Emily C., McKinney, Ch. 4

McKinney Ch. 4

• What is the normal breathing rate of a person at rest? 
• 12-16 breathes per minute
• What are the stages of breathing for life? 
• Slow intake of air, somewhat quicker release of air, waiting/recovery period before next intake.
• What is the essential difference between breathing to live and breathing to sing? 
• Singing has suspension and controlled exhalation. 
• What are the factors involved in getting air out of the body? 
• diaphragm relaxes, lungs return to their original shape, the abdominal organs/wall return to original shape and location when the diaphragm relaxes, internal rib and abdominal muscles assist in air expulsion. 
• What are the benefits of breathing through the nose?  (Why do we normally do this when breathing for life?) 
• It cleans, warms, and moisturizes the air. We do this in natural breathing because time allows for it. In singing, only do it when you have appropriate time. 
• Why does McKinney believe that aerobic conditioning is good for singers? 
• It makes the singer more efficient at utilizing the lower capillaries of the lungs in the CO2 and O2 exchange. 
• What are the stages of breathing for singing? 
• There are four stages: inhalation, suspension, controlled-exhalation/phonation, recovery
• How does inhalation for singing differ from inhalation for life? 
• It’s faster for singing, there’s more air taken in, and breath goes deeper than natural breathing. 
• What are the three scenarios he suggests trying to condition a good inhalation for singing? 
• Pretend to be smelling a flower; pretend to begin a yawn, but not a full yawn; pretend to be drinking a glass of water. 
• What are the three postural conditions that should exist BEFORE you inhale? 
• Chest is comfortably high, lower abs are comfortably in, upper abs 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
• Why does McKinney say that recovery is important? 
• If the recovery is insufficient, the muscles may become more tense with each breath. 
• What is the secret for performing a good catch breath? 
• Drop the lower jaw quickly open while breathing as if startled/surprised. It should be synchronized with no shoulder/upper chest movement. 
• What is breath support? 
• The dynamic relationship between the breathing in muscles and the breathing out muscles to supply adequate breath pressure to the vocal folds for the sustaining of any desired pitch/dynamic level. 
• What is breath control?
• The function of the vocal cords themselves; defined as a dynamic relationship between the breath and the vocal cords which determines how long you can sing on one breath.  
• What are the four incorrect methods of breathing and their corrective procedures? 
• Upper chest breathing: Establish the correct postural and breathing techniques; make the student aware of the goals and remind them constantly until it’s habitual. 
• Rib breathing: Release of postural tension and encouragement of upper abdominal expansion while inhaling. 
• Back breathing: Encourage frontal expansion during inhalation. 
• Belly breathing: Postural correction; comfortably high chest, spinal stretch, and straight back. 
• What is hypofunctional breathing and what are the corrective procedures for it? 
• Failing to demand enough physical activity of the breathing mechanism; explain, demonstrate, ask the student to experience the four stages in breathing for singing. 
• What is hyperfunction breathing and what are the 2 main causes and corrective procedures for it? 
• Demanding too much activity of the breathing mechanism; limit yourself to taking comfortably deep breaths. 
• What is hypofunctional breath support and what are the possible causes? 
• Failure to demand enough activity of the support mechanism. 
• No suspension phase, the misconception that the singer is singing louder than he actually is, an anemic concept of vocal tone, devitalized posture, and lack of awareness of the nature/function of support mechanism. 
• What is the corrective procedure for hypofunctional support? 
• Make the student aware of the problem and its causes and ask them to make necessary adjustments in what he/she is doing. 
• What is hyperfunctional breath support and what are the possible causes? 
• Demanding too much of the support mechanism. 
• Trying to make a voice bigger than it really is, pulling in on the upper ab, eliminating the suspension phase, excess postural tension, too-muscular approach to singing, etc. 
• What is the corrective procedure for hyperfunctional support? 
• Get the student to stop exerting so much local effort in the upper ab.