Inhaling air at the wrong time can completely ruin a song. But there is hope. Just as you can improve your high notes and vocal range, you can easily control your breath even in the most difficult performances. From the article you will learn how to breathe correctly, as well as 5 breathing exercises that each singer should perform, as well as how proper singing breathing helps your singing.
Human vocal apparatus
To better understand how important this is, you need to look at the mechanics of the human voice.
The voice reproduction system can be divided into three main parts:
- the lungs, which are a source of energy;
- the larynx serves as a vibrator;
- the throat, nose, mouth and sinuses, which all make up the resonator.
Looking at this list, one may wonder why there is no diaphragm there, singers are constantly taught to breathe from it. Even before the lungs begin to work, the diaphragm is already in action. This is a pump that pumps the lungs to breathe. It lowers and expands the chest, drawing air through the mouth and nostrils to fill the lungs with air. When the diaphragm rises, it compresses the chest and lungs, creating airflow through the trachea. It is this stream of air, or exhalation, that affects the vocal cords, creating a voice.
To sing with speed and force, increasing the pitch, the diaphragm must draw in enough air and use the full capacity of the lungs, not just the upper lobes. For a deeper breath and greater voice exposure, 70-80% of your breathing should be from the diaphragm. Deep singing breathing has other health benefits, such as reduced pressure on the chest muscles, which is important for a healthy heart.
Most dysfunctional breaths, including excessive, shallow breathing, and breath holding, are the result of an inability to consciously control your breathing. In most cases, the muscles of the shoulder, neck and chest are used to draw in air. This only fills the upper lobes and will not give strength to your voice.
Why does it seem easier to breathe incorrectly? What habits should be avoided in order to breathe properly?
Type of breathing
There are 3 types of breathing:
- clavicular;
- upper costal;
- lower costal.
The first two types of singing breathing - clavicular and upper costal - relate to irrational breathing methods. Chest expansion and the amount of air required to maintain optimal pressure are limited. More rational is the third type - lower costal breathing, which consumes much more air. Its delivery is uniform for singing with this type of breathing, but insufficient, because the respiratory movement is still quite limited due to the stiffness of the ribs.
More useful is the combination of abdominal and lower costal breathing, the so-called costal-abdominal breathing, which is sometimes called diaphragmatic. In addition to maintaining muscle strength, it helps to supply a significant amount of air, as well as develop the flexibility of respiratory movements. Repeating singing breathing exercises will help change it.
Reasons People Cannot Breathe from the Diaphragm
The main obstacles are:
- Smoking that causes chronic bronchitis is a swelling of the bronchi that reduces the amount of air entering the lungs. Smoking also causes emphysema, a condition in which the lungs lose elasticity, making breathing through the diaphragm almost impossible.
- Too much time in a sitting position, due to which diaphragmatic breathing becomes uncomfortable. Over time, the body loses its natural tendency to breathe from the abdomen (diaphragm).
- In some cases, the diaphragm simply loses its strength, most likely due to lack of exercise or illness.
To correct your breathing, you must recognize the central role that the diaphragm plays in your breathing.
Getting rid of bad breathing habits will take time and effort. But if you are a singer, then a career may depend on them. The way you breathe directly affects the quality of your voice, its pitch, volume and tone.
When you breathe from the diaphragm, your stomach expands outward when you inhale. This is otherwise called horizontal breathing and is proper singing breathing.
Vertical respiration is reverse and incorrect. It happens when your chest and shoulders go up. This type of breathing is marked by short breaths that deprive your voice of the necessary support.
Most dysfunctional breathing is the result of bad habits that develop over time. Getting rid of them is only the beginning. The real job is training your entire respiratory system to stop relying on less effective muscles in your neck, chest, and shoulders and get back to breathing from your diaphragm.
How to breathe from the diaphragm?
This is an important question because you cannot directly control the diaphragm, which acts involuntarily. What you can control is actual breathing, in which the muscles of the diaphragm draw air when we breathe in and push it out when we breathe out. Other respiratory muscles around the diaphragm, such as the abdominal and intercostal, can also be consciously controlled.
Singing breathing skills will help:
- Breathe deeply, using all the capabilities of your lower lung lobes.
- Inhale through the nose and exhale through the nose and mouth.
- Keep your shoulders still and relaxed when inhaling.
- Reduce tension in the upper body. That it interferes with creating good vocals.
Singing breathing exercises
Many probably felt touched at some point in their lives by an incredible singer or musician. This is a song that you simply cannot get out of your head. Or maybe it's because of the special vibration emanating from their vocal cords that amazes you inside.
