Stackapella Open the app

Unit 4 · Catch breaths

Breathe in turns

See how a choir holds a long chord by breathing at different moments: hold do, then mi over your own recording, each breathing somewhere else. Free.

Sing this lesson

Free in the app: sing one lesson of each course with no account; a free account opens the course unit by unit.

More in Catch breaths

Breathe in turns

A choir holds a long chord by breathing at different moments. You'll hold do, then mi over it, each breathing somewhere else.

Your do. Breathe after four beats

Your mi over it. Breathe after six

On playback. The chord never breaks

Breathe normally for three easy breaths. No countdown: go on when you're ready.

Breathe normally. In and out, easy

Shoulders down. Let them drop

When you're ready. Go on

What you sing

  1. Hold do over the drone: breathe once, quickly, after four beats, then hold four more.
  2. Now mi, a third up, over your own do: breathe once, after six beats, while your do is still sounding.

Challenge: The long phrase

Simple Gifts' first verse: long lines and quick, planned breaths, back in on time.

Then and now. An easy eight seconds first

Four lines. A quick breath before each

Back in on time. After every breath

What you sing

  1. Then and now: hold "oo" as long as is easy, up to eight seconds. Your first hold is marked.
  2. The verse with the guide, breathing before each line.
  3. On your own now. Quick, quiet breaths, and back in on time.

Singing safely

Don't lock your stomach. Stop if you feel dizzy, wheezy or tight, and sit for long holds. With asthma, another lung or heart condition, or if pregnant, keep holds short and easy. Skip it when hoarse or ill.

Free tools by Stackapella

All of these are free, and so is every course.

Stackapella teaches you to sing harmony one part at a time, right in your browser.

Stackapella recording the alto part of Amazing Grace: each note is a bar with its name, and the one being sung says A little low, go up. Stackapella recording the alto part of Amazing Grace: each note is a bar with its name, and the one being sung says A little low, go up. Stackapella recording the alto part of Amazing Grace: each note is a bar with its name, and the one being sung says A little low, go up. Stackapella recording the alto part of Amazing Grace: each note is a bar with its name, and the one being sung says A little low, go up.
  • A guide sings your partHear your line over the others, slow it down, then take your turn.
  • Your notes light upEach note shows where you landed, and a hint when to go up or down.
  • Record every part yourselfStack your takes in time until you're the whole choir.
Start the beginner course Open the app How Stackapella works

More free tools

No account, no ads. Each one keeps working offline once you've opened it.

See all 17 tools