Why Breathing Is Important For Singing

What does breathing and posture have to do with the way you sing?

Your breathing muscles are attached to your skeletal frame.  If your body is out of balance or alignment you cannot perform skilled breathing which is necessary for singing.  It makes sense to create a balanced body before learning anything else.

What is the difference between breathing and skilled breathing?

You already know how to breathe, it is one very important element of sustaining life!  The way we are taught to breathe from an early age is adequate to oxygenate our bodies and to support everyday speech.  This type of breathing is called “tidal” breathing.  It is very shallow and high in the lungs.  It isn’t adequate however to sustain skilled singing.

There are 4 types of breathing co-ordinations.

1. 1. Ceiling Breathing

This is another way to describe “tidal” breathing.  It is called ceiling breathing because the air fills up in the top half of the lungs.  This causes the chest and shoulders to move vertically when breathing.  This type of breathing causes unnecessary muscles in your throat to contract, affecting vocal efficiency.

Do this….

Pretend you have just gone for a quick run (or actually do it!).  Notice what happens to your chest and shoulders.  Are you using any neck and throat muscles?

1. 2. Floor Breathing

You may have heard the expression “breathe from the diaphragm”.  This is a very common phrase used by many vocal coaches.  It is slightly misleading to use this phrase when learning how to sing because you can’t actually “fill” your diaphragm with air.  It is quite common for a singer (and sometimes teacher!) to take a breath in and say “that’s my diaphragm” while pointing to their expanded abdominal area.  This is untrue because you can’t actually see or even sense your diaphragm.  So what is this “mysterious” muscle?

The diaphragm is a domed shaped muscle that is attached to the bottom of your lungs.  As you breathe in, the diaphragm descends so that it “flattens out” at the bottom of your rib cage.  It is this action that terms “floor breathing”, as the air is sent to the bottom of your lungs.  As the diaphragm returns to its resting position air is exhaled.

When the diaphragm “flattens out” it pushes the contents of your abdomen down and out.  This expansion of the abdomen gives the effect of the stomach filling up with air.

Do this….

Stand with proper posture.  Put your hand over your stomach.  Do a series of short “sh” sounds.  The goal is to make your stomach move your hand.  See if you can now do the same exercise doing a pant.  Gradually increase the speed of the pant.  It is important that you relax your abdominal muscles.  If you tighten these muscles the diaphragm cannot descend and flatten out.  This is a very common reason students struggle to develop floor breathing.  As a result ceiling and wall breathing will occur.

1. 3. Wall Breathing

As the diaphragm flattens out it shifts the abdominal contents.  It also forces the lower ribs to expand.  This expansion and contraction of the rib cage is termed wall breathing.

Do this….

Place your hands under the bottom of your ribs.  Experiment by taking a couple of normal breaths, and then larger breaths.  During the larger breaths you should feel the lower ribs move out slightly.

So what breathing co-ordination is the best for singing?

1. 4. A combination of floor and wall breathing.

Do this….

Sit on a chair or on the floor.  Pull your knees up to your chest and wrap your arms around your legs for support.  Take a couple of normal breaths.  Focus the air to your pelvic area making sure that you relax your abs.  As the air fills up from the “floor” notice your lower ribs engage and expand.  You should also feel the muscles in your lower back stretch as well.  Now take a more energized breath.  As you exhale make a “sh” sound.  Repeat this process 3 times.

Return to a standing position.  Adopt your correct posture and try to emulate the combination breath while standing.  It is important to maintain a high sternum on the exhale.  Collapsing will force the air out.  Controlling the breath is the key to skilled breathing.

How did you go?

If you are having trouble, go back and repeat the other exercises.  Remember muscles have memory and if repeated enough the co-ordination will become automatic.  You don’t want to be thinking “what are my abs doing right now” in the middle of a performance!

Now is a great time to talk about breath inhalation.  Have you taken notice of how a singer breathes?  Hearing the breath can destroy a musical phrase.  Some singers use an audible breath to add an effect to their sound.  That is fine if it is used for style purposes, but generally it is pretty annoying.

Large audible breaths tend to activate “ceiling” breathing.  That breathy sound that you hear is air rushing through your vocal folds.  I will discuss the vocal folds in more depth in the next lesson.  This rush of air puts the folds under pressure.  Too much pressure and the use of unnecessary muscles in the throat will create tension.  Tension is the singer’s biggest enemy.

Learn to take a silent breath when singing.  Breathe in a relaxed and open manner.  This will:

1. Feel better
2. Sound better

Do this….

