Many vocal professionals and teachers agree that all healthy singing begins at the root—with the breath and with strong, lower body support. Nearly every fundamental aspect of good singing relies on it—pitch, intonation, phrasing, vocal health, and longevity. From the beginner to the most elite, breath management can be a difficult thing to master, and the different ways to approach it are many. Here are viewpoints from three top vocal professionals on the importance of breath management and how to achieve and maintain it in your singing.
CS: What is breath and support, and what does proper breath support mean for a singer?
Paul Kiesgen: Breath support is the relationship between breath flow and the resistance presented by the vocal folds during phonation. The muscles of the chest and abdomen are in balance, and the throat is released.
Mark Crayton: Breath is the act of taking in air (inhalation). Support refers to the use of the body to control the energized release of the inhaled air. Both of these functions need to be coordinated for ease in singing.
Patricia McCaffrey: I recently asked a great artist what she thought of breath support. She responded by saying; “If what you are doing works—do that. If it causes tension do the opposite. Simple.” One wants poised breath support, not a tense, locked-down body. On the other hand, I agree with Caruso’s doctor, who said singing in correct resonance teaches the body correct breath support.
CS: Describe the correct or desired inhalation and exhalation process.
PK: The first step in the process is good posture. The singer needs a comfortably long spine and a sensation of balance, which is accomplished when all of the major areas of the body, head, chest, pelvis, legs, and feet are aligned, one over the other. Good balance has been achieved when the singer needs a minimum of muscular effort to maintain alignment. The sternum will remain comfortably high throughout the breathing cycle and the muscles of the chest and abdomen will always be in balance, with only slight changes during the breathing cycle causing breath to move in or out.
MC: The inhalation process begins as the singer breathes in through the nose and the mouth, silently, while thinking of filling the lower back area and the entire ribcage, causing the diaphragm to lower. The exhalation process must be a flexible process where the diaphragm is allowed to expel air controlled by a slight outward pulsing of the ribcage and allowing the lower back to stay expanded and the sternum to stay lifted. The moment the chest collapses, the lower back releases. and the ribs collapse, it is time to inhale and recover the equilibrium. At no time should any of these processes be stiff. It is my belief that support must be flexible, as more air might be needed for a higher passage or a longer phrase. If one is “locked up,” freedom in singing cannot be accomplished.
CS: Some people feel the word “support” causes unnecessary tension for the singer. Do you use the term when teaching, or do you define it in other ways?
PK: No. I believe that the word “support” carries too many connotations of pressure and excessive muscular usage. Although a few very young and inexperienced singers may be giving too little breath, the majority of voice students and even younger professionals are using too much breath pressure and holding the breath with the throat. Asking them for more support only makes matters worse. I prefer the phrase “breath management” and usually emphasize the idea of finding appropriate breath flow for singing.
MC: Yes, I use the term. But I encourage my students to think of breath support as the entire coordinated act of inhalation and exhalation. The term can be problematic because so many singers fail to realize that the muscles still must be flexible. One cannot just push down and out and hold it there. I try to use the image of a water balloon. When a balloon is full of water, the walls of the balloon are flexible. If one uses this sort of image to help manage one’s breath, there is no way that one cannot be flexible.
PM: I teach a breath support that correlates with the concepts of Pilates. I want the diaphragm to descend, which fills the lungs with air. The air is then released in a controlled manner, firm but flexible, as in an “ssssssssssss” manner. To me, this is what is meant by support: a consistent even distribution of air. The way I ask my students to achieve this even distribution is to attempt to keep as much distance between the diaphragm and their back as possible, then find the even distribution of the air from the core.
CS: How do singers achieve this, and how does proper breath support work for singers?
PK: There is a range of breath pressures that is ideal for singing. Too little pressure causes the vocal folds to become tense in an effort to maintain the desired pitch. Too much pressure causes the vocal folds to become tense in an effort to control the breath. The correct range of pressures allows the vocal folds to be flexible and to make the adjustments that are needed for the desired pitches, volumes, and colors.
