To take a breath…or not to take a breath. Do you ever hear an ensemble, or singer, or wind player, and wonder why there is something that is not quite right? It doesn’t sound quite right. It is in tune, it is relatively in time, but there is something strange about it that makes it NOT SMOOTH.
Have you ever thought about WHERE you breathe? I hear this all the time with vocalists, trumpet players, even violinists! Where/how do THEY breathe?!? Well, breathing has everything to do with how you shape a phrase. Next time you sing a coro, listen to where others are breathing. Do they breathe every other word they sing? Is the trumpet player breathing every other measure of his/her phrase? In my band directing days, I was taught to listen for breaths and make sure to stagger breathing between sections, and in sections between players. Yes, sometimes a tutti breath mark is necessary, and many it cleans up a phrase, but it has to be done intenionally and not on accident ad libitum. Try this next time you sing a song; try to sing a phrase without taking a breath between every other word. Think about long phrases (especially on boleros) and connecting notes. You will find that lines become smoother and your phrasing will begin to take shape. Sure, some songs are sharp, with shorter notes and very articulate phrasing…still some of those songs require less breaths. Even articulate passages have a larger phrase marking over the big phrase.
Listen to some old recordings and start to listen for breaths. You will notice how smooth things are when players/singers don’t take a breath every other measure!