Vixen, if you can go through the lyrics with your partner and make choices where to take a breath according to phrases, you can pace yourself as well as have a smooth sound through phrases of words and notes that should logically be tied together. In other words, look at where the commas and periods are in the lyrics, and whatever you do, don't take a breath in the middle of a word.

For an example, you can breathe before a long phrase, even though you haven't run out of air yet, in order to keep the long legato line of the phrase. In the song Fields of Athenry, for example, if you sing "Michael (breath) they are taking you away." it is better than singing "Michael they are taking you (breath) away." By going through your lyrics and finding the phrases (thoughts) that should remain connected on one breath, you can decide where to insert a breath together.

Alice