Singing Exercises | Breathing

Singing is a form of musical breathing when the air vibrates your vocal cord just right. So, the first singing exercise is really a breathing exercise. And like most exercises it may tire you in the beginning but keep at it and in time you will be able to use your diaphragm and abdominal muscles in harmony.

To find out if you are breathing correctly, place your hand on your belly button as you breathe. Do you feel it expanding first and then you fill up your longs or are your stomach stationary and you just expand your chest? A full breath expands the lower part of the lungs and pushes the diaphragm out and then it fills the middle and upper part of the lungs.

If you find your breathing is less than full try the following exercise. Lay flat on your back and place your hands on your waist just like those pregnant mothers who hold their tummy with fingers pointing towards your belly button.

Concentrate on filling up your stomach from the lower part to the upper part with a slow deep and deliberate breath. Be aware of what you do so that you can recognize the difference between shallow chest breathing and deep breathing that engages the diaphragm.

Feel your stomach rise and gently raise your hands upward and outward and then feel your chest engaging and expanding. The expansion is like a balloon filling up; it is all around and not just the front of the body.

Count out loud from 1 to 5 as you exhale slowly on the same breath and increase the numbers as you improve. Ready? Take a deep breath, let it out slowly and count loud 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Set a goal to manage to count out load from 1 to 25 on the same breath without straining. Repeat this exercise couple of times a day for 5 – 10 minutes. Don’t forget that this is to get you started and should become the natural way you breath.

Related Topics

• Singing Success Online Homepage
• Singing Success
• Singorama