The first element of good phrasing is breath: more specifically, breathing in places that make sense with regard to both the music and the text.
Breaths are important markers within the music; they break up a song so that it’s easier to understand and follow. We speak in sentences that have natural pauses built-in as punctuation marks. It’s how we communicate! It makes sense to us.
With our example song, “The Star-Spangled Banner”, I will demonstrate how to use breathing and pausing in certain areas to enhance your performance.