September 8, 2025 • 56 mins
Without breath there is no singing, so yes - getting your breathing right is important! Yet the way it’s been taught for the last couple of decades has been deeply rooted in classical singing techniques, which is not always serving us as contemporary singers. In this episode coach Bri, coach Emily and I break down different techniques and the best habits for breathing for pop songs.
This episode focuses only on inhalation. If you’re curious about exhalation, check out the episode below.
📍Mentioned Resource: Singing With Support (Exhalation) Episode: https://youtu.be/jycgLBWFhyo
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👉 Want to know exactly what your voice needs to improve? Get a vocal evaluation from our professional coaches here: https://lessons.voxtapestudios.com/vocal-evaluation
👉 Book a 1:1 session with Coach Lara: https://lessons.voxtapestudios.com/trial-lesson
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
if you're sitting like this
(00:01):
and then you try to take a big breath
right like the shoulders go up things don't really yeah
your body is holding tension um
and so the muscles that you need to assist you in
you know big inhalation are contracted so
or maybe contracted in a way that we're not
trying to get them to to contract
so I I really like that
(00:22):
just like allowing yourself to have space
it doesn't mean you're gonna sing every song like this
but yeah it just gives you the opportunity to expand
yeah
hey Vox Star and welcome to from singer to artist
I'm Lara Chapman award winning singer and songwriter
(00:43):
turned viral vocal coach and the host of this show
at VoxTape Studios
we help singers from all over the world
level up their voices
by teaching them the 3 fundamental skills
all singers need technique
awareness and artistry whether you're looking to go pro
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check the link in the description
(01:04):
to book your first session
or grab some of our other resources
Alrighty are you ready let's get started
there is literally no sound
so today
we're gonna be talking about breathing and singing
and more specifically
how to actually inhale and with me in the studio
I have Coach Bri and Coach Emily from our team
(01:27):
and I think we should start by saying
don't overcomplicate it yeah
like you've been breathing for however many years
you've been alive you know how to breathe
your body knows how to breathe yeah
it's gonna be OK
if you're able to be mindful that your body
that you're feeling the expansion on your breath in
(01:47):
and the like
collapse or contraction like on the breath out um
I think before I took like really good train
train singing lessons I was breathing like a breathing
like pushing the tummy in like yeah
pulling the tummy in on inhale and releasing it
and like on exhale
(02:08):
and that's really mostly because I'm like
letting my shoulders collapse yeah
but I'll run into that with students sometimes
and that's the biggest thing that like
if we can understand that we're like
or at least like spend some time connecting to the body
so that
okay on my breath and I should be feeling expansion
mm hmm
and we'll talk about where that expansion is like yeah
(02:29):
happening later but um
I think that's my first okay Emily
yeah I think um
more is not always better often um
but also being aware of the fact that you're gonna
probably think about your breathing
way less in espresso
than you would in a Celine Dion song hmm amen yeah
(02:52):
than you would in like a classic like an Aria
you know like yeah
there's uh
it's case by case song wise and person wise like
and there is no one right way to breathe actually
that's my tip yes
there's no one right way
I have had a lot of people be like
I'm really
I'm breathing really low into my stomach and yeah
we'll break we'll break that all down ooh
(03:13):
I hate that I hate pushing my stomach out for breathing
and I feel like I'm getting zero air in yeah
it's not helpful for me at all
and there are people that like
when they try to breathe somewhere else
it just does not work for them
so it is so individual again
you've been like you said
like you've been breathing your entire life
in a certain way you know
(03:33):
when it comes to music
speech
to singing is a lot of what we do in terms of like
mix practice yeah
but that's how your breath applies as well
mm hmm yeah
so let's talk about the the different ways of breathing
and then you can pick what works best for you yeah
yeah yeah
yeah so just to quickly break it down I
(03:54):
I go by Scott McCoy's 4 methods of breathing
so we have abdominal by your ABS low breath
thoracic your rib cage clavicular up here
chest breath and a podio
which is just a balanced breath
it's kind of a mix of everything to
to keep it simple okay
yeah I'm definitely like a rib breather
(04:16):
I think of it as like a
A THREE SIXTY expansion essentially right
like going out and like
going forward and back a little bit as well
and I guess this may be a little bit up and down too
but it's it's just like I'm just creating space
and sometimes what I like to do too
when I'm like alright big phrase is coming
(04:37):
I need to get a lot of air in
I almost like get my little chicken wings out haha
just to like it's not necessarily to make like
physically make more space
but it's to remind my brain to create the space
absolutely absolutely
it's I mean if you're
if you're sitting like this
and then you try to take a big breath
right
like the shoulders go up things don't really yeah
(04:58):
your body is holding tension um
and so the muscles that you need to assist you in
you know big inhalation are contracted
so or maybe contracted in a way that we're not
trying to get them to to contract
so I I really like that
just like allowing yourself to have space
it doesn't mean you're gonna sing every song like this
(05:18):
but yeah it just gives you the opportunity to expand
yeah and I also I'm like going all the way out yeah
yeah like a oh yeah
that's good yeah
no it's just just a little bit like yeah
just yeah get out there
open up expand
one thing I just noticed you do Emily
is inhaling through the nose
(05:39):
so when it comes to singing
should we inhale through the nose
or should we inhale through the mouth
it all depends so
literally
like I feel like this podcast should be cost it all
like should be called it all depends
oh yeah I mean
seriously and I
I mean it's a testament to how individual singing is
how individual any sort of exercise is right
(06:02):
like my good form doesn't look like your good form
which doesn't look like your good form when we're like
you know lifting weights yeah um
but we're probably engaging similar things
if you're doing it in a way that's not gonna hurt you
right um
but when it comes to inhaling through the nose
so you're gonna get a deeper breath
when you inhale through the nose
deeper as in like down lower in the body yeah
(06:25):
not like necessarily more air
but just lower in the body
is that what you're saying
probably could get a little more air right
but yes but lower in the body
I feel that um I like to do an inhale through my nose
exhale through my mouth before I start singing
as like a cleansing breath
I say cleansing
but it's just to I like I'll say a grounding breath
(06:47):
yeah calming
calming I also think if you're about to have a big
a big passage a really big phrase um
and you have an opportunity to take in
the wizard right we've been watching wicked right
and go for it if that's what works for you
some people like
(07:08):
that just totally cooks for them
when it comes to a catch breath
like yeah
good luck it's not yeah
I yeah hahaha
um the one thing about like
breathing in through your nose is that
that air then is moving through all your um
sinus cavities and like nasal passages
which is gonna
like help the air be a little bit more moist yeah um
(07:30):
so it might not feel as drying as like
breathing into your mouth
but I've definitely had singers come in like
and they're trying to sing a whole song and I'm like
what what is going on
why are we not like and then I'm like
oh cause we're breathing in through our nose every time
and so like you said like you
it is helpful in some cases
but I don't think I would ever recommend actually
(07:53):
that's not strong enough
I would never recommend somebody to sing an entire song
only breathing in through your nose yeah yeah
I never breathe in through the nose
I just I can't hahaha it just doesn't work for me like
nope we gotta breathe in through the mouth
even if I have so much time
to take in a good nasal breath
cause breathing in through the nose
(08:13):
you can't get as much in the same amount of time in
that's the mouth opening is much bigger
so you can get more air in in a short amount of time
which goes back to what you were saying
Emily with the catch breath
a catch breath is a really
really really short breath
when you're like in the middle of a phrase
or between two phrases that are like go
(08:34):
go go right right next like right after each other
and you just don't have a lot of time to breathe
you take just a little bit of a catch breath
if you wanna run away with me out of the LC
and I can take you for a ride
well okay
that's not necessarily fast enough to be a cash
but there I think there's a couple in there
I guess that's all over yeah
there's a musical theater song
like the most iconic patter song ever
(08:56):
part of me is everybody there
because if everybody there
I want to thank you all for coming to the wedding
I appreciate you going even more
I mean you must have a lots about everything
and not worth about I mean
probably another man I'm gonna marry
but I'm not but whatever huge
you have this huge powder section
where you do not take a breath
because I wouldn't ruin anyone as wonderful as he's
thank you all for the gifts and the flowers
thank you all when I was back to the showers
don't tell Paul but I'm not getting married today
(09:17):
right like yeah
that's a catch breath like you're I mean
it's not always that fast
but yeah
it's you don't have time you're catching a breath
you're not taking in a breath
you're just enough to to boost you through
we played Mario Kart last night
it's like your little like
when you go over the little mushroom
and you have a little boost
but that's not gonna take you to the finish line
(09:38):
it's a million reasons
maybe another you give me a million reasons
give me a million reasons
giving me a million reasons about a million reasons
yeah right
definitely
so just a little the little catch breath in there too
it's just when you don't have like a big
like I have less examples in pop music
because I just Learned to catch breathing in like yeah
(09:58):
I know that's why I'm like ah
I can think of it
it shows up in musical theater so hard well yeah
also who cares if you're gonna call it a catch breath
or a regular breath like whatever
as long as you can get it in
in the amount of time that you have
but definitely
I think I just use it to like denote like
we're not taking
we don't have time to take a full breath yeah
if you're only taking as much breath as we need
absolutely yeah
if you're told to take a catch breath
(10:19):
now you know what it means
yes you know what that the technical term is
yeah yeah
uh bree you I've heard you talk about this
oh my gosh this is probably years ago now um
but the sound that you're making when you're inhaling
oh yeah oh
can you talk about that yeah
so I can breathe in and I can go right
(10:40):
we can all like gasp like oh my gosh yeah
crazy happened
and there you go and that's why it matters
because if I'm breathing in
with a lot of constriction in the airway
that's what you're that's the sound
quite literally when you are breathing in
if there is a lot of sound
it's because the airway is too constricted
(11:00):
and you're hearing the air rush past
like other muscles stuff in the way yeah
now if I breathe in
and you might not have heard anything
or maybe you heard just barely a tiny little bit
like I took in such a full breath right now yeah
and I my throat was totally relaxed um
(11:21):
and that is gonna be huge
I can't tell you how many singers I remember seeing
like on our weekly seminar stage in college
that I'm like you could be amazing
but every week they would choke
and I quite literally mean like
choking in the middle of a performance
because they were breathing in so shallow
and so tight in the throat
(11:42):
and they just
had to cough like yeah
and like just choked on spit
oh no yeah um
so so yeah
a a breath doesn't necessarily need to be like
completely inaudible mm hmm yeah
cause like when you're I mean
what you just said yeah
yeah right
like yeah
we we can hear that breath and that is totally
(12:02):
totally fine we just don't want it to be like a
yeah yeah
constrictive breath like like that um
I think totally the general rule of thumb
that we've talked about a lot on this podcast
and just in general singing is like
you might be making it harder for yourself yeah
by like trying
I'm getting in the biggest breath possible
(12:23):
yeah right
like yeah
I can you can take in a really big breath that way
and it's gonna feel like wow
look at me I took in a huge breath
yep or you can do what bridges did
and just taking the same size breath
probably even more with way less effort in
therefore you're gonna have way less effort out
yeah uh huh
oh my God way less effort out girl
(12:45):
like let me tell you
the amount of time I have had to tell singers
like when we working on releasing tension yeah
you are already building up so much tension
on your inhalation yeah
but guess what's gonna happen when you exhale and sing