MC: Practice, practice, practice! It is a coordination process and that takes time to teach our bodies how to respond. Of course, any deviation from feeling “normal” also affects our ability, so it is truly a matter of practice until one “gets it,” and then one must continually reinforce the muscle memory.
CS: Why is such an emphasis placed on breath management and, technically speaking, why does so much emphasis revolve around it?
PK: Good breath flow and appropriate breath pressures are absolutely necessary if one is to achieve good results with phonation and resonance. It is not surprising that so much attention has been paid to the breath for this reason. It is unfortunate that terms like “support” have become so widely used and are sometimes employed without a real understanding of the relationship between breath and the vibrating vocal folds.
MC: I am not sure. When one studies the treatises of the castrati who became great teachers, one rarely hears of “breathing,” except that it should be natural and unaffected. I do believe, as we sing in larger and larger houses in pieces that have longer and harder legato lines, that nerves and stamina play a huge role in a singer’s breath management. I use a phrase that I got from my teachers (“speed of air”) to help give a little goose to a note that requires more support or to a phrase that needs to move to assist the exhalation process. But courage plays a very big role in this. Fear and nerves can destroy tension-free breathing, but if one learns to work with one’s nerves through breathing, one’s singing can become much easier.
CS: What are some of the challenges students face when learning how to connect the vocal line to their breath? How can they correct it?
MC: I feel that the greatest challenge is realizing that we are wind instruments. So many students feel that they are singing on the breath but actually are singing with their throats. My goal is to help my students realize, by using several different exercises, what a connected sound feels like.
CS: What are the results for singers who do not master proper breath management?
PK: The singer who does not master the breath cannot accomplish the desired goals of vocal line, agility, range, color, or volume.
MC: Frankly, the result is a shorter career and much mental strife. Remember, we build confidence through muscle memory. A poor performance, where one’s breath collapses, can wreck our belief in our ability to sing a piece. I feel as if singing is a physical and mental exercise closely resembling yoga. The goal is complete mastery of oneself.
CS: What kind of elements affect proper breath support (fatigue, asthma, illness, smoking, body alignment, tension, etc.)?
PK: All of these can affect the singer’s ability to create good flow, and therefore, good phonation. We must stay healthy, and we must achieve good alignment while reducing any muscular activity that does not contribute to good singing.
MC: Many things can affect proper support. I tell my students that great technique is not the complete mastery every day of every aspect of singing. Instead, it is the ability to use one’s technique every day to meet the challenges that day brings. Should I wake up with congestion, what do I do? Based on my abilities and my mastery of my body, I should be able in a fairly short warm-up to find what aspect of my technique is going to provide me with the optimal output for that day. Tomorrow will be different. As soon as we accept that each day is an adventure, the better off and the more secure technically we will be.
CS: Is there a difference between the kind of support singers use when working between the different registers (head voice versus chest voice or belting)?
PK: Breath must be adjusted for various ranges, registrations, and volumes. Different approaches to these areas that are part of various musical styles will require adjustments to breath pressure and breath flow. Much of this can best be accomplished indirectly, through awareness of physical sensations and adjustments of musical concepts.
MC: I believe that there is a difference. I work with my students to find out what optimally works for them. If my palate, tongue, jaw, and cheeks are doing what I want them to do, my chest voice does not need as much breath. I have a much more open feeling with no resistance from the shoulders up. For higher passages, I need more “speed of air” which is a feeling of more air flowing. My muscles are much more flexible during this—complete with the feeling of my ribs and lower back resisting outwards, my lower abdominals being engaged, and my upper abdominal area controlling the breath pressure in a flexible manner. Even in the higher passages, the goal is to not have anything above the shoulders be involved that should not be involved.
CS: What kind of sensation should singers feel in terms of the breath when they are singing correctly? Incorrectly?
