by Bob Rose

"As violinists use their bow to excite the strings of their instrument, singers use their air column to excite their vocal chords into vibration. The better the control the better the tone" ...

The center of your body; the abdominal/diaphragm and lower lung region is your power source. Correctly used, it has the ability to support and control the air flow from the lungs with more power and precision than normal breathing which is essential for singing.

Without proper breathing and breath control, singers can experience weakness and loss of vocal power, non linear vocals, soreness in the throat, going flat or sharp in pitch, letting placement of notes fall into the throat, bad entrances and closing of notes, jamming the larynx up, etc., etc. All possibly leading to even worse things such as laryngitis - nodes on your vocal cords.

It is therefore essential, no, critical that vocalists learn the proper breathing technique to cure or establish proper breathing before their luck runs out.

Let's examine the process of proper breathing and control, for singing, acting and any form of speaking apart from the day to day norm.

1. Let's begin with a good posture.

Don't stand or sit up straight as well meaning adults have ben telling you until your back and neck muscles get tight and cause you to slump again.

• Stand and take a deep breath until you attain a naturally good posture with the opening of the intercostal (rib) muscles.

• Hold this posture by means of the intercostal (rib) muscles (not the back muscles.)

2. Now let your breathing happen through your stomach.

• Inhale: The stomach expands and goes out.
• Exhale: The stomach contracts and goes in.

Just like a balloon being blown up and recessing air from it.

Keeping the chest expanded causes the abdominal muscle to kick in and control the breath from the lower lungs where they should be used; deeply not shallow as happens with a collapsed chest where it moves up and down instead the stomach moving in and out.

You may also lie on your back and watch the stomach.

3. Now say "Hey" from below as if you were trying to get someone's attention about 30 feet away.

Place one of your hands on your stomach and feel it tighten as you speak and release in between. This is diaphragmatic control.

4. Next, pant like a dog and experience the same as (3) in accelerated motion and feel the breath automatically return in between pants.

This is because the chest is expanded and the diaphragm is controlling the lower lungs.

5. Finally, say "Hey ... " and hold it out for a few seconds (i.e. sustained).

This is accomplished by taking a deep breath then:

Firming the stomach which in turn firms the diaphragm. This controls the rate at which it pushes up against the lungs and controls the amount of air escaping.

THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF CONTROL.

Now if you followed these instructions well you are:

• Expanding the chest (by means of keeping the rib muscles open not tightening the back)
• Breathing naturally (through the stomach)
• Controlling the breath (by means of firming the diaphragm) and holding it and releasing slowly. Next time we will apply this to a song.