- Home
- All exercises
- Breath and long notes
- Stability: 3 long notes
Stability: 3 long notes
Three chord tones, 4 seconds each, with a breath between them.
Stability: 3 long notes spreads a major triad across time: root for four seconds, a one-beat rest, major third for four seconds, another rest, perfect fifth for four seconds. Each note is a separate long tone with its own breath, so you train two things: steady sustaining and starting a fresh note exactly on pitch after a quick inhale. Each repetition moves up two semitones, until you're near the top of your range, then the pattern comes back down the same way. “Oh” keeps the sound rounded and the airflow controlled, so all three notes stay calm.
How to do it
- Listen to the piano play the three notes with the rests between them.
- Sing the root for four seconds, steady and moderate in volume.
- In the rest, take a short, quiet breath through the nose, then start the third exactly on pitch.
- Repeat for the fifth. Watch all three blocks on the roll turn green with flat lines.
- Each repetition starts two semitones higher.
Coach's tip: Between notes a short, quiet breath through the nose.
What to watch out for
The breath in the one-beat rest is the tricky part. Gasping loudly and lifting the shoulders makes the next note late or scooped; keep the breath small and silent. The third often begins slightly flat because it's approached from silence rather than a step; hear it before you sing it. The fifth tends to come out louder than the other two; keep all three even. Four seconds shouldn't feel like effort; if it does, lower the range.
Who it's for
A level 2 exercise for singers who can hold Long note 6 s and want to combine sustaining with clean starts. Use it in the main block, or as an unhurried cool-down. Major triad 1-3-5-3-1 uses the same notes at speed and makes a good pairing. Listed in Breath and long phrases.
Part of programs: Breath and long phrases
Opens the app in your browser. Free to start, no account needed. Put on headphones first.
Related exercises
- Long note 10 s Ten seconds without wavering and without sagging.
- Messa di voce (soft → loud → soft) Crescendo to the middle, then decrescendo. The pitch stays put.
- Crescendo on a long note Eight seconds of one note from soft to loud, like the final note of a show number. Pitch and an even rise in volume both count.
- Three phrases, quick breaths Three minor-pentatonic phrases back to back, with short rests for breath; the last one reaches the octave. Builds stamina for long rock parts.