How to breathe correctly for contemporary singing
You do NOT need to pump or tense your abdominal wall when you sing. This is a long-standing myth and misconception, unfortunately still taught by MOST singing teachers.
Let’s break it down...Breathing is made up of two parts: inhale and exhale.
When you inhale, your diaphragm muscle CONTRACTS DOWN, pushing out guts FORWARD (your abdominal wall has to be completely relaxed to do this).
When you exhale, your diaphragm slowly RELAXES UP. Your body will do this action AUTOMATICALLY, using the exact amount of effort needed.
Notice the resting position of your diaphragm is up. This means that it is much easier for your body to exhale. Think of inhaling as running up hill and exhaling as running down hill. Therefore, your body needs no extra assistance in exhaling.
Boyle’s Law
You will notice that as you run out of breath, your abdominal wall will ‘switch on’. This is natural, normal, and happens all by itself.
According to Boyle’s Law in physics, air pressure always wants to equalise. This means that when you have lots of air inside you (full inhale = positive air pressure), the air naturally wants to escape.
It’s only when the air pressure inside of you is negative (compared to the external world) that your body needs to actively push it out. This will happen at the end of a long phrase. You will gain nothing if you purposely squeeze your abs before this natural tipping point arrives.
TINY VOCAL FOLDS
When you sing, your vocal folds make contact to vibrate. They are tiny so only require a tweeny teaspoon of air to do this. Your vocal folds are literally the size of a grain of rice. They do not like hurricane-force winds. They much prefer a gentle breeze.
Pushing unnecessary levels of air through the vocal folds will cause two things:
Extra muscles will get involved to keep your vocal folds in contact (resulting in strain)
Your vocal folds will be literally blown apart and will not be able to make contact (resulting in cracking/breaking)
Either way, you’ll end up over-working and over-compensating. And you’ll tie yourself up in knots.
I hear these voices all over TV and radio. They are overly twangy, they sound forced/driven/pushed, and they are decorated with every effect you can imagine.
Big voice = small air
Think about the fact that your vocal folds have to make contact in order to vibrate and make sound. So, when your vocal folds make contact, NO AIR is passing through.
Get ready to have your mind blown: the louder and cleaner (non-breathy) your voice is, the LESS air you need. This is particularly true with belting, in which the vocal folds are in contact up to 80% of each vibratory cycle.
So please don’t try hitting those money notes by tanking up your lungs first. It is definitely not a good long-term strategy.
USE THE BODY AS SUPPORT, NOT THE BREATH
As a singer, you must NOT focus on pushing the air out. You must focus on comfortably holding the air BACK.
This is so that your vocal folds are not under pressure and you can sustain a strong and steady voice.
You do this by activating the latissimus dorsi muscles in your back.
If you were are car, The ‘lats’ act as a break on the diaphragm and the abdominal muscles act as the gas – every time you rev the engine, you are causing extra effort and strain.
So, if you feel strain when you sing, or you run out of breath easily, check out my online resources or get in touch so I can help you.
And if you are taught to pump your abs by a singing teacher, kindly show them this. I don’t care how talented or experienced they are – it’s categorically wrong and harmful.
This blog was written by Freya Astrella, an expert vocal coach in East Sussex, UK.
Freya is a bonafide vocal technique expert and is one of the only teachers in the region to have gained Estill Voice certification. Freya holds a First Class BA(hons) in Professional Musicianship, a VocalTech Diploma, and a Master’s Degree in Vocal Performance. She is currently undertaking the Vocal Process teacher training course.
Freya has taught all ages and abilities at BIMM, Access To Music, The Academy of Music And Sound, TheatreTrain, Stagecoach, and The Rock Project. She currently coaches at Rhapsody Artist Development in Seaford. Furthermore, Freya was a lead writer for VoiceCouncil.com, which was the biggest online resource for singers.
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