Breathing for Singing- the Balance of Air and Muscle

Correct breathing for singing is one of the most controversial and hotly debated topics in vocal pedagogy circles.  Some teachers spend weeks to months doing nothing but breathing exercises before allowing a student to sing. 

Others do not address the topic at all, claiming the body will naturally supply the right amount of support, and that it is dangerous to intentionally engage the powerful muscles of the core since doing so increases breath pressure.

When we interview students and ask them what they think they need to improve most about their singing they often list “breathing” as their most significant challenge.

While breath management is not the alpha and omega of singing, it is certainly the alpha. In other words, becoming a great breather will not make anyone a great singer; however, a foundation of correct breathing will make all the other steps of vocal development more effective.

Breath management is vitally important to:

• Create adequate and appropriate breath pressure for high and dynamically challenging singing.
• Sing long phrases.
• Increase volume without squeezing extrinsic muscles
• Create an even vibrato.

The voice is a system; in a system, there are many components that must all work together. Breathing is only one part (albeit an important part) of the system. Breath management is the foundation of good singing; that is why it is Step One of the Eight Steps of Vocal Development.

Equally important, however, is what occurs subglottally, glottally, and supraglottally (below, at, and above the glottis). That’s what we focus on in Steps Two through Eight!

Those who do not teach breath management at all have a legitimate concern; they are worried about the risk of over-engaging the abdominal muscles, the strongest muscles in the body that enable childbirth and defecation, and thereby excessively raising air pressure.

Too much of a good thing is no longer a good thing. Excessive air pressure increases the risk of vocal fold trauma.

However, breath management or appoggio and pushing are worlds apart. Good breath management is simply delaying the collapse of the torso and ribcage as we sing. It is not pushing.

Good singing requires a balance of air and muscle; the emphasis here is on balance. To sing louder we must increase air pressure, glottal closure, (vocal fold adduction) and closed quotient (the amount of time the folds remain closed in the vibrational cycle) to balance increased air pressure. This ability is developed over time with vocal training.

While it is true that occasionally we encounter a singer who is naturally coordinated, sails through the primo passaggio with no problems and breathes correctly with no instruction, this is extremely rare.

Most regular humans will need instruction on correct posture and low breath. They will need lots of reminders during lessons, since breathing for singing is somewhat different from what most of us do in daily life.

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