6 Easy & Effective Breath Exercises For Singers | School Of Rock

Photo credit: Matte Erickson for All Music Magazine

Concepts like breath support and breathing with the diaphragm are typically discussed from the start in singing lessons. But what do these terms actually mean and how does it help you and your singing? Understanding these concepts is fundamental, and applying specific breathing exercises to strengthen the lungs is key for vocal power.

The first time our lungs fill with air is when we are born. A newborn baby’s cry is strong, powerful, and can last for hours. We can thank that amazing power and sound to their diaphragmatic breathing. As we grow however, we learn a shallower type of breathing using our chest. As singers, it is essential to retrain our muscles and go back to our primal way of breathing. When we breathe, contracting our diaphragm, our lungs fill to their maximum capacity and we can sing powerfully and sustain long notes while having a clear and loud sound. Regardless of whether you are an opera singer, a rock god, or a pop star, all great singers across different voice types one thing in common: diaphragmatic breathing.

Diaphragmatic Breathing

Diaphragmatic breath, often called “belly breathing,” might feel uncomfortable or even unnatural at the beginning. However, once we strengthen those muscles, it starts to become comfortable again. A weak diaphragm leads to shallow breathing which results in shortness of breath during singing. For example, the song “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin has a rather difficult part starting at measure 154, where the singer needs to maintain a phrase for five measures with no pauses to breathe, a challenge similar to those found in many intermediate songs for vocalists. It is imperative for the singer to have proper breath support to be able to accomplish such a deed.

One of the most important parts of singing is controlling your breath, a skill often honed through the best vocal warm-ups. Adjusting the amount of flowing air will give you control over your phrasing and dynamics. Breath control allows you to have both a powerful, loud voice as well as a soft, clear sound. The process of breathing has two stages: inhalation and exhalation. During inhalation air flows into the lungs and fills the chest cavity. During exhalation air is pushed out of the lungs. There are two factors to keep in mind during this process. The first one is the difference in pressure between the lungs and the atmosphere (the larger the volume of air the lower the pressure). The second factor is the relaxation and contraction of the muscle fibers of the diaphragm and the intercostal muscles. The lungs are passive, which means they are not involved in creating movement. The muscles around them force them to expand and contract, creating respiration.

For singers, however, a couple additional steps should be included which are preparation and suspension. When singing, it is extremely important to make sure that before we inhale, we soften and expand our soft palate and correctly position and relax our tongue right behind our teeth. We then proceed to inhale making sure our body is relaxed, our belly, sides, and back expanded, and our pelvic floor engaged. During suspension, we take a second to think how much air we need to release and how long it should last depending on the phrasing. Phonation happens during exhalation. If we follow the first three parts of the process correctly, we can expect a beautiful, strong, and healthy singing voice to emerge.