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How do I diagnose bad breath support?

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Etchy

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I just want to know what are the signs that tell me I should practice breathing exercises more? Because I always hear different answers and I never know which is right.

For example: I can sing softly and can sing powerfully....but I can't move easily through both without some sort of break...I was told that this might be because of poor breath support

Also, Getting tired from sustaining higher notes...is that related to breath too?

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the question: what gets tired from sustaining high notes?

what notes?

and can you sing an "ah" vowel on a comfortable note like c4, mid volume, for at least 15-20 seconds without much trouble?

singing from soft to loud and loud to soft without a break takes years to develop.

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and can you sing an "ah" vowel on a comfortable note like c4, mid volume, for at least 15-20 seconds without much trouble?

well on my comfortable notes i can sustain it for more than 30 seconds, but as i get higher to the notes that are somewhat high for me, that time decreases. i .e there are notes that i can hit for only 10 seconds or so...

singing from soft to loud and loud to soft without a break takes years to develop

well i know that but i don't know what exercise exactly should i do over the years to develop that :D

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the best exercise and one of the most difficult to master is the messa di voce exercise.

look around the forum for information on it. anthony frisell talks about it, and a modified version of it in his books.

it also called the swelled tone exercise, the transcending tone (jaime vendera's name for it). some tackle it as newbees and really have a hard time of it, others don't. but i would suggest you develop the voice a bit before you tackle it

held the "ah" out for 30 seconds? that's terrific! nothing wrong with doing breathing exercises as part of your routine.

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Actually i have anthony frisell's book "The baritone voice" but i didn't really go through it yet...looks like i should concentrate on it for a while...thanks for your help =)

if that book is half as good as the tenor book, you're gonna be so glad you read it. my tenor book has become like a handbook for me.

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The easiest way to know if support is effectively connecting is comfort. If its supported, its comfortable.

Now, the reasons why support is not connecting will range from breathing to emission and resonance.

A simple experience may help, take a very deep breath, trying to provoke an yawn. When you get it going, feel how the air behaves both in the intake and when exhaling. Try to repeat the movement of the breathing and let an "Ahhhhh" be released strongly. As if you were very disappointed with something. Use a comfortable tone please, and do not try to sing the ah, just release it or you could hurt yourself.

This relaxed position is a rough idea of how a supported note should feel. Different pitchs, vowels and dynamic ranges will only change the air and muscular pressures on your abs, back and lower ribcage, the voice should still come from this release movement.

Measuring the time of sustain of a note is not usefull to diagnose this because a strainned note will use considerably less air. (strainned due to overcompression of course).

To effectively build it and connect it with your voice, the only recipe I know is a well planned trainning program, professional help and discipline. GL!

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Lol my post disappeared?

Anyways, I agreed with what video said, and I also said that this is just a reference for how support should feel when connected with your voice. If you compare what you are doing now with it and there are differences on your throat and how your voice feels, then there is something wrong.

By no means you should just start singing everything yawning!

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re-post:

i personally believe the yawn is misunderstood...

the yawn "configuation" which can be extremely helpful all depending on the singer, and their intentions with a sound (vowel) or song.

also, it is a great way to open up the throat.

but try not to think of it in the literal way. it not the vertical height that's the benefit, it's the congifuration. it's a nice setup of the vocal tract when it's done correctly.

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i quickee one....

here's a book to read if you'd like:

allen greene "the new voice"

when you configure to what can be described as a yawn (not talking at all about a huge, tall, major inhale, i'm-so-sleepy type of yawn) a lot of desirable things happen from that shaping of the vocal tract:

the soft palate kicks back and up, the tongue tends to drop into place away from blocking the airway, the larynx descends creating space and the throat opens up.

also, the voice is much less likely to fall down into the throat. it's placed higher....

try to exercise with this configuration. see if it doesn't produce a more resonant tone a more open vocal production.

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