Breathing Book for Singers
The Breathing Book for Singers by Bonnie Draina is appropriate for high school through professional singers.
The purpose of The Breathing Book for Singers is to encourage more expressive and enjoyable singing through a deep understanding of the vocal instrument: the body in motion. Singers with a fluid physical awareness are liberated singers. Freed from nagging thoughts about “correct” posture or breathing, they can focus on the expressive and musical elements of singing. Artistic inspiration leads to taking just the right breath for each phrase. That breath honors the music while also honoring the body’s need for oxygen.
This book does not promote a specific breathing method or singing technique. Instead, it provides clear, practical information about the body so singers can breathe in any way they choose with greater ease and facility. Exploring the structures and movement of breathing from a Body Mapping perspective, this book offers a solid foundation that will benefit singing technique in any style, from classical to rock, jazz, or folk.
"The 'singer breath,' or breathing in general, has been the subject of almost mythical proportions over approximately two centuries of vocal pedagogy. The occasional listener often asks 'How do they do that?' The student most assuredly asks 'How should I be doing that?' It is my pleasure to introduce this very 'non-mythical', extremely concise and informative book about breath, breathing, and other very useful anatomical facts necessary for singers—and certainly appropriate for all human beings. How often have we heard from well-meaning coaches, teachers and even conductors to 'sing from the diaphragm' or to 'support your tone more'? These two comments are the tips of very complex icebergs, if you will, that this guide will help you navigate. The teaching of singing is not mystical. It is the distilled understanding of our natural physical and emotional abilities to express ourselves in a language called music. We as singers, physically—athletically in fact—make human thoughts audible through this musical language. How, you may ask? Well, reading this book is a good start to finding your answer." - Thomas Hampson
“The Breathing Book for Voice is an important contribution to those who sing or teach singing in its clarity about the body and the way it works to produce vocal sound. It is full of excellent explanations, illustrations and exercises that will help singers gain greater awareness of sensation and movement and greater understanding of the responses the body makes when we breathe, move and sing. It belongs on the shelf of every singing studio, university or conservatory as a new necessary reference.” - Jeannette (Jeanie) LoVetri, Director, The Voice Workshop, New York, NY; Artist-in-Residence, Baldwin Wallace University Community Music School, Berea, Ohio
"The Breathing Book for Singers is an invaluable addition to the growing body of Body Mapping literature. In this volume, Dr. Draina leads the reader through a step-by-step guide of practical application, both succinctly and thoroughly. She uses accessible language, making it the perfect guide for students of singing as they learn to map breathing systematically in the context of physical balance, kinesthetic awareness and inclusive attention. I love the way she ends each section with exercises to reinforce the concepts she presents. A wonderful tool for both beginning and advanced voice students, this book will be part of my syllabus in the years to come!" - Dr. Quinn Patrick Ankrum, Mezzo soprano, Voice Faculty, University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music
"Bonnie Draina offers singers and voice teachers a concise and compelling discovery of the singer's artistic process through body mapping, informative illustrations, dynamic noticing through sensory exercises, and with a direct application to singing in each chapter. It is more than learning about the singing body—it is a guide to freeing our bodies and our best creative selves for living as a singer. Her straightforward writing style and Sense and Sing exercises make it personally engaging and immediately useful. Brava!" - Lorna MacDonald, Professor of Voice and Lois Marshall Chair in Voice, University of Toronto
64 pages, spiral bound to lay flat on the music stand
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