Breathing

The very first thing I do when I sit down with new piece of music is decide where we are and are not going to breathe. They are important decisions, and they're not always that easy to make. Here is how I decide where to breathe:

• Look at the text independent of the music. Where are the complete sentences? Think to yourself if it would make sense to breathe in the middle of a sentence or phrase.
  
• Many times we breathe in weird places while singing simply because it's convenient (every other measure, in the middle of long notes, etc.), not because it makes any sense in the context of the song. Don't feel like you "have" to breathe somewhere just because that's where the congregation usually breathes (the congregation is usually wrong).

For example, here is the text of "Silent Night" (Hymns #204) as it is written in the hymnbook. I believe this hymn has some of the worst breathing in it of anything in the book, because the textual and musical phrases don't really line up exactly. Here is how we usually sing it:

Silent night, [breath],
holy night [breath]
All is calm [breath],
all is bright [breath]
'Round yon virgin [breath]
mother and child [breath].
Holy infant so tender and mild [breath]
Sleep in heavenly peace [breath];
Sleep in heavenly peace.

In this state, you almost can't even tell what the words mean. When you actually construct meaningful phrases with your breathing, it becomes so much more clear.

Silent night, holy night [breath]
All is calm, all is bright 'round yon virgin mother and child [breath].
Holy infant, so tender and mild, sleep in heavenly peace [breath].
Sleep in heavenly peace [breath].

Now you're thinking to yourself, "those are really long phrases!" or "my choir will want to breathe there!" and you're right on both counts. You have got to drill it out of them--this is not congregational singing, this is choral singing, and you have to make sense of the phrases.

Lastly, write it down. Get a copy of the music, and clearly mark everywhere you're going to take a breath and where you're not going to breathe, and stick to it.