To sing correctly and produce a good sound, you must use proper breathing techniques. Having good breath support, using abdominal breathing and controlling your rate of exhalation are all part of effective singing and can allow you to control pitch, hold out long phrases and even sing for longer periods of time. There are exercises that can help you develop these important skills, allowing you to be more effective in both singing and speaking.
Diaphragmatic Breathing Exercise
Lie flat on your back, and place your hands on your waist with your fingers pointing toward your navel. Take a low, deep breath, focusing on filling your stomach from the bottom to the top. You should feel your stomach rising and your hands being raised up and outward. The Vocalist website notes that you should feel your chest expanding; the sides and back of your body should expand as well. Breathe out to a count of 5, and repeat the exercise 10 times.
Vocalist recommends practicing this exercise daily, both before you get up and before you go to sleep, for five to 10 minutes, gradually increasing frequency until you are performing the exercise four times a day.
Breath Control Exercise
Count on each breath as you sing each number out loud, choosing any pitch that is comfortable to you. Vocalist recommends starting with singing your way to five or 10, then increasing the number until you can reach 25 without straining, tensing or running out of breath.
Bending Rag Doll
From Vocal Focus comes this suggestion for helping you get familiar with the feeling of expansion caused by proper breathing. Bend over at the hips--not the waist--making sure to keep your back straight and your knees slightly bent, but trying to keep all other parts of your body floppy and relaxed. Inhale deeply and slowly, so that you feel air filling your abdomen; then exhale.
Still Shoulders
Stand with your knees slightly bent and your hands crossed in front of you on opposite shoulders. Relax stomach and pelvic muscles. Breathe in, allowing your lower body to expand as in the previous exercise, but keep your shoulders immobile. Vocal Focus advises repeating this exercise slowly 10 times.
Sss Exercise
Inhale slowly as if you were trying to fill a balloon full of air in your diaphragm area; then exhale slowly. Your Personal Singing Guide suggests exhaling as if you were releasing air bit by bit through a tiny hole in the balloon's surface, making an "sss" sound and using your breath, teeth and tongue. Try to keep the volume consistent. This exercise trains the diaphragm and surrounding muscles to maintain a consistent amount of tension while singing. In addition, it helps develop breath control, necessary for manipulating the dynamics, or relative loudness and softness, of individual notes.
