Don't Squash the Balloon

How to Sing that First Note of a Phrase ​

Transcript:

Balloons have so much to teach us when it comes to singing, and for this particular video I want to cover what balloons can teach us when it come to the very beginning of a sung phrase. so right when you inhale, what do you do? So the main think you need to keep in mind is when you first start a phrase is to not squash the balloon. So our default way of going about our life is that we have air. We usually have some amount of air already in our lungs and this is why when we speak throughout the day we don’t have to prepar each time wiht a huge inahle there is usually going to be some amount of air.

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So what matters is that when you start your phrase you don’t want to squash the balloon so these are your vocal folds [creates cute squeaky balloon sound] then what you don’t need to do is you don’t need to create any air pressure, because there is already pressure here. So if you don’t deflate the balloon then all you have to do is just start making sound and the air will already be there. If you push which means that you might be tightening your abs, your back, your chest (that’s especially unhelpful) any kind of tightening or squeezing when you first start your phrase is really not going to help with that first note. 90% of the time, it’s really not going to help. So this is just a little tip that you can keep in mind when you’re starting any of your phrases when you sing. Don’t squeeze, don’t squash anything, the air is already there.​