CHAPTER III.
BREATH CONTROL It has been said that "breathing is singing." This statement is equally applicable to speaking.

While the aphorism is not literally true, it is true that without properly controlled breathing the best singing or speaking tone cannot be produced, for tone is but vocalized breath; hence in the cultivation of the voice, breathing is the first function to receive attention.
For singer or speaker, the correct use of the breathing apparatus determines the question of success or failure; for without mastery of the motive power all else is unavailing.

For a voice user, therefore, the first requisite is a well-developed chest, the second, complete control of it.
It must not be supposed that a singer's breathing is something strange or complex, for it is nothing more than _an amplification of normal, healthy breathing_.

In contrast, however, to the undisciplined casual breathing of the general public, the singer is a professional breather.
THE MUSCLES OF RESPIRATION There are two sets of respiratory muscles, one for inspiration and another for expiration,--twenty-two or more in all.

The principal muscles of inspiration are the diaphragm and the intercostal muscles that elevate the ribs.