How and Why to "Mark Your Breaths" in a Song


First of all, why do I need to “mark the breaths” in a song?  Well, considering the fact that breath is the fuel for and the main power behind every song, it is optimally important that you build in as much control of your breathing as possible.  The more breaths you take, the more fuel you have at your disposal.  “Marking your breaths” gives you extra control, extra fuel, boosts your ability to convey emotion and power, and puts overall mastery of a song much closer within your grasp.
“Marking Your Breaths” is a very easy procedure.  These days, finding free, printable lyrics for songs is just a click away OR you can do the marking right on your sheet music.  You want to mark the breaths wherever you will be studying the lyrics to learn them.  By this, I mean that you need to mark your breaths on a song BEFORE you memorize the lyrics.  This way, you can learn both the lyrics and the breaths at the same time.
So, to mark the breaths, read your lyrics aloud.  Anytime your voice lifts at all, mark a tiny check or comma in your lyrics.  I cannot emphasize enough that I really do mean mark EVERY time your voice lifts at all.  This may mean that you have multiple “commas” or “checks” in a line but it is always much easier to cut out breaths than it is to add in extra ones.  Once all the breaths are marked, start over again, and read back through the entire song from the beginning.  This way, you should be able to detect any phrases or passages where you still don’t have the breath you need.  Try to read the lyrics and the breaths at the same speed or tempo that you would use to sing the song.  If you figure this out now, BEFORE you’ve gotten frustrated by trying to sing those phrases or passages, you can save yourself LOTS of stress, disappointment, and annoyance.  If you get stuck, your voice teacher will be able to help you add more potential “breaths” and/or maximize the breaths you already have marked.  Practice the breathing exercises from my earlier post to strengthen your overall inhale/exhale routine.
Once you have created a “breathing map”, work with your voice teacher to sing through the song, and circle any areas that need additional breath support or work, or areas that are especially difficult and may need some vowel alteration help.  Check an upcoming post for help with “vowel alteration.”
Thanks everyone!  Enjoy this post and all the others!  Please check out my website at www.SingitForward.net.  Sing it Forward!

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