STEVEN FLAM
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STEVEN FLAM

Every Day Music

To Sing or To Breathe? 

4/26/2016

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WHICH comes FIRST?

Singing is not all imagery-based vocal exercises. Body awareness is equally important if the student is going to be able to progress at a reasonable rate. To teach singing without first having the student understand their body as an instrument is to promote bad habits.

Imagery and standard vocal pedagogy techniques alone do not solve body issues with students. Most if not all need more specific techniques for body release apart from the techniques required for the act of singing.

The whole body is an instrument and the instrument has be properly tuned. When students can’t produce vibrato, have tongue tension that limits their progress, have body tension that sacrifices sound quality, etc. their teachers will tell me they are frustrated.

With the limited amount of time available in a lesson teachers must focus on the whole instrument as it applies to the music. Given good body release techniques your students’ singing will improve quickly, your reputation and results will be evident and your career will flourish.

Diaphragm training is one body awareness and development technique that works.
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Will you be the huffing fan, or the crooner on the stage?
Diaphragm Target Training, or DTT, includes instruction and knowledge about tension release in areas of the body. Using these techniques we have been able to accelerate the singing success of thousands of students.

When the singer learns the proper release of the body and diaphragm training, apart from the act of singing, your application of good vocal instruction speeds up their progress geometrically. So, consider in your next lesson spending the first 15 minutes teaching your students body awareness.

​
Steven Flam has perfected the training of your diaphragm for vocal power.
GET YOUR FREE ‘FROM THE PRESCRIPTION PAD OF BREATHINGRX’ EBOOK NOW
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How young is too young?

4/17/2016

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   Dear Keeper of the Breath for Singers,
I am the proud mother of three children.  Sammy is 10 and he thinks he will be singing on Broadway by next year, Abigail is 7 going on 15, and dear little Joey wants to be like his older brother and sister, but he is just 4 and a half years old.  I want them all to learn how to breathe with intention.  Gawd knows, they have great lungs when they want something!  How old must a child be to learn the Diaphragm Techniques?
                                                                                           Signed:  Proud Mom
 
Dear Proud Mom,
Good for you mom, you want to teach your children proper techniques at a young age.  This opportunity will set them up for life!  The breathing muscle memory that we develop at a young age, translates into increased singing capabilities as we grow.  So, one would think that even little 4 and a half year old Joey can benefit from learning diaphragm breathing techniques.
 
However, unless the instruction is structured correctly, it is unlikely that Joey will get it.  A good structure for teaching children is to set up games that can be played in 10-15 minute increments.  That way, no one gets overwhelmed or loses focus.
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If you were to put Sammy, Abigail, and Joey in a room together, ironically Joey at 4.5 years would be able to embrace the techniques quickest because he has less pre-conditioned muscle memory in his body, ears, and voice.  Abigail, as a MATURE 7 year old can comprehend more than Joey but might not integrate the techniques as quickly.  And of course Sammy at 10 years old is right in the “sweet spot” for teaching these techniques. 
 
At 10 years old, a child can comprehend, repeat, and integrate the techniques into their basic singing habits.  So, I recommend that you have them go to their singing teacher for 45 minutes.  Sammy (10) would get the first 15 minutes to himself and then spend half hour practicing the techniques taught.  Abigail (7) would be in for the second 15 minutes and practicing for 15 minutes afterwards.  And Joey (4.5) would be in for the last 15 minutes.  That would be 45 minutes of rest for you mom, and your children would all be learning to breathe for singing.
 
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Steven Flam is the developer of the groundbreaking teaching technique called BreathingRx For Singers which includes diaphragm target training. For more information or to debate the content of this article please contact him at [email protected] or check out our website at:  www.breathingrx.com
 

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Toddlers’ Diaphragms: why we should want to be small once more

4/12/2016

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AH: IF ONLY WE WERE CHILDREN AGAIN.  IN A MATTER OF SECONDS, MOST CHILDREN WILL MOVE FROM BELLY LAUGHS TO SCREAMS, TO TEARS, TO YAWNS AND BACK TO BELLY LAUGHS. THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT ADULT SINGERS MUST MIRROR AS THE MUSICAL DYNAMICS SHIFT.  AND, IT ALL STARTS WITH THE BREATH AND HOLDING TENSION.  

HOW IS IT THAT TODDLERS CAN UNCONSCIOUSLY MAKE THESE SHIFTS AND NOT HOLD TENSION IN THEIR BODIES?  

TODDLERS RELEASE TENSION IN THEIR BODIES AS THEY EXERT THEMSELVES.  AS A RESULT THEIR DIAPHRAGMS ARE FREE, STRONG, AND RISE HIGHER IN THEIR RIBCAGES THAN ADULTS. THIS FREE DIAPHRAGM ALLOWS PRESCHOOLERS TO RECOVER FROM STRESS MORE EASILY AND PROMOTES MORE OXYGEN IN THE BLOODSTREAM SO THEIR VOICES ARE MORE RESONANT AND CAN PIERCE OUR CALM.
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AS SINGERS, WE CAN ASPIRE TO BECOME TODDLERS WITH OUR BREATH.  QUICKLY RELEASING TENSION, FREEING UP YOUR BODY AND RELAXING YOUR MIND, YAWNING AND LAUGHING WITH INTENTION, AND ULTIMATELY ENJOYING A GREATER RESONANCE IN VOICE THAT CAN CREATE CALM FOR OTHERS.
STEVEN FLAM HAS PERFECTED THE TRAINING OF YOUR DIAPHRAGM FOR VOCAL POWER.
GET YOUR FREE ‘FROM THE PRESCRIPTION PAD OF BREATHINGRX’ EBOOK NOW
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The Women in my life

4/7/2016

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I love the women in my life.  My mom, my sister, my girlfriend.... and they all love me back.  However, sometimes love does not bring out the best in ourselves and when those times happen, I find myself tensing up.

Once again - I have to take a prescription from the BreathingRx methodology and practice my passive diaphragm training.  The stress I feel is both physical and emotional.  Yet, I find, that if I release the physical stress, it plays well in releasing the emotional stress too.

Ideally I will find a place where I can lie down for 5 minutes and do my Connect your Vocal Cords:  Diaphragm Target Training exercise.  Don't confuse this with a yoga or meditation breathing exercise.  It is completely different because in yoga and meditation training you are trying to be conscious and control your breath.  In Diaphragm Target Training your breath and body are passive.

Once I have spent the 5 minutes lying down, my body is calm, oxygenated, and more positive thoughts can enter my mind - and viola, I am over it!  What do you do to calm down when loved ones trigger your lizard-brained behavior?
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Spring has sprung, Sneezing has begun

4/1/2016

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 It is spring in New York City and the trees are blooming, the wind is blowing, weather extremes happen within a day (cold in the morning and sunshine in the afternoon) and allergy season has begun.

When I pulled my bike out of storage last week, I found myself thinking about how BreathingRx methodologies apply to every part of one's life.... allergies, bike riding... spring... and you know....

A serious benefit of the daily exercises prescribed by BreathingRx is that you will have super-oxygenated your body.​  With all that extra oxygen, you will feel lighter, and everything in your body will work better.  Your digestion will be better, your immune system will be better, reducing the effects of your allergies, and you will feel lighter overall. 

​Try the routine of daily breathing exercises which you can learn by going to our contact page - when you give me your email, I will send you my free ebook.  Please let me know what you think?  



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    Steven Flam

    Founder of BreathingRx and vocal coach extraordinaire.

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