Running out of breathy quickly can make the task of singing harder and effortful.
For an effective and easier voice production we want to work on our ability to ‘hold back the air’ and release it gradually and evenly depending on what we want to sing and how we want to sing it, however, we don’t always succeed doing that, why?
There are probably two main reasons-
1.The diaphragm releases too quickly > rib cage collapse >> air supply doesn’t last for long
as you can see in the image below, the diaphragm muscle is in charge of the breathing process.
when it moves down it makes the ribs and the lungs expand,
creating vacuum in the lungs that enables inhalation.
when it moves up it helps the body to get rid from the excess air and exhale.
In singing, we want to control the pace of the exhalation process and
the amount of air that goes out of the body.
Practicing and developing this control will help you to hold longer notes and also have a better over-all control on the voice, its quality, and its power.
Try the following exercise -
Stage 1:
> inhale normally and then hold your breath for as long as you can.
Place you hands on the lower ribs and notice how they stay expanded as long as you hold your breath - why? - because the air is still in the lungs and the diaphragm is held down from pushing it out of the lungs.
Now let go of the breath and exhale the air out - did you feel how the ribs collapse quickly?
If your ribs collapse too quickly when you sing, it means the air goes out of the lungs in a very inefficient way for singing.
We want to use less for more.
But, how?
Stage 2:
> Open a stopwatch on your phone or laptop.
> Inhale regularly and exhale on an ‘s’ sound. Try to hold the ‘s’ for as long as you can and as stable as you can.
Time yourself with the stopwatch and check how long you can hold it. Write it down.
Stage 3:
> Do it again, this time, place your hands on the ribs (try to feel the 4 low ribs). Monitor your ribs as you exhale with ‘s’ and try to keep them expanded. Don’t let them collapse as long as you’re producing the sound.
It might take a few trials - that’s fine.
How long did you hold your breath this time?
The more you practice it, the more you can hold your breath and if you’re really sharp, you’d notice that when you manage to keep the ribs expanded on the exhale, the abdomen are Active - pulling in slowly towards the lower back. This movement of the abdomen helps with keeping the ribs expanded and that helps with releasing the air in a slower and moderate pace.
If you feel like this exercise doesn’t help you, there are many more exercises and tricks to get breath support to work, not everything works for everyone and that’s why, if you still run out of breath, having a session with a coach that can find the right trick for you can make the difference.
2. Insufficient vocal cord closure
When the vocal cords don’t come to full closure, air leaks out and the result is a breathy sound.
Breathy voice can also be a reason why it’s hard to sustain long notes.
Try this exercise to practice vocal cord closure-
> Clear your throat a few times.
> Now try to stop yourself right before the ‘clearing’ action. Notice that something is ‘closing’ in your throat, preventing air from coming out. These are your vocal cords 'zipping up' to full closure.
> Repeat this 'zipping' action and try to start a note on the vowel EE right after the cords close, make it as short as you can. When this is done correctly, you should have a very clear, non-breathy onset.
> Repeat the onset and each time try to lengthen the note without losing the clarity. The moment the sound becomes breathy again, stop and start over. If you can’t get a clear sound, try with a different vowel. Look for the vowel that sounds the ‘clearest’ and take it from there.
Ideally, repeat this exercise daily, even a few times a day for 5 min so that the brain and the voice will learn and memorize.
Fun fact - did you know that many of the twang exercises are also great for a clear and non-breathy sound?
Using them in your routine can also contribute to a more efficient voice production.
If you find these exercises helpful/not helpful, I would love to hear about your experience :)
Feel free to write me here, I love getting new messages!
Disclaimer: I do not own the pictures in this post and believe them to be in public domain.
If you see a picture that is yours please contact me and I will gladly credit it or remove them.
Thanks for the help!