Breathe In and Out - Breathing for Singing

transcript

BREATHE IN AND OUT

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Breathing is such anautomatic process thatwe rarely think about it.

Inhalation and exhalation, air pressures, lung capacity …

All that sounds very complicated

but breathing can be described in a simple way.

Imagine a paper bag thatis slightly open –

if you increase its size, moreair will flow into the bag.

If you decrease the size of the bag, the air will flow out.

This is exactly how webreathe: we increase thesize of our chest cavity –

more air flows in thelungs that are attached

to the chest cavity.

Then we decrease the sizeof our chest cavity, and

the air flows out.

How do we change thesize of the chest cavity?

First, we can move ourrib cage up and out using

muscles between ribs.

Second, we can contractour diaphragm, which moves

down when contracted.

(The diaphragm is a large muscle separating the chest

andabdominal cavities).

The coordinated action of the breathing muscles change the size of the chest cavity.

When the ribs move outand the diaphragm

moves down,

the size of the chest cavity increases and the air is drawn

into the lungs.

When the rib cage returnsto its starting position

and the diaphragm rises,

the air is pushedout of the lungs.

This process is automaticand only rarely voluntary.

And it should stay thatway for singing too.

Many untrained singersfocus their attention

on breathing the air in,

holding their breath ormanipulating it in some way.

Overthinking it mayactually interfere with the

automatic nature of breathing.

Let the breathing musclesdo what they do best –

let them do the breathingfor you naturally.

During breathing exercises– focus your attention mostly

on exhalation.

- on howto control the exhalation.

But do not hold yourbreath, which can create

tension and interfere with voice production.

To learn more about breathing techniques for singing, go to …

See you there.

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