In the first intallment, I asserted that everyone can learn to sing. That by approaching the art of singing as a sport, you achieve your greatest potential.
Foundational to good vocal production is breathing. Most of us breathe wrong! We take in only the minimum amount of air our bodies need to sustain itself in whatever pursuit we’re engaged in at the moment. Mostly, we fill only the top part of our lungs and the bottom is left to atrophy.
What we should be doing is taking full breaths each and every time we inhale, no matter what our activity level. This keeps the body properly oxygenated and the lungs healthy. If you see someone’s shoulders moving up and down while they breathe, their breathing incorrectly. They’re not using their diaphragm properly and they’re only filling the top of their lungs.
Proper breathing, while being the foundation of singing well, is the hardest concept to master. Our lungs are like balloons. When we blow up a balloon, we experience resistance. Yet when we pull down on the bottom of the balloon prior to filling it, we experience less resistance. Why? Because when you increase the volume you decrease the pressure, this is a law of physics called Boyle’s Law, and it’s at work in our lungs.
Our diaphragms are attached to the bottom of our lungs. When the diaphragm pulls down on the bottom of our lungs the air easily comes in. Like any muscle it can be developed to perform better, giving us better breath control.
In my next installment I’ll provide you with some exercises you can do to isolate and understand how it feels to breathe correctly and to properly identify the diaphragm and put it to work in a conscious manner.
