To breathe is to live. It is so important to our survival that our brains will not let us handle this on a conscious level. Our diaphragms continue to work even if we are unconscious. In fact, we can’t even feel our diaphragm, which is a good thing. We would surely never be able to concentrate on anything if we were constantly worried about breathing. So, like a good security app, the breathing function is constantly running in the background. It only comes to the forefront in times of mental or physical stress. At these times our rib cages, intercostal muscles, pectoral muscles, abdominal muscles, heck even our back muscles pitch in to assist with intense breathing processes. And that’s a good thing, but not for singing.
The key word there was “stress”. When preparing to sing, it is generally better to be without physical stress, right? You’ve never heard anyone say, “The way to sing better is to put MORE stress on your body and voice.” Yet most of us do this habitually, unconsciously, by the way we breathe for singing. If when you breathe you mimic the body’s response to stress – lifting the rib cage, contracting the stomach muscles, and sucking in air – then your body will respond accordingly. Here’s what happens:
1. You will trigger the body’s sympathetic nervous system, which could cause hyperventilation, increased adrenaline, and that old “fight or flight” reaction (think of getting super nervous, feeling nauseated, and perhaps dizzy, etc.)
2. By contracting the muscles in your stomach and chest you will by default be contracting the muscles in the front of your throat. The nerves that signal contraction for the former also cause the same in the latter. It’s just the way we are made.
3. By moving the rib cage you will be pulling on the diaphragm (it’s attached to the inside of your ribs and spine), thus causing it be less flexible. Consequently, this will require even more pressure to manage the flow of air through your throat and over the vocal chords.
Do all of these things happen to the extreme? Not usually, but why do it even a little, especially if there is a more efficient way of using your breath that does not do all of those things. So you’re asking now, “what can we do instead, Mr. Know-it-all?” Well, I’m about to lay down some tips for ya. Other than telling you to just do the opposite, I’ll explain.
Rather than using the chest to draw in your air, use your stomach. And when I say use your stomach, I do not mean contract the muscles like you’re doing a crunch. It’s more of a “relaxing in” of the air. My teacher used to call it “the plop” because you can literally just drop your chest and relax your stomach to breathe in. Remember, your diaphragm can do this job without you, so all we need to do is get out of its way. Try it. Can you do that and speak or sing? You probably have enough air to sing a whole phrase. You don’t need more air than that. To take in more air than what the diaphragm can move by itself means you have to start moving the chest and ribs, which brings us back to my earlier points.
“ok, so now I’ve plopped in my air. How do I keep it all from coming out all at once?” Great question. Rather than contracting the core muscles, think of pushing out as if against a girdle or if you had a rope tied around your waist. Our work consists of staying inflated, if you will, and keeping our chest relaxed. Again, our jobs are to get out of the way of the diaphragm so that it can work. There are several reasons why this is difficult to do at first:
1. Most of us don’t like the thought of sticking out our stomachs because it doesn’t look good.
2. As a result we are used to breathing with our chest, so we are fighting old habits.
3. It is a different way of coordinating the movement of air, and many people find this a challenge.
Ultimately, you will be able to breathe in and out without moving anything (except the diaphragm, of course). This will take a lot of time and practice, but it is possible. Until then, you should focus on the easing of the throat muscles when you breathe and really energizing your core in the way I described above. It’ll be a challenge, but you can do this. Learning to sing well is always worth the effort. Until next time…keep healthy and keep singing!
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