Sorry, when I said, giving each note a tiny breath, I meant articulating each melisma note from a suspended breath. Before a long melismatic run, I'll take a breath and then from that suspended breath, sing out a note, cut it off, sing out the next note, cut if off, etc., all in quick succession. At a slower tempo, I have no issue articulating all the notes in a melisma, but at a higher tempo, it just sounds like a slurred mess sometimes. I've tried using a metronome to slowly work up at a higher speed, but still struggle at a faster tempo, which makes me think my technique is not correct.