Singing with COPD

The choir is taking a stab at a difficult Bach Cantata for Good Friday. I am comfortable so far with everything but the last movement. It has a lot of runs, and none of the sections is singing together for very long. Being rhythmically challenged makes this a nightmare. Tonight we have a tenor sectional, so I am hoping that we will be able to drill some of the runs and timing. Fortunately, there is at least one other tenor who can read music, and he is much better at it than I am. Also, our director gave each of us a CD to work with at home, and this has been a big help.

I am singing in a duetto that features the tenor so much that it might as well be a solo. I feel pretty good about hitting the notes, especially since the performance is in the evening. In the morning, I am at best a second tenor and more of a baritone unless I get up early and do killer warm-ups. I have been working on interpretation and shaping the piece, which is highly repetitive: “Meine Seele wartet auf den Herrn” over and over with an occasional “von einer Morgen wache bis zu der Andern” thrown in.

My big problem is breathing. There are a couple of longish phrases that I can’t always get through without cheating, and doing so obviously. I have struggled with COPD for the last several years, and it has been only in the last two years that I felt that it was under control enough to sing at all. Back in my youth, I never had to think about breathing, so I didn’t develop any good tricks. Now, I have to be conscious of my breathing whenever I sing, especially solo or in a duet. If anybody knows any good tricks, I would love to learn them.

Singing is one of my greatest joys, and I am glad to be back at it. I am happy that the choir is taking on some challenging music, and I hope we do not disappoint our saintly director too much.

When I was a teenager, I sang in the choir and the youth choir at my church. I was in the chorus at school as well, and I was a member of a touring group that was designated an “Official Stay and See America in Georgia First Bicentennial Singing Group”. In college, I sang in the chorus and was in the Georgia All State Chorus. Later, I sang in various church choirs and community choruses until I ran into lung trouble. I sing at home interminably until my wife threatens to kill me. And in the car. And at the office (the stairwell and the parking garage have great acoustics). I have sung at many weddings, and I have been known to get up multiple times at karaoke gatherings. My rendition of Roy Orbison’s “Crying” is legendary. So, having music in my life again is huge for me. If I can learn to breathe right, it will be a big achievement.