Breath for Singing

by Nathan Andersen

If you are interested in voice lessons, chances are you have trouble with your breathing when singing.  Isn’t it nice that you don’t have the same difficulty breathing on a daily basis when you are talking?

Proper breathing is actually something you do on a daily basis.  It can be amplified slightly by breathing deeper, but for the most part, you do fine already.  You don’t have trouble breathing, you have trouble with skillful breath management.

Breath Management

The most important skills of breath management are

1) Learning to let the breath out slowly.  This skill will be facilitated greatly by the slowing action of your vocal cords when you are singing!  But it is always good to practice it in isolation as well.  If you have never sung before, a good exercise for this is to see how long you can make an “s” sound.  Make sure that you are NOT pushing the air, but letting it fall out slowly.

2) Learning to alter the flow of breath.  When you make consonants sounds (such as “f”, “k”, “p”, “th”, etc), you will move your tongue and lips to change the sound of the air as it flows outward.  Ideally, in beautiful singing, you don’t ever stop the outward flow of the air.  Many unfortunate singers spend years learning to start and stop the air, which is what most people do when they speak.  This is much less efficient and very detrimental to the maintenance of beautiful legato singing.  You should ideally have one onset (initiation of phonation) per inhalation.  Many unfortunate singers suffer the effort of constantly restarting the flow process.  Ever been in bumper to bumper traffic in a stick shift?  Not much fun.

3) Learn to speed and slow the flow of breath.  When you sing louder, you will use more breath.  When you sing lower, you will use more breath.  As you move up in pitch (sing increasingly higher), you will need to slow the flow of breath.  These changes in air speed are not usually perceptible in the sound!  When you singing louder people will not hear that the air is flowing faster, they’ll hear an increase in volume.  Learning to control the air flow rate of the release of air is essential to learning to control the voice.  You’ll need to learn to do this while maintaining that even “release sound”.  The flow phonation should not pick up any traces of pressed phonation or “pushing of the air” (which sounds like someone running out of air, because the airflow rate decreases and the sound loses its buoyancy, the vocal chords might even creak as the sound loses its evenness).

4) Learning to coordinate the phonation of the vocal chords with the breath.  This is relatively easy to do badly.  Anyone who can make a sound can phonate badly.  Hopefully you haven’t heard Harvey Fierstein sing!  It is challenging and sometimes impossible to do well.  Even the greatest opera singers don’t always sing with optimal coordination.  If you have vocal nodules you will be unable to do it. In addition, the demands of language and of singing at the extremes of range often prevent a completely even and uncolored flow.  But imprefections are to be expected in singing. These “imperfections” often give singing its character.  Perfect singing doesn't exist, and if it did, it would not sound human.  Wouldn't you agree, sometimes it is thrilling to hear effort on a high note?

Your vocal cords must be healthy to “breath” well while singing. 

Improving the coordination of the release of breath with the approximation of the vocal cords (that means bringing the vocal cords together so they flap and make sound) depends on healthy vocal cords and strong agile muscles in the larynx.

If your vocal cords are swollen or have rough edges from abuse or illness, they will not create a complete glottal closure, which will encourage whatever type of phonation the larynx can manage – this compensatory phonation will move you farther from the goal of efficient vocal production.  You can’t find healthy phonation if your vocal chords are swollen (such as when you have a bad cold that makes you hoarse) or uneven.

You cannot make an unhealthy voice healthy with all the throat sprays and prayers in the world. An unhealthy voice cannot perform efficient singing. It is either too asymmetrical or too weak.

Don’t be fooled into thinking otherwise: much of singing happens at a subconscious level, just as your breathing and the function of your other organs is subconscious.  You don’t really exert conscious control over the delicate muscles of the larynx.  You think you do, but the larynx has a mind of its own that responds to your conscious commands.  The healthier the voice is, the more it will function outside of your conscious control, doing the correct movements to give you the desired sound.  Locked up and pathological voices are often well-controlled by the people who use them.  These poor folks must work hard to talk and sing, because they have completely taken over the automatic function and put their conscious control on it. When they train their voices, they are often surprised (!!!) by the sounds that come out that are better than they ones they anticipated!

To get to this happy serendipity, you must return control to the subconscious mind. One of my students once said the following and I think it is very true about the nature of great singing:

You must release the control, then control the release.

