I know correct breathing plays an important role in singing, but where exacty do u "breath to" and how?

i have heard: -

breathe so it fills your entire lung capacity

breath until the bottom of ur stomach

breathe into the bottom of ur lungs

short breaths

long slow breaths

breathe into the chest


WHERE ARE U MEANT TO BREATHE TO GET THE FULL BENEFICT WHILST SINGING?

thanks, lol.

I'm sure others are better qualified to comment, but I can tell you what I've been taught. It's a bit difficult to type up, though, since it's something I was shown, not taught.

First up, make sure your abdomen support is nice and strong. Swing the ribs open to create a vacuum in the chest. Open the mouth and throat, and allow the breath to flow in - it fills much more rapidly than you imagine, and feels a bit strange, at first, as you don't feel like you'r 'taken' a breath. The effect is quiet breathing, and also you don't overfill your lungs, so you don't create unecessary tension.

Not sure if that makes any sense, and I hope people who know more will correct any errors I've made!

There are thre types of breathing and only one is correct for singing:
1) Clavicular breathing, where the breathing is high up and the upper chest rises (also sometimes the shoulders). You don't have much lung capacity "up there", so not effective for singing.
2) Diaphragmatic breathing, where the air is directed straight downwards, and the tummy (below the navel) swells out. Harmful because of excess pressure onto the diaphragm - as a lecturer at the RCM put it - you don't want to be sued for giving someone a diaphragmatic hernia!
3) Intercostal breathing - this is what you are aiming for! -
For singing purposes - take a breath in always through the mouth - this sorts out the position of the soft palate - like a happy surprise. This opens the throat, which, during singing, should be shaped like the BEGINNING of a yawn. The breath is aimed down into the back, where you have the largest lung capacity. If you put your fingers and thumbs on your bottom ribs, you should feel them being pushed outwards.
An exercise to increase lung capacity (by encouraging the back muscles to become more flexible) is to sit upright on a dining room chait with rails on the back. Take a breath in as described above, then, without breathing out, close your lips and continue to sniff in through the nose until you can get no more air in. (I learnt that one at the RCM conference for singing teachers as well!) Breathing has to be swift because you don't have much time during songs. Often you can only take a top up breath, but always aim it down into your back for maximum efficiency in the time.
Support consists of keeping the rib cage high - i.e. where you find it after taking the breath and thinking of pushing the air against your chest wall, or imagining having a belt around your bottom ribs and pushing out against it to stop it falling down, This stops the ribs acting like bellows and forcing the air out too soon, wich leads to a breathy tone. For attack on a higher note, or at the ends of phrases, tuck in with the upper abdominal muscles as well to give the diaphragm a helping hand.
Hope this helps. It's not something that is grasped quickly without guidance - rather like learning to change gear!

Ann

I wouldn't want to argue with you about breathing technique for singing but I am a little anxious your statement above might be seen as worrying to the many wind players (and especially parents of young wind players) on these forums who do concentrate rather more on diaphragmatic breathing as befits our instruments. In 35+ years in the profession as a wind player, I've never known anyone get hernia problems from breathing technique using the diaphragm providing it's correctly taught. That's not to say they don't exist but I've never come across any.

However, having just tried out your description of breathing there are many similarities to how a young wind player might be taught but I think the final "support" bit is slightly different maybe? Breathing technique is so difficult to describe in words, we could be talking about the same thing, just explaining it differently. Wind players talk about breathing from the diaphragm but what you describe is not that different from what we do!

I would say to anyone struggling with breathing problems, discuss this with your teacher and get them to show you how to do it properly if they haven't already done so.

Being and oboist and a singer, I can confirm that the breathing techniques re subtlely different.

I counldn't give a better description of full intercostal breathing and support than Ann C had given. She has described it to a T, and it is the correct form of breathing for a singer.



As singing teachers this is the science bit, but it is not always the clearest way of describing it to singers. An experienced teacher develops a number of metaphors to put this into practice. this is wher phrases like
"breath into the bottom of your lungs" "feel you ribs open up like a hinge." all fit in. This (without putting words into Ann'smouth) is what is meant by guidance, and why it is so important to have singing lessons from some one who understands the mechanic of breathing.

Thank you, Jod, it IS difficult to explain in words. That's why it's almost impossible to learn singing from a book! In my lessons, there are a lot of practical exercise to help students FEEL what it is like, rather than rely on words. And of course, the language is moderated according to the age and mental ability of the student. Ultimately you can really hear the difference in the vocal tone when they get it right.

Ann

MY previous teacher used to make me put my hands on my ribs and watch them move outwards as I breathed in. But she also said that as you breathe in you have to "lift" the diaphragm up - so that if you are wearing a skirt you should see the hem rise slightly. Was this right?

Others have said to breathe deep into the tummy but I find that awkward and don't really see how it helps to support your voice.

I normally ask my pupils put their hands on their back ribs. This frequently is an area that pupils do not use.

The diaphram actually descends when you breath in. The tummy goes out to accommodate all the other bits in your abdominal cavity. Your rib cage lifts, and part of the art of support is to maintain that sense of lift for as long as possible.

There is a lot of rot spoke about breathing. The information Ann and I have given you is correct. I have looked at physiological models, and it is clear Ann has studied this in some depth too.

Think, if you blow up a ballon it expands. Put the balloon in a hinged box eg the rib cage and the walls flex outwards. It's very logical really.

Jod's last message is spot on. The breath should be aimed into the back ribs, where you have most lung capacity - not downwards into the tummy, where you have none at all! Not sure about "lifting" the diaphragm up when breathing in - (as Jod says, the diaphragm actually descends from it's upside-down pudding basin shape, to a flatish muscle on inspiration, at the same time as the rib cage goes upwards and outwards) - but there is a tucking in sensation in the tummy area. If you are standing correctly you have a sensation of doing up a zip up the centre of your body (gosh - hope this makes sense!). There is minimal movement of my tummy when I breathe in, but a good deal of upper abdominal muscle tucking in and holding the rib cage high whilst singing, depending, of course, on pitch and length of phrases (this is where your teacher advises you how much support is necessary for what you are doing).

Ann