Breathing right will make your voice stronger, clearer

Inhale,
exhale
BY JUDYLEE VIVIER

WE INHALE OUR FIRST BREATH the

moment we are born and embrace
life; we exhale our last breath in
the moment of death. Breathing
is the source of life in the
body. Without oxygen we
would die, so we rely on the
involuntary respiratory sys-
tem to feed oxygen into the
body and remove the waste
carbon dioxide. Our breath
is also the foundation of the
voice, the fuel that powers
our sound, because our
voice is made by outgoing
breath.
When your drama teacher
says to you, “I can’t hear you.
Speak louder!” she is not asking
RICHARD FELDMAN
APRIL 2007 • DRAMATICS
you to shout. What she is really asking you to do is breathe
a little more deeply and allow that breath to support your With good breath support
voice, so that it can reach all the way to Aunt Mabel in the
back of the theatre.
Take a moment to check how you are breathing right the voice will sound full
now. Don’t change anything. I know it is always tempting
to “correct” what you think you may not be doing well. and rich—not strident,
Just notice how you are breathing. Is your breath shallow?
Where do you feel the movement of your breath? Do you
feel most of the movement in your chest? Or do you feel strained, or pushed.
your belly expand as you breathe in and draw in as you
breathe out?
Actors and singers are involved in the heightened action If the actor is free of tension—centered, breathing freely
of performing for an audience. We call this a heightened and deeply, able to support his voice—he will find himself
activity because it is not real life, though it needs to appear calm, confident, able to concentrate, and connected to what
as effortless as if it were real. Yet it is also larger than real he is saying. His voice will be more resonant and richer in
life. It’s always important for actors to create very clear ac- tone, and it will flow more freely and easily. Most impor-
tions so the audience will know what it is each character tantly, the audience will hear and understand.
wants from the others. An important part of that is being When we think about breathing and the voice, we must
clearly heard, often in a very large space. To accomplish remember that everything is connected. We’re all aware
that we use our breath to support the voice so that it fills that the systems of the body work together to make us
the entire theatre. Good breathing is a conscious action, function efficiently. When one system breaks down or mal-
one that needs practice and preparation. The actor must functions, it affects all the others. If the body is tense, the
breathe deeply with a release in the abdomen on the in- alignment, or the “building blocks” of the body, will not be
hale, a technique that teachers call being grounded or cen- in order. This means that some parts will start working
tered. With good breath support the voice will sound full harder or “tense up” in order to balance the body and keep
and rich—not strident, strained, or pushed. it upright. This added tension restricts and puts stress on
our ability to breathe freely, deeply, and in a centered,
Breathing, not shouting open way. There will not be enough fuel to support the
When the voice is not supported by good breathing, the voice to carry it across a distance. As a result, the voice will
tendency is to try to make it louder by shouting. For the emerge breathy and weak, not expressive or energetic.
actor, that’s not an option. When an actor shouts, subtleties The breath is also connected to our feelings. When you
of expression and character are lost. It becomes very diffi- are upset or angry or joyful, what happens to your breath?
cult for the audience to listen carefully to the story and be- If you don’t want to show what you are feeling in a specific
come completely engaged. They stop hearing the story be- situation, what do you do to suppress that emotion? Your
ing told and start worrying about the shouting actor. Think breath responds to the way you feel; it changes as your
about it. Have you ever experienced this situation? Has emotions change. This reflex can lead to tension in the
your concentration been disturbed by an actor straining and throat and a weak, thin sound if you are not skilled at deep
pushing his voice to be heard? Did you understand what he central breathing.
was saying? You might have heard his words, but did you Controlling the breath is essential to the working actor. If
really understand his meaning? we are able to keep our bodies aligned and released from
tensions, we will then be able to breathe more fully and
easily; the feelings and thoughts we experience as the char-
About this series acter will be more freely expressed and present in our bod-
THIS IS THE SECOND of four articles on vocal training, a ies and our voices.
series assembled by Rena Cook, professor of voice at As I mentioned a moment ago, our whole body is in-
Oklahoma University, in which nationally prominent volved in and affected by breathing because everything is
voice and speech coaches will introduce our readers to connected. The four specific parts of the body that work
the fundamentals of their work. The series: together to support deep central breathing are:
March—Alignment and the voice, by Antonio • The lungs.
Ocampo-Guzman • The muscles between the ribs that allow the rib cage
This month—Breathing and the voice, by Judylee to expand and contract so that the lungs can inflate and
Vivier deflate.
May—Resonance, by Rena Cook • The diaphragm, a big dome-shaped sheet of muscle at
September—The articulate actor, by Dudley Knight the base of the rib cage, which contracts to allow breath to
enter the lungs.
DRAMATICS • APRIL 2007
 1 2a 2b 2c