Many unfortunate singers don’t ever use the idea of release in their technique.  The singers you like to hear use it liberally.

Strangely enough, one of the best ways to learn the coordination of the breath and phonation is through sighing.  By sighing you can learn to phonate without too much glottal resistance.  Sigh from high pitches down to low pitches and notice how you can make sound without the effort you usually feel singing.  Now just imagine if you were to practice sighing 30 minutes every day for three months, slowly adding more definite pitch as you sigh from high pitches down to low pitches.  You would unlearn the straining you have going from low to high, because your voice would completely re-coordinate and learn to tune in this new, more natural way.  The muscles that hold the vocal chords while they are phonating during this new “flow phonation”  would eventually strengthen until you had a very solid and pleasing sound.  You might not believe it, but even your sigh can become powerful!  Then of course, you’d find that your singing works – as if by magic – much better than it did before.  You would try something you tried before and it would just work where it didn’t before.  This magic process is much like when you go to the gym and lift weights – one day you discover that you can lift the same weight with less effort.  It is also somewhat like learning a new skill, such as typing.  One day you realize you don’t need to look at your fingers any more. 

Sighing very slowly from high pitches to low pitches accomplishes two things: it strengthens and heals the vocal chords, improving the strength and flexibility of the chord tissue.  It also strengthens and encourages the use of what I like to call the “release muscles” which are the muscles that hold the voice when you are letting it flow freely.  Yes, you use different muscles when you release the voice rather than press it!  This will slowly re-coordinate the musculature of the larynx so that you will start to unconsciously use the right muscle movements in the larynx while phonating rather than the uncomfortable, unattractive movements you’ve been using!

The most amazing thing about all of this is that once the strength and coordination of the vocal cords and musculature of the larynx are improved your breath is more efficient.  When the vocal cords are healthy and coordinated, they make sound more efficiently and use less air.  Not only that, but when this improved coordination is found, you will experience vastly less glottal resistance (That straining feeling).  The chords will make a rich powerful sound, but you won’t feel as if the chords are pressed together.  You’ll then be amazed to find that some of your breath management difficulties disappear, because the air will flow as freely during singing as it does when you sigh.

When the Vocal Cords are not Flapping properly, Proper Breathing is Impossible

There is a negative chain reaction when the vocal chords aren’t phonating efficiently that leads to many “breathing problems”. 

Breathing problems related to poorly coordinated phonation:

Ø        The chords are phonating in such a way that too much air is released, which can lead to weak soft singing, and tightening of the body in an effort to hold onto the quickly diminishing air pressure.

Ø        The chords are phonating in such a way that too little air is released, which can lead to pressed un-resonant singing, which can also lead to tightening of the body in an effort to push the air through the locked-up vocal cords.

When these problems appear, the answer is to return to basics, letting the sound out unimpeded and then phonating gently, such as sighing or soft moaning.  When these have been practiced for at least a month, and the negative vocal coordination is avoided, more effortless, enjoyable and beautiful singing will magically start to appear. 

Flow Phonation and Consonants

Maintaining the beautiful sounds and wonderful feelings of release that come with flow phonation is more difficult once consonants are added – but they can be added with diligence and careful listening.

You must learn coordinate the partial obstruction of the airflow that consonants require with the muscles that regulate the air speed.  Sometimes, you must accelerating the air speed, such as make when you make a “k” sound”.  Sometimes you must slow the air speed, such as when you make an “f” or an “s” sound.  Depending on the language and accent you are using, the consonants will change, but every one of them must become part of the flow during flow phonation.  Don’t start and stop the air on account of consonants; incorporate them into the release. You will slow and speed the air, but never stop it or hold it with the muscles of the larynx, only with the lips and tongue.  This must be done with careful listening and good taste to create the illusion of speech while maintaining a free and effortless a sound.  (Yeah, I know! In many styles, a somewhat pressed style is standard, but that's easy! Once you learn to release, you can squeeze for fun.)

The ideal for beauty would be to let the beautiful sound flow completely unimpeded, with the consonants and vowels only temporary halting or coloring the sound. 

