Voice Lesson III
Breath Control and Support
  The Breathing Mechanism
  Correct breathing is really the first major requirement of good singing. Without air, there's no voice. And of course, the better equipped we are physically, the better we breathe; and the better we breathe, the better we sing. Just because we breathe 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, does not mean that our breathing muscles are really that strong. The muscles used to breathe are designed and equipped to handle the repetitive task of constantly inhaling and exhaling efficiently - all without using great amounts of energy and nutrition. So, it is rather important that we regularly exercise that set of muscles, pushing it beyond the norm in order to build strength, endurance, and help those muscle grow into greater efficiency. And, like any set of muscles, the more exercise and practice the breathing mechanism gets, the greater our endurance, the stronger our output and capacity, and last - but certainly not least - the better we sing.

The building of vocal power comes from consistent practice. And in our rise to greater vocal power, our interest and focus should be on breath control and breath support. Breath control and support go hand in hand. Breath control is how much air you keep away from the vocal mechanism. In other words, once you inhale, it is the rate (speed) that the diaphragm and ribs return back to the resting position. Support is the energy from the abdominal area - caused by the muscle force that presses the air up to the vocal mechanism.

Regular practice is really the only way to increase your vocal ability. If you're not periodically thinking about breathing and the voice off and on all day, or if you don't have a regular daily practice session, then your voice is not reaching its full potential. Much could be said about that, but I won't.

Now...let's get a little more specific about breathing. When we were children, we didn't think about breathing, it was automatic. And the automatics of breathing predispose us to "belly breathing" - in other words, the major force is in the lower torso, where you see the belly expanding and collapsing. We did this as children. We still do this when we sleep! Somehow...we pick up the habit of breathing shallow, using only the lungs - and even then, only the upper lungs. I don't know where we learn it from. But it is someway, somehow, programmed in us, that when we're awake, we do shallow chest breathing, without even thinking about it. - Almost like we run in two different modes!

I'm sure some of you think I'll likely ask you to correct your breathing habits, and you'd be right. Begin making a conscious effort to breathe better - think about breathing periodically throughout your day.

But what about correct breathing in particular? If you've been paying attention to the exercises, you would realize by now that I'm helping (or attempting, at least) you breathe deeper, lower, larger, and fuller. It is mostly imagination that makes the voice work beautifully, but people generally do what they set their mind to do, so we practice nonetheless. Here is the model:

  1. Breathe out.
  2. When you inhale, pull it way down into your belly.
  3. Expand 360 degrees around - you should feel expansion around the spine in your lower back, around the sides, and in front.
  4. As you continue to inhale, move that 360 sensation up, filling the belly.
         In normal singing, repeat 1-4; but most exercises use all 6 instead.
  5. Move that expansion up into the rib cage, filling the lungs...right on up under the shoulder blades.
  6. And then exhale - press the air out...be sure not to push.

I'm afraid that is all. Breath work is not difficult. It's just necessary for advancement. And there's no better way to get the knowledge into your subconscious than practice, practice, practice.
  Breathing Exercises
  Let's see... Time for a tension check. Do a relaxation exercise if necessary. My preference here would be the Ragdoll exercise. Make sure to test for and fix tension problems before getting started on your practice session - which, if I haven't made clear enough by now, should be daily.

This next exercise lets you feel where breath support comes from (remember to check posture). Yes, it is somewhat over exagerated, as you would almost never take in that much air in any normal speaking or singing situation. It does, however, give you an immediate feel for breath support and what it should feel like. Daily practice on this exercise works wonders. I'm not kidding when I say this, this exercise should be performed at least ten times a day. That may also seem a bit exagerated as well, but ... when you spread this out throughout your day, it's not that much, and your voice...and ears...will thank you for it.

Contents Under Pressure

  1. Take a comfortably large breath - you should be feeling this 360 degrees around the abdomen. (I caution you here not to take too large of a breath.)
  2. Begin immediately to exhale on an [s] sound: "sssssss"
  3. Emit "sssss" very intensely (that doesn't necessarily mean hard). It should be like steam leaking from a pipe.
  4. Notice the feeling in your abdominal muscles. You should not be "pushing" the air out - you should feel it being pressed out.
  5. Make sure to squeeze out the last drop of air.

And then there are others.

Hah, Hah!

  1. Check your posture and take a comfortable 360 breath.
  2. Put one hand on your diaphragm (the spot in the middle of your torso below your ribs) and the other on your abdomen, just below the navel.
  3. Speak an energetic "Hah!" ten times, about one second between each, completely relaxing the muscles between each. It should seem spontaneous.
  4. Repeat this exercise, this time on a pitch - any pitch that is comfortable!

Controlled Pressure

  1. Take a deep, quiet, slow breath - pull that air as far down as you can into the abdomen - you should feel 360 expansion around the middle.
  2. Once you feel the lower expansion, inhale just a little faster - filling it up through the middle, into the lungs. Keep filling right on up under the shoulder blades. (your chest should be high to begin with so that your chest doesn't lift)
  3. Stop. Cut off the breath and just "sit on it," letting the air settle for about a second.
  4. Without "stressing," gently purse your lips together and begin a gentle exhale.
  5. You want to hold back - only press a little of the air out of the abdomen - you want to imagine and feel like you're still inhaling.
  6. Keep blowing until you run out of air. - For beginners, about 20-30 seconds is the lung capacity. As you advance as a student, however, you want to work your way up to about a minute.

Do NOT expect this to happen in two weeks! - this increase generally happens over an extended period of time, about three months, sometimes more, sometimes less - HAVE PATIENCE!

Long Note

  1. Take a deep, full breath - only, for this exercise, be careful not to overfill the lungs.
  2. Cut off the breath and just "sit on it" for about a second, letting the air settle.
  3. Relax and sing [ma]: "maaaaaaaaah" as in Mamma, on a comfortable, middle-of-your-range, medium to medium-loud (m to mf) note. (You must not "push" the tone. You must not strain. And do not overblow - squeeze out the air from the belly gently.
  4. Sing through your last drop of air - try for 30 seconds. (As you advance in your singing, start aiming higher by say five seconds every few weeks until you reach one minute - and, as always, this takes time.
  For this week...
  First, work on Contents Under Pressure - do this ten times a day, maybe once an hour or so. Second, do Controlled Pressure three times a day, once in the morning before getting up, while lying down, once while you're seated at the office, and once during your practice session. Third, try to squeeze in a 15-minute practice session each day - stand when you're in your practice session, do one Controlled Pressure exercise, one Contents Under Pressure, a couple rounds of Hah, Hah!s, and do the Long Note exercise five to ten times, each time on a new pitch, trying for about 30 seconds - that wraps up your practice session.

Don't forget to drink about two litres (or about a half gallon) of water a day. Drink fruit juices instead of sodas, tea, and coffee. Try to limit your breakfast to fruit and fruit juice/water only - allow about three hours before the consumption of lunch. Oh, it's OK to eat lots of fruit for breakfast, go ahead...satisfy your appetite.

Well, that's about all! See you next time.

Copyright 2000, Sundance Avenue Productions - Last revision: Sunday, 06 August 2000 00:50.