Unlocking Breath Support: Sing Powerfully Without More Air

Unlock the secrets of breath support in singing with us on the Voice Science Podcast, where we challenge the myth that more air equals more power. Discover how you can achieve powerful vocals without maxing out your lung capacity, and learn the surprising truth about what your body naturally does to support your singing. Together, we'll dissect the misconception of "singing from the diaphragm" and reveal how an array of muscles—like the external intercostals, pectorals, and lats—play a vital role in regulating your breath.

Join Josh, the founder of Voicescienceorg, as he guides you through practical exercises designed to enhance your vocal performance. From squeezing your fists into your ribs to incorporating arm raises and squats, we'll explore how these techniques can help you stabilize and support your voice, especially on those high notes. With the right balance and muscular engagement, you'll sing with newfound consistency and freedom. Share these insights with fellow singers or teachers, and don't miss our next episode, where we'll unlock the science behind mastering the belting technique. For more tips and resources, visit voicescience.org.

References & Further Reading:

📖 Fiz, J.A., Aguilar, J., Carreras, A., Teixido, A., Haro, M., Rodenstein, D.O., Morera, J. (1993). Maximum Respiratory Pressures in Trumpet Players. Chest, 104(4), 1203–1204. https://doi.org/10.1378/chest.104.4.1203

📖 Traser, L., Burk, F., Özen, A.C., Burdumy, M., Bock, M., Blaser, D., Richter, B., Echternach, M. (2020). Respiratory kinematics and the regulation of subglottic pressure for phonation of pitch jumps – a dynamic MRI study. PLoS One, 15, e0244539. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0244539

Episode Transcript

Josh (00:03):
Welcome to the Voice Science Podcast, where we
explore the science behindsinging and teaching.
I'm Josh, the founder ofVoicescienceorg.
I've been educating singers andteachers for over 13 years.
Here you'll learn how the voiceworks and discover practical
tips to train it moreefficiently.

(00:24):
Today we're tackling thequestion what is breath support?
By the end of this episode,you'll know the truth about
breath support and walk awaywith three simple exercises to
help you master it.
Let's dive in.
If you look around the internet, you'll find a near infinite

(00:44):
number of opinions on whatbreath support is and how it
works.
This is because breath supportresearch is still evolving.
I like to define breath supportas the voluntary physical
activity of regulatingexhalation to manage subglottal
air pressure.
To manage subglottal airpressure, to put that a bit more

(01:10):
simply, breath support is howwe manage the airflow and
pressure that is needed to singefficiently.
It's a physical action that wechoose to control.
That leads me to our first mythabout breath support that we
need to push more air to singlouder or higher.
I think most singers naturallyinfer that to sing louder or
higher, we need to push more air.
It's actually true that highernotes and louder singing

(01:34):
requires more air pressure, but,as it turns out, your body is
already providing the pressurethat's needed most of the time.
A little bit of voice sciencenerdery.
According to a 2020 study byTrasser et al, singing happens
when subglottal air pressure theair pressure below the vocal

(01:55):
folds is between approximately 5and 35 centimeters of water.
Maximal inhalation producesapproximately 30 centimeters of
water of recoil force.
That means that, withoutapplying any additional
exhalatory force at peak lungcapacity, you are already in the

(02:17):
maximal range of subglottalpressure for singing.
Well, technically, yes, moreair pressure is required to sing
louder and or higher.
The majority of the time youhave all the air pressure that
you need For just a bit morecontext, another study from 1993
by Fizz et al on the maximumrespiratory pressure in trumpet

(02:41):
players.
They found that average healthyindividuals can produce up to
204 centimeters of water inrespiratory pressure, and
trumpet players can produce upto an astonishing 288
centimeters of water.
That's a little more than eighttimes as much respiratory

(03:03):
pressure as the maximum that isrequired to sink.
The second myth about breathsupport is that you need to
expand the abdomen as much aspossible to get as deep of a
breath as you can.
Every single time.
Relaxing the abdominal musclesallows the diaphragm to descend
further, increasing the volumeof the inhalation.

