to be listening to. I am left cold because nothing is communicated. I understand the words (I speak 10 languages fluently), but sense no meaning behind anything being sung. I hear pretty tones, but no real involvementon the part of the singer. And that is what I felt listening to this singer you are talking about. I hardly care if she is the "flavor of the month." We see far too many artists come and go at a whim.

It seems to me that there is such a fear among the majority of teachers (especially University teachers) of harming the voice that they overcompensate in the opposite direction. Obviously this is a result of ignorance on their part, because if they truly understood the voice and how it is designed they would know that vocalizing on the flow of breath is as detrimental as vocalizing with excess pressure in the vocal folds. It seems as if they believe that the only way to hurt the voice is through "hyper-function". But a great deal more damage has been done with their "proven" method of "flow phonation". In the NATS community flow phonation has become so accepted that there is no question that it is the standard.

The problems then start because when there is a flow of breath through the glottis while phonating the larynx loses stability. Without a stable larynx the muscles that control the adjustment of the vocal folds cannot function correctly. Lamperti stated that the muscles inside the larynx (dealing with pitch and vibration) cannot do their job until the muscles outside the larynx (dealing with position through vowel) are busy doing theirs. This is the reason for the common problem of a high larynx (as well as irregular vibrato, poor tuning, weak or unstable tone, reduced range, the list could go on). A combination of muscular contractions against an unstable mechanism and the unopposed pressure of the flowing breath move the larynx out of the ideal position causing the resonator to close, the vocal folds to change shape, and simply collapse the instrument structure.

Whenever there is a force in one direction there needs to be an equal force in the opposite direction to give balance. This is the true meaning of the concept of "appoggio". Also the concept of the voice (larynx) on the breath. The larynx must sit on the breath and even lean into it providing a balanced opposition to the breath pressure. When this is done the breath is in a condition of being compressed rather than loose, as it is when flowing. This is the true meaning of breath support. The breath supports the voice like the compressed air in the tires supports the weight of a car. The breath does not support the tone by flowing under it, holding it up like a cloud. Compressed breath was the basis of the Lamperti training, as well as Garcia with his emphasis on closing the glottis, really all historical Italian school methods. I have to remind people I work with constantly that the only purpose of the breath is to set the vocal folds into motion. The breath serves no purpose above the glottis, so it is in our interest to make sure that it interacts with the folds effectively.

It must be recognized what kind of instrument the voice actually is. The majority seem to want the voice to fall in the same category as flutes and recorders. Air flow instruments. But the voice is not designed that way. It is also not a percussive instrument like a piano or drum. It is like a wind or brass instrument. It even has some similarities to a stringed instrument like a violin when we think of the constant steady bowing needed to play it. But the wind instruments like reeds and brass are probably the closest. We have a vibrating material that is set in motion by a pressure of air applied to it. The difference is the vocal folds are much smaller than the reeds or lips of these other instruments. They are also much more flexible than the reeds and lips. These differences in dimension and material conditions make the vocal vibrator much more efficient, requiring less pressure to set in action.

It seems there is a great deal of opinion being applied to the training of the voice rather than recognising the facts of the vocal instrument. And it is a tendency of human nature to follow the opinions of the group rather than see the truth as an individual. We can see this in the overall population, not just in the voice world. You point out that you don't always hear the escaping breath in some singers. That is correct, you don't hear it most of the time. But you can hear the result of the escaping breath as a poor tone quality. The sound of the escaping breath is usually covered by the forced phonation that is compelled by the flow of breath through the glottis. This is what makes this whole situation so dangerous, that because of the "Bernoulli" concept singers are being taught to use an aggressive out flow of breath to make the folds vibrate. What is not recognised by these singers and their teachers is that because there is no muscular contraction happening to oppose the breath pressure in a balanced way, (as it is their objective to make the folds vibrate with no involvement of the vocal muscles) they are causing the vocal muscles to atrophy. It is a fact of physiology that a muscle unused over time atrophies and loses its ability to contract. This is the cause of all of the aging voices out there, with their wobbles and tuning difficulty, many before they are actually reaching an age that would be considered "old". As the vocal muscles atrophy the glottis gradually gets bigger, requiring progressively more breath to get them to phonate. That is why it makes me cringe when I hear voice teachers or choral directors call out "more breath!" as the remedy for every ailment. Unfortunately it starts at even younger ages now. And that is why healthy young voices come out of college worse than they went in after 4 years of vocal abuse disguised as "healthy gentle vocalism".

