Top of the Breath - Kelly Kerr Vocal Method

Module 1	Welcome!
Unit 1	Welcome!
Module 2	Lesson One - How Your Voice is Produced. First release movements.
Unit 1	Lesson One Introduction
Unit 2	Optimum Tempo
Unit 3	Voice Mechanics
Unit 4	Home Position
Unit 5	Stance
Unit 6	Home Position Exercise
Unit 7	Lesson One Summary
Unit 8	Cheeks
Module 3	Lesson One Vocal Workouts
Unit 1	Vocal Workout - Home Position
Unit 2	Vocal Workout 1
Unit 3	Home Position
Module 4	Lesson Two - Breathing Basics
Unit 1	Breathing Basics – Lecture
Unit 2	The Breathing Cycle
Unit 3	How to Inhale and Exhale
Unit 4	Breath Control
Unit 5	Top of the Breath
Unit 6	Comfortable Full
Unit 7	Stillness at the Top of the Breath
Unit 8	How to maintain an open throat at the top of the breath
Unit 9	Breathing in the Mask
Unit 10	Basic Breathing Techniques
Unit 11	Breathing Basics Summary Exercise
Unit 12	Summary Breathing Basics
Unit 13	Breathing Basics Exercises
Module 5	Lesson Three - How to Find Your Real Voice
Unit 1	Lesson Three Lecture
Unit 2	Initiating the Tone
Unit 3	Inside Voice
Unit 4	Inside Voice Pitch Line
Unit 5	Tuning the Vocal Instrument
Unit 6	Sustain pitch: 110hz, 220hz, 440hz
Unit 7	Lesson Three Summary
Unit 8	Lesson Three Exercises
Unit 9	Vocalise Top of the Breath
Module 6	Lesson Four - Jaw, Face and the Middle Voice
Unit 1	The Middle Voice Range
Unit 2	Facial Mask Workout
Unit 3	Siren Exercise
Unit 4	Vocalise Sustained A
Unit 5	Nose and Sinuses
Unit 6	Jaw
Unit 7	Head Placement
Unit 8	Mid Head to Chest Relationship
Module 7	Lesson Five - Posture - Vocal Exercises to Tune and Tone the Voice
There are no units in this module.
Module 8	Lesson Six - Tuning and Toning the Singing Voice
There are no units in this module.

The Top of the Breath is the end of the inhale.

Here, before you engage the voice, is where you make important choices. It is here that you must learn to consciously slow the breath and detect that moment where you finish your inhale or choose to fill even further.

Larynx at rest

The top of the breath is the most common place in the breathing cycle where we engage vocal tension.

Remember, your larynx doesn’t control the flow of your air. Your vocal folds must stretch and contract to vibrate the air into sound waves. But, they can’t move if they’re being pressed inward to control the breath. However, this place passes so quickly that we may not even notice we are doing so.

You don’t need to make any special effort in the larynx at the top of the breath. Your larynx remains in its rested, neutral position.

This is one of the most important breathing techniques: Throat remains open, larynx relaxed at the top of your breath.

Exercise - Top of the Breath

Preparation: “Home” position

All exercises begin only after all points of the vocal core are at rest:

Mind is focused on the small, inward sensations of breath in the vocal core.
Eyes are open and in soft, relaxed gaze. Eyebrows relaxed.
Lips are closed and relaxed. (No grimacing.)
Jaw falls from the face and creates a small space between the teeth.Lips remain closed.
Head is horizontal with a horizontal line between the ears. Back of head is relaxed.
Tongue rests flat on the floor of the mouth.
Larynx is passive. Breath is silent.
Chest rises and falls with the flow of the breath. Shoulders relaxed.

Exercise:

Define the sensation at the top of your inhale.
Observe the easy inflation and deflation of the chest. How the chest silently rises and falls with the motion of the breath cycle.
Slow your breathing pace so that you can detect the moment at the end of your inhale.
Notice if you are closing your throat at the end of your inhale.
Release this unnecessary tension.
Explore how you can leave your larynx at rest at the top of the breath, the end of the inhale.

Vocabulary

Top of the Breath: The end of the inhale.

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Larynx at rest

Exercise - ​Top of ​the Breath

Preparation: “Home” position

​Vocabulary

Exercise - Top of the Breath

Vocabulary