Welcome! I am so excited you are here today! I would love to talk to you about breath support and what that means. We have heard it said over and over that every good singer needs to support their singing voice. But what that does that really mean? We are going to get into that today and hopefully by the end of this article you are going to understand a lot more about what it means to breathe well for singing. In order to breathe well, we must first learn to align the body. Think of the anatomy of your torso. You have the lungs, the ribs the diaphragm, the vicera (guts). The diaphragm is a dome-like muscle that sits attached to the bottom of your ribs. It travels around your body to your back and attaches at the front center of your ribs.
What happens when you take a good singing breath? When you inhale, the diaphragm releases down and flattens out. When you exhale, it comes back up. Understanding how this your diaphragm works is the first step in learning to do this correctly. I want you to inhale and expand your lower ribs. Try to feel the muscles expand as you breathe in. Once you do this correctly, your diaphragm is going to release, when this happens your viscera (guts) are going to try to move out of the way and the belly will naturally expand. Do not push the diaphragm out, it will naturally come out when you breath low under your ribs. If you try to push it out, it will just create tension in your body and singing voice. This process needs to happen naturally. It is also important to remember that you don't want to take a big heaving breath where your shoulders raise up and your chest puffs up. If you do this, your neck muscles will get tight and your throat and singing voice will close off. Remember to stand tall, with good singing posture and relax your stomach muscles when you inhale.You don't need a big breath for singing, just a deep breath. Open your mouth when you inhale, then hiss on a "S" for count of 8 beats. Make sure your jaw is loose and your tongue and neck muscles are relaxed at the onset of the breath. If you see veins popping out when you breathe, you are inhaling too aggressively. This process should feel natural and relaxed. First inhale low and sing right away. Do not set the breath. This waiting or pausing after you breathe, right before you sing, is what causes your vocal mechanism to lock up and gives way to vocal tension at the onset of phonation. One must, inhale low and then keep the ribs expanded and lean on the muscles at the onset of sound. This is called appoggio which in italian means (support). Why learn to breathe correctly? Because you will learn to lean on your support muscles instead of supporting your with your throat muscles when you sing.
Watch the YouTube video below to learn more: https://youtu.be/5PNtvossCZI
When you take a good singing breath