PK: We each have sensors in the trachea, pharynx, mouth, and nose. These sensors can inform us about breath flow and breath pressure. Singers must develop awareness of these messages about the breath and learn to associate them with various things they wish to accomplish with regard to range, dynamics, and color. The singer can use these messages about the breath to guide the subconscious mind into making the appropriate adjustments to the vocal mechanism. This is far more effective than attempting direct control of the various parts of the vocal tract through thoughts about biomechanics. Those tend to cause trouble rather than assisting the singer to free the voice.
MC: I believe that everyone feels things differently. I ask my students as they sing, “What did that feel like?” or “Describe how that felt.” One has to build a vocabulary that describes one’s own physical sensations. Correct inhalation produces a very full feeling from the shoulders down the front, sides, and back of one’s body. While singing there is sort of a “yin, yang” feeling or “push/pull” sensation as one keeps one’s ribs and back open, engages the lower abdominals, and allows the diaphragm to work completely freely. Incorrect sensations usually result in a grabbing feeling, which usually results in a pressed or pushed sound.
CS: What specific exercises do you use to help students achieve correct breath support?
PK: I work to develop sensitivity to breath flow. This includes having the student blow gently as if trying to cool a cup of tea or as if trying to fog up a pair of eyeglasses. Then we move to fricative consonants, like “f,” “v,” and “z,” feeling the breath flowing through them and gently allowing them to dissolve into vowels while keeping the breath flow moving at the same rate. The gentle laugh can also be used to find a good sensation of flow and release, as can primal sounds like “a” or “aha.”
Once the student has discovered the appropriate amount of airflow through these devices she can begin to find similar flow in a variety of other exercises and eventually in the literature. Next, it is time to practice these adjustments while keeping track of the sensations involved until everything is turned into a habit. Then it can all be ignored by the conscious mind, which turns to thoughts of artistry.
MC: I use several exercises. The first involves breathing in and hissing out in a small steady stream. The goal is to keep the sound of the hiss steady without bumps or pulses. The optimal goal is to reach 40 seconds. The second also involves hissing, only this time, one uses diaphragmatic pulsing to accentuate the hiss. Caution must be used in this as only the diaphragm is allowed to be used and not the throat. Jaw tension also must not play a part in either hissing exercise. I then move these sensations to actual singing. I start with what the masters of the castrati called “accentus.” This involves singing long notes over a five-note scale, using messa di voce and legato. This should cover the entire range and all the passaggi. This exercise promotes complete flexibility in the breath and the vocalization. I then move to adding words. The phrase can be anything that a singer is working on that is giving him trouble. Use the same accentus, but add the syllables and work the entire range. I also use melismatic passages to utilize the flexibility of the breath.
At anytime during the process, if one becomes “locked up,” it is probably time to take a short break, take a drink, do a yoga “lion stretch” to release any built up tension in the back of the tongue and palate and then try it again. There are many more exercises where I use actual passages of my student’s music all over their range to help them understand the differences breath makes in a phrase in each area.
If a student is having a hard time feeling the ribcage or lower back, I have them go to a fabric store and get 3-inch elastic and create a belt around the area. We mark straight lines vertically with a Sharpie and then stand in front of the mirror and watch the lines separate as we inhale. The goal is to flexibly keep the lines there. If the lines collapse, time to breathe.
I also have my students who cannot feel their lower back sit on a chair and lean forward at a 45-degree angle, breathe, and feel the lower back expand. I also have them lie on the floor with their knees bent and pelvis slightly tilted forward to allow the small of the back to release into the floor. Then they breathe into that position, while keeping the upper torso open, the sternum up, and the head aligned. I then have them try to sing in all of these positions to facilitate the feeling. After they feel the sensation, we try to repeat it in a standing position.
PM: I use lip trills without singing, the expansion of the ribs with inhalation, and then the use of a sibilant ‘sssssssss’ for as long as possible; and 1-3-5-4-2-8-1 on the vowels, ascending and descending, while sitting and lifting the knees to the chest.
Stay tuned for our next article in the Vocal Pedagogy 101 series on vocal resonance.