It seems to me there is confusion throughout the vocal situation, but no more than with this topic of the breath and phonation. I think a great deal of it stems from the easy mistake of confusing breath and tone. Good singing gives the impression of a flow of tone, although tone really radiates, and we actually can't feel it except as the tickling sensation in the bones of the head, the inner skin of the pharynx and sometimes on low notes in the chest. But this impression is interpreted in the mind of the singer as what they should try to do. It is the age-old problem of confusing cause with effect. So they try to do what they heard the skilled singer doing, at least what they interpreted what they were doing. But since the only thing you can feel to flow is the breath, that is what's done. And since tone is actually vibrating air, we have another element to confuse us. Tone is air and breath is air, but they are definitely not the same thing. So we need to make sure first that we understand the difference between tone and breath, and not confuse them. Breath can never become tone because breath is moving air and tone is still air that is vibrating. To go any farther would be beyond what is necessary for our purpose and get into the study of acoustics. And it is my feeling that science should actually stay out of the practice of application in singing. There has been a great deal of confusion as a result of so-called scientific theories applied to the act of singing. It is much better for the singer to learn to think simply about their voice and follow the mechanical principles of the natural design of the parts of the body involved in singing.

Allan Lindquest singing "Farewell Marguerite"

Elina Garanca

I watched a YouTube clip of Elina Garanca, a mezzo gaining in popularity, that was shared with me by a colleague. My feeling is she makes an accepted sound, which is to say a modern approach to imitating the sound of the great singers rather than a true vocal tone. To my ear it sounds artificially dark and lacking in an equal amount of brilliance. A true tone is balanced in both dark richness and vibrant brilliance. Chiaroscuro. Resonance and squillo. If you observe her mouth and tongue position and imagine the position of the tone, they are all too dark in an attempt to artificially recreate the natural depth and back position of a well functioning voice. When there is no unvocalized breath escaping through the glottis it makes the vowel feel like it has moved right to the back of the throat and even down to the larynx. Modern singers have too much air through the glottis to have that placement naturally so they "open" the throat(actually constrict) by yawning to compensate for the forward placement their function would normally result in. That is how the majority of singers, even at the highest international level, sing now because it is how they have been taught and is even what is expected.

The Perfect Attack or The Coup de Glotte

Perhaps the most important component of the whole singing act is the start of the vibration of the vocal folds. The vibration of the vocal folds (or cords or bands or lips) is the source or the sound we produce. It causes disruptions in the air pressure inside the pharynx which sets the air inside sympathetically vibrating to the vibration of the tissue. This sympathetic air vibration is resonance which radiates out from the larynx eventually striking the ear drum of a listener.
Because the vocal cord vibration is where the vocal tone is started we can see that if it is not coordinated well we will not be able to get the result of a good tone. Now the question comes, how do we do it? Most singers and teachers believe that the vocal folds are not able to be directly controlled. This is completely false. The result of this mistaken belief is wide-spread poor coordination. The way to learn this is a process of developing sensitivity which allows us to coordinate the vocal cord action so it doesn't happen with tightness or weight. It must be flexible.
I describe it with the help of my hands. We do not want to attack the voice like clapping the hands. This is like whacking the voice and is abusive. We hear this with young singers who are very uncoordinated. The cause of this is not the contact with the vocal cords but is more a lack of breath control. They are tightening the cords and pushing breath pressure against them starting the sound with a violent explosion. We need the cords to close, just not tightly and not with a build up of breath behind them. They should close, or better lay together, because we suspend the breath. Lamperti described this well by saying hold the breath not the voice. Many say not to hold the breath, which is true if you mean with the throat. But the breath must be held with the body in order to get a coordinated start. This is done by keeping the rib cage suspended open and resisting the temptation to collapse all the time. If this is done the body automatically compresses the breath in an upward direction with the abdomen.
The technique of sensitizing the vocal cords is helped by a simple exercise of a very light, or whispered, cough. This gives us a feel of where the vocal cords are and where we need to start. It is important not to be aggressive with this and use any breath pressure. It sounds like just a click and is almost inaudible. So it can be done anywhere to remind your sensations. Going back to using the hands to illustrate this it is like tapping the thumb and index fingertip together. Compared to the clapping of the violent version of a full cough this is much more gentle. The final step is to continue the action like a bow stroking a violin string. We suspend the breath with an open rib cage so the glottis closes with the vocal cords laying together. Then instead of tapping like the previous exercise we think of rubbing or rolling the edges of the folds together. Like rubbing your thumb and finger tip together without pressing them. We want to keep the contact, or connection, but not with too much pressure so we crush the vibration. We also don't want to go the other direction and relax the connection and let unvocalized breath escape. We then keep that feeling going for the duration of the sung phrase.