Basic Breathing
During most every workshop I teach, I usually talk about three breathing methods. The one I’ll briefly touch on here is the “use all your air before you breathe again” method. I know, I should come up with another name for that!
This way of thinking about breathing works well for many singers and can be a sort of “quick fix.” Basically you just need to use all your air on every phrase you sing. Before taking your next breath be sure you try and push out any remaining air from your lungs. This is best used for awhile by marking up your music as to when you will breathe – check marks work well.
You can practice this and “warm-up” your breathing by inhaling on a certain number of beats then exhaling with a “sss” sound on a certain number of beats. Try this – inhale with a sipping sound for a count of 4 medium tempo beats, then immediately start to exhale making a steady “sss” sound for 8 beats. Do this 3 or 4 times in a row. Keep in mind to exhale ALL of your air on the “sss” sound or you may find yourself light-headed. :-) Now try and inhale on 2 beats and exhale on 4 beats. Do this several times in a row. Now try a longer phrase – inhale on 2 beats and exhale on 12 beats or more. Basically you are teaching yourself to moderate your air use and planning ahead.
Now that you have “warmed up” your breathing transfer your technique to actually singing a song. You probably won’t be using the sip breath but will need to moderate your air use for each phrase of the song. For short phrases and more up-tempo songs you may not need to take in tons of air. You will need to plan ahead for longer phrases. If you have practiced this way with your songs then most likely when you get ready to sing in front of a group, you will actually do what you worked on. Most singers also will inhale more deeply as they work with this method a bit. Again, it’s vitally important that you use ALL your air and push out any remaining air before you take in another breath.
By the way, this works great for running and hiking too. Jim and I love to hike at higher altitudes and this is a form of compression breathing. So I get to practice it while I’m not singing too!
Well, let me know how it goes. :-) Happy singing AND breathing,
- Kris -
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Hi there, I hope you enjoy the Vocal Blog! Please feel free to ask questions and make comments on the posts. It's my desire to help singers use their voices more effectively and step out in confidence in whatever place (as a soloist or as part of a group) that God has called them to sing. Over the years I have had so many people ask me questions pertaining to singing after classes that I have taught. I thought this might be a better way to communicate so everyone can join in on the discussion. I look forward to hearing from you!Don't see what you are looking for? Have a question you would like addressed? Please email me at:
Kris@SingersResource.net
[...] so I don’t add too much length here. It’s free website/informational tool for singers: http://singersresource.net/basic-breathing/ That blog post might answer your question in a bit more detail if you want to check that [...]
Love the ‘Use it or Lose it’ title! I may have to call this method that name from now on! Thanks
Hey! Great advice, my friend! You could call it the “Use it or lose it” method, since you’ll lose that air if you don’t take advantage of it in that phrase! :)
When I was studying music in college, I was always taught to breathe from my stomach. This made you use your diaphragm and take deep breaths using your entire lungs, not just the upper part. It felt unnatural at first, but after time it came more easily. And it allowed you to sing (or play a wind instrument) for very long phrases. Keep up the great work on the blog!