Amber- McKinney Chapter 4

Amber
McKinney Ch 4 Breathing and Support Study Questions


-What is the normal breathing rate of a person at rest?
12 to 16 times per minute.

-What are the stages of breathing for life?
1) slow intake of air... 2)somewhat quicker release of air... 3) a recovery period before next air intake.

-What is the essential difference between breathing to live and breathing to sing?
Breathing to live has the three stages listed above. Breathing to sing has four stages that include the former three, but adds a period of setting up controls and suspension right after intake.

-What are the factors involved in getting air out of the body?
1) the diaphragm relaxes 2)the lungs are elastic and return to their original shape from before they were expanded 3) the viscera return to their original location as the diaphragm stops pushing down on them and returns to it's neutral or original position. 4)The internal and external intercostals in the ribs assist in the further expulsion of air.

-What are the benefits of breathing through the nose? (Why do we normally do this when breathing for
life?)
the nose filters, warms, and adds moisture to the incoming air.

-Why does McKinney believe that aerobic conditioning is good for singers?
It helps the respiratory system operate at near peak efficiency and gets the lower lobes of the lungs  where more oxygen is more efficiently processing, used to working more.

-What are the stages of breathing for singing?
1) inhalation 2)setting up controls/suspension 3) a CONTROLLED exhalation 4) and a recovery period.

-How does inhalation for singing differ from inhalation for life?
It is quicker, deeper, and a greater quantity of air is taken in.

-What are the three scenarios he suggests trying to condition a good inhalation for singing?
1) pretend you are inhaling a flower 2) pretend you are beginning a yawn 3) Pretend you are drinking a glass of water.

-What are the three postural conditions that should exist BEFORE you inhale?
1) chest comfortably high, 2)lower abdomen should be comfortably in, and 3) the upper abdomen should be free to move.

-How does breath seem to move when you inhale?
… Into the body, down to the lungs, and out around the middle of the body.

-In the quote from Van Christy, “[When] all the muscles function properly in singing, there is a feeling of
, in the body.
“Flexible , expansive openness in the body.”

-Why does McKinney say that recovery is important?
If there is not enough of a recovery period, the muscles will become more tense as time goes on (or as you go through a poice) and they will not function at peak effeciency.

-What is the secret for performing a good catch breath?
Accelerating the the inhalation and recovery periods without introducing unnecessary tension.

-What is breath support?
A dynamic relationship between the breathing in muscles and the breathing out muscles.

-What is breath control?
Mainly a function of the vocal chords themselves. … may be defined as a dynamic relationship between the breath and the vocal chords which determines how long you can sing on one breath.

-What are the four incorrect methods of breathing and their corrective procedures?
1. Upper chest, or clavicular breathing: Establish correct postural breathing techniques.
2. Rib Breathing: Help the student achieve the release of postural tension with the encouragement of upper abdominal expansion while inhaling.
3. Back breathing: Encourage frontal expansion while inhaling.
4. Belly breathing: the best way to counter this is to correct the breathing posture where it is almost impossible to “belly breathe”.

-What is hypofunctional breathing and what are the corrective procedures for it?
Too little air.... not enough in and therefore not enough to sustain the tone properly.... Explain and demonstrate the four stages for in breathing for singing, then ask the student to try and experience it.

-What is hyperfunctional breathing and what are the 2 main causes and corrective procedures for it?
Tanking up with air out of fear of running out of it before the end of the phrase 1) misconceptions about how much air one needs to get to the end of a long phrase in relationship to the quantity you can take in and 2) fear of runnign out of breath on a public performance...... Limit yourself to taking an comfortably deep breath.