(03:25):
That's a fact.
The practical application forthis is a bit more nuanced
though.
The practical application forthis is a bit more nuanced
though.
In classical singing, where youhave consistent long lines, no
amplification and largeperformance spaces, there is a
need to increase the volume ofair.
However, in contemporarycommercial styles like pop, rock

(03:47):
, musical theater, etc.
Phrases are typically prettyshort, lasting only a few beats
at a time between breaths.
Huge breaths bring challengesthat are just not necessary.
To look at the science, we turnto physics with Hooke's Law,
named for the British physicistRobert Hooke, without going too

(04:09):
far down the rabbit hole, themore air you blow into a balloon
, the more force the balloon isputting on the air.
Inside the balloon in this caseis your lungs, bones, muscles
and organs.
Reducing the expansion to theminimum amount required makes
the act of singing easier.
One other thing to consider isthat low diaphragmatic breaths

(04:33):
also cause your larynx to lower.
This is super helpful forclassical technique and styles,
but not typically very helpfulin contemporary commercial
singing.
Myth number three is one that Ihear all of the time and you
probably have as well Sing fromthe diaphragm.

(04:53):
There is hardly ever a newstudent in my studio who has not
heard, tried and been confusedby trying to sing from the
diaphragm.
The diaphragm is the primarymuscle of inspiration.
It is a large domed muscle thatforms the barrier between the
thoracic cavity and theabdominal cavity.

(05:14):
When the diaphragm contracts,it descends and can cause a
number of other structures to bedisplaced.
It displaces the chest, ribs,abdominal viscera and even more
can be displaced depending onthe activation of other muscles.
This movement creates a vacuumthat draws air into the lungs.

(05:35):
When the diaphragm relaxes, itand the displaced bones, muscles
and organs attempt to move backinto position, this creates
pressure on the lungs, causingair to be forced out of the body
.
The detail I want to draw yourattention to is that exhalation
occurs when the diaphragm isrelaxed.

(05:56):
The diaphragm is not an activeparticipant in removing air from
the lungs.
Now, even if it was, thediaphragm is itself an
involuntary muscle, that is tosay that we have no direct
control over it.
Yes, you can think I am goingto breathe now and it happens,

(06:17):
but you cannot actively isolatethe diaphragm and exert direct
control over it.
This myth came from howclassical technique tells us we
should be inhaling deep breathswith an expansion through the
abdomen, and there are manybenefits and downsides to
diaphragmatic or belly breathingwhile singing, and we will

(06:38):
cover these in another episode.
Okay, so if it's not thediaphragm, I don't need massive
breaths and I am not forcing airwhile singing.
What am I doing?
The goal of breath support isto delay the natural breathing
process by controlling andextending the exhalatory process

(07:01):
.
To do that, we are going tofocus on inspiratory muscles
that can be controlled theexternal intercostal muscles,
the pectoral muscles and thelats.
When they contract, they expandthe chest cavity, slowing the
collapse during exhalation.
Three exercises that I have hadsuccess with in my studio.

(07:22):
The first is by making fistsand squeezing them into your
ribs.
The act of doing this willengage the external intercostal
muscles, the pectoral musclesand the lats.
I find this exercise helpsstudents discover these muscles
as it tends to provide a strongsensory feedback and can be
completed while singing songs orexercises.

(07:45):
The second exercise is aboutfeeling the expansion in the
thorax While taking a largebreath.
Raise your arms up to make acircle in front of you, try to
hold the expansion while youexhale, lowering your arms, and
repeat 3-5 times.
Finally, the third exercise canbe really helpful if you're

(08:08):
having difficulty with breathsupport on ascending leaps,
leaps.
Doing a squat or a plie on thehigh note stabilizes the body,
engages the majority ofabdominal and thoracic muscles
Over time.
The goal is to be able toengage these muscles the
external intercostal muscles,the pectoral muscles and the

(08:30):
lats on demand and to varyingdegrees of effort.
Let's recap what we've coveredtoday.
Breath support is the consciousact of regulating exhalation to
manage subglottal air pressure.
Contrary to popular belief, yourarely need to push extra air
for louder or higher notes.
Your body naturally providesplenty of air pressure.

(08:53):
Taking an overly deep breathcan introduce unnecessary
tension, especially in shorterphrases common to musical
theater or pop styles.
And the ever-popular phrasesing from the diaphragm is
misleading