Take 3 large audible breaths.  Notice the feeling and the sound.

Now take 3 natural silent breaths.  Notice the sense of ease and openness.

This time inhale over a 5 second period.  You can choose to breathe through the nose or mouth or both.  It doesn’t matter which option you choose, just make sure it is silent and free.  Be aware that you are “filling up” from the floor first, and then your ribs will engage.

The Exhale

You can control the amount of air you exhale while singing.  It is commonly called “breath control”.

So far you have learnt how to co-ordinate your body to breathe, you have learnt to take a silent breath.  To complete the cycle you need to learn how to control the amount of air that is leaving your lungs.  You don’t have to push the air out.  Your body is already accustomed to exhaling air so no added force is needed to “push” it out.

Do this….

Adopt your correct posture.  Take a silent breath in over 5 seconds.  On the exhale, make a “shh” sound.  Make the exhale last as long as the inhale.  A common mistake that singers make is collapsing the sternum on the exhale.  This will force the air out quickly resulting in lack of breath.  Keep the sternum and chest high and resist the urge to collapse.

There are muscles that control the exhale.  They are located in the abdominal wall and rib cage.  You can condition these muscles to enhance your breath control by including stretching into your daily vocal regime.  A full vocal warm will be the topic in another article.

There is an exercise to develop breath control that has been used for centuries by famous classical singers.  I will refer to this exercise as “Breath Pacing”.  It is very similar to the exercise you have just learnt, but with a small addition.

Do this….

Inhale on a silent breath for 5 seconds.

Suspend the breath for 5 seconds.  When I say “suspend” I mean hold the breath with your mouth open.

Exhale using a “shh” for 5 seconds.

Repeat this cycle 3 times.

When you get comfortable with 5 seconds do the cycle with 10 second sections.  Over time you will be able to increase this up to 30 seconds and above.

I hope you enjoyed this Interactive Article on breathing.  I encourage you to invest your time mastering breathing and breath pacing.

Ian Castle

To download this article as a pdf click here.

To access my Free Vocal Course and learn more about breathing for singing click here.

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Posture and Body Alignment

What does your body have to do with singing?

Posture is one of the foundation skills that you will need to master before you even make a sound.  The way you hold your body will affect everything from your breathing to vocal flexibility.  Most people realise that as a singer your voice is your instrument.  This is only partly correct.  As a singer your entire body is your instrument.

View this article as a video.

Let’s take a look at how the body in its most basic form is made up.  If we divide the body into 3 separate areas we have:

1. The lower body.  This is your feet to your hips.
2. The torso.  This is your waist to your shoulders.
3. The neck and head.

If we were to draw two lines from the thinnest point to the widest point on each of these 3 areas we would find that we are made up of 3 “upside down” pyramids.

Let’s just consider the properties of a pyramid in its “correct” form.

As you know the widest, heaviest and most stable part of a pyramid is the base.  When the pyramid is inverted the widest part becomes the top.  If you were to try and balance an inverted pyramid what would happen?  It would fall over of course.

Our bodies are made up of not one, but three of these inverted pyramids.  To make matters worse gravity is continually pulling us down.  So why don’t we just collapse in a heap?

Our bodies continually use muscles to adjust body alignment.  The body contracts and expands muscle to make tiny adjustments to stop us from falling over.

So what has this got to do with singing?  How can this possibly affect the sounds I make in my throat?

If your muscles are continually tense they will not function in the necessary way they need to for skilled speaking and singing.

Do this……

Stand with your feet together, so that your body’s weight is focused and greatest at that point.  Now, get someone to push you from your shoulder to one side.  Do not resist and notice what happens.  Basically you will fall over if your body doesn’t “adjust” itself.

Do the exercise again.  This time when you are pushed see if you can resist falling over without moving your feet.  What happened?  What muscles did you need to contract and tense in order to keep from falling over?

1. Lower body muscles
2. Abdominal muscles
3. Muscles in your neck and throat

It will become very clear in the next article on breathing that tension in the abdomen and neck will make it nearly impossible to develop breath control, a vital aspect of singing.

Have you ever seen a singer stand with their feet together?  Choir singers are notorious for doing this.  Next time you watch someone sing check what they are doing with their feet!

So how can we correct this “inverted pyramid” problem?  We need to lower our centre of gravity by standing with our feet a shoulder width apart.  The shoulders are the widest part of our skeletal frame, so it makes sense to widen our stance to match the shoulders.  We are now balanced from feet to shoulders.  Or are we?

Do this….