Often, language habits makes this more difficult.  Certain languages or dialects tend to be more breathy and therefore easier to maintain flow while singing.  Others tend to be tight and pressed, or encourage either too low or too high a voice for the given pitch.  You must be sensitive enough to language and possess a gifted ear to truly let go of the negative habits you have acquired along with your native tongue and be willing to alter your speech to incorporate the pronunciation most ideal for the type of singing you wish to do.  If you are tone deaf, chances are, learning to sing beautifully will be extremely difficult for you.  You must be able to discern not just pitch, but tonal color to tune up flow phonation and coordinate it with consonants, much less vowels!

If you have always habitually spoken with too much nasal or “head” sound, it will be startling for you when you discover a more balanced voice that comes from optimal laryngeal coordination.  Nasality is often complex problem of talking or singing with the vocal chords pressed and singing in too high a register.  When the vocal cords are more relaxed and more efficient phonation is discovered, nasality will greatly diminish because healthy vocalism tends to send the sound out in every direction (including down into the trachea and lungs), which will improve the balance of the resonance.

No singer has a perfect tone all the time -- but by practicing exercises where you let the flow of the voice and the tone move freely outward and then add consonants and vowels back in, you'll achieve a much more comfortable release of the sound.  This will invariably lead to more beautiful singing as well.

---

A question received via e-mail:

I was wondering what your philosophical views were on diaphragmatic breathing exercises. I had a lesson with a teacher who advised me to avoid teachers who focus on diaphragmatic breathing exercises. His argument (I'm paraphrasing) was that poor posture and excessive breath put unnecessary strain on the vocal cords and over time can ruin voices. He mentioned examples of students who had hoarse voices or developed polyps because of improper breathing exercise. Also this 'belly breathing', he said ignored 2/3 of lung that are located towards the back. He said that some people have the image of the vocal chords being like reeds on an oboe or clarinet and they keep pushing through them, which he said could harm your vocal cords. Your site mentioned something about ' flapping vocal cords' which made me think it might be good to ask if you had any personal experience with these issues.

This issue has me really confused as to how to pick a teacher. My lack of experience makes it difficult to gauge what i was told. So i'm asking for an (i hope) objective opinion. Thanks.

Hi,
Thanks for your interesting and thoughtful e-mail. I must admit my philosophy is different from your other teacher. I do emphasize breathing and I teach singing related to breathing because I feel that the way the vocal cords behave (as well the ability to relax the larynx and make a beautiful controlled sound) is dependent on adequate air pressure maintenance.

Yes, breathy singing is bad for the voice – but -- breath flows through the voice while it is singing solidly, and is therefore an integral part of singing. It is excess air that escapes in lieu of a solid tone that can cause problems.

The biggest problem with breathy singing is when the vocal folds make an uneven, pressed closure and extra air escapes around the pressed part of the chord. Then a nodule may develop at the point of greatest stress. If the breathy singing is light and the chords are clapping in an even way, it shouldn't ruin the voice. Quiet singing can sometimes sound a bit flute-like and almost breathy. Now scratchy, breathy caterwauling, such as what you hear from Rod Stewarts voice will stress the voice and weaken it over time. He probably will never become a great opera star or sing as beautifully as Josh Groben.

The vocal folds flap as you sing! Therefore air passes through them as you sing, just not while they are closed. As your vocal cords strenthen, the length of the closed cycle will increase, so the sound will be thicker and more solid sounding. But no matter how solid the voice may sound, air must be passing through the glottis (during the open cycle of the flapping) to make a sound. Also, the tonus (strength and thickness) of the vocal folds will develop over years. You should not press the vocal chords to get a solid sound.

If you sing gently and lightly, you will develop a light, bright tone allowing legato that has the agility to do runs or make leaps up and down. You must develop a delicate balance of the laryngeal muscles and air pressure to do this. While a clean sound is an important part of vocal development, immature voices should not look for a meaty, brassy sound. Probably just as many voices are ruined by being too solid and "pressed" as are ruined by being too breathy. You must find a delicate balance between breath pressure and chord tension.

The important thing with breath pressure is that the air flow "falls" out rather than is pushed through the chords. It should always sound as if it’s releasing rather than being pushed out. You will never put undue stress on the chords (with air pressure, at least) if the air pressure is not pushed through the chords.

All you must do is maintain adequate air pressure and the balanced flow phonation at the glottis will take care of allowing the right amount of air through.

