Pamelia S. Phillips - Singing For Dummies

When you breathe normally, you automatically make a shallow inhalation and an even exhalation, followed by a pause before it all starts again — you don’t even need to think about it. On the other hand, when you sing, you need to not only inhale quickly and exhale slowly as you sing the phrases of a song, but also maintain proper posture. (See Chapter 3for more information on posture.) Breathing in this manner gives you the breath control you need to sing efficiently. However, because controlled breathing doesn’t come naturally, you need to train your body to breathe for singing. Keep reading for the breathing basics.

The easiest way to find out how to breathe for singing is simply to feel it. Being able to visualize and feel the proper way to breathe makes the process more natural for you, too.

Inhalation refers to air moving into your body — breathing in. Exhalation is blowing out the air. You exhale when you speak or sing.

Singing songs requires getting a full breath quickly — a quick inhalation — because the orchestra can’t wait five minutes for you to find the air. Knowing how your body feels when you inhale helps you quickly get air in your body so you can sing the next phrase. Use the following exercise to explore your own inhalation and get a feel for how your body needs to move when you inhale and exhale.

Pretend that you see someone you’re really happy to see. The surprise breath that you take feels like the air just rushed into your body. You can also pretend that someone told you something shocking.

You probably just took a really quick breath. Quickly filling your lungs with air is the way you want to breathe when singing. As you read this chapter, you discover how to open your body so the breath intake is silent.

When you’re working on breath control, you may find yourself yawning. The body gets confused with the different amount of air coming in, and you yawn. My students yawn during lessons and are embarrassed at first. I tell them that it’s okay to yawn when working on breath coordination.

Singing requires you to control your exhalation. You want to have a sustained and smooth exhalation so you can sing those demanding high notes and long, slow phrases.

To explore exhalation, try this exercise: Take a breath and say “Shhhh,” as if you’re trying to quiet some noisy children. Take another breath, and this time sustain the “Shhhh” as long as you can. While saying the “Shhhh,” notice what moves in your body as you exhale. You may feel that your abdomen or ribs are moving. At the end of the “Shhhh” (exhalation), you should feel the need to immediately inhale again.

Attached to your ribs, your lungs are made of pliable tissue — not muscle. When you inhale, the muscles between the ribs ( intercostals ) move the ribs up and out as the lungs expand downward. When the intercostal muscles relax back inward, the lungs move back to their normal resting position. Another muscle that moves when you breathe is your diaphragm, a dome-shaped muscle located underneath your lungs and attached to the ribs and the spine. Your diaphragm is actually attached to the rib cage in the front of your body and the ribs and spine in the back, and it doesn’t descend below your ribs. When you inhale, the diaphragm flexes downward and moves back upward as you exhale. If the diaphragm flexes downward as you inhale, the organs below your diaphragm (such as the liver and your stomach) have to move out of the way. The organs move down and out, which is why your abdomen moves out as you inhale. As you exhale, the organs gradually move back to their normal resting positions.

Breathing can be confusing for a singer who’s just starting out, because you have to pay attention to so many things at one time. Different people who know something about singing also may tell you about yet another breathing method to use for singing. One friend may say that their teacher wants them to leave the muscles out — sides, ribs, back — and distended as they sing or exhale; another friend may tell you that the abdominal muscles must move in when you exhale. Who do you believe? Both of them.

More than one method of breathing is useful, so you need to explore what works for you and understand why. You’ll likely encounter someone who claims to know all the answers about breathing, and I want you to be familiar with your own breathing to understand your options.

Being an “innie” or an “outie” doesn’t refer to just your belly button — it also refers to how you breathe. Both methods are valid; you just need to understand how breath works in your body. Here’s more info about each:

The innie method focuses on moving the ribs and abdomen in gradually during exhalation. If you’re exploring breathing for the first time, start with these exercises.

The outie method requires the singer to focus on keeping the ribs or abdomen out during exhalation. For many singers, the outie method is helpful because beginners have a hard time preventing the ribs and abdomen from moving back in too quickly during exhalation; visualizing the abdomen staying out helps them slowly move back in. After their abdomen moves back in, some singers squeeze their throat to continue singing. You can explore the outie method to see whether imagining your body staying wide during exhalation helps you slow the movement of your ribs and abdominal muscles and extend your breath.

Breathing efficiently when you sing is a combination of great posture (see Chapter 3) and skillful inhaling and exhaling. (See the sections, “ Practicing Inhalation” and “ Practicing Exhalation,” later in this chapter.) Remember the importance of good posture: It allows you to get a deep, full breath. If you slouch or you’re too rigid, your diaphragm locks and prevents you from getting a full breath for singing. (Refer to the nearby sidebar for more insight.) If your breathing and your posture work together as a team, you can improve your singing.

To sing your best, you want to develop good posture while you breathe. When your body is aligned correctly, taking and using an efficient breath is easier.

Your own two hands can help you maintain great posture while breathing. As you work through the breathing exercises in this chapter, place one hand on your chest and the other hand on your abs and your sides. As you inhale, use your hand to feel whether your chest stays steady; you want it to stay in the same position for both the inhalation and the exhalation. (If your chest rises during inhalation, you create tension in your chest and neck.) You’ll feel your other hand moving out with your abs and sides as you inhale, and back in toward your body as you exhale.

When you sing, you want to be confident that you can take in air and then use it efficiently to sing your song. Knowing how to open your body for inhalation allows you to get the breath in your body skillfully and with little effort. Inhaling is simple: Open your body, and the air comes rushing in. Read on for exercises and information to develop skillful inhalation technique.