The development of singing breathing increases the body's natural anti-inflammatory response, thereby reducing any lung problems. It boosts mood and energy to prolong periods of singing. The exercises below will seem unnatural, but the longer you perform them, the better your singing breath.
Exercise 1. Relaxing the strained muscles of the diaphragm
Since you are not training your diaphragm, there is usually a lot of tension in the muscles around it. This exercise aims to bring the diaphragm back into shape.
Get down on your hands and knees so your stomach hangs. The force of gravity will help you inhale from the stomach, keeping your shoulders level. The extra strength needed to tighten the abdominal muscles and tighten the abdomen during exhalation is also an effective way to train under-stressed muscles.
Note that you need to inhale more slowly than you exhale. As the breath slowly facilitates the work of the abdominal muscles and fills the lungs, they give more control over the voice.
Exercise 2. Hissing sound for optimal breath control
The formation of singing breath will teach you to slow it down so that you can safely lower your voice when required. You can perform this exercise while sitting or standing. But it’s more convenient to do this while lying on your back. This way you will always be aware of what you are doing and be able to focus on the exercise. A person tends to breathe slowly when lying on his back.
Lie with your knees raised. Now put your hands on your stomach and slowly inhale through the nostrils and fill the lower lungs with air. To exhale, grit your teeth and use your tongue to slowly release trapped air. A prolonged hissing sound should occur. To see if breathing actually comes from the diaphragm, place the book on your stomach and watch if it rises and falls.
This exercise causes the diaphragm and abdominal muscles to suppress tension from the fully inflated lungs and allow your voice to hold the note for as long as you want.
Do the task again and try to make a high hissing sound. You should feel your abdominal muscles tighten as you try to push more air through a small hole between your gritted teeth and tongue.
Exercise 3. Sharp hissing sounds for a flexible diaphragm
Singing breathing becomes more difficult when a person tries to reproduce the quiet parts of a song. Exercise should allow you to sing the most cunning notes without much stress.
Make the position from Exercise 2. But instead of a constant hissing sound with a low or high tone, make intermittent strokes, squeezing the muscles of the throat to block the flow of air rushing up the trachea. Blows should accelerate when you exhale more air. The chest will begin to feel heavy, the tension in the abdominal muscles will increase, and the voice will begin to tire.
Exercise teaches the voice to alternate between low and high sounds, it will be easier for you to breathe diaphragm.
Exercise 4. Practice slow breathing
It is better for a person to breathe slowly, because with quick breaths only the pectoral muscles are used, they tend to be shallow and require a lot of effort, tiring the voice. Slow breaths are deeper and allow you to direct the right amount of air through the vocal cords to produce the desired sounds. And since they use the right muscles, slow breathing will seem more natural and less tiring.
Stand straight with legs slightly apart. But do not forget that you need to stay calm. Close the right nostril with your index finger and slowly inhale and exhale from the open. Do this several times and switch to another nostril. We tend to engage the diaphragm when one of the nostrils is blocked.
Another way to practice slow breathing is to tighten your lips and try to breathe using only your mouth. Exercise is like eating spaghetti or drinking from a straw. Try to inhale forcefully enough to make a dull, windy sound. But when you exhale, you must slow down to a quiet sound.
Exercise 5. Exercising the body to maintain proper posture and stamina.
Exercise that will help correct posture and train your voice for greater stamina. It requires a lot of physical effort, but it is a great workout for the diaphragm and abdominal muscles.
Stand in the same upright position as in the previous exercise. Spread both hands in a T-shape, keeping your body relaxed. Take slow breaths while keeping your arms parallel to your shoulders. Notice how it becomes more difficult to raise your chest and arms when you breathe. Complicate the exercise by lifting two objects of the same weight (for example, light chairs). Keep your back straight and continue working. Do it slowly first, and then alternate with faster repetitions until the body holds. Exercise will help tame the natural tendency to breathe with the muscles of the neck, chest and shoulders.
Breathing exercises for children
Breathing is the most convenient tool for managing emotions that we can present to a child, because breathing is always with you. Song breathing for children provides them with a simple but effective strategy for slowing down their activities, helping to determine their well-being and relax in the face of overwhelming emotions.
The simple exercises given above are ideal not only for adults or singers, but also for children. They can be used as part of a plan to reassure the baby. Suitable for relaxing at bedtime or for helping the brain to reorient and refresh it.
Like most bad habits, it takes a lot of effort to change dysfunctional breathing. Great news for singers - it will significantly improve vocals and form the correct singing breath. The voice will sound richer and lighter. Do exercises only 5-10 minutes every day before vocal practice. Remember to breathe consciously so as not to return to old habits.