It is when the throat is squeezed in such a manner that the focal folds can't flap in an even, clean sounding fashion or too much pressure is pushed against the chords that imbalances in the musculature or surface of the vocal folds develop.

The opposite is often a problem at the ends of phrases: The singer is having difficulty maintaining air pressure, so the larynx is squeezed to try to maintain air pressure. If you have adequate air pressure and the vocal chords are working in a balanced flow phonation, you should never have to make a strained sound.

Good use of the diaphragm involves training it to hold the air (basically holding your breath) and release it slowly. When a novice singer starts to strain the vocal chords, it is often because they are lacking adequate air pressure! If you are getting a tight unpleasant sound, often it is weak air pressure that causes tightening of the larynx to try to maintain air pressure.

When you breath in, it is the flexing of the diaphragm that lowers the air pressure in the lungs and pulls air in. You must keep flexing the larynx while singing to maintain air pressure, while slowly compressing the air in the lungs by pushing the flexed larynx up from below by the external obliques and compressing the rib cage using the intercostals muscles.

You must let go of the throat and learn to "lean" on the breath pressure so that it falls through the vocal folds. Starting with a gentle flow of air, a pressurized "silent h" allows a gentle onset which encourages a lighter mechanism in the voice, which will allow a brighter, more pleasant and controllable style of singing to emerge.

Rather than pressing the vocal folds tightly together at onset, if you use a "silent h", the air stream will actually help pull the vocal folds together.

The vocal folds are pulled together and vibrate much the way blowing breath between two blades of grass creates sound. As the air passes by the approximated (brought close together) vocal folds, the low pressure created by the faster air (due to the bernoulli effect) will create a suction causing the focal folds to suck together into the center of the glottis. The resulting slap of the chords creates a vibration. If the vocal folds slap 261 times a second, the pitch will be middle C. If the tissue of the vocal folds during the slap is thick and the slap holds longer, the sound will be more solid. If the slaps are quick and light, the voice will sound more brilliant and delicate. A light clear voice can sound flute-like at times and should not be encourages to try to sound too solid.

Note that if the voice is out of shape, or the mechanism out of whack from poor usage or disuse, the sound will not sound light, beautiful and vibrant at first. Especially as voices age, they lose the lighter mechanism, as people tend to stop giggling and squealing on a regular basis.

Training with light sighing sounds from high pitches to low pitches will gently strengthen the voice over a period of several months (of course training the voice can take years). Note also that a sigh does not have to be excessively breathy, only relaxed. I'm not encouraging raspy, Rod Steward like sounds, but gentle, pretty connected sighing. This will encourage a lighter mechanism.

Straining of any kind may weaken the voice over time and unevenness in the glottal closure may lead to nodules. Singing is like any other physical activity, if you push it to the limit, you risk injury.
Just to counterbalance all this talk about technique: great singers often test the limits of your voice. You might call Michael Jackson too breathy, or Bob Marley too raspy. While their techniques may not be healthy, there are some of the most exciting singers to hear.

Many popular styles encourage breathy singing. While this many not be the healthy way to sing, if the voice is well trained in healthy singing, attempting breathy styles in moderation can be a delicious walk on the wild side. You will find adding a little extra air to a well-connected tone will give the style the correct flavor, but shouldn't jeopardize the tone quality too much. While it may not be technically correct, it can sound fantastic. One great singer to check out is Eva Cassidy. She can move from very breathy, light mechanism to heavy, pushed, belted styles and back again without disconnecting from her breath. But she obviously knows good classical technique even though she sings in the gospel style.

I don’t believe singing teachers should focus much time teaching inhaling and exhaling separated from phonation (making sound), I do believe that teaching breathing strategies is essential to good singing. While much of what is seen as a breathing problem is a result of misuse of the vocal folds during singing, many muscle tension issues (straining, tight jaw, neck or throat) are a result of not using the breath correctly.

Training the voice in an excessively breathy, scratchy, or raspy style is much more harmful than using these styles for effect on a very healthy strong instrument. Just as a well trained dancer may do things that would break the connective tissue of a novice, a very healthy, well-trained voice can accomplish what seems to be throat-compromising feats. Their voices are often behaving in such a loose, free way that a little straining won't shut the voice down as it would to a novice.