Breathing is something we all do subconsciously all day every day, so can we be doing it wrong? Barbara Tanze coaches amateur and professional athletes to optimise their respiratory biomechanics and physiology, both online and at her private practice in Slovenia. She joins Alexa this week on Singing Teachers’ Talk to break down how breathing affects the voice and body as a whole. Barbara will also be part of BAST’s ‘Focus On Breathing’ Event on Friday 11th February 2022, linked in the notes below.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Barbara became interested in breathing after being on stage and hyperventilating due to a tight costume. Our bodies are very adaptable but you need to know and be used to the costumes we wear on stage and they need some kind of elasticity to them.
- When working with a student, make sure you have a discussion about breathing. Make it an exploration with open questions. Never force something on someone like you should feel this or you’re doing this wrong. It can be a pretty strange thing for someone to hear that they are breathing wrong. Make it open with no wrong answers ever.
- Barbara also teaches athletes optimal breathing which differs from singers as an athlete needs to be more mobile in the shoulders for example, but a singer would need to be more mobile in the neck. This is to do with making sure you have the range of motion you need in specific places and how your breathing can optimise that.
BEST MOMENTS
‘Our bodies are amazingly adaptable’
‘Without a basic understanding of how the instrument works, you can’t maintain progress in your work’
‘We’re always trying to explain internal pressure on the outside’
EPISODE RESOURCES
BAST Training
voiceup.si
Instagram: @btbreathing
Facebook: Barbara Tanze – Breathing Coach
Get your tickets here for BAST’s ‘Focus On Breathing’ Event on Friday 11th February 2022: basttraining.com/event/ol-feb-fo-breathing/#tribe-tickets
Robin de Haas & MDH Breathing Co-ordination: breathingcoordination.ch/en/welcome
Singing And The Premenstrual Voice: basttraining.com/singing-and-the-premenstrual-voice
Oren Boder: ob1.co.uk
The Art of Breath (Brian Mackenzie & Rob Wilson): shiftadapt.com
The Sing Space: thesingspace.com
ABOUT THE GUEST
Born in Munich, Germany and raised between Germany, Switzerland and the USA, Barbara Tanze graduated from the Conservatoire de Lausanne with an M.A. in vocal pedagogy and classical vocal performance.
After several years of concentrating on her operatic career, Barbara also explored and studied other vocal styles before discovering her passion for optimal breathing.
Barbara has completed an advanced certificate in MDH Breathing Coordination as well as several other breath-related training programmes. She is an external consultant at Modern Vocal Training and a visiting lecturer at different institutions, including the Pacific Opera Company in Sydney, the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm, the World Voice Teachers Expo and the Slovenian Institute for Rehabilitation.
In addition to her work with singers and voice teachers, Barbara coaches amateur and professional athletes to optimise their respiratory biomechanics and physiology, both online and at her private practice in Slovenia.
Link to podcast presenter’s bios