JESUS QUESO

• The abdominal muscles. 3. Fold forward into the prayer position, or child’s pose,
Have you ever watched a baby crying or a puppy bark- with your forehead on the floor. (Or place your hands un-
ing? Consider how they use their entire little bodies to per- der your forehead for more comfort.) Make sure the back
form these vocal tasks. They are free from tension and re- of the neck is released. Feel the breath in your back ribs,
sponsive to the intake of breath that fuels that cry or bark the side ribs, and in the belly. Allow the belly to hang
produced on the outgoing breath. So it is very important loosely onto your thighs.
that the muscles between the ribs, the diaphragm, and the 4. Roll onto your back and bring the knees loosely
muscles in the belly or lower abdomen are flexible, re- up to the chest. Make sure the knees are wide apart.
leased, and able to expand and contract fully, instead of Focus on the breath in the belly and in the back. Notice
being squeezed tightly. If they are held tight, they cannot and observe the moment when the in breath becomes
release and contract fully and that limits the amount of the out breath. Try not to make anything happen. Just
breath we can take in. watch. Also notice that between exhalation and inhala-
tion there is a brief pause. Allow that pause, that mo-
Freeing the body of tension ment, to happen. This will calm the breath and allow
Here are several simple stretches you can do to free the the cycle of the in breath and the out breath to slow
body of tension: down. Very gently allow a gentle vibrated sound, “huh-
1. Stretch over to the right side, left arm over your huh,” to be made as you breathe out. Make sure the
head to stretch the muscles between the ribs, the “huh-huh” is voiced and not breathy, and make sure
intercostals. Then stretch the left side. Feel the breath in you release the in breath on this vibrated, unstructured
the lower ribs. sound. Try it a few times without any effort. See if you
2. Stretch the chest by clasping the hands behind the can find a spot on the ceiling that you gently direct this
back. Then bring your arms around to the front and give sound toward. Now, can you “push” this sound out to-
yourself a gentle hug, rounding your back and stretching ward the ceiling?
between the shoulder blades. When you feel your back 5. Drop your knees over to the left and keep your
muscles loosen, focus breathing into that part of your body. arms stretched out in a “T” on the floor. Feel the twist and
Rolling forward and hanging over the legs can deepen this stretch in your rib cage. Roll over onto the left side in fetal
stretch. Make sure the feet are connected to the floor and position and feel the breath in the back, around the tail-
that you have awareness of your feet on the floor. Squat bone. Stay here for a few seconds.
down with your feet flat on the floor, open your knees 6. Roll onto your back again. Stretch your arms up
wide, and imagine breathing into your tailbone. Release the over your head and legs downward, stretching out the ab-
back of your neck. dominal muscles. Keep breathing. Keep the neck and

3 4 5

APRIL 2007 • DRAMATICS

 shoulders released. Release the breath on a vibrated sigh,
6 a voiced but not breathy “aaaagghhhhh.”
7. Roll onto your belly and gently push up, careful to
exhale as you ease and release the back of your neck,
shoulders, and belly and curl into prayer position again.
Breathe for a few more seconds and notice if you can feel
the breath throughout the body.
8. Tuck your toes under and come into a squat. Keep
breathing as you gently unfold and roll up one vertebra at
a time through the spine, floating the top of the head up
toward the ceiling.

