What is Breath support anyways?

Have you ever been told to “support” your voice?  The idea and description of “breath support” can be a confusing one. The word “support” refers to the use of muscles to directly hold, assist or help.  We all want to produce a “supported”, free, easily produced singing sound, so how does one achieve this in the singing voice?  

Manage your exhalation

When we inhale several hundred times a day our lungs gently expand out and coil back without any resistance. But when we sing we want to manage the exhalation of air in our lungs so instead of the air leaving the lungs like a runaway balloon we are going to slowly exhale the air in a steady, slow manner. And by doing this the vocal folds will utilize the air more efficiently and the sound will become clearer, stronger and the voice more body and colour.

Nancy holding her arms up and out in front of her to help her rib cage naturally lift after a good breath in while her helper Maya looks on.  

Prevent the sudden collapse of the lungs

Hold your arms up and out in front of you so that your rib cage is naturally lifted. Now take a good breath in and sing “ah” for several seconds. You will notice that your ribcage will slowly recoil as you sing and your lower abdominals will gently come up and back to their original starting place. Instead of having a “whoosh” of exhaled air, your exhalation will be slower and more controlled, without holding or knowingly “controlling” anything. The magic is in making sure your rib cage doesn’t collapse after you have inhaled.  After many months of practise you will slowly transfer this feeling of having an expanded ribcage to all your singing, and magically you will start to sing with all the attributes we associate with “support” (and open throated, grounded singing sound). And bonus! You will also find that you will be able to sing long musical phrases without constantly needing to take extra breaths.

Prevent the sudden collapse of the lungs after inhalation: Hold your arms up and out in front of you so that your rib cage is naturally lifted. Now take a good, low abdominal breath in and sing “ah” for several seconds. You will notice that your ribcage will slowly recoil as you sing and your lower abdominals will gently come up and back to their original starting place. Instead of having a “whoosh” of exhaled air, your exhalation will be slower and more controlled, without holding or knowingly “controlling” anything. The magic is in making sure your rib cage is delayed in returning back to where you began your inhalation.  After many months of practise you will slowly transfer this feeling of having an expanded ribcage to all your singing, and magically you will start to sing with all the attributes we associate with “support” (which is a grounded singing sound). And bonus! You will also find that you will be able to sing long musical phrases without constantly needing to take extra breaths.