Stand with your feet in the wide balanced stance.  Get someone to again push your shoulder sideways.  Notice anything different this time?  You are much more balanced.

Now get someone to push you backward.  Do not resist.  What happens?  Unless your body “adjusts” you will fall backward.

Do the exercise again.  This time when you are pushed try and keep yourself from falling without moving your feet.  What muscles did you have to contract in order not to fall?

1. Abdominal Muscles
2. Lower back muscles
3. Neck muscles

As you are already aware, tension in the middle and upper part of your body will lead to inefficient breathing and vocal coordination.

So how can we correct this balance problem?  Our feet are already a shoulder width apart.  Put one foot slightly in front of the other.  It doesn’t matter which foot you choose.  Maintain an equal distribution of weight between your feet.  With this stance you are now balanced.

Test it.  Have someone push you from the sides and from the front and back.  Your lower body completely controls your stability, leaving the middle and upper body to remain relaxed and ready to handle the demands of skilled breathing and vocalizing.

This new stance is a huge improvement over the “choir stance” however there are a couple of small adjustments that can be made for even greater stability.

Keep the weight of your body slightly on the balls of your feet.  There is a slight tightening of the abdominal and neck muscles if the weight is on the heels.

Avoid “locking” your knees, as this will tilt your lower pelvis backward and upper pelvis forward.  This will emphasise the curve in your lower back.  In effect this will alter your breathing muscles.  Soft knees, slightly bent, will maintain proper pelvic position and movement.

Now that we have sorted out the lower part of our body, attention can shift to our torso.  It is important to adopt a high sternum and chest position as this will aid in the coordination of skilled breathing.  The shoulders must remain low and relaxed.  Greater understanding of the importance of the ribs, chest, and shoulders will be examined in the next chapter.

So we have sorted out the lower and middle parts of our body, but what about the third “inverted pyramid”, our neck and head?  It is impossible to widen the base of our neck to support the head, so what is the solution?  We want to create a feeling of lift, a sensation that our head is “floating” on top of our neck.  As if our head is defying the gravitational pull.

Do this….

Stand in the correct stance you have just learned.  Imagine someone attaching a piece of string to the crown of your head and gently pulling up.  Feel the back of your neck lengthen.  Make sure there is no unnecessary tension in the neck and face when you do this exercise.

From this position tilt your head forward and backward while vocalizing an “ah”.  What do you notice?

1. In the “chin down” position the sound will appear “squeezed”
2. In the “chin up” position the sound will appear “strangled”

This should give you a clue as to the optimal “tilt” of your head.

Do this….

Lengthen the back of your neck with the “piece of string” exercise.  Put your hand behind your head and try and push your head forward.  Resist the pressure that is being created and maintain equilibrium.  Slowly release the pressure and eventually take the hand away maintaining the exact head position.  This exercise will help to align your neck and head to the rest of your body and center your head on your spine.

To Summarise:

1. Feet should be a shoulder width apart with one foot slightly in front of the other.  Maintain equal weight distribution with weight slightly on the balls of the feet.  Relaxed Knees.
2. Adopt a high sternum/chest position but keep shoulders relaxed and low.
3. Lengthen the back of your neck and maintain a centered position of the head.

It is important that you condition yourself to adopt the proper posture every time you sing, whether it is in practice or performance.  The key to learning is to condition the body and mind so that the skill becomes automatic.  Once this occurs you can focus on building a new skill.

I hope you gained something from this Interactive Article on posture and body alignment.

Ian Castle

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How To Develop Your Tone

“I want to sound better!” How many times have you heard someone say this about their singing?  How many times have you said this to yourself?  During this Interactive Article you will learn the different “areas” of your voice, how they affect your tone, and how to adjust your sound so that it sounds better and is easier to sing.  Think of your voice as an engine in a car.  In order for a car to go faster the engine needs to change gears.  Your voice acts in a very similar way.  Your voice has 3 distinct “gears”:

1. Chest Voice
2. Mixed Voice
3. Head Voice

These “gears” are commonly referred to as vocal registers.

Chest Voice

This part of your voice is the most easily developed and recognized because it is used in everyday speech.  It is termed chest voice because of the sound resonating and vibrating in the chest cavity.  Take a moment to put your hand on your chest and speak as if you are in a conversation.

Being the most natural and common register there is a tendency for novice singers (and some not so novice!) to take their chest voice too high.  This will result in a yelling sound and will cause vocal fatigue.  A “changing of gears” is required to allow the voice to freely ascend into higher singing.

