Voice Culture – Breath as the Fuel for Voice Production – Part 5

Music teachers often like to use the term , “sing with breath support” or sing from the “nabhi” (belly area) when teaching students. These terms are quite abstract and a proper understanding of the physiological mechanism of breathing and posture will go a long way in helping with good tonal production and ability to sustain the tone through long phrases with ease and control. The idea is not to get bogged down by technicalities but understanding just enough to make a marked difference in the ability to sing comfortably without losing breath or control.

Have you ever had the feeling of running out of breath and experiencing awkward moments of gasping for air in between phrases? Do you want to improve your tonal quality, reduce tension and improve your overall stamina while singing? Then read on..what you find here might help you get one step closer to your goal.

Breathing during singing consists of 4 phases: a breathing-in period (inhalation); a setting up controls period (suspension);a controlled exhalation period (phonation); and a recovery period. A conscious effort to control these phases must be made initially until they become fully conditioned reflexes. You might ask..where is the need to consciously control the breathing mechanism during singing alone when we do it naturally all other times.. when we talk , or sleep? When we talk, we inhale and exhale shallowly as we don’t need as much air and the duration of these cycles are more or less equal. However, during singing , we are required to inhale quickly and deeply and prolong the exhalation period as long as possible. ( the process of producing the tone is same as exhalation) We need to be able to not only control the amount of air that we exhale as we sing but also ensure that the air comes out at a steady rate. In order to do this, we need the ability to use our body musculature to help prolong the exhalation phase as long as evenly as possible. This is the basic concept and the point to remember is that singing with an awareness of these details will help any singer in improving their singing technique.

So, now that we have established that singing requires additional conscious effort to connect with the body musculature to produce an improved tone, lets see what typically happens during a respiratory cycle. What are the elements involved in a typical breath cycle?

1) Lungs – Air enters the lungs through the wind pipe or trachea. The lungs are connected to the ribcage and the diaphragm and are directly influenced by the movements of these two entities. An increase in the ribcage and lowering of the diaphragm causes the lungs to stretch, thereby creating a small vacuum and allowing air to enter quickly. Similarly, exhalation is also controlled by the position of the ribcage and diaphragm.

2) Diaphragm – A dome shaped muscle curving upward at the centre that extends across the bottom of the ribcage. During inhalation, the diaphragmatic muscles contracts and the diaphragm moves downward in the body. During exhalation, the diaphragm relaxes and moves upward causing a decrease in the lung volume , creating a positive pressure difference thereby expelling air out. The ability to control the diaphragm thereby plays a key role in breath control.

3) Sternum – the long flat bone located in the centre of the thorax (chest), which connects to the rib bones via cartilage, forming the rib cage with them. We just need to be aware of this area, as we will talk about maintaining the sternum upright later on..

4) Ribcage Muscles – These aid the diaphragm and lungs in establishing the movements necessary for breathing. They are the internal and external intercostal muscles.

5) Abdominal Muscles – The contraction of these muscles help to control the upward rise of the diaphragm during the exhalation phase thereby helping to maintain even and steady breath control during singing. You should definitely think about these muscles a lot..

6) Lower Back Muscles – These are muscles that run down the back and sides that are connected to the diaphragm, ribs and pelvis. These work together with the muscles in the abdomen to coordinate everything the respiratory system does. Inhalation, suspension and compression of the breath.