Nose breathing

JurajM

Is it correct that you should always breathe through the nose if you have the time and include the mouth when you dont? And if so why do you always hear singers gasp before singing even tho they have the time, should it be done nose + mouth always?

HuduVudu

Breathing through the nose helps warm and humidify the air going into the throat and lungs. This helps keep your voice from drying out. This is preferable to breathing through the mouth which doesn't confer these benefits.

A singer that is confident in their singing will feel like they have time to breathe. A singer that is NOT confident will feel rushed and consequently rush their breathing leading to them gasping for breath.

Gaston_Jauregui

@JurajM hi!
as @HuduVudu said breathing from the nose is the best you can do, however this is the way I see it, when you breathe through the nose you always have to have the time to breathe, this meaning if you are singing a fast song that you have to take fast breaths, your nostrills will close and funnily enough youll end up eating wahtever is in your nose and you wont breathe right :P
so it depends on the tme you have to breathe, but if you do have time to breathe through the nose do it, im gonna post pavarotti siniging nessun dorma, youll see that whenever there is a pause he breathes through the nose and whenever there are no pauses he uses his mouth

I hope this is of help

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27pnQNzUlz8

JurajM

Thanks to both of you, that pavarotti clip helped!

highmtn

Hey, @Gaston_Jauregui ! That is one of my favorite thumbnails of Luciano Pavarotti, because it shows him doing exactly what Ken does and gets criticized for so much. Look at his tongue.

What a lot of people don't know is that Ken studied with Pavarotti's coach/pianist/friend Leone Magiera, in Italy for a couple of years. People say "No one else does that!"

Obviously they haven't paid much attention to Pavarotti.

He has moved his tongue forward, out of the back of the throat.

JurajM

Is it normal that my mouth and throat gets dry during scales due to the mouth breathing?

HuduVudu

No, you are using too much air. That is why they are getting dry.

JurajM

But when i mouth breathe without exercises it still gets dry

HuduVudu

Open your mouth and hold your breath. See what happens. If you run a fan over pan of water if evaporates quickly. This is the concept at play here.

JurajM

I tried taking smaller breaths and i still feel it drying out what do you suggest me to do? Just keep on trying to take less air in?

HuduVudu

You need to LEARN how to use less air. Just like you learned how to walk and you learned how to speak. No one can reach inside of your throat and manipulate the muscles to make you do this. You have to work to figure out how to do it on your own. Just like you worked to figure out how to walk on your own. You have examples of things that could help you figure it out but at the end of the day it is up to you to figure it, because you are the only one that can. It isn't easy. It is something that takes time to really understand and hone into a solid skill. Many people have learned this skill so it is not something that can't be done. All opera singers for example are exemplary at this skill. They have to be to practice their craft. They didn't just come out of the womb with this knowledge they had to train and work to gain it, and if you want it so must you. I don't know how to make it any simpler for you. There is a great saying that sums this up perfectly "There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path." You know what you need to do, so my suggestion is for you to go do it.

JurajM

Thanks, so should i first manage how to control my breath and then do exercises or learn it while im doing them?

HuduVudu

The exercises are where you learn to manage your breath. Do them and focus on how you are doing them.