The Breath Of Life

When we sing for any audience, breath is life - literally of course, but also the life of the sound depends on HOW we breathe.

Leading breath of the song: breathe in the pitch, breathe in the vowel.

Take Full Body Breaths wherever possible. This means breathing from the feet up, relaxing the diaphragm, springing open the ribcage (from back to front) and releasing all accumulated tension in the body to reset to a poised posture and attitude.

NEVER 'snatch' a breath. Personal Breaths are taken mid-note, mid-phrase and involve a PROPER breath. It takes no more time. It gives you 100% air instead of 50% and it releases tension instead of adding it.

NEVER 'push' your stomach out as you breathe in. That engages muscles not suitable for singing. The tummy FALLS naturally when you spring the ribcage and relax the diaphragm.

The 'pregnant pause' in the middle of a song is too often an excuse for the singers to HOLD their breath till the end of the pause, then breathe relatively quickly (and noisily) to start the new phrase. BREATH IS LIFE. Any time you are NOT breathing either in or out, you are technically DEAD. And this is where the philosophy of breath and energy gets involved...

When we sing, we are breathing out in an unusual way, and producing sound energy. Music also evokes an emotional response when performed well - let's call that emotional energy. So our instrument is putting out huge amounts of physical, sound and emotional energy. Is that why we're so drained by the end of the song? The fact is, we SHOULDN'T be drained, we should have MORE energy (be more pumped) at the end than at the beginning.

As a Showmanship tool, we talk about bringing in the emotional message of each phrase on the breath that precedes it. I like to talk about inhalation being our only opportunity to TAKE IN ENERGY while we perform. Breath is life, so each breath we take during a song should come with a rush of energy, which we immediately transfer into the sound and emotional energy delivered in the phrase. So take in that emotional energy (with a spring-relax breath) before every phrase and you will feel your performance energy build and build.

So back to the LONG BREATH (nee pregnant pause).... it can take a long time, but should be a slow, steady inhale of breath and energy, setting up the next phrase.

Breath also affects our unity. 75% of all synch problems are caused by confused breath plans, and at the higher levels, by lack of unit approach to breath style.

Lastly, without a relaxed body we cannot achieve vocal freedom. We cannot have a relaxed body if we breathe in a way which creates any tension. Remember that when you breathe, it should be a RELEASE, not a GRAB.

Basic Barbershop Interpretation

I'm writing a resource sheet for school teachers who have barbershop groups at their schools and need to take the first step into changing their singing style from a cappella to barbershop. Here's the gist of my tips on interpretation of songs...

Characteristic of the style, barbershop interpretation has several 'rules of thumb' by which we are guided as we strive to bring out the full musicality of our performances. These depend firstly on what kind of song it is.

Tempo Song (Uptune)

A Tempo Song or Uptune is one which is sung primarily with a strict beat. This can be 6/8 or C - as long as it is IN TEMPO it falls in this category.

Tempo can only be changed or interrupted once during the song - the 'toe tap' of the audience must not be lost more than once or their enjoyment of the performance will be diminished. This means that acceptable forms include:

• songs with a single 'ad lib' verse sung in the middle
  
• the inclusion of a 'stomp' section
• a song that starts 'ad lib' then sets the tempo some way through.

If a return to the original tempo is required after such an interruption, this is usually done by a pause or fromata on the last note(s) of the ad lib or stomp section. Tempo can also be reset from a slower delivery by using an accellerando.

Many uptunes have an 'intro' which is generally sung 'ad lib', with the tempo set on the first beat of the verse or chorus which follows. Most uptunes complete with a 'tag' which is usually all or partly 'ad lib' as well, even if this is only a suspension on the penultimate tension chord and then a held resolution for the last chord. These bits are added to the top and back of a song to make it feel finished as there is no accompaniment to play an introduction or ending for us.

Ballad

Ballads are sung totally ad lib or rubato.

There is a general sense of 'pace' remaining, but all note values are changeable from what is written. The reason for this is that we strive to draw out as much of the song's message as possible - for some songs this is easy, as high notes and important phrases coincide, but for other songs, where the held value is often on an unimportant word (like 'is' or 'of') it can make a dramatic difference to the portrayal of the message.

For example, if the words are "life would be nothing without you" then you have a choice of emphasis: "life would be NOTHING without you" or "LIFE would be nothing without YOU" etc. One hopes (as in this case) the melody will help us: it peaks on 'nothing', so that's where the emphasis should be. This is where artistic license comes in, and individual interpretation and connection with the song.

In general, chords to hold include:

• where melody rises to a natural word and music climax
• in an end-phrase chord progression, the most interesting tension chord should be suspended the longest to increase the pleasure of resolution for the auditor
• where pleasant chording combines with word emphasis

Words are milked of all meaning, using emphasis by sound colour, embellishment, vocal effect etc. to add full dimensionality to the piece.

Dynamics

Dynamics follow word meaning and melodic direction.

Unless done for effect (eg from fff to ppp), dynamics shouldn't change significantly over a breath. Dynamic change should occur WITHIN the phrase, where it can be noticed by the ear and therefore used effectively to enhance musicality and meaning.