that tension's gonna stay there
so yeah
a lot of times when I see singers breathe in
(13:06):
and I can hear the construction in the airway
like I'm also seeing a visual cue of like
the shoulders are raising like um
that goes back to Emily
what you were saying the clavicular breath
the breath up here
does that mean the shoulders go up or not necessarily
no way OK
I don't know what you're talking about
people like bringing their shoulders yeah
like yeah
that clavicular breath um
(13:28):
which you you probably could have been told
in someone's YouTube video somewhere
or someone's lesson I don't know um
never breathe up here
because it's only gonna be shallow
and it's only gonna cause tension
so what's true is that your larynx
will probably raise a little bit okay
a little bit
so that could be super helpful for if you're belting
(13:51):
yeah anything there
but also
sometimes you're in an opera and you have a corset on
or you're in a musical and you have a corset on yeah
or you're Beyonce
and Beyonce really does a lot of clavicular breathing
if you watch any video she's like
you can see her chest rising and falling
not collapsing not shoulders
but her chest is rising and falling
and you can get a nicely big breath there
(14:13):
mm hmm mm hmm yeah
especially that doesn't mean
that doesn't mean you're here
yeah cause now we're now we're engaging
now we're engaging the
the shoulders are probably physically uncomfortable
yeah right
like yeah
I feel like
I feel like I remember reading in like
maybe not the same Scott McCoy book
but a different one that like of those four different
(14:34):
um types of inhalation
clavicular breathing
when they measured the volume of air being taken in
like in a medical setting
um that
it was actually the highest volume of air
taken in here wow
well
cause that's where your lungs actually physically are
yeah well
and like when I'm taking a deep breath and I wanna
like really calm myself
(14:55):
like I'm letting that chest rise and fall
like even we
in another breathing episode that we were doing
working through like a hissing exercise
but before each round
I had everyone take a deep cleansing breath in
and every single one of us
took that breath up and down
and then when we breathed in for the actual exercise we
(15:15):
we used a different method of inhalation
but yes um
but yeah I just wanted to share that yeah
well that also brings up a really great point
about where in your body to breathe one
I don't even know if this is a misconception
because I don't think people learn it wrong
I think people just don't know
where you breathe is just
(15:36):
and this might be obvious to some
but I remember reading this being like
why have I never put those thoughts together before
it's just where your muscles allow your lungs to expand
it's really that was just like a like yeah
of course yeah
but like when you think low breath
you're like I'm directing my air really low
but really
(15:56):
we're just allowing the lungs to expand downward
or clavicular
we're allowing the lungs to expand out the rest
you know and we'll do something to break all of well
we can do that now but um
we'll do something to break all of that down
but I think when when you're thinking about
breathing into a certain place
I say think about filling up your lungs more than like
(16:21):
get it really low get it really low
get it get it really low yeah
or get it really really directional yeah
yeah before we do your exercise
and I wanna get to that in like 30 seconds
I just want to quickly circle back to the tension
on your inhalation yeah
absolutely in your neck
shoulders sometimes there's a visual cue there
yeah also the tongue man
yeah oh yeah
(16:42):
a lot of people's tongue mine sometimes included
likes to just kind of like get a little grippy haha
on that inhalation so be sure to uh
relax that tongue when you're breathing in
it does not need to be active or engaged
when you're inhaling one thing that helps
that I have found recently to help with that
and I Learned this going to get a laryngoscope
(17:04):
oh um
was breathing like kind of through your teeth
there's maybe a little bit of engagement in my neck
but my tongue is pretty relaxed yeah
like I'm keeping my tongue pressed up against my teeth
as they're closed
um and the voice therapist that was doing the scope
(17:26):
kept telling me like
breathe in through your teeth
and when I did that
we finally were able to get like not an abstract
like an unobstructed view on inhalation
right
when I wasn't doing that and I was like going like yeah
yeah because she's
literally yanking my tongue out of my body yeah
and like I have to breathe in kind of through my mouth
(17:48):
but kind of through my nose
like it's just a weird uncomfortable position and um
it was like moving things around and like
I could tell that it was getting really constricted
cause then I would also like want to cough yeah
um
but so that can be one way that can help um
kind of like relax everything yeah
on inhale and the sound that just happened on
that came from the teeth right
(18:10):
yeah not from the
right the construction
yeah definitely different sound
that also brings up another point
there are I don't know if as a student you've ever been
uh directed to take an
a gasp breath like a
or a surprise breath or a yawning breath
that can affect your laryngeal position
I talk about inhaling through a yawn all the time
(18:34):
yeah is
it helps me a lot because my larynx just
loves getting stuck
like and when I'm belting high or whatever
it just kind of gets stuck up there
and it's not flexible anymore
so I like inhale through a yawn and then like go and
go and sing
to just give myself a little bit of a reset yeah
this is a really
it works really well for me
(18:54):
and it's worked for a lot of the singers
I've worked with it's a really nice
like little trick that you can apply in a performance
yes right
cause like you can't start breaking into an exercise
in the middle of a performance
but you can always inhale through way on yeah
to give yourself a little bit of a reset
when you're feeling
starting to like tense up in the throats area
(19:15):
yeah absolutely
and and the inverse of that is I've heard a minty
fresh breath a gasping breath
a surprise breath yeah
and well
I voiced it but right
it feels like it's go it feels a little cooler
yeah like cold colder
yeah and I
I directed it on the upper half of my mouth
and therefore I'm kind of telling my body yeah
(19:36):
something's got to raise and we're raising my legs
yeah I like that OK
I have one more yeah
um breathing in through straw lips
now we can modify that to get rid of the like
puckered lips in a performance
yeah but um
especially like you had mentioned
breathing into your
nose helps move the breath really low
and so I love using that um
(20:01):
for students to learn what it feels like
for the breath to like
expand kind of down um
but sometimes it's it's really hard to then take that
into breathing through an open mouth of like
letting the air move move down
so one thing that we've always done a lot in lessons
and you do this a lot too
Laura is direct people to inhale through straw lips
(20:27):
that's also relaxing my larynx
and
the sound you're hearing is because we're constricting
at the at the lips
yes um
not the throat but
if you can pay attention to what else is happening
inside your mouth when you're doing that
you can kind of get rid of the lips part of it
and just open the back of your throat
(20:50):
hmm mmm hmm
um anyways no
I like that I like that too
yeah yeah
it's an alternative to breathing in through the nose
yeah yeah
yes absolutely yeah
just for helping like directional like breath
and that's absolutely like
I'll tell students to practice yeah
that sometimes I'm like oh
I've said it to people too and you're gonna
I got it from you so it's me hahaha
(21:12):
well and also like if you're stuffed up
you still gotta breathe hahaha
yes I mean
that's a whole a whole other thing
no 100% 100%
alright Emily
let's do your exercise alright
I don't know this one
I'm excited yeah
yeah this
I really like this one um
this is I like this one because yes
it's gonna help your your singing
but it also just really puts you in tune with your body
(21:33):
okay and it's really nice to isolate different things
um so for this we
we are gonna work through those
four methods of breathing
I'm gonna call them a couple
like kind of different things
but I'll I'll reference
just because it's easier to give directives that way
yeah so um
well first
right before I start
where do you tend to send your breath
(21:55):
is that something you're aware of
slash
when you typically breathe or think about breathing
for singing for singing
for me it's the ribs
yeah yeah
that's like the wide expansion here
yeah um
and a little bit of what like chest
yeah sorry
go ahead no sorry
um when I'm singing
I feel it really low like mid to low
(22:19):
and I think it's like classical training haha
um but also like just when I'm living
just that I'm living um
I'll I kind of feel it like all around like
um forward down into my back a little bit like yeah
(22:41):
yeah yeah
I tend to
I think I tend to kind of be a mix of clavicular and
which I guess would kind of be that approach of breath
yeah I'm really thinking about
if I'm thinking about my breath like
all right taking a breath and stay expanded
it's gonna be that lower lower rib situation
um but I think viewing my own self tapes
(23:01):
I've noticed I uh
when I'm acting I'm really using clavicular breathing
there's just something that feels
very cleansing about it and very like
I like breathing in the circumstances
and breathing out whatever the intention
yeah sure
um I can
I can say that like I know what I'm doing but
but okay let's start
um I like to just kind of go bump bump bump balanced
(23:23):
so we're gonna start here's what the exercise is
let's choose a can we choose a quick phrase to sing
yeah
I'm working late cause
oh it looks so cute
wrap around my finger okay
we'll just do that much okay
a little longer yeah
and then you don't need to take that breath in between
okay so uh
that's our phrase okay
(23:43):
we're going to first
let's just isolate the clavicular breath
I like to feel it
and we're just gonna inhale and exhale
before we start singing
so just kind of practice isolation
and if you're following at home or listening right
I'm just putting a hand on my chest
it's like when you're working your ABS
and then you put a hand on your ABS to be like hey
(24:04):
we're working yeah
it's just directing focus
and if you feel like oh
it's my I think I'm breathing into my clavicle
but maybe I'm also feeling
it somewhere else
just think about directing it to your clavicle
doesn't have to be perfect
so now once we do that just go ahead and we'll take in
a four beats of an inhale
(24:26):
you'll probably have more air than you need
but this is just to get really specific
and sing our phrase so we'll do inhale one
two three four and sing
I'm a singer
(24:46):
finger
cool and if we were in a lesson
I probably have to do it a couple times
but yeah yeah
so
uh what was that like
it was really difficult
especially once we started singing in the middle of it
to keep isolating that breath up
like I felt more expansion like in the mid body
(25:08):
like thoracic yeah
I still felt like raised but like it wasn't only there
yeah
I was trying to like
make sure my ABS don't like engage on my inhalation
yeah
to like keep my lower like my abdominals from expanding
I was like
engage the ABS so it doesn't expand down here
(25:30):
so I can breathe up in my chest
yeah yeah
to isolate that yes
yes but I was like
I probably shouldn't be engaging my ABS haha
yeah well
that's great and that also can be a sign
like if you sing this at
if you did that at home and you're like
wow
that I've that's nothing has ever felt as easy as that
this might be something for you to investigate
in your singing yeah
but if you had this experience of like
(25:51):
I had to work hard to isolate this
this probably my is not your go to
doesn't mean it can't be useful
especially if you tend to
like your larynx tends to kind of get stuck low
this could be super helpful
if you're singing the Wizard and I right yeah
taking that that breath
that's a spot for a nose breath
the wizard right
(26:12):
cause we're getting that larynx up a little bit
yeah anything to get the work done for you
hmm like
like your your
your body your muscles are your employees
yeah and your voice is the boss
you know like let your voice just do its thing it
you know it's just gotta flow
but um alright
let's go ahead and uh isolate
I call this one thoracic right
(26:33):
uh and I like to think it's in your back
OK that's the support
it's your angel wings
angel wings it's uh
right in your shoulder blade
so let's just isolate that
really think about expanding backwards yeah
almost like something is pushing out of your back
(26:55):
like through two hands like those monkeys
oh like them
like the flying monkeys in wicked
oh my God oh it's heartbreaking
and they can't sing the song in their heart cause they
I'm sorry cause they don't know how to talk anymore
hahaha
I've no idea what they're talking about
haven't seen the movie hahaha
(27:17):
soul crushing it's just
it's just painful but how's this breathing feeling
hahaha
um it's hard to completely isolate it
because I feel like I can't get a ton of air in
if I do just that would you be comfortable
if I came over and touch that part of your back
sure okay
yeah yeah
yeah and I could get the expansion there
but it kind of makes sense I think that it's
(27:40):
think that
you're gonna press your shoulders down a little bit