Here is a simple exercise to develop the chest register:

1. Ascending and Descending 5 note scale on “AH”

Head Voice

In order for the voice ascend into higher singing a “gear change” needs to occur.  Your chest voice will eventually “redline” as you take the chest voice up.  There will be a point where you cannot sing any higher.  This point is where you need to switch to your “head voice”.  It is termed head voice because the vibrating sensation moves from your chest cavity to the cavities in the face and nose.  It is a much thinner sound and feels lighter.

Here is a simple exercise to develop the head register:

1. Arpeggio using a lip roll

When doing these exercises, make sure you are not pushing the voice.  Let the sound “transfer” into your head naturally.  It is helpful to practice in front of a mirror.  Focus on the muscles in the middle of your neck and make sure they do not tense up.  The lip roll is used to keep your larynx low.

Before we continue I want you to make a sliding sound on “AH” starting in chest voice.  Ascend into head voice, then back down to chest.  Did you notice a change or a break from chest to head?  This is called a bridge in your voice.  It occurs for 2 or 3 notes and can be a troublesome area for singers.  This area can be improved and “ironed out” by developing….

The Mixed Voice.

To smooth the transition between chest and head voice, the resonance needs to be split between the two.

Here is a simple exercise to develop the mixed register:

1. Ascending and Descending 5 note scale on “MUH”.  Make sure you keep a low larynx position and maintain a “dopey” sound.

Bonus Exercise.

There is another vocal technique that can be used to help smooth out the registers and shed weight from the voice, Vocal Fry.  I know the name of it sounds quite strange but it is a sound you should be familiar with from the lesson on the onset of sound, the balanced onset.  It is also a sound you may make every day when waking.  You may have seen the movie “The Grudge” or remember the cartoon character “Elmer Fudd”.  These are great examples of vocal fry.

Here is a simple exercise to develop vocal fry:

1. Ascending and Descending 5 note scale.

When doing these exercises there should be no tension in the throat.  Monitor yourself by using a mirror.

The second area of Tone Development is vowel placement and modification.

The way you shape different vowels, the position of the three “articulators”, can drastically change the sound of your voice.

The three articulators of your voice are:

1. The Jaw
2. The Tongue
3. The Lips

Often singers will tense these articulators in speaking and singing.  The result will be “muddy” diction and tone.  Are you sensing a common theme here?  Tension and singing cannot co-exist.

We will now look at the five major vowels, the neutral position and the positioning of your articulators.

The Neutral Position

When at rest the tongue is relaxed, sitting on the lower teeth.  The jaw is slightly dropped and the lips relaxed and slightly parted.  I am going to refer to this position as Neutral.

Exercise 1.

I want you to say “I  E  A  O  U”

Notice the different jaw, tongue and lip positions for each vowel.

Say it again, but this time with tense and tight articulators.  Do you notice the difference?

The Five Vowels.

The combination of vowels flows from the most open to most closed vowels.

Neutral to “I”

Slightly wider lip position and slightly lower jaw position. The tongue rises at the back of the throat.

The next vowel is “E”.  The tongue should have increased contact with the lower teeth.  The jaw should drop slightly.  The lips should remain in a similar position to the “I” vowel.

Try it…

Neutral                     “I”                   “E”

Notice the slight tongue and jaw movement.

The next vowel is “A”.  The tongue should remain in the same position as the “E’ vowel.  The jaw should drop slightly.  The lips should also remain in a similar position.

Try it….

Neutral                     “I”                   “E”                  “A”

Notice how the jaw drops as you move between the vowels.

The next vowel in the sequence is “O” as in “hot”.  The jaw should remain dropped as in the previous vowel.  The lips become more rounded and the tongue will be slightly elevated to create space in the back of the throat.

Try it….

Neutral                     “I”                   “E”                  “A”                 “O”

The last vowel in the sequence is “U” as in “book”.  The jaw remains in the dropped position.  The lips are rounded, almost to a pouting position.  The tip of the tongue is elevated to create maximum space in the back of the throat.

Try it….

Neutral                     “I”                   “E”                  “A”                 “O”                 “U”

Here is a simple exercise for vowel shaping and placement:

1. IEAOU in an Ascending and Descending 5 note scale.








I hope you enjoyed this Interactive Article on Tone Development.  I will be adding more exercises so please revisit this article soon.  Feel free to share this article with your friends and family.




To download the exercises as an MP3 simply go to the MP3 Downloads page.

To access even more information and videos about Improving your Tone enrol in my Free Course.


Thanks for reading,

Ian Castle

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