I am not really calling you a "dummy". My guess is that you are NOT one! On the contrary, if you are a singer who knows how to "breathe" in a way that fully supports your vocalism -- be it classical, jazz, rap, or rock -- then you are wise in one of the most foundational aspects of singing.
Even if you "merely" speak, without strain, a good part of the day - on the phone, lecturing in the classroom, shouting over loud machinery, or while marshalling the kids at home - then you already know how to support your voice with your breathing. However, if requirements on your voice, such as the activities mentioned above, are causing you vocal stress, hoarseness or tiredness, you may want to keep reading. I have some quick and easy exercises to help you.
What is it that every famous classical singer in history, every enduring pop star today, and every studio singer with a steady string of gigs, has in common? It is their knowledge of how crucial solid breath support is to the health and longevity of their vocal capacity.
Arguably, singing is ALL about breathing - i.e. having enough of a strong column of air emerging through the throat from the lungs, while singing, that the throat remains open and relaxed, able to produce the full range of notes and overtones that allow the voice to shine! If you have a solid foundation in the "breath department", then the vocal techniques you employ from the collarbone up will be drawn into right action much more easily. On the other hand, if your breathing is not fully supporting your voice box (yes, the anatomical term is "larynx"), then your throat will be, at least to some extent, busy with damage control, attempting to protect itself from unnecessary wear-and-tear.
4-Stage Vocal Exercise
Let me describe to you (this is where video would come in handy!) a simple vocal exercise, in 4 stages, which can help your voice immensely. It can be practiced for a few minutes every day or so, and make a remarkable improvement in the ease, and even the richness of the sound, of your singing or speaking. To begin with, practice each stage for a few days, before moving on to the next.
Preliminary: Purse your lips, as if sucking on a drinking straw, for all these exercises, inhaling and exhaling through the lips, not your nose. You should hear your breath quietly whistling though your lips and feel a mild resistance, as the air is drawn and expelled through the relatively small opening between your lips.
Stage 1: With your back flat against a wall or door, and as you exhale, use your hand to help you pull your stomach in as far as you comfortably can. Now, without letting your stomach move out again, breathe in through your pursed lips. Feel the breath go down into the lower-back part of your lungs. You may think you are filling your kidneys with air - that's OK!
After you have taken your "full breath" in, hold your breath for a moment, then draw in MORE air through your pursed lips. Do NOT exhale any air out yet! Continue to use your hand to help hold your stomach in. Hold your breath for a moment, then draw in still MORE air. Repeat this as many times as you can without becoming faint, or dizzy. (The wall behind you should help you stay upright.)
Now, exhale, either all at once through your mouth, or, for greater exercise of the "breathing muscles", release the air slowly, again through pursed lips. This slow exhalation simulates the release of breath while singing a sustained phrase of music.
Stage 2... takes Stage 1 further, as follows: With your back still against the wall or door, take in your first breath as you did in Stage 1, letting the breath go down into the lower, back portion of your lungs. Now, while standing erect and without exhaling any air, release your stomach muscles. Take your next breath, still through pursed lips, into the "front" part of your lung. Your chest will expand, now that your relaxed midriff will allow room for air in that region. Make sure, however, that your shoulders don't rise during the inhalation; we want the lower, front part of the lung to be filled; the higher, front part will fill easily on its own. For the third breath-in, return to the Stage 1, gut-pulled-in position. Release the stomach for the fourth, breathing into the front, and so on.
You should find yourself eventually able to inhale several rounds of breaths, without exhaling, as the muscles around the lungs learn to expand. See how much room your lungs have for breath? Prepare to have a healthier, more-oxygenized body, in general, using this freed-up breathing technique.
Stage 3... is a different application of Stages 1 & 2. This time, use the same two positions as in Stages 1 & 2 - i.e. the back-filling, stomach-pulled-in position of Stage 1, and the released, but upright open chest position of Stage 2. But in Stage 3, you will not alternate the back and front inhalations. This time, you will draw one extra-long breath -- moderately-paced, through pursed lips, and will hold your stomach in for the first half of the inhalation, while then releasing the midriff for the second half. By now, you should also be able to exhale slowly through pursed lips as, with every day you exercise, your various breathing muscles are becoming stronger, yet relaxed, and more coordinated in their work together.
Stage 4 - This is the place where you ultimately want to be with your breathing! In this stage, you should be able to exhale completely, and then inhale rapidly, filling the lower-back part of the lungs (Stage 1) and the front part of the lungs (Stage 2). You will not be holding any stomach muscles taut now, unless you just want to, to add a little more structure to your inhalation.
You are now able to draw the largeness of breath that a singer needs to support the voice properly, with enough quantity to get you through those longer, sustained phrases. You should also be able to fill those lungs in the short amount of time you have between musical phrases.
As a continual tune-up, practice this 4-stage exercise regularly. And let your rich, resonant voice be heard!
Thank you to PenDell Pittman
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