okay down and here
how does that feel
weird hahaha
different cause I'm like
cause there's not as much mobility in the back body
yeah right
as there is like in the front
(28:00):
does that feel different when I put my hands there
can you push in a little harder
absolutely hahaha
make me work baby yeah
oh I feel it in my ribs here too though
in the front or just down let me try it again
(28:21):
I have an anatomy question
anatomically are they like the back of the lungs
that's what I thought are
are they the same like rounding on both sides
like I don't know yeah
this is what I don't know if you can see it
oh I just directly in front of you
I don't know if you can see it on me
if I sit this way
like you see something happening in my back
yeah I almost turn a little bit more hmm
(28:43):
like here yeah okay
yeah I definitely
can oh
so oh okay
so it's okay if it goes a little wider too yeah
it doesn't just need to go out
yes yes yes yes
I'm like my spine is there okay
I don't think it can just like two dimensional
like expand it yeah
yeah we can't just like boom
but um
and that's why it's a thoracic breath
like it's it's the rib cage
(29:03):
but we're just instead of directing the
the expansion forward expansion in your back
expanding it we're expanding it in your back yeah
um this I've found is very
very helpful for crossfitters and dancers
and people who just live with a super tight core
yeah because they're not gonna run into that
(29:24):
they're not gonna run into
my breath really wants to wander down
so if I'm feeling it like kind of here on my rib cage
like in the side a little bit
that's okay that's why I say it's like
it's like the wings you know
it's not like the middle of your back
it's the it's your shoulders you're okay
good deal um
do we want to breathe in for four and sing our phrase
yeah let's do it now
(29:46):
we sing very slow let's sing
can we do it faster yeah okay
so we'll do I'll
we'll breathe faster and one two
three four one
wrapped around my finger
(30:07):
yeah okay
so I think
because I'm thinking so hard about where to breathe
I was having a hard time like only
taking the breath that I needed
I felt like I was like
okay overbreathing
oh okay
yeah definitely a little bit of overbreathing
but then I kind of I was able to exhale after one line
before I took the next one
and I was like okay
I get how this works yeah
(30:28):
yeah I was
just trying to put my focus
a little bit more on my back
rather than just going wide with my ribs
yeah yeah
yeah and so that
that required a little bit of extra thought
I guess but I think that's like again
if I just think a little bit more wide rather than back
like that's how I usually do
yeah yeah
absolutely absolutely
(30:49):
and I love that you guys are having this experience too
of being like this does not feel right for me
but I mean it's not like painful
it's not killing you yeah
you can still sing
but I think so many people experience that
that not exactly with a breath there or a breath here
but with being told to breathe a
you have to breathe a certain way in order to sing
yeah in order to sound good right
(31:10):
yeah and there's
so there can be
almost an obsession with breathing correctly
mm hmm right
which is different than
you know that kind of
that's I would yeah
I never say correct or incorrect
but I would say that's incorrect
right that's yeah
not comfortable yeah
I think it's less a conversation of like
what is the absolute
right way to breathe'cause there's not just one
(31:31):
but it's like are you doing anything
on your breath that's making your life harder
yes and can we correct that
because if we can isolate things
like if we can get it so you can have a relaxed inhale
and you're able to manage your breath
really effectively that's all we would need
yeah as singers right
it doesn't have to be like
everyone follow this exact formula
yeah in some cases
(31:52):
the formula is really helpful
for just giving a basis of education
yeah absolutely right
yeah if it's like
if that's where we're breathing
some direction is absolutely helpful
yeah that's not to say that in um
being intentional with where you breathe
is harmful to singing you know
it's like
we're not on that end of the pendulum swing either
yeah yeah
yeah no
but like I think the complete opposite
(32:12):
if you can
have a lot of awareness about where you're doing it
like I said this in another episode
body your own body awareness
and self awareness is your superpower
yeah
as a singer and as someone who's learning how to sing
and we're all singers
and we're talking as experts on this podcast
like to yeah
the extent that we are experts
and we're all still students of the voice
of course absolutely
(32:34):
and we'll be students of the voice until we're like in
the ground and that yeah
that makes you a better singer or a better teacher
you know like
it's like if I said yeah
I know everything now thank you very much
like that would do so much harm
yeah right
like if I decided that
the last bit of information I took was
all that I ever needed to know
mm hmm that's great also yeah
(32:56):
the reverse of that I became a better singer
yeah through teaching too yeah
that's why it goes both ways since win win yeah
so what we're saying is
everybody who sings should become a voice teacher yeah
absolutely not enough people are doing that
please don't please don't
that was a joke in case that wasn't a joke
but we don't need more competition
(33:17):
no that's not what it is about
no no
no study and pursuit of knowledge
like is valuable
yes in
in any field in any aspect
like think of your doctors
yeah they go to so much medical school
school
to be able to practice medicine in the first place
and then they're still studying
they have to for their entire careers
I would be terrified if a doctor
doctor had been practicing for 20 years and was like
(33:37):
haven't open haven't haven't
haven't opened a textbook since I graduated
I'd be like oh
science changes I put a needle in me
we can take that scalpel away
I don't need it yeah
don't scrape me yeah
like for sure
yeah science changes
that's exactly it which is why
so there are a lot of misconceptions about the voice
because a lot of people learn from their teachers
(33:58):
who learn from their teachers
who learn from their teachers
and that goes back
not because all of those people love teaching
but because a lot of those people love singing
and then eventually was like
yeah let me start teaching
and maybe don't have the passion for teaching
so they tell what they know and do no further research
(34:18):
and then they I work with someone
it was an awesome person
and we had to work through first before like
of course we started working on The Voice
but the biggest priority to work through was oh
I had an awesome teacher then
I had a teacher who told me
everything I had ever done was wrong
and everything had to be this one certain way
and then I hated singing
(34:39):
and now I don't like the sound of my voice
I don't sing in the car I don't enjoy singing at all
and it's like those experiences really are there
it's really tough for me to hear as a teacher
and not be like yeah
don't you say that to my girl
you know um
but yeah but I think there's so much
(34:59):
you know passing down of knowledge
which is important uh huh
but continuing to investigate in general and be curious
yeah yeah
I have one of my favorite class periods that I've
that I've ever had
like it was in in my master's program
and we were we were just like
going over like general rules of thumb and exercises
(35:21):
and targeted exercises and stuff like that
and then at the end and being like
this is what these things do
and then at the end my professor went oh
and also question everything all the time
never stop questioning yeah
um
and I think that's that's the point of it all yeah
yeah as a teacher
right as a singer
I think it's absolutely OK to be like
(35:42):
I'm leaning on my teacher for guidance
and I'm not going to the web for it
oh yeah
that's totally fine
but I feel like I give way too many disclaimers
cause I'm trying to be like you guys
everything I say won't work every time yeah
oh that's true
that's absolutely true I
I get questions all the time
they're like you said this last week
and I was like yeah
and I'm saying this this week
they're like that's a direct contradiction
(36:03):
and I'm like I know it was in different context
absolutely yes
absolutely context matters yes yeah
well
there are two more places to breathe for this exercise
so we're going to your happy places
so I like to do your the balance breath
your favorite last
so we're gonna do a low abdominal breath
so here I'm not thinking about pushing
my stomach out okay
(36:24):
I'm just thinking about releasing my ABS
and directing my air downward right
just thinking in terms of directions
not about muscle manipulation'cause that's where
things get physically uncomfortable okay
and as you guys practice breathing
I'll just say maybe
it is helpful to some people
to push their stomachs out
(36:45):
and hold space down there
that's something that's you know
physically uncomfortable for me
and doesn't affect my singing
if I don't so that is a method that we
I had a done weightlifting in high school
and when I was trying to learn this in college
my prof was like let your ABS go hahaha
and so we were like way over correcting to like yeah
(37:08):
help like feel and allow the muscles to relax
and then we like we're able to taper back in of like
it doesn't have to go out that far every time
yeah I've done a lesson right
after doing some Pilates or in undergrad dance classes
and I'd be like wow
I just something's just out of balance and my
my teachers have been like um
let's do a sphinx pose
and stretch your ABS for a second and I was like
(37:31):
oh wow everything's so much easier now yeah
so now uh before we talk about it
let's just do Sabrina will inhale in one two three
four one two
hey I'm gonna speed this up a little bit cause
(37:53):
wrapped around
yeah uh huh
I noticed something in all of our tones
did you experience something
uh huh
well it was like
it felt more like I'm used to singing and more yeah
I'm I'm comfortable in like
using this part of my body to
control the rate of exhalation
yeah yeah
(38:15):
I wasn't overbreathing for this one
cause I literally can't
when I'm breathing into my stomach
is how I would like describe yeah
breathing into my stomach right
not that that's how it actually happens
but anyways that's where I'm feeling it right
like tummy expansion um
and so with the other ones
I was just so focused on like
getting the air in these other areas
(38:36):
that I was over breathing
for those short phrases yeah
so for this example it works really well
yeah but had I had to sing like
and I am
no it never would have worked
and it would have brought you to well
lowering your lyrics is helpful for you
yeah because we all went instead of I'm working late
(38:57):
we all went I'm working late yeah
I'm a singer right
and to exaggerate a little bit
but that that tracheal pull occurs
which is exactly what it sounds like
your layering slows which is exactly why it was like
a preferred breathing method
for like classical training
this is like the preferred yeah
(39:17):
I'm not saying that everybody does that all the time
because you're gonna train that and then work horses it
yeah hahaha
be like uh
what what um
but yeah but that's and that's where a lot of
this is for the Hot Takes podcast
but um
a lot of teaching for singing come
(39:38):
comes from classical teachers teaching class
kind of that that pattern that I talked about
and that is not bad but that is not the same
those rules do not apply directly
yeah right
like every classical rule
if you apply
what you need to do to prepare for an Aria
to Espresso Girl good luck
(40:00):
you're gonna be no I'm working late
yeah right
and that's physically uncomfortable to do
that's not the sound that we're typically going for
yeah that does not mean
you know so that is to say
classical training is not the foundation of like
people who have classical training does
it does not make you a better singer in general
(40:22):
but I think that like
I've trained every genre in my voice
including classical and that's awesome for like
that has helped me immensely
so it's not to say don't do the classical training
but it's also to say you don't have to
you don't have to yeah
that's what it is I which I also say yeah
yeah yeah
yeah and you have classical training
(40:42):
extensive classical training yeah
I don't have classical training
but I studied contemporary
with a classical voice teacher
and I love love love love
loved her
she's my favorite person and loved her as a teacher
and then I was auditioning
for a college in Zurich to study contemporary voice
(41:04):
and they were like who's your voice teacher
and then I you know
told them who my voice teacher was and they're like
oh we don't know her
and it's like yeah
but you know she
she doesn't perform contemporary stuff
she she performs in operas
like classical stuff and they're like
oh that makes so much sense
you really should take lessons
from a contemporary teacher
and I was like
fuck you I love my voice teacher
(41:24):
yeah you don't know what you're talking about
you know like 17 year old Laura whatever
right like love
love love her
and I still
I've Learned so much from her and I love her to death
but there is a difference
yeah there is a
there is a huge difference
yeah which into that point
and I know we're drifting a little away from breath
but like
there I think are two
(41:44):
2 qualifying aspects of like
that you need to consider
when you're looking for a vocal coach
