Before the Puccini and the Mozart, I was working in musical theatre. In retrospect, I am glad I did because I learned a lot about acting, staging and role preparation. Surprisingly, I also learned a lot about classical singing while belting show tunes.
"What is singing?"
This was the first thing asked of us by our music director during the first music rehearsal for Carousel. The whole room -- full of musical theatre professionals, musicians and music students -- offered varying definitions derived from both the dictionary as well as from personal experience. My favorite that night was "Singing is my life!" That was met with a lot of laughter. The question made me think about the mechanics of singing. Down to the most basic level, what is singing?
"Singing is sustained speech." That was the answer given by our music director. This unexpected definition of singing wasn't original, but it was the first time I heard it and it made perfect sense to me. What is it that allows for this sustained, uninterrupted sound? It is BREATH! It is no wonder that most books on vocal pedagogy start with the study of breathing. I am currently in the process of learning more about singing and working on some exercises focused on breathing.
Here is a video of Montserrat Caballé talking about singing and breathing.
