The following terms are important concepts to recall when using the Air Revelation Breath Support Training Program for Musicians.

 

 

 

 

Breath Support

- Breath support is the steady and controlled release of air for the purpose of creating a smooth and consistent flow while singing or playing a wind instrument. Support is important because it enables every other aspect of singing or playing. While using the spirometer in the Air Revelation training program, you should conceptualize that breath support means that there is air filling the space between the bottom of the spirometer chamber and the underside of the ball. Using breath support also means that air is always moving forward, rather than feeling like your air is just floating and in a static position. You will know that you are playing or singing with breath support if you can conceptually feel like your air is continuously moving out of you while remaining naturally engaged in your lower abs. 

 

 

“H” Sound 

- Exhaling means that air comes out of your body with an “h” syllable sound. This allows you to properly control air exhalation from your core. When exhaling with the "h" syllable (like fogging up glass on a cold winter’s day), we naturally, not artificially, feel contraction in our abdominal muscles as we exhale. Exhaling is preferable to “blowing” because it reduces tension and allows you to properly use breath support.




Smooth Turnarounds 

- Executing smooth turnarounds means that there is no hesitation from inhale to exhale or from exhale to inhale. Your body is in a consistent state of relaxation, and tension free.

In order to execute smooth turnarounds, you should slow down the speed of your inhale just before you have no more room in your body to bring in air. At that point, you will be able to smoothly turnaround the inhale into an exhale. If you feel tension in your throat or in your chest at the end of your inhalation, then you will not be able to exhale free from tension. Likewise, at the end of your exhalation, when you have nothing left, the only tension you should feel is in your abdominal muscles. If you allow tension to occur in your throat or chest or other parts of your body, then you will be unable to have a smooth turnaround to begin inhaling again.




Exhale before Inhaling 

- This is the process of exhaling first before inhaling. When you do this, you should feel the muscles of your body relax and your abdominal muscles retreat inward to your body. This puts you in a position of starting from “empty” so that you can inhale fresh air at the maximum amount for your body type.

 

 

 

“Core” 
 

- Your “core” is a conceptual area in your body that is connected by feel to your abdominal muscles. Your “core” is the area from which you exhale with the “h” sound. It is the place where you want to inhale to, and from which you control exhalation. When exhaling using the "h" sound, you will feel that you are exhaling from your "core"... particularly when running out of breath. 

 

 

 

 

Inhalation

- When you breathe in, or inhale, your diaphragm contracts (tightens) and moves downward. This increases the space in your chest cavity, into which your lungs expand. The intercostal muscles between your ribs also help enlarge the chest cavity. They contract to pull your rib cage both upward and outward when you inhale. As your lungs expand, air is sucked in through your mouth. The air travels down your windpipe and into your lungs. After passing through your bronchial tubes, the air finally reaches and enters the alveoli (air sacs).

 

 

 

Exhalation

- When you breathe out, or exhale, your diaphragm relaxes and moves upward into the chest cavity. The intercostal muscles between the ribs also relax to reduce the space in the chest cavity. As the space in the chest cavity gets smaller, air rich in carbon dioxide is forced out of your lungs and windpipe, and then out of your mouth.