How To Develop Good Breathing Techniques For Singing
- Understanding The Diaphragm
- Song Mapping With Muscles
- Exercising The Stomach Muscles
Do you find you have trouble breathing when singing? Or that you sing a song and half way through you are exhausted? There are many reasons why this could be.
Let’s take a look at some tips, and muscle exercises that help improve our breathing. First we want to strengthen our Diaphragm with diaphragm exercises.
We want to make sure we are taking enough breaths or taking breaths at the right time. And most importantly that we are using our lift, nose scrunches, and jaw.
Understanding The Diaphragm Muscles
The Diaphragm is a muscle located beneath the rib cage. It is right next to your liver, intestines, and above the stomach.
We use this muscle everytime we sing or talk. It is an involuntary muscle that controls breathing. Without the diaphragm we would not be able to breathe. Make an “F” sound. Feel the air pressurizing in your stomach. That is your diaphragm.
If we’ve eaten too much food, the stomach and intestines can push up against the muscle making breathing a bit shallower. If we are slouching and have bad posture, this can also restrict the diaphragms movement.
It’s important to be aware of these things prior to singing to get the best out of your vocals.
Song Mapping With Muscles
Another concept to help breathing while singing a song is song mapping.
Print out the lyrics and grab a couple highlighters.
Song mapping is planning exactly what you plan to do while singing. For example, take a yellow highlighter and highlight words you would use your lift on.
Use a green one for the nose, and a blue one for the jaw. Use red to indicate any stops or breaths you take.
This way, there is no confusion as to what muscles to use and where.This can even be used to assist with stage performance.
Signifying what movements you do on what words can make for a more comfortable performance. Uncertainty can lead to vocal mistakes, being unsure where to take breaths or what to do.
By using song mapping you can make sure you always know where to take a breath and train yourself to never run out of air.
Exercising The Stomach Muscles
Stomach muscle exercises are the best way to exercise your diaphragm. Follow your voicercise kit to access the “Hut” exercise.
Doing “Hut” exercises daily can increase your muscle strength, and your ability to catch breaths.
Any forms of cardio that engage the abdominal muscles are also helpful for strengthening vocals. Ab exercises, running, sit ups, leg ups, mountain climbers, swimming, etc.
Try to engage these muscles daily to continue building them.