Singing And BreathingThe first thing to learn in singing is to control your breath. When you have this control you have control over the muscles of your diaphragm larynx and vocal cords. It may seem complicated but correct breathing for singing is very simple. Simply fill your chest, raise your head and press your tongue to the upper palate. If you try to do complicated breathing exercises you will only add tension to your voice. Just imagine there is a balloon full of air in your diaphragm area. First, you will fill the balloon with air through inhalation. Then you simply release the air slowly bit by bit until it is expelled. When you sing you need to inhale quickly and deeply, then exhale slowly and steadily in a long breath as the notes are sung. Singing requires a higher rate of breath then just talking. It requires the need for energy and stamina and muscle control. This can be done through training. The breath actually fuels the voice. Without the diaphragm and surrounding muscles that support its work there are thirty six muscles used in breathing and singing. The air can’t enter or leave the lungs. Without the lungs air would not move upwards and out of the body through the chest, neck, head and vocal fold would not vibrate. Without the vibration of the cords, sound is not produced by the voice. Singing and speaking is really just breathing out the noise made by our voice boxes. When proper breathing is learnt it will lead to better control over the breath and the voices tone. When you sing air is naturally split and rejoined to be expelled from your mouth. It can also help with volume control, breath and sustaining notes, lung capacity, stamina, tension and better oxygenation of the entire body. Breathing is part of the automatic nervous system and is performed with conscious control. We can actually actively control our breathing. It can be stopped and started at will choosing how much air we will inhale or exhale in a breath or deciding how rapidly or slowly we will perform each phase of the breath cycle. This makes it imperative to actively develop our breathing skills. The fact is we were all born with the ability to breath. However, in classical vocal training the notion is that you have to regulate your breathing to produce a good tone. If test if you are breathing properly lay on the floor and put your hand on your stomach. If you feel your abdomen rise and fall with your breathes then that is all there is to it. Just remember not to try and suck your stomach and work on your tone. Some important points to remember:
Now that you know the basics of singing and breathing you will be on your way to that Karaoke night at your local bar. |
