Breathing Techniques for Singers
A vital component of good singing is air.
Singers must be able to control their breathing or they
risk becoming fatigued and their singing will suffer. The
breathing techniques below will produce immediate results,
and improved singing performance if practiced regularly. I
have yet to meet a singer who has not been able to improve
his singing instantly by practicing these breathing
techniques.
Breathing Technique
Start: 10 Slow Exhalations
Start by taking a deep breath and fill your lungs all the
way down to the abdomen. Now let it out slowly in a
constant stream. It helps to imagine that you are breathing
out through a very thin straw and the air is escaping so
slowly that it doesn't appear as if you're breathing at
all. Even if a candle were placed close to your mouth it should
hardly flicker as you exhale. Do this ten times.
Breathing Technique
cont.:
Five Exhalations -
Different Notes
When you're done, do five more. But on these next five
breaths, choose a comfortable note and hold it during the
entire breath. Try not to let it change in pitch or volume.
Choose a note in a comfortable pitch somewhere in your normal
speaking register. Low notes are recommended for this breathing
technique because they help the throat relax. Change the pitch
for each outward breath.
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Breathing Technique
cont.:
Five Exhalations - Different Notes - Changing
Volume
Now do another five of these, but this time gradually change
the volume of each note from zero up to a medium volume and
then take it back down to zero over before the end of the
breath. Select a different pitch for each breath and avoid
letting the pitch go flat or sharp. In this breathing
technique, all that is changing is the volume ing is the
volume, and that should be changing so slowly that the rate of
change is almost undetectable.
End Breathing Technique: Five Exhalations - Different Notes -
Changing Volume - Changing Timbre.
For the last set of five breaths (making a total of 25) do
everything you did in the previous five, but change the timbre
of your voice at a faster rate than the volume is changing. To
do this, sweep through the vowels: a,e,i,o,u. The change
should be gradual and in any order you wish. It'll sound
similar to a Tibetan chant, so if anyone asks what this
breathing technique is all about just tell them you've
converted to Buddhism and you're cleansing your
spirit.
So What Does This Breathing
Technique for Singers Achieve?
You're probably asking yourself how these breathing
exercises help and want to know why the benefits are
immediate. Well the answer is simple. By concentrating on
keeping your pitch constant you focus on what your body needs
to do to sing on pitch. Let's face it, pitch is probably the
most common and important concern of singers. A side
benefit of doing this breathing exercise for singers is that it
pumps extra oxygen into your brain. This is really good because
the more oxygen in your brain the better you think and are able
to focus on the task at hand: singing.
Other Breathing
Techniques and Tips for Singers
When you're on the mic remember to keep the abdomen
tight and the throat relaxed, allowing air to move
easily. High notes are achieved with more air and not
by squeezing your neck muscles. You can test
this technique by imagining you see a friend across a busy
street and you want to get his attention. Call out
"hey". Notice that you do this in a relaxed way with lots
of air. That's how to hit those notes on the
edge. Relaxed throat, pushing the air out with the
abdomen.
Not Talking is a Useful Singing
Technique
Believe it or not, talking is more of a strain on your
voice than singing (if you're doing it right of
course). Many Broadway singers are under contract to not
utter a word on the day of the show until after the
singing performance ends. This means that if you want to
be a successful singer you have to learn to breath, learn to
focus, then shut up and sing!
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Related articles:
singing posture, breathing for singing,
breathing
exercises, vocal cords
singing, vocal health
tips, singing lessons
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