Since we’re all better be doing it day in, day out - let's focuse on maybe the most necessary, but usually most casually performed task for relaxed speaking and singing. Breathing.
I seriously can’t tell you how many people throughout my efforts of becoming a better singer touched, squeezed, pulled or even lashed me or parts of my body in order to “fix my breathing”. I tried Alexander Technique, Yoga, Qigong, Pilates, read plenty of books, did ridiculous exercises and I spent long and worrying times reflecting on my breathing technique. I simply gave up in the end -- not on breathing -- just trying to become a better singer by aiming most efforts on my respiration.
Unfortunately here’s the bad news: Yes, you can actually breathe in a wrong way and it can have a very bad affect not just on your singing- and speaking voice, also on your circulatory system and of course your well being in general.
Luckily, most of us breathe well and alright most of their time, so why should you keep on reading?
Under certain circumstances e.g. during a performance or even recording a podcast, our stone age heritage kicks back in, may play mean tricks on us and our adrenaline levels simply go through the roof. That’s when we should have an easy fall back solution in case anything goes off tracks.
Basic functions of the respiratory system
The primary function of respiration means the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide.
Let’s imagine the respiratory system as a syringe, with its tip being your mouth, you will realise that pulling on the plunger (your diaphragm) causes air to enter the chamber (your lungs). If you were to hold your finger over the opening as you pulled back the plunger, you would feel the suction of the system on your finger.
The diaphragm is the most important muscle for respiration. It is a layer of muscle that extends across the bottom of the rib cage. The diaphragm also separates the thoracic cavity (heart, lungs & ribs) from the abdominal cavity (guts and the other organs).
You can’t actually feel the diaphragm itself but if you curl your fingers under both sides of your rip cage just below your chest you now take a deep breath, your fingers should be pressed out by the diaphragm or from where it is attached. You should also realize by taking a deep breath that your chest and rip cage expand as well as your tummy should do.
Thoracic vs. abdominal respiration
Proper inhalation means interaction of many different sets of muscles starting with your neck, your chest, the entire back, the diaphragm right down towards the pelvic floor. Even your larynx has to undergo a complex task to make room for the air to travel in and out. It seems obvious that the actual process is very complicated and to do it properly, a lot of fine tuning is necessary. As mentioned before, in most cases the interaction of all involved muscle groups is controlled subconsciously but our conscious can interact quite heavily and make this process go off kilter.
Most important is the proportion of these two ways of breathing since they can not be isolated entirely. Often times beginners underestimate the importance of abdominal respiration and their airflow necessary for vocal production lacks of steadiness.
Singing teachers agree that the shoulders should remain in their position and not support the thoracic respiration. This makes a lot of sense since the muscles in the neck and the shoulders can easily get tensed up and they’re very close to the larynx; the bad effect is quite obvious.
Many singing students did probably undergo the same procedures like I had when being introduced to abdominal respiration (belly breathing): The teacher tells you to put your two hands around your waist just underneath the rib cage, press them lightly together and inhale. If the expansion of what they call the diaphragm is noticeable, they reward you with approval. If not, you get the full lecture on the magical concept (uh, more myths to pull apart!) called support. The expansion you feel is actually just your abdominal cavity being pushed down by the diaphragm sucking air into your lungs.
Exhalation is achieved more passively through gravity but also has an active component supported mainly by the abdominal muscles.
Let's rip that myth apart
I was most astonished to read in a German publication by phoniatrician Wolfram Seidner from Charité in Berlin, that in his belief, the observation of the process of respiration is highly overrated in terms of vocal sound production. I could not agree more.
What does that mean? Well, speaking bluntly, you can stand with exemplary posture, have a perfectly fine tuned breathing technique but still mess up your voicing completely. Despite immaculate respiration, the air may still be retained up to a harmful level and/or be used inadequately for sound production. Why? Because as mentioned before, in performance mode, we underestimate the stress we undergo and the immense impact of our stone age heritage. The result might range from a very pressed or forced voice to a much to airy voice.
The reason for this is abdominal fixation which is a quite common misconception throughout singers and professional speakers. Abdominal fixation is the process of capturing air inside the thoracic cavity in order to provide the muscles with a scaffolding on which to push or pull. It actually plays a very important role during childbirth, defecation and vomiting. Unfortunately, it is pure poison for producing a relaxed voice, as you may imagine quite vividly.
Exhalation is partly achieved by gravity itself and the abdominal muscles, pressing the remaining air outwards by applying gentle pressure on the abdominal cavity.
Let’s throw in a little bonus-myth and pull it apart right away: Is it bad to train your abs and achieve a six pack? NO! It’s absolutely fine to become a fabulous singer with a fit and trim body! Don’t let anybody tell you differently, just listen to your body. Make sure to also train your back muscles the same amount you train your abs - just for balance’s sake.
I shall now shut up and sing.
Here’s a little exercise for avoiding abdominal fixation:
Take any sentence from a magazine or book that you will read out loud. Try breathing in normally but instead of exhaling or immediately reading out loud, you wait just a very short moment before you start speaking. Try to feel/observe what happens around your stomach and around your larynx whether you feel anything at all or a slight tension building up. In the best case there would be no such tension at all and use this little moment for relaxation of the diaphragm and the larynx. Go on reading and each time you need to breathe, wait for a very short moment before continue speaking.
Best wishes,
M
