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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

Quick Vocal Tip: Be Breathy, but Briefly

Keven Smith · August 24, 2020

You’ll never meet a serious choral singer who strives for a breathy sound. And there’s not a choir director on earth who will ever stop during rehearsal to say, “It’s too clear and resonant, guys! I want to hear more air escaping all around your tone!”

But I’ve found that in rehearsal warmups and personal practice, being breathy in very small amounts can be helpful.

We all know we can’t make a sound without using air. We also know that if we try to push the air as we sing, we might generate more volume but we’ll produce an undesirable breathiness—and wear out the voice. Of course, if you tell a choir member “Don’t push the sound,” they may consciously hold back their airstream, resulting in late entrances and timid singing.

Vocal pedagogues have written volumes about the muscular coordination required to sing “on the breath.” I’ll probably explore this topic in future articles. For now, let’s just say our challenge is to let the airstream feel free without actually pushing air through the sound. It all starts with developing a healthy attack, or onset, for our sound.

There’s a simple exercise that can help. It appears in different forms in various vocal technique manuals. I first learned of it in The Diagnosis & Correction of Vocal Faults by James C. McKinney—a book I highly recommend. It goes roughly like this:

  1. Drop the jaw, take a deep breath, and let it out with an audible “HHHHH.” You should feel a totally free release of air on the “HHHHH.”
  2. Choose a comfortable note in the middle of your range.
  3. Take another deep breath, let it out on “HHHHH” again, but after a few seconds, switch to singing “ah” on the note you chose.
  4. Repeat step 3 several times, but use less H each time. You’ll start to develop a sense of exactly when the vocal chords engage and how little air pressure it takes to get them to work. Remember this sensation. 
  5. Now, start the note again. Simply think the “HHHHH” but don’t make it audible. You’ll end up with an “ah” that has a clear starting point and carries a healthy, balanced sound. Sing several notes this way. Go up and down the scale. Try it at different dynamics and on all the vowels.

This is how a good onset should feel. Of course, things get in the way—things like performance anxiety, limited attention spans, and of course, those pesky consonants with which most words begin. But this should be our baseline for starting a note.

I’ve tried this exercise with my choir to great profit. Not only did it help our singers find a healthier onset, but it also prompted one very astute choir member to speculate that this could be the reason our choir often comes in a bit late after my downbeats. Perhaps some singers are starting the tone with a split second of extra breath, and if they can learn to deliver pure tone at the instant my hands complete their drop, we’ll be more together! It was an astounding insight and one that will guide our exploration in future rehearsals. It’s scary to come in right on time, but good choral singing is all about overcoming our fears. 

Singers who are (rightly) conditioned to avoid breathiness may recoil from doing this exercise because it seems like practicing a bad habit. But I’ve found that doing a bit of “HHHHH” every now and then can help us recalibrate our sense of how little pressure it really takes to engage the voice.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

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Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: vocal technique Last Updated: August 24, 2020

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About Keven Smith

Keven Smith, music director at St. Stephen the First Martyr, lives in Sacramento with his wife and five musical children.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “Music List” • 30th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Readers have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 26 October 2025, which is the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the top-notch feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Little Encouragement?
    In the Gospel, our Savior tells about 10 lepers who were healed. Only one went back to give thanks. Precious few express gratitude, yet many have endless energy to complain. For that reason, I deeply appreciate receiving messages like the following, which arrived a few days ago (about the parish where I direct in Michigan): “Last Sunday, a couple I knew from Grand Rapids was at Mass at 10:00 a.m. I got a chance to talk to them after Mass. I wanted to let you know what they said about the choir. They were absolutely floored by our sound!!!!! They both said they could continuously listen to our choir and the beauty of it. They asked me: “Do you always sound like that?” And they were also very surprised at how packed the church was. They said it was nice for them to be in such a full church. I just thought you would be interested to know their thoughts about our choir.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    (Part 2) • Did they simplify this hymn?
    Choirs love to sing the resplendent tune called “INNSBRUCK.” Looking through a (Roman Catholic) German hymnal printed in 1929, I discovered what appears to be a simplified version of that hymn. Their harmonization is much less complex than the version found in the Father Brébeuf Hymnal (which is suitable for singing by SATB choir). Please download their 1929 harmonization (PDF) and let me know your thoughts. As always, the Germans added an organ INTRODUCTION. For the record, I posted a different harmonization a few months ago which was downloaded more than 2,000 times.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “Our Father” • Musical Setting?
    Looking through a Roman Catholic Hymnal published in 1859 by Father Guido Maria Dreves (d. 1909), I stumbled upon this very beautiful tune (PDF file). I feel it would be absolutely perfect to set the “Our Father” in German to music. Thoughts?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    New Bulletin Article • “12 October 2025”
    My pastor requested that I write short articles each week for our parish bulletin. Those responsible for preparing similar write-ups may find a bit of inspiration in these brief columns. The latest article (dated 12 October 2025) talks about an ‘irony’ or ‘paradox’ regarding the 1960s switch to a wider use (amplior locus) of vernacular in the liturgy.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “American Catholic Hymnal” (1991)
    The American Catholic Hymnal, with IMPRIMATUR granted (25 April 1991) by the Archdiocese of Chicago, is like a compendium of every horrible idea from the 1980s. Imagine being forced to stand all through Communion (even afterwards) when those self-same ‘enlightened’ liturgists moved the SEQUENCE before the Alleluia to make sure congregations wouldn’t have to stand during it. (Even worse, everything about the SEQUENCE—including its name—means it should follow the Alleluia.) And imagine endlessly repeating “Alleluia” during Holy Communion at every single Mass. It was all part of an effort to convince people that Holy Communion was historically a procession (which it wasn’t).
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“After a discussion lasting several days, in which arguments for and against were discussed, the Council fathers came to the clear conclusion—wholly in agreement with the Council of Trent—that Latin must be retained as the language of cult in the Latin rite, although exceptional cases were possible and even welcome.”

— Alfons Cardinal Stickler, Vatican II ‘peritus’

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  • Little Encouragement?
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