How to Exhale Correctly for Singing
Breathing: Exhalation
One of the most common subjects that any instructor of voice will cover during the first few voice lessons is without a doubt the topic of breathing. But unfortunately what is also very common is the neglect to teach the whole picture. You see many students of voice either hear about or are actually taught to some degree about inhaling. People almost always come into our studios with at least an expectancy that they will be learning how to inhale correctly. You and I have spent quite a bit of time learning all the details and concepts that deal with this subject as well. But again, it is only half the picture. You see singing is exhaling. I mean think about it…what makes the voice come out of our mouth? Ultimately it is air. The sound that we perceive as singing is generated through the exhalation of air. You know, it is amazing to me to think that all the beautiful and inspiring voices that I have ever heard throughout my life were created by releasing a poisonous, pressurized gas. This gas of course being carbon dioxide.
It is through the controlled release of carbon dioxide that sets the vocal folds into vibration. And the smoother the release the smoother the voice. In fact the majority of singing flubs can be attributed through improper exhalation. For example, If I hear a student sing with a shaky trembling voice I know that they are not exhaling properly. The lack of pressure under the vocal folds especially during high singing is one main reason that people crack. There is simply not enough support to sustain the voice comfortably so it falters.
Excessive breathiness can be attributed to poor exhalation as well as vocal fatigue, inability to sing strong, poor vibrato, running out of air too soon too often , singing flat and so on. All of these areas can be corrected either completely or very close to it simply by exhaling properly for singing. But the problem with developing correct exhalation is that if we inhale incorrectly we will exhale incorrectly. So this is the main reason all teachers of voice try to explain at least a little about inhaling because it will hopefully enable us to exhale with a greater sense of control.
Find out more about breathing for singing with singing lessons online at VirtualVoiceLessons.Net.