Exercising to increase your breathing capacity

There is often confusion between breath support and
breath manipulation. Sometimes in trying to breathe cor-
7a rectly, we create tension by pushing, punching, or forc-
ing the abdominal muscles out.
As you practice the exercises below, think of drop-
ping the breath into the body, not “sucking” it in or
“blowing” it out. Allow the voice to move up and out
of the body at the moment when the in breath be-
comes the out breath. For vocal performance, it is nec-
essary for actors to develop muscle strength and coor-
dination. This will increase the amount of breath taken
in and the capacity of the lungs. To flex these muscles
and increase capacity we can practice some tried and
true exercises. You can do these with a partner, to
help develop awareness and observation skills.
1. Release a “fffffffffffffffffffffffff” sound on one breath
7b for as long as you can without squeezing or pushing. As
soon as you feel the temptation to squeeze you are no
longer “supporting” the breath. Take in a quick recovery
breath—think of dropping it into your belly rather than
the chest and repeat the exercise five times. Then rest. The
muscles between the ribs might feel as if they are “work-
ing.” That is all right. Keep checking in with your body to
make sure the shoulders, the back of the neck, the jaw,
the buttocks, the legs, and the feet are not tightening.
2. Repeat the same exercise using different sounds—
a “vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv,” or “ssssssssssssssss,” or
“zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz,” or “hummmmmm.”
3. Here’s a fun exercise that will challenge your
breath capacity. On page 56 is the Mother Goose rhyme
8 “The House that Jack Built.” What’s interesting about
this simple nursery rhyme is that it keeps accumulating
characters and situations. Try reading it this way: when
you need to take a breath, make sure you take it at the
start of each new thought to support the new idea rather
than breaking up a thought to take a breath. Do you see
how the intention differs?
You may notice that you take in a different depth of
breath for thoughts that differ slightly in length. As the
thoughts get longer, try to avoid speaking faster. Also,
don’t forget to describe what is happening—tell the story
by using the juicy sounds that make up the descriptive and
evocative words the poet has given you.
DRAMATICS • APRIL 2007
 During your reading, try to fill the space outside of the center and allow the breath and language to fill the space
body with vocal power. Be aware of space in the rib cage, in a way you may never have experienced before. In any
in the abdominal area, in the shoulders, and at the back of performance, consider that breathing may be the single
the neck. Release tight muscles, and feel bigger and most important thing you do. So prepare yourself as best
looser. This internal space, filled with breath, will help you you can: breathe deeply and with awareness while you are
communicate the idea of the poem and the energy of the in the wings waiting to go on stage. Breathe as you are lis-
language. It will also enable you to reach to the back row tening to other characters. Breathe at each thought change
of any auditorium. and you will notice a new voice that carries confidence,
As a final exercise, see if you can apply these thoughts authority, clarity, and intention. And yes, you will reach
about breathing to a monologue. Breathe deeply into your Aunt Mabel in the back of the house. ▼

The House that Jack Built

This is the house that Jack built. / (breathe) That tossed the dog / (breathe—a nice low dropped in
breath, not a short gasp of breath into the chest)
This is the malt That worried the cat
That lay in the house that Jack built. / (breathe) That killed the rat
That ate the malt
This is the rat That lay in the house that Jack built. / (breathe)
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built. / (breathe) This is the priest all shaven and shorn
That married the man all tattered and torn
This is the cat That kissed the maiden all forlorn / (breathe)
That killed the rat That milked the cow with the crumpled horn
That ate the malt That tossed the dog
That lay in the house that Jack built. / (breathe) That worried the cat / (breathe)
That killed the rat
This is the dog That ate the malt
That worried the cat That lay in the house that Jack built. / (breathe)
That killed the rat
That ate the malt This is the cock that crowed in the morn
That lay in the house that Jack built. / (breathe) That waked the priest all shaven and shorn
That married the man all tattered and torn / (breathe)
This is the cow with the crumpled horn That kissed the maiden all forlorn
That tossed the dog That milked the cow with the crumpled horn
That worried the cat / (breathe) That tossed the dog
That killed the rat That worried the cat / (breathe)
That ate the malt That killed the rat
That lay in the house that Jack built. / breathe) That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built. / (breathe)

This is the maiden all forlorn This is the farmer sowing his corn
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn That kept the cock that crowed in the morn
That tossed the dog That waked the priest all shaven and shorn / (breathe)
That worried the cat / (breathe) That married the man all tattered and torn
That killed the rat That kissed the maiden all forlorn,
That ate the malt That milked the cow with the crumpled horn / (breathe)
That lay in the house that Jack built. / (breathe) That tossed the dog
That worried the cat
This is the man all tattered and torn That killed the rat / (breathe)
That kissed the maiden all forlorn That ate the malt
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn That lay in the house that Jack built. / (breathe)

APRIL 2007 • DRAMATICS

Originally published in Dramatics magazine. More info: Schooltheatre.org