do they have like one do they have the training
and are they like do they know how to educate
because you can have amazing singers
that don't know how to convey information
and teach people and you can have amazing educators
and maybe they're not like
(42:06):
really
excellent at the genre that you're hoping to sing
and that's really important to consider
yes like exactly what you were saying um
I studied classical music
from excellent classical singers
and I felt like I Learned so much from them
and they were also excellent educators
um and then I was able to take some like
commercial and like pop lessons from um
(42:28):
and even like R&B from another coach at the school
who was an excellent
and is an excellent pop and soul singer um
and that made a huge difference
like my teacher who taught me classical
could not have taught me how to sing pop
yeah yeah
and I see this all the time in intro lessons
people coming in they're like yeah
(42:50):
I took classical lessons and I'm like
oh did you wanna do that
and I'm like no
I just really wanna sing Sabrina Carpenter or whatever
I'm like so why did you take classical lessons
it's the first available usually yeah
first available access yeah
access 100% I mean
it's really in the past 50 years
I think is being a little generous
that we've been studying the contemporary voice
yeah I mean
(43:10):
there's an article yeah
there's barely like
masters programs on contemporary voice
yeah there are like a couple
yeah yeah
there are a couple like I am fortunate to get my
my master's degree in vocal pedagogy CCM
yeah contemporary commercial music
yeah
and I still studied classical for a semester in that
right yeah
like it's it's so deeply ingrained
(43:31):
and there's a lot there that I'll
I'll I say sometimes when
I don't want to start talking too much in lessons
I'm gonna stand next to my soapbox yeah
I'm not gonna get on it
but just know we could get there um
yeah very deeply
we'll circle back to that in another episode
yeah yeah
um but uh
you know it's very deeply ingrained in all the voice
(43:52):
which is you know
getting into a hot take like correct singing
correct things like I
I very rarely unless I'm talking about pitches
I would say like things that are actually objective
yeah I don't say right or wrong or correct or incorrect
I use words like sustainable or good or bad
or good or bad that's huge
(44:13):
yeah I don't say that sounded good
I was like how did that
how was that experience for you
well that's really awesome
um or I'll be specific
if we're working on something artistically
and I'll be like well
here's what my aesthetic preference would be right
like this is what I hear
but I was working with a student
and I won't get specific and I
their voice
(44:33):
there was something that was a little off to me and
you know there was tension
there were technical things to work on
but there was just something in the tone that I was
like this isn't
I sat with it and I was like
oh I need to adjust this and this and this
not presenting that to them yet
and then I just sat with it and I was like
wait a second
I I think I was listening to like a very
very popular band I don't wanna give any information
cause I don't want anyone to think that it's them
(44:55):
um this is so I don't work with them anymore but um
I was listening to the radio and this band came on
and I was like oh my God
this person sounds exactly like this lead singer
I bet if I isolated this lead singer's vocals
or they came into a voice lesson
not as a famous person I would view it and be like okay
(45:18):
there's a lot there's a lot
we need to adjust to get their tone
to my aesthetic preference
and it's those realizations as a teacher
where you're like I am not the Bible
like yeah wow
my preferences don't aren't the least important part
yeah
there is a difference between a tone that hurts to hear
and a tone that doesn't right
sure but um
(45:40):
maybe not hurts to hear that's
that's intense but there's a yeah
but yeah right
but um yeah
I it was a very sobering moment for me where I was like
whoa Emily
take yourself out of it yeah
and I'm so glad I caught that before
like very early into lessons of being like
you know what this person's voice is truly so unique
this is so not about breathing
(46:01):
but but no no
you're good but
it it always leads into that conversation
I think breathing for me the breathing leads to
we really talk about it a lot
because of classical music
I think um
and because of all those classical teachers
who learn from this
and then it goes in the whole rabbit hole for me yeah
but um
(46:22):
breathing for a while
a lot of people come in and I think we've
we might have mentioned this
but a lot of people come in and say that they really
really need to work on their breathing
oh my God all the time
and I'm like girl no
I almost never talk about breathing
unless it's like a big issue
unless it shows up yeah
yeah I usually the most I'll talk about breathing is um
(46:44):
where where to breathe in a song yes
just have one yeah
part of this exercise to do but um
but uh
breathing has been the Band Aid
solution to everything for the past
like 20 years yeah
you know it's been like
what's wrong with your voice
you're not breathing enough
you're you're not breathing enough
it's rarely that
it's more that you're not supporting enough
(47:05):
yes you're gonna check out this episode
yeah yes yeah
you're not using your breath intentionally
yeah I'm like
you're taking in enough air
but I don't hear any of it coming out
yeah yeah
like that's always the issue
no we do have another episode on actually exhaling
and like supporting your breath
make sure you check that out
I'll link to it yeah
okay let's finish up this exercise
(47:25):
yes with this balanced breath
so aim it towards your upper ribs
upper ribs um
I like to aim it towards my lower ribs
thinking that
little hands are pushing out the sides of my rib cage
so just isolate that
breathe in a couple times
and then we'll just start once uh
(47:47):
we'll inhale in a second and inhale one
two three
four one
what was that like this is my comfy place
(48:09):
hahaha I find this is
this is a lot of people's comfy place
with intentional breathing
this is I think
the place that I find more often when I'm singing
contemporary styles yup
right like I'm singing classical styles or like really
really really intensive like ballads
yeah I'll use like go for the lower breathing
(48:30):
um
but this felt really like comfortable and natural to me
and I'll say that
it doesn't feel comfortable and natural
because it's my first day doing it
no yeah
it feels comfortable and natural
because I've literally been
hearing about this type of breathing
and learning how to execute it
and training it with such intention
since I've been in high school
(48:51):
like since I was like 14 yeah
and my coach at that time
like literally she had like a
uh
oh my gosh like a foam strap with Velcro
and she would affix it around my rib
cage and if I let my ribs collapse
we're starting the song over ah
if that strap fell because I let like yeah
(49:13):
yeah yeah
let my chest wall collapse
I just think yeah
it was like start over
we also our tones were not colored by like
specifically a high larynx
or specifically a low larynx
yeah kind of very neutral and yeah
very neutral yeah
totally fair totally fair yeah
well thanks for breathing with me
thank you thank you
this was a cool exercise maybe my tensions haha yeah
(49:35):
I wanna talk about one last thing
which is overbreathing
we kind of like touched on it a couple times
yeah and I think there's two ways to overbreathe
and they can also happen at the same time too
mm hmm um
one is breathing in too much at once
yeah and one is breathing in too frequently
yeah like taking too many breaths
(49:57):
yeah which then also leads to too much
so I think you always need to have
the phrase that you're about to sing
have that in mind and breathe for that phrase
not just always max out your capacity
yeah absolutely
absolutely so when you breathe too deeply or too
way too much right there um
(50:18):
there is a little reflex in our lungs that's like alert
alert alert yeah
this is bad this is bad
and that air shoots out right
that air shoots out often going right to your throat
causing you to cough or it creates
like a really intense tickle in your throat um
or it just needs to
it needs to force itself out cause your body is like
I hate this I hate this
I hate this so that's one thing that happens there
(50:39):
with the breathing too frequently
I mean that's on paper that's called hyperventilation
right like
I mean we think of hyperventilating as like
you know but I mean
that's part of it and when you keep taking in
like if you have
let's say you have a jar and you're putting water in it
and if you and I don't know
you have a big picture I don't
I'm gonna just the analogy
(51:00):
so okay
it's like there's way too much going on here but um
if you have your lungs right
and you take in a little bit of air
and then let out this much
and then a little bit of air
and then you let out this much
and this yeah
it just keeps expanding it keeps expanding
and that air doesn't get out of your lungs
this is often when people feel like
they can't get enough air'cause
what's happening that oxygen turns to CO2 in your lungs
(51:21):
or you start to feel lightheaded yeah
exactly and yeah
you're like oh
I can't I'm not getting in enough breath
so this is yeah
this is something I just worked with the student on but
um so what I'll typically do
if you if you're like wow
that's really really relatable
just do a huge exhale before you sing
and then a small inhale and see how long you can go
(51:42):
mm hmm I do exercises sometimes
where I exhale and then sing on empty lungs
mm hmm on purpose
yeah so that there's not like too much pressure
like especially yeah
like really high notes so I'm not like going like
like anyways yeah
and that brings up another thing too
which is lung capacity yeah
so a lot of times people like
(52:04):
they say like oh
like I need to work on my lung capacity
so I can get in more breath
and I'm like if you were to sing classical
then okay yes
we can talk about that and probably work on that
but that's not what we're doing here
yeah we're singing espresso
and even if we're singing Whitney Houston
if you have uh
functioning like
(52:24):
quote unquote normally functioning lungs
mm hmm you probably don't need it
that like yeah
if you have like asthma or you had some sort of injury
illness something that affected you
covid a bunch of times yeah
covid a bunch of times long covid
there you go like that's different
right but I'm talking about if you have no lung issues
(52:44):
and you're just good to go
then like we don't need to work on lung capacity
in contemporary circus
it's back to that misconception that I
I feel like I'm running out of air all the time
that must mean that
I don't have enough breath in my lungs
most of the time that's wrong
probably not the case wrong
uh yeah
hahaha we're just not using it effectively
(53:06):
yes and we'll yes
like that's absolutely something
I love to work on all the time
I nerd out about it with students
oh yeah yeah
oh we will drill this yeah
I usually
like when people run out of breath when they sing
I tell them exhale more
because it's the like active thought of like
I'm going to run out I need to hold back
I need to hold back I need to hold back
that makes them run out of breath
(53:26):
I know it technically makes no sense
like how is like
using less air making you run out of breath
like how is that I know it's like
but it totally is always that way
I'm so often
yeah yeah
yeah it's that CO2
(53:46):
but I still have so much like exactly yeah
it's that carbon dioxide thing
it's like your body is like
this needs to get out of me right now
yeah right now
this is and then you feel physically full
yeah yeah
yeah very much so
but for those people who do need more help with like
taking in the air um
if you have asthma or I didn't have asthma as a kid
(54:08):
and I haven't been diagnosed as an adult
although I do have my suspicions hahaha
um the web does say and my allergy nurses hahaha
um
if you check out the breathing exercise that we did
in the breath support um
video I walk through a hissing exercise
where you're practicing budgeting your air
(54:29):
um the first time I had Covid
I had it in conjunction with the flu
I had the OG flu Rona
this was before the vaccines were out
before like flu
Rona was a word that was in the main shot
so you heard it here first alright
um
and then it turned into a sinus infection
and then it turned into like
a respiratory infection that moved into my chest
I was sick for two months
oh my gosh and this was
(54:50):
and but when I got better
and finally was able to come back to school
it was less than three months before my senior recital
in my opera program where I had to sing
an hour long concert of classical music
which is like running a Marathon
yeah and I had like my lung capacity and like
(55:12):
feeling like
my ability to breathe in and use that breath
felt like it was totally shot
like
all my stamina that I built up in that program was gone
and this exercise is like
almost single handedly what brought me back
and I had Covid four more times after that
and it's what brought me back every single time
yeah
great way to end this
(55:33):
go check out that episode please
thank you very much
I'll link to it below so that you can go check that out
and you know
work on your exhalation your inhalation
for like
that specific exercise that you were talking about
would also talk a little bit more about exhalation
and how to support because at the end of the day
you sing when you exhale not when you inhale
so yeah go check out that episode
anything else that you guys need to
(55:54):
completely get out of your
no I don't
I've gotten everything possible off my chest
love it love it
love it love it
thank you ladies for joining me
thank you this is very interesting
um thank you for tuning in
if you have any questions
let us know if you wanna work with us
you know where the link is to book a session
we can't wait to work with you
otherwise we'll see you in the next session bye
if you're sitting like this
(00:01):
and then you try to take a big breath
right like the shoulders go up things don't really yeah
your body is holding tension um
and so the muscles that you need to assist you in
you know big inhalation are contracted so
or maybe contracted in a way that we're not
trying to get them to to contract
so I I really like that
(00:22):
just like allowing yourself to have space
it doesn't mean you're gonna sing every song like this
but yeah it just gives you the opportunity to expand
yeah
hey Vox Star and welcome to from singer to artist
I'm Lara Chapman award winning singer and songwriter
(00:43):
turned viral vocal coach and the host of this show
at VoxTape Studios
we help singers from all over the world
level up their voices
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(01:04):
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Alrighty are you ready let's get started
there is literally no sound
so today
we're gonna be talking about breathing and singing
and more specifically
how to actually inhale and with me in the studio
I have Coach Bri and Coach Emily from our team
(01:27):
and I think we should start by saying
don't overcomplicate it yeah
like you've been breathing for however many years
you've been alive you know how to breathe
your body knows how to breathe yeah
it's gonna be OK
if you're able to be mindful that your body
that you're feeling the expansion on your breath in
(01:47):
and the like
collapse or contraction like on the breath out um
I think before I took like really good train
train singing lessons I was breathing like a breathing
like pushing the tummy in like yeah
pulling the tummy in on inhale and releasing it
and like on exhale
(02:08):
and that's really mostly because I'm like
letting my shoulders collapse yeah
but I'll run into that with students sometimes
and that's the biggest thing that like
if we can understand that we're like
or at least like spend some time connecting to the body
so that
okay on my breath and I should be feeling expansion
mm hmm
and we'll talk about where that expansion is like yeah
(02:29):
happening later but um
I think that's my first okay Emily
yeah I think um
more is not always better often um
but also being aware of the fact that you're gonna
probably think about your breathing
way less in espresso
than you would in a Celine Dion song hmm amen yeah
(02:52):
than you would in like a classic like an Aria
you know like yeah
there's uh
it's case by case song wise and person wise like
and there is no one right way to breathe actually
that's my tip yes
there's no one right way
I have had a lot of people be like
I'm really
I'm breathing really low into my stomach and yeah
we'll break we'll break that all down ooh
(03:13):
I hate that I hate pushing my stomach out for breathing
and I feel like I'm getting zero air in yeah
it's not helpful for me at all
and there are people that like
when they try to breathe somewhere else
it just does not work for them
so it is so individual again
you've been like you said
like you've been breathing your entire life
in a certain way you know
(03:33):
when it comes to music
speech
to singing is a lot of what we do in terms of like
mix practice yeah
but that's how your breath applies as well
mm hmm yeah
so let's talk about the the different ways of breathing
and then you can pick what works best for you yeah
yeah yeah
yeah so just to quickly break it down I
(03:54):
I go by Scott McCoy's 4 methods of breathing
so we have abdominal by your ABS low breath
thoracic your rib cage clavicular up here
chest breath and a podio
which is just a balanced breath
it's kind of a mix of everything to
to keep it simple okay
yeah I'm definitely like a rib breather
(04:16):
I think of it as like a
A THREE SIXTY expansion essentially right
like going out and like
going forward and back a little bit as well
and I guess this may be a little bit up and down too
but it's it's just like I'm just creating space
and sometimes what I like to do too
when I'm like alright big phrase is coming
(04:37):
I need to get a lot of air in
I almost like get my little chicken wings out haha
just to like it's not necessarily to make like
physically make more space
but it's to remind my brain to create the space
absolutely absolutely
it's I mean if you're
if you're sitting like this
and then you try to take a big breath
right
like the shoulders go up things don't really yeah
(04:58):
your body is holding tension um
and so the muscles that you need to assist you in
you know big inhalation are contracted
so or maybe contracted in a way that we're not
trying to get them to to contract
so I I really like that
just like allowing yourself to have space
it doesn't mean you're gonna sing every song like this
(05:18):
but yeah it just gives you the opportunity to expand
yeah and I also I'm like going all the way out yeah
yeah like a oh yeah
that's good yeah
no it's just just a little bit like yeah
just yeah get out there
open up expand
one thing I just noticed you do Emily
is inhaling through the nose
(05:39):
so when it comes to singing
should we inhale through the nose
or should we inhale through the mouth
it all depends so
literally
like I feel like this podcast should be cost it all
like should be called it all depends
oh yeah I mean
seriously and I
I mean it's a testament to how individual singing is
how individual any sort of exercise is right
(06:02):
like my good form doesn't look like your good form
which doesn't look like your good form when we're like
you know lifting weights yeah um
but we're probably engaging similar things
if you're doing it in a way that's not gonna hurt you
right um
but when it comes to inhaling through the nose
so you're gonna get a deeper breath
when you inhale through the nose
deeper as in like down lower in the body yeah
(06:25):
not like necessarily more air
but just lower in the body
is that what you're saying
probably could get a little more air right
but yes but lower in the body
I feel that um I like to do an inhale through my nose
exhale through my mouth before I start singing
as like a cleansing breath
I say cleansing
but it's just to I like I'll say a grounding breath
(06:47):
yeah calming
calming I also think if you're about to have a big
a big passage a really big phrase um
and you have an opportunity to take in
the wizard right we've been watching wicked right
and go for it if that's what works for you
some people like
(07:08):
that just totally cooks for them
when it comes to a catch breath
like yeah
good luck it's not yeah
I yeah hahaha
um the one thing about like
breathing in through your nose is that
that air then is moving through all your um
sinus cavities and like nasal passages
which is gonna
like help the air be a little bit more moist yeah um
(07:30):
so it might not feel as drying as like
breathing into your mouth
but I've definitely had singers come in like
and they're trying to sing a whole song and I'm like
what what is going on
why are we not like and then I'm like
oh cause we're breathing in through our nose every time
and so like you said like you
it is helpful in some cases
but I don't think I would ever recommend actually
(07:53):
that's not strong enough
I would never recommend somebody to sing an entire song
only breathing in through your nose yeah yeah
I never breathe in through the nose
I just I can't hahaha it just doesn't work for me like
nope we gotta breathe in through the mouth
even if I have so much time
to take in a good nasal breath
cause breathing in through the nose
(08:13):
you can't get as much in the same amount of time in
that's the mouth opening is much bigger
so you can get more air in in a short amount of time
which goes back to what you were saying
Emily with the catch breath
a catch breath is a really
really really short breath
when you're like in the middle of a phrase
or between two phrases that are like go
(08:34):
go go right right next like right after each other
and you just don't have a lot of time to breathe
you take just a little bit of a catch breath
if you wanna run away with me out of the LC
and I can take you for a ride
well okay
that's not necessarily fast enough to be a cash
but there I think there's a couple in there
I guess that's all over yeah
there's a musical theater song
like the most iconic patter song ever
(08:56):
part of me is everybody there
because if everybody there
I want to thank you all for coming to the wedding
I appreciate you going even more
I mean you must have a lots about everything
and not worth about I mean
probably another man I'm gonna marry
but I'm not but whatever huge
you have this huge powder section
where you do not take a breath
because I wouldn't ruin anyone as wonderful as he's
thank you all for the gifts and the flowers
thank you all when I was back to the showers
don't tell Paul but I'm not getting married today
(09:17):
right like yeah
that's a catch breath like you're I mean
it's not always that fast
but yeah
it's you don't have time you're catching a breath
you're not taking in a breath
you're just enough to to boost you through
we played Mario Kart last night
it's like your little like
when you go over the little mushroom
and you have a little boost
but that's not gonna take you to the finish line
(09:38):
it's a million reasons
maybe another you give me a million reasons
give me a million reasons
giving me a million reasons about a million reasons
yeah right
definitely
so just a little the little catch breath in there too
it's just when you don't have like a big
like I have less examples in pop music
because I just Learned to catch breathing in like yeah
(09:58):
I know that's why I'm like ah
I can think of it
it shows up in musical theater so hard well yeah
also who cares if you're gonna call it a catch breath
or a regular breath like whatever
as long as you can get it in
in the amount of time that you have
but definitely
I think I just use it to like denote like
we're not taking
we don't have time to take a full breath yeah
if you're only taking as much breath as we need
absolutely yeah
if you're told to take a catch breath
(10:19):
now you know what it means
yes you know what that the technical term is
yeah yeah
uh bree you I've heard you talk about this
oh my gosh this is probably years ago now um
but the sound that you're making when you're inhaling
oh yeah oh
can you talk about that yeah
so I can breathe in and I can go right
(10:40):
we can all like gasp like oh my gosh yeah
crazy happened
and there you go and that's why it matters
because if I'm breathing in
with a lot of constriction in the airway
that's what you're that's the sound
quite literally when you are breathing in
if there is a lot of sound
it's because the airway is too constricted
(11:00):
and you're hearing the air rush past
like other muscles stuff in the way yeah
now if I breathe in
and you might not have heard anything
or maybe you heard just barely a tiny little bit
like I took in such a full breath right now yeah
and I my throat was totally relaxed um
(11:21):
and that is gonna be huge
I can't tell you how many singers I remember seeing
like on our weekly seminar stage in college
that I'm like you could be amazing
but every week they would choke
and I quite literally mean like
choking in the middle of a performance
because they were breathing in so shallow
and so tight in the throat
(11:42):
and they just
had to cough like yeah
and like just choked on spit
oh no yeah um
so so yeah
a a breath doesn't necessarily need to be like
completely inaudible mm hmm yeah
cause like when you're I mean
what you just said yeah
yeah right
like yeah
we we can hear that breath and that is totally
(12:02):
totally fine we just don't want it to be like a
yeah yeah
constrictive breath like like that um
I think totally the general rule of thumb
that we've talked about a lot on this podcast
and just in general singing is like
you might be making it harder for yourself yeah
by like trying
I'm getting in the biggest breath possible
(12:23):
yeah right
like yeah
I can you can take in a really big breath that way
and it's gonna feel like wow
look at me I took in a huge breath
yep or you can do what bridges did
and just taking the same size breath
probably even more with way less effort in
therefore you're gonna have way less effort out
yeah uh huh
oh my God way less effort out girl
(12:45):
like let me tell you
the amount of time I have had to tell singers
like when we working on releasing tension yeah
you are already building up so much tension
on your inhalation yeah
but guess what's gonna happen when you exhale and sing
that tension's gonna stay there
so yeah
a lot of times when I see singers breathe in
(13:06):
and I can hear the construction in the airway
like I'm also seeing a visual cue of like
the shoulders are raising like um
that goes back to Emily
what you were saying the clavicular breath
the breath up here
does that mean the shoulders go up or not necessarily
no way OK
I don't know what you're talking about
people like bringing their shoulders yeah
like yeah
that clavicular breath um
(13:28):
which you you probably could have been told
in someone's YouTube video somewhere
or someone's lesson I don't know um
never breathe up here
because it's only gonna be shallow
and it's only gonna cause tension
so what's true is that your larynx
will probably raise a little bit okay
a little bit
so that could be super helpful for if you're belting
(13:51):
yeah anything there
but also
sometimes you're in an opera and you have a corset on
or you're in a musical and you have a corset on yeah
or you're Beyonce
and Beyonce really does a lot of clavicular breathing
if you watch any video she's like
you can see her chest rising and falling
not collapsing not shoulders
but her chest is rising and falling
and you can get a nicely big breath there
(14:13):
mm hmm mm hmm yeah
especially that doesn't mean
that doesn't mean you're here
yeah cause now we're now we're engaging
now we're engaging the
the shoulders are probably physically uncomfortable
yeah right
like yeah
I feel like
I feel like I remember reading in like
maybe not the same Scott McCoy book
but a different one that like of those four different
(14:34):
um types of inhalation
clavicular breathing
when they measured the volume of air being taken in
like in a medical setting
um that
it was actually the highest volume of air
taken in here wow
well
cause that's where your lungs actually physically are
yeah well
and like when I'm taking a deep breath and I wanna
like really calm myself
(14:55):
like I'm letting that chest rise and fall
like even we
in another breathing episode that we were doing
working through like a hissing exercise
but before each round
I had everyone take a deep cleansing breath in
and every single one of us
took that breath up and down
and then when we breathed in for the actual exercise we
(15:15):
we used a different method of inhalation
but yes um
but yeah I just wanted to share that yeah
well that also brings up a really great point
about where in your body to breathe one
I don't even know if this is a misconception
because I don't think people learn it wrong
I think people just don't know
where you breathe is just
(15:36):
and this might be obvious to some
but I remember reading this being like
why have I never put those thoughts together before
it's just where your muscles allow your lungs to expand
it's really that was just like a like yeah
of course yeah
but like when you think low breath
you're like I'm directing my air really low
but really
(15:56):
we're just allowing the lungs to expand downward
or clavicular
we're allowing the lungs to expand out the rest
you know and we'll do something to break all of well
we can do that now but um
we'll do something to break all of that down
but I think when when you're thinking about
breathing into a certain place
I say think about filling up your lungs more than like
(16:21):
get it really low get it really low
get it get it really low yeah
or get it really really directional yeah
yeah before we do your exercise
and I wanna get to that in like 30 seconds
I just want to quickly circle back to the tension
on your inhalation yeah
absolutely in your neck
shoulders sometimes there's a visual cue there
yeah also the tongue man
yeah oh yeah
(16:42):
a lot of people's tongue mine sometimes included
likes to just kind of like get a little grippy haha
on that inhalation so be sure to uh
relax that tongue when you're breathing in
it does not need to be active or engaged
when you're inhaling one thing that helps
that I have found recently to help with that
and I Learned this going to get a laryngoscope
(17:04):
oh um
was breathing like kind of through your teeth
there's maybe a little bit of engagement in my neck
but my tongue is pretty relaxed yeah
like I'm keeping my tongue pressed up against my teeth
as they're closed
um and the voice therapist that was doing the scope
(17:26):
kept telling me like
breathe in through your teeth
and when I did that
we finally were able to get like not an abstract
like an unobstructed view on inhalation
right
when I wasn't doing that and I was like going like yeah
yeah because she's
literally yanking my tongue out of my body yeah
and like I have to breathe in kind of through my mouth
(17:48):
but kind of through my nose
like it's just a weird uncomfortable position and um
it was like moving things around and like
I could tell that it was getting really constricted
cause then I would also like want to cough yeah
um
but so that can be one way that can help um
kind of like relax everything yeah
on inhale and the sound that just happened on
that came from the teeth right
(18:10):
yeah not from the
right the construction
yeah definitely different sound
that also brings up another point
there are I don't know if as a student you've ever been
uh directed to take an
a gasp breath like a
or a surprise breath or a yawning breath
that can affect your laryngeal position
I talk about inhaling through a yawn all the time
(18:34):
yeah is
it helps me a lot because my larynx just
loves getting stuck
like and when I'm belting high or whatever
it just kind of gets stuck up there
and it's not flexible anymore
so I like inhale through a yawn and then like go and
go and sing
to just give myself a little bit of a reset yeah
this is a really
it works really well for me
(18:54):
and it's worked for a lot of the singers
I've worked with it's a really nice
like little trick that you can apply in a performance
yes right
cause like you can't start breaking into an exercise
in the middle of a performance
but you can always inhale through way on yeah
to give yourself a little bit of a reset
when you're feeling
starting to like tense up in the throats area
(19:15):
yeah absolutely
and and the inverse of that is I've heard a minty
fresh breath a gasping breath
a surprise breath yeah
and well
I voiced it but right
it feels like it's go it feels a little cooler
yeah like cold colder
yeah and I
I directed it on the upper half of my mouth
and therefore I'm kind of telling my body yeah
(19:36):
something's got to raise and we're raising my legs
yeah I like that OK
I have one more yeah
um breathing in through straw lips
now we can modify that to get rid of the like
puckered lips in a performance
yeah but um
especially like you had mentioned
breathing into your
nose helps move the breath really low
and so I love using that um
(20:01):
for students to learn what it feels like
for the breath to like
expand kind of down um
but sometimes it's it's really hard to then take that
into breathing through an open mouth of like
letting the air move move down
so one thing that we've always done a lot in lessons
and you do this a lot too
Laura is direct people to inhale through straw lips
(20:27):
that's also relaxing my larynx
and
the sound you're hearing is because we're constricting
at the at the lips
yes um
not the throat but
if you can pay attention to what else is happening
inside your mouth when you're doing that
you can kind of get rid of the lips part of it
and just open the back of your throat
(20:50):
hmm mmm hmm
um anyways no
I like that I like that too
yeah yeah
it's an alternative to breathing in through the nose
yeah yeah
yes absolutely yeah
just for helping like directional like breath
and that's absolutely like
I'll tell students to practice yeah
that sometimes I'm like oh
I've said it to people too and you're gonna
I got it from you so it's me hahaha
(21:12):
well and also like if you're stuffed up
you still gotta breathe hahaha
yes I mean
that's a whole a whole other thing
no 100% 100%
alright Emily
let's do your exercise alright
I don't know this one
I'm excited yeah
yeah this
I really like this one um
this is I like this one because yes
it's gonna help your your singing
but it also just really puts you in tune with your body
(21:33):
okay and it's really nice to isolate different things
um so for this we
we are gonna work through those
four methods of breathing
I'm gonna call them a couple
like kind of different things
but I'll I'll reference
just because it's easier to give directives that way
yeah so um
well first
right before I start
where do you tend to send your breath
(21:55):
is that something you're aware of
slash
when you typically breathe or think about breathing
for singing for singing
for me it's the ribs
yeah yeah
that's like the wide expansion here
yeah um
and a little bit of what like chest
yeah sorry
go ahead no sorry
um when I'm singing
I feel it really low like mid to low
(22:19):
and I think it's like classical training haha
um but also like just when I'm living
just that I'm living um
I'll I kind of feel it like all around like
um forward down into my back a little bit like yeah
(22:41):
yeah yeah
I tend to
I think I tend to kind of be a mix of clavicular and
which I guess would kind of be that approach of breath
yeah I'm really thinking about
if I'm thinking about my breath like
all right taking a breath and stay expanded
it's gonna be that lower lower rib situation
um but I think viewing my own self tapes
(23:01):
I've noticed I uh
when I'm acting I'm really using clavicular breathing
there's just something that feels
very cleansing about it and very like
I like breathing in the circumstances
and breathing out whatever the intention
yeah sure
um I can
I can say that like I know what I'm doing but
but okay let's start
um I like to just kind of go bump bump bump balanced
(23:23):
so we're gonna start here's what the exercise is
let's choose a can we choose a quick phrase to sing
yeah
I'm working late cause
oh it looks so cute
wrap around my finger okay
we'll just do that much okay
a little longer yeah
and then you don't need to take that breath in between
okay so uh
that's our phrase okay
(23:43):
we're going to first
let's just isolate the clavicular breath
I like to feel it
and we're just gonna inhale and exhale
before we start singing
so just kind of practice isolation
and if you're following at home or listening right
I'm just putting a hand on my chest
it's like when you're working your ABS
and then you put a hand on your ABS to be like hey
(24:04):
we're working yeah
it's just directing focus
and if you feel like oh
it's my I think I'm breathing into my clavicle
but maybe I'm also feeling
it somewhere else
just think about directing it to your clavicle
doesn't have to be perfect
so now once we do that just go ahead and we'll take in
a four beats of an inhale
(24:26):
you'll probably have more air than you need
but this is just to get really specific
and sing our phrase so we'll do inhale one
two three four and sing
I'm a singer
(24:46):
finger
cool and if we were in a lesson
I probably have to do it a couple times
but yeah yeah
so
uh what was that like
it was really difficult
especially once we started singing in the middle of it
to keep isolating that breath up
like I felt more expansion like in the mid body
(25:08):
like thoracic yeah
I still felt like raised but like it wasn't only there
yeah
I was trying to like
make sure my ABS don't like engage on my inhalation
yeah
to like keep my lower like my abdominals from expanding
I was like
engage the ABS so it doesn't expand down here
(25:30):
so I can breathe up in my chest
yeah yeah
to isolate that yes
yes but I was like
I probably shouldn't be engaging my ABS haha
yeah well
that's great and that also can be a sign
like if you sing this at
if you did that at home and you're like
wow
that I've that's nothing has ever felt as easy as that
this might be something for you to investigate
in your singing yeah
but if you had this experience of like
(25:51):
I had to work hard to isolate this
this probably my is not your go to
doesn't mean it can't be useful
especially if you tend to
like your larynx tends to kind of get stuck low
this could be super helpful
if you're singing the Wizard and I right yeah
taking that that breath
that's a spot for a nose breath
the wizard right
(26:12):
cause we're getting that larynx up a little bit
yeah anything to get the work done for you
hmm like
like your your
your body your muscles are your employees
yeah and your voice is the boss
you know like let your voice just do its thing it
you know it's just gotta flow
but um alright
let's go ahead and uh isolate
I call this one thoracic right
(26:33):
uh and I like to think it's in your back
OK that's the support
it's your angel wings
angel wings it's uh
right in your shoulder blade
so let's just isolate that
really think about expanding backwards yeah
almost like something is pushing out of your back
(26:55):
like through two hands like those monkeys
oh like them
like the flying monkeys in wicked
oh my God oh it's heartbreaking
and they can't sing the song in their heart cause they
I'm sorry cause they don't know how to talk anymore
hahaha
I've no idea what they're talking about
haven't seen the movie hahaha
(27:17):
soul crushing it's just
it's just painful but how's this breathing feeling
hahaha
um it's hard to completely isolate it
because I feel like I can't get a ton of air in
if I do just that would you be comfortable
if I came over and touch that part of your back
sure okay
yeah yeah
yeah and I could get the expansion there
but it kind of makes sense I think that it's
(27:40):
think that
you're gonna press your shoulders down a little bit
okay down and here
how does that feel
weird hahaha
different cause I'm like
cause there's not as much mobility in the back body
yeah right
as there is like in the front
(28:00):
does that feel different when I put my hands there
can you push in a little harder
absolutely hahaha
make me work baby yeah
oh I feel it in my ribs here too though
in the front or just down let me try it again
(28:21):
I have an anatomy question
anatomically are they like the back of the lungs
that's what I thought are
are they the same like rounding on both sides
like I don't know yeah
this is what I don't know if you can see it
oh I just directly in front of you
I don't know if you can see it on me
if I sit this way
like you see something happening in my back
yeah I almost turn a little bit more hmm
(28:43):
like here yeah okay
yeah I definitely
can oh
so oh okay
so it's okay if it goes a little wider too yeah
it doesn't just need to go out
yes yes yes yes
I'm like my spine is there okay
I don't think it can just like two dimensional
like expand it yeah
yeah we can't just like boom
but um
and that's why it's a thoracic breath
like it's it's the rib cage
(29:03):
but we're just instead of directing the
the expansion forward expansion in your back
expanding it we're expanding it in your back yeah
um this I've found is very
very helpful for crossfitters and dancers
and people who just live with a super tight core
yeah because they're not gonna run into that
(29:24):
they're not gonna run into
my breath really wants to wander down
so if I'm feeling it like kind of here on my rib cage
like in the side a little bit
that's okay that's why I say it's like
it's like the wings you know
it's not like the middle of your back
it's the it's your shoulders you're okay
good deal um
do we want to breathe in for four and sing our phrase
yeah let's do it now
(29:46):
we sing very slow let's sing
can we do it faster yeah okay
so we'll do I'll
we'll breathe faster and one two
three four one
wrapped around my finger
(30:07):
yeah okay
so I think
because I'm thinking so hard about where to breathe
I was having a hard time like only
taking the breath that I needed
I felt like I was like
okay overbreathing
oh okay
yeah definitely a little bit of overbreathing
but then I kind of I was able to exhale after one line
before I took the next one
and I was like okay
I get how this works yeah
(30:28):
yeah I was
just trying to put my focus
a little bit more on my back
rather than just going wide with my ribs
yeah yeah
yeah and so that
that required a little bit of extra thought
I guess but I think that's like again
if I just think a little bit more wide rather than back
like that's how I usually do
yeah yeah
absolutely absolutely
(30:49):
and I love that you guys are having this experience too
of being like this does not feel right for me
but I mean it's not like painful
it's not killing you yeah
you can still sing
but I think so many people experience that
that not exactly with a breath there or a breath here
but with being told to breathe a
you have to breathe a certain way in order to sing
yeah in order to sound good right
(31:10):
yeah and there's
so there can be
almost an obsession with breathing correctly
mm hmm right
which is different than
you know that kind of
that's I would yeah
I never say correct or incorrect
but I would say that's incorrect
right that's yeah
not comfortable yeah
I think it's less a conversation of like
what is the absolute
right way to breathe'cause there's not just one
(31:31):
but it's like are you doing anything
on your breath that's making your life harder
yes and can we correct that
because if we can isolate things
like if we can get it so you can have a relaxed inhale
and you're able to manage your breath
really effectively that's all we would need
yeah as singers right
it doesn't have to be like
everyone follow this exact formula
yeah in some cases
(31:52):
the formula is really helpful
for just giving a basis of education
yeah absolutely right
yeah if it's like
if that's where we're breathing
some direction is absolutely helpful
yeah that's not to say that in um
being intentional with where you breathe
is harmful to singing you know
it's like
we're not on that end of the pendulum swing either
yeah yeah
yeah no
but like I think the complete opposite
(32:12):
if you can
have a lot of awareness about where you're doing it
like I said this in another episode
body your own body awareness
and self awareness is your superpower
yeah
as a singer and as someone who's learning how to sing
and we're all singers
and we're talking as experts on this podcast
like to yeah
the extent that we are experts
and we're all still students of the voice
of course absolutely
(32:34):
and we'll be students of the voice until we're like in
the ground and that yeah
that makes you a better singer or a better teacher
you know like
it's like if I said yeah
I know everything now thank you very much
like that would do so much harm
yeah right
like if I decided that
the last bit of information I took was
all that I ever needed to know
mm hmm that's great also yeah
(32:56):
the reverse of that I became a better singer
yeah through teaching too yeah
that's why it goes both ways since win win yeah
so what we're saying is
everybody who sings should become a voice teacher yeah
absolutely not enough people are doing that
please don't please don't
that was a joke in case that wasn't a joke
but we don't need more competition
(33:17):
no that's not what it is about
no no
no study and pursuit of knowledge
like is valuable
yes in
in any field in any aspect
like think of your doctors
yeah they go to so much medical school
school
to be able to practice medicine in the first place
and then they're still studying
they have to for their entire careers
I would be terrified if a doctor
doctor had been practicing for 20 years and was like
(33:37):
haven't open haven't haven't
haven't opened a textbook since I graduated
I'd be like oh
science changes I put a needle in me
we can take that scalpel away
I don't need it yeah
don't scrape me yeah
like for sure
yeah science changes
that's exactly it which is why
so there are a lot of misconceptions about the voice
because a lot of people learn from their teachers
(33:58):
who learn from their teachers
who learn from their teachers
and that goes back
not because all of those people love teaching
but because a lot of those people love singing
and then eventually was like
yeah let me start teaching
and maybe don't have the passion for teaching
so they tell what they know and do no further research
(34:18):
and then they I work with someone
it was an awesome person
and we had to work through first before like
of course we started working on The Voice
but the biggest priority to work through was oh
I had an awesome teacher then
I had a teacher who told me
everything I had ever done was wrong
and everything had to be this one certain way
and then I hated singing
(34:39):
and now I don't like the sound of my voice
I don't sing in the car I don't enjoy singing at all
and it's like those experiences really are there
it's really tough for me to hear as a teacher
and not be like yeah
don't you say that to my girl
you know um
but yeah but I think there's so much
(34:59):
you know passing down of knowledge
which is important uh huh
but continuing to investigate in general and be curious
yeah yeah
I have one of my favorite class periods that I've
that I've ever had
like it was in in my master's program
and we were we were just like
going over like general rules of thumb and exercises
(35:21):
and targeted exercises and stuff like that
and then at the end and being like
this is what these things do
and then at the end my professor went oh
and also question everything all the time
never stop questioning yeah
um
and I think that's that's the point of it all yeah
yeah as a teacher
right as a singer
I think it's absolutely OK to be like
(35:42):
I'm leaning on my teacher for guidance
and I'm not going to the web for it
oh yeah
that's totally fine
but I feel like I give way too many disclaimers
cause I'm trying to be like you guys
everything I say won't work every time yeah
oh that's true
that's absolutely true I
I get questions all the time
they're like you said this last week
and I was like yeah
and I'm saying this this week
they're like that's a direct contradiction
(36:03):
and I'm like I know it was in different context
absolutely yes
absolutely context matters yes yeah
well
there are two more places to breathe for this exercise
so we're going to your happy places
so I like to do your the balance breath
your favorite last
so we're gonna do a low abdominal breath
so here I'm not thinking about pushing
my stomach out okay
(36:24):
I'm just thinking about releasing my ABS
and directing my air downward right
just thinking in terms of directions
not about muscle manipulation'cause that's where
things get physically uncomfortable okay
and as you guys practice breathing
I'll just say maybe
it is helpful to some people
to push their stomachs out
(36:45):
and hold space down there
that's something that's you know
physically uncomfortable for me
and doesn't affect my singing
if I don't so that is a method that we
I had a done weightlifting in high school
and when I was trying to learn this in college
my prof was like let your ABS go hahaha
and so we were like way over correcting to like yeah
(37:08):
help like feel and allow the muscles to relax
and then we like we're able to taper back in of like
it doesn't have to go out that far every time
yeah I've done a lesson right
after doing some Pilates or in undergrad dance classes
and I'd be like wow
I just something's just out of balance and my
my teachers have been like um
let's do a sphinx pose
and stretch your ABS for a second and I was like
(37:31):
oh wow everything's so much easier now yeah
so now uh before we talk about it
let's just do Sabrina will inhale in one two three
four one two
hey I'm gonna speed this up a little bit cause
(37:53):
wrapped around
yeah uh huh
I noticed something in all of our tones
did you experience something
uh huh
well it was like
it felt more like I'm used to singing and more yeah
I'm I'm comfortable in like
using this part of my body to
control the rate of exhalation
yeah yeah
(38:15):
I wasn't overbreathing for this one
cause I literally can't
when I'm breathing into my stomach
is how I would like describe yeah
breathing into my stomach right
not that that's how it actually happens
but anyways that's where I'm feeling it right
like tummy expansion um
and so with the other ones
I was just so focused on like
getting the air in these other areas
(38:36):
that I was over breathing
for those short phrases yeah
so for this example it works really well
yeah but had I had to sing like
and I am
no it never would have worked
and it would have brought you to well
lowering your lyrics is helpful for you
yeah because we all went instead of I'm working late
(38:57):
we all went I'm working late yeah
I'm a singer right
and to exaggerate a little bit
but that that tracheal pull occurs
which is exactly what it sounds like
your layering slows which is exactly why it was like
a preferred breathing method
for like classical training
this is like the preferred yeah
(39:17):
I'm not saying that everybody does that all the time
because you're gonna train that and then work horses it
yeah hahaha
be like uh
what what um
but yeah but that's and that's where a lot of
this is for the Hot Takes podcast
but um
a lot of teaching for singing come
(39:38):
comes from classical teachers teaching class
kind of that that pattern that I talked about
and that is not bad but that is not the same
those rules do not apply directly
yeah right
like every classical rule
if you apply
what you need to do to prepare for an Aria
to Espresso Girl good luck
(40:00):
you're gonna be no I'm working late
yeah right
and that's physically uncomfortable to do
that's not the sound that we're typically going for
yeah that does not mean
you know so that is to say
classical training is not the foundation of like
people who have classical training does
it does not make you a better singer in general
(40:22):
but I think that like
I've trained every genre in my voice
including classical and that's awesome for like
that has helped me immensely
so it's not to say don't do the classical training
but it's also to say you don't have to
you don't have to yeah
that's what it is I which I also say yeah
yeah yeah
yeah and you have classical training
(40:42):
extensive classical training yeah
I don't have classical training
but I studied contemporary
with a classical voice teacher
and I love love love love
loved her
she's my favorite person and loved her as a teacher
and then I was auditioning
for a college in Zurich to study contemporary voice
(41:04):
and they were like who's your voice teacher
and then I you know
told them who my voice teacher was and they're like
oh we don't know her
and it's like yeah
but you know she
she doesn't perform contemporary stuff
she she performs in operas
like classical stuff and they're like
oh that makes so much sense
you really should take lessons
from a contemporary teacher
and I was like
fuck you I love my voice teacher
(41:24):
yeah you don't know what you're talking about
you know like 17 year old Laura whatever
right like love
love love her
and I still
I've Learned so much from her and I love her to death
but there is a difference
yeah there is a
there is a huge difference
yeah which into that point
and I know we're drifting a little away from breath
but like
there I think are two
(41:44):
2 qualifying aspects of like
that you need to consider
when you're looking for a vocal coach
do they have like one do they have the training
and are they like do they know how to educate
because you can have amazing singers
that don't know how to convey information
and teach people and you can have amazing educators
and maybe they're not like
(42:06):
really
excellent at the genre that you're hoping to sing
and that's really important to consider
yes like exactly what you were saying um
I studied classical music
from excellent classical singers
and I felt like I Learned so much from them
and they were also excellent educators
um and then I was able to take some like
commercial and like pop lessons from um
(42:28):
and even like R&B from another coach at the school
who was an excellent
and is an excellent pop and soul singer um
and that made a huge difference
like my teacher who taught me classical
could not have taught me how to sing pop
yeah yeah
and I see this all the time in intro lessons
people coming in they're like yeah
(42:50):
I took classical lessons and I'm like
oh did you wanna do that
and I'm like no
I just really wanna sing Sabrina Carpenter or whatever
I'm like so why did you take classical lessons
it's the first available usually yeah
first available access yeah
access 100% I mean
it's really in the past 50 years
I think is being a little generous
that we've been studying the contemporary voice
yeah I mean
(43:10):
there's an article yeah
there's barely like
masters programs on contemporary voice
yeah there are like a couple
yeah yeah
there are a couple like I am fortunate to get my
my master's degree in vocal pedagogy CCM
yeah contemporary commercial music
yeah
and I still studied classical for a semester in that
right yeah
like it's it's so deeply ingrained
(43:31):
and there's a lot there that I'll
I'll I say sometimes when
I don't want to start talking too much in lessons
I'm gonna stand next to my soapbox yeah
I'm not gonna get on it
but just know we could get there um
yeah very deeply
we'll circle back to that in another episode
yeah yeah
um but uh
you know it's very deeply ingrained in all the voice
(43:52):
which is you know
getting into a hot take like correct singing
correct things like I
I very rarely unless I'm talking about pitches
I would say like things that are actually objective
yeah I don't say right or wrong or correct or incorrect
I use words like sustainable or good or bad
or good or bad that's huge
(44:13):
yeah I don't say that sounded good
I was like how did that
how was that experience for you
well that's really awesome
um or I'll be specific
if we're working on something artistically
and I'll be like well
here's what my aesthetic preference would be right
like this is what I hear
but I was working with a student
and I won't get specific and I
their voice
(44:33):
there was something that was a little off to me and
you know there was tension
there were technical things to work on
but there was just something in the tone that I was
like this isn't
I sat with it and I was like
oh I need to adjust this and this and this
not presenting that to them yet
and then I just sat with it and I was like
wait a second
I I think I was listening to like a very
very popular band I don't wanna give any information
cause I don't want anyone to think that it's them
(44:55):
um this is so I don't work with them anymore but um
I was listening to the radio and this band came on
and I was like oh my God
this person sounds exactly like this lead singer
I bet if I isolated this lead singer's vocals
or they came into a voice lesson
not as a famous person I would view it and be like okay
(45:18):
there's a lot there's a lot
we need to adjust to get their tone
to my aesthetic preference
and it's those realizations as a teacher
where you're like I am not the Bible
like yeah wow
my preferences don't aren't the least important part
yeah
there is a difference between a tone that hurts to hear
and a tone that doesn't right
sure but um
(45:40):
maybe not hurts to hear that's
that's intense but there's a yeah
but yeah right
but um yeah
I it was a very sobering moment for me where I was like
whoa Emily
take yourself out of it yeah
and I'm so glad I caught that before
like very early into lessons of being like
you know what this person's voice is truly so unique
this is so not about breathing
(46:01):
but but no no
you're good but
it it always leads into that conversation
I think breathing for me the breathing leads to
we really talk about it a lot
because of classical music
I think um
and because of all those classical teachers
who learn from this
and then it goes in the whole rabbit hole for me yeah
but um
(46:22):
breathing for a while
a lot of people come in and I think we've
we might have mentioned this
but a lot of people come in and say that they really
really need to work on their breathing
oh my God all the time
and I'm like girl no
I almost never talk about breathing
unless it's like a big issue
unless it shows up yeah
yeah I usually the most I'll talk about breathing is um
(46:44):
where where to breathe in a song yes
just have one yeah
part of this exercise to do but um
but uh
breathing has been the Band Aid
solution to everything for the past
like 20 years yeah
you know it's been like
what's wrong with your voice
you're not breathing enough
you're you're not breathing enough
it's rarely that
it's more that you're not supporting enough
(47:05):
yes you're gonna check out this episode
yeah yes yeah
you're not using your breath intentionally
yeah I'm like
you're taking in enough air
but I don't hear any of it coming out
yeah yeah
like that's always the issue
no we do have another episode on actually exhaling
and like supporting your breath
make sure you check that out
I'll link to it yeah
okay let's finish up this exercise
(47:25):
yes with this balanced breath
so aim it towards your upper ribs
upper ribs um
I like to aim it towards my lower ribs
thinking that
little hands are pushing out the sides of my rib cage
so just isolate that
breathe in a couple times
and then we'll just start once uh
(47:47):
we'll inhale in a second and inhale one
two three
four one
what was that like this is my comfy place
(48:09):
hahaha I find this is
this is a lot of people's comfy place
with intentional breathing
this is I think
the place that I find more often when I'm singing
contemporary styles yup
right like I'm singing classical styles or like really
really really intensive like ballads
yeah I'll use like go for the lower breathing
(48:30):
um
but this felt really like comfortable and natural to me
and I'll say that
it doesn't feel comfortable and natural
because it's my first day doing it
no yeah
it feels comfortable and natural
because I've literally been
hearing about this type of breathing
and learning how to execute it
and training it with such intention
since I've been in high school
(48:51):
like since I was like 14 yeah
and my coach at that time
like literally she had like a
uh
oh my gosh like a foam strap with Velcro
and she would affix it around my rib
cage and if I let my ribs collapse
we're starting the song over ah
if that strap fell because I let like yeah
(49:13):
yeah yeah
let my chest wall collapse
I just think yeah
it was like start over
we also our tones were not colored by like
specifically a high larynx
or specifically a low larynx
yeah kind of very neutral and yeah
very neutral yeah
totally fair totally fair yeah
well thanks for breathing with me
thank you thank you
this was a cool exercise maybe my tensions haha yeah
(49:35):
I wanna talk about one last thing
which is overbreathing
we kind of like touched on it a couple times
yeah and I think there's two ways to overbreathe
and they can also happen at the same time too
mm hmm um
one is breathing in too much at once
yeah and one is breathing in too frequently
yeah like taking too many breaths
(49:57):
yeah which then also leads to too much
so I think you always need to have
the phrase that you're about to sing
have that in mind and breathe for that phrase
not just always max out your capacity
yeah absolutely
absolutely so when you breathe too deeply or too
way too much right there um
(50:18):
there is a little reflex in our lungs that's like alert
alert alert yeah
this is bad this is bad
and that air shoots out right
that air shoots out often going right to your throat
causing you to cough or it creates
like a really intense tickle in your throat um
or it just needs to
it needs to force itself out cause your body is like
I hate this I hate this
I hate this so that's one thing that happens there
(50:39):
with the breathing too frequently
I mean that's on paper that's called hyperventilation
right like
I mean we think of hyperventilating as like
you know but I mean
that's part of it and when you keep taking in
like if you have
let's say you have a jar and you're putting water in it
and if you and I don't know
you have a big picture I don't
I'm gonna just the analogy
(51:00):
so okay
it's like there's way too much going on here but um
if you have your lungs right
and you take in a little bit of air
and then let out this much
and then a little bit of air
and then you let out this much
and this yeah
it just keeps expanding it keeps expanding
and that air doesn't get out of your lungs
this is often when people feel like
they can't get enough air'cause
what's happening that oxygen turns to CO2 in your lungs
(51:21):
or you start to feel lightheaded yeah
exactly and yeah
you're like oh
I can't I'm not getting in enough breath
so this is yeah
this is something I just worked with the student on but
um so what I'll typically do
if you if you're like wow
that's really really relatable
just do a huge exhale before you sing
and then a small inhale and see how long you can go
(51:42):
mm hmm I do exercises sometimes
where I exhale and then sing on empty lungs
mm hmm on purpose
yeah so that there's not like too much pressure
like especially yeah
like really high notes so I'm not like going like
like anyways yeah
and that brings up another thing too
which is lung capacity yeah
so a lot of times people like
(52:04):
they say like oh
like I need to work on my lung capacity
so I can get in more breath
and I'm like if you were to sing classical
then okay yes
we can talk about that and probably work on that
but that's not what we're doing here
yeah we're singing espresso
and even if we're singing Whitney Houston
if you have uh
functioning like
(52:24):
quote unquote normally functioning lungs
mm hmm you probably don't need it
that like yeah
if you have like asthma or you had some sort of injury
illness something that affected you
covid a bunch of times yeah
covid a bunch of times long covid
there you go like that's different
right but I'm talking about if you have no lung issues
(52:44):
and you're just good to go
then like we don't need to work on lung capacity
in contemporary circus
it's back to that misconception that I
I feel like I'm running out of air all the time
that must mean that
I don't have enough breath in my lungs
most of the time that's wrong
probably not the case wrong
uh yeah
hahaha we're just not using it effectively
(53:06):
yes and we'll yes
like that's absolutely something
I love to work on all the time
I nerd out about it with students
oh yeah yeah
oh we will drill this yeah
I usually
like when people run out of breath when they sing
I tell them exhale more
because it's the like active thought of like
I'm going to run out I need to hold back
I need to hold back I need to hold back
that makes them run out of breath
(53:26):
I know it technically makes no sense
like how is like
using less air making you run out of breath
like how is that I know it's like
but it totally is always that way
I'm so often
yeah yeah
yeah it's that CO2
(53:46):
but I still have so much like exactly yeah
it's that carbon dioxide thing
it's like your body is like
this needs to get out of me right now
yeah right now
this is and then you feel physically full
yeah yeah
yeah very much so
but for those people who do need more help with like
taking in the air um
if you have asthma or I didn't have asthma as a kid
(54:08):
and I haven't been diagnosed as an adult
although I do have my suspicions hahaha
um the web does say and my allergy nurses hahaha
um
if you check out the breathing exercise that we did
in the breath support um
video I walk through a hissing exercise
where you're practicing budgeting your air
(54:29):
um the first time I had Covid
I had it in conjunction with the flu
I had the OG flu Rona
this was before the vaccines were out
before like flu
Rona was a word that was in the main shot
so you heard it here first alright
um
and then it turned into a sinus infection
and then it turned into like
a respiratory infection that moved into my chest
I was sick for two months
oh my gosh and this was
(54:50):
and but when I got better
and finally was able to come back to school
it was less than three months before my senior recital
in my opera program where I had to sing
an hour long concert of classical music
which is like running a Marathon
yeah and I had like my lung capacity and like
(55:12):
feeling like
my ability to breathe in and use that breath
felt like it was totally shot
like
all my stamina that I built up in that program was gone
and this exercise is like
almost single handedly what brought me back
and I had Covid four more times after that
and it's what brought me back every single time
yeah
great way to end this
(55:33):
go check out that episode please
thank you very much
I'll link to it below so that you can go check that out
and you know
work on your exhalation your inhalation
for like
that specific exercise that you were talking about
would also talk a little bit more about exhalation
and how to support because at the end of the day
you sing when you exhale not when you inhale
so yeah go check out that episode
anything else that you guys need to
(55:54):
completely get out of your
no I don't
I've gotten everything possible off my chest
love it love it
love it love it
thank you ladies for joining me
thank you this is very interesting
um thank you for tuning in
if you have any questions
let us know if you wanna work with us
you know where the link is to book a session
we can't wait to work with you
otherwise we'll see you in the next session bye
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