So as I hear it she seems to be saying you sing a soft note and bring the weight of the abdominal mass up and the diaphragm goes up taking the air to the larynx ....the air comes before the sound. So ( this is me ) the lower abdominal muscles are used to pull in the stomach contents to support the diaphragm (which is relaxed?) after a large belly breath providing a constant source of air into the trachea and larynx. Its a little like blowing on a straw.
So as I hear it she seems to be saying you sing a soft note and bring the weight of the abdominal mass up and the diaphragm goes up taking the air to the larynx ....the air comes before the sound. So ( this is me ) the lower abdominal muscles are used to pull in the stomach contents to support the diaphragm (which is relaxed?) after a large belly breath providing a constant source of air into the trachea and larynx. Its a little like blowing on a straw.
The weight is basically to amplify the sensation of what is happening or what has to happen inside, not for muscle build up. It is actually a great excersice for understanding where the breath has to go. Similar to the bending on a chair excersice, it just helps you feel in a clearer way what is happening inside. Sorry for my grammar & spelling, english is not my first language.
sorry to break it to you ....but training for classical singing ...has no miracles no tricks ...its very method based ..no smoke and mirrors its VERY mechanical.
@@silverkitty2503 Well, I am a professional opera singer and for me this type of manuvers never helped me. Singing is related to power, indeed, but also to feelings and emotion.
@@deborabatista9383 Im not being mean to you but Did feelings and emotions help you with sight singing and the triplets in der hölle rache too? its all technique ...feelings affect the muscles in the throat hugely anyway..you can't afford to get emotional you will lose voice ...you render it as its written ..then act
@@silverkitty2503 That's why it's important to deal with emotions, not supressing them. There are different people that learn in distinct ways. Sincerely I could only sing it after allowing expression get into it. Power only doesn't move the audience.
@@deborabatista9383 what are you talking about ? If you are a professional opera singer you are aware of the kind of audience opera has and has to cater to. I.E music students mainly. Operistas ..they know their stuff ...you can't get away with not knowing your stuff. Who cares about moving the audience. Sing well and if they are not moved they are ignorant. If you try to move every audience you will end up hammy ...not EVERY audience is worthy. Pay attention to your technique understand the music understand the words .
Ooooo this is one of my favorite excercises! Thiugh I like to put sometimes a triple weight when doing this. Though this is quite exhausting for people who have very weak abdominal wall.
I remember reading in her biography that she did not make one tone/sound during her first year as a singing student, only breathing exercises!!! Granted she was young when she started at the conservatory (I believe they lied about her age) but very few singers could spin a phrase like Mme. Caballe!
Знаете, я тоже сначала так считала, но по мере развития, как певица, и кое-чего я добилась на сцене, я поняла, как Кабалье была права! Ее школа основывалась на очень прочной базе под названием - дыхательная опора, у нее она была неимоверно сильная для женщины, в этом и заключается ее секрет долгого, бесконечного дыхания и пианиссимо на верхних нотах! Я добилась того, что беру на пиано си и до 3 октавы, легко беру ре и ми-бемоль наверху, при том, что у меня лирико-драматическое подвижное сопрано. Как только я стала пользоваться ее методом, у меня улучшились все характеристики в пении, легато, кантилена, техническая составляющая, выносливость, форте, при сильной дыхательной опоре, чего мне недоставало, так как я увлекалась пиано, и снимала с дыхания, даже позиционно голос стал на место, выровнялся, это отмечают все, кто меня слушал в последние года 2! Она великая певица и ее метод -это основа, и в то же время, вершина владения голосом, вне отрыва от всего остального, дыхание-это главная деталь, и она должна быть очень прочной и единственной пружиной в механизме, который, подобно механическим часам, работает правильно только при ее наличии и максимальном сжатии!! Это повторяю, очень важно, чтобы удержать лишний воздух при пении, чтобы его сразу не выдохнуть, плавно распределить, направив в нужное место, точно в маску, а там еще масса и масса нюансов, но это уже более мелкие проблемы, поверьте... :);) Музыкальность и техника -это производные от правильного легато, вибрато, обеспеченными правильным вдохом и выдохом на практически "железной" опоре. Чтобы понять ее школу надо быть только профессиональным певцом! и не просто певцом, а очень!! хорошим певцом, так же, как нельзя стать пианистом, понять и освоить сложную фортепианную музыку Шопена, Листа или Рахманинова с базой только начальной музыкальной школы. Это точная физика, практика дыхания и технология, а не больше основанная на эмоциях и музыкальности, школа многих среднестатистических вокальных педагогов, которые сами не являлись и не являютчя певцами такого высокого уровня, как Великая!!! Монтсеррат Кабалье!
That's all fine and dandy if you're in agreement with current pedagogical methods and practices. I am not in agreement... therefore, I this breathing exercise is silly and impractical.
this doesn't come from current pedagogical methods though it comes from the first development of bell canto its not at all modern ..and there are accounts of singers being taught it way even before bel canto ..who knows where it comes from orig but its very old ...the first written accounts about it that i know of come from the 1700's ...things like teachers putting the student against the wall and making them push a piano out with their abs ...or putting bricks on them on the floor ..but this actual exercise has been written down in many biographies of singers like malibran etc geraldine ferrar also did it ..this EXACT exercise.
i think actually you need to work it differently according to what its doing but i do thing its important for singers to be fit ..but dancers for example need to breathe differently to singers they can't breathe abdominally ..plus people don't weight exercises breathe differently again holding breath a lot for support ...runners breathe differently again ...runners are also taught how to breathe etc for their sport ..and all wind instrument players are taught how to breathe ..also my teacher used to say ...the idea is not to have you breathing this way sitting on the bus etc. Its to have you breathing this way to sing not 24 hrs a day. This whole thing of you breathe naturally to sing is bullshit.
the idea is not you are filling your belly with air of course ...but this makes a pull on the trachea ...the pull ..pulls it open ...and helps the diaphragm do down like a bell jar ....later in singing they show you other exercises .
Well, you will notice that after a while the weights are put aside. The weights are just used to show you what it should feel like. Nothing wrong with that.
@clatnt Well hell, I actually had to look that word up... Anyway, I will once again argue that putting a 10-20kg weight on one's lower abdomen is an inefficient way to teach a student how to properly distribute breath when singing. The idea that our bodies are not able to learn correct breathing without an external force, such as a 10-20kg weight, is ridiculous and potentially hazardous to the student's body and positively hazardous to the student's understanding of correct breathing.
I'm not arguing against the idea that "correct respiration is basic for correct, professional singing." I'm simply arguing against the actual application and teaching of "correct respiration." I think this is not only the incorrect way to approach it, but also the most inefficient way to teach proper breathing.
