Dispelling myths about breath support is like taking a sledgehammer to a cracked foundation.
I think most architects would agree that when it comes to building a house, getting the foundation right is the most important part. Without it, the building will not stand (at least not for long!). In the very same way, our breath support is the foundation of our singing. It is from this support that our sound maintains stability. Yet it seems for SO many singers (even those who have had tons of training) a truly solid understanding of this foundation remains elusive. Unfortunately there’s a lot of misleading and contradictory information out there which only serves to confuse more. So in this blog post, I’m going to try to address what I find to be the two most common myths about breath support.
Myth #1 – You should breathe into your belly.
Noooooooo! When I see these words on paper this technique looks even more ridiculous. Breathe into my belly? I’m pretty sure I don’t have lungs in my belly. If you’ve heard this, it’s because someone has noticed you are taking shallow breaths which pull your chest and shoulders up. The things is, if you try to “breathe into your belly” then what you end up doing is forcefully distending your abdominal muscles forward on the inhale which may redirect the energy out of your shoulders, but it does absolutely nothing to help you find an optimum breath for singing and actually creates tension in the distended abdomen which makes it hard for you to engage those muscles for support when you phonate.
Myth #1 Correction – Breathe into your back. You have twice as much lung in your back as you do in your front chest. On the inhale, send the breath down into your lower back lungs. Release your lat muscles, release your ribs and most importantly, you must release your belly and abdominal muscles when you breath, allowing them to let go and drop altogether on the inhale so the diaphragm can lower freely to make room for the lungs filling with air.
Myth #2 – Support means pushing the abdominal muscles inward while you sing.
Noooooooo! Oh dear singers, this one comes up all the time and it’s just absolutely back-asswards. Pushing your abdominal muscles inwards to sing pushes the diaphragm up prematurely which causes an excess of air to be pushed out of the lungs prematurely which means you end up out of breath more quickly and with a much airier, less resonant sound. If you are pushing inwards to support, you also likely experience quite a bit of tension in either the neck or jaw while you sing because your body is experiencing a veritable flood of air coming out. As a response, the neck and/or jaw tenses and grabs around the vocal cords as a way to block or dam all this extra air in order to make the sound more resonant. But it’s a false resonance resulting from holding and tension. That kind of tension is unsustainable and one of the main contributing factors to vocal nodes, vocal hemorrhage and other vocal misuse issues.
Myth #2 Correction – Optimum support comes from a consistent expanded engagement of the abdominals, pelvic floor and lower back muscles. This gentle “down and out” feeling stabilizes the diaphragm. It’s called breath support because it’s about using these groups of muscles to support the stability of the diaphragm by helping it stay low and move slow. We do this so that the air will move in just the right volume and at just the right velocity to create the optimum amount of sub-glottal pressure to vibrate your chords in the most optimum way for the best sound.
If you are a singer who doesn’t always feel supported by your support, consider the psychological/emotional cycle you are in. A lack of consistent support breeds a lack of trust. . . . a lack of trust breeds fear. . . . and what do we do when we are scared??? We hold on for dear life! Fear breads physical tension and tension contributes to us making the very sound we are afraid of! It’s a vicious cycle. But grounding your singing in a consistent and reliable support goes a LONG way to eliminating the fear and allowing you to sing from a place of freedom, power and comfort.
In today’s blog video, I work with a new student who has been operating under these myths and is experiencing a lack of consistency and freedom in his sound as a result.
Watch as we go through a progression of exercises so he can learn a more optimal support.
Now I encourage you to use the comments section below to ask me your burning questions about breath support.
- Is there something you are not sure you’re doing right?
- Are you confused about what support is supposed to feel like?
Don’t be shy. There are probably hundreds of other singers out there just like you wondering the same thing. So many performers come here each week for insight and inspiration, and your question may just help someone else have an “ah ha” moment for themselves.
Never forget, it’s progress, not perfection. We all have an endless ability to evolve, learn and grow as we contribute our talents to the world.
You work such wonders it seems! I am currently a student working on my Bachelors in vocal performance. I can completely relate to the guy in the video that was told to “breath with your belly” or to feel your belly “push” the air out. As a matter of fact, I have spent countless hours trying to practice using that logic, and i find myself losing more air!! My question would be that, when you exhale, should it feel like I’m using muscles to sort of “hold” my breath while slowly releasing air, or should I feel little to no muscles working and my belly should be going down as air comes out? I hope my question makes sense, but I know that it can be a pain when it comes to the minor details (I tend to overthink!). I hope to hear from you!
Hi Cassandre, thanks so much for those kind words. The answer to your question can be found in a video in my Video Vault under the subheading of Breath Support: https://www.ardenkaywinvocalstudio.com/breath-support/ Go there are click the first video on “Appoggio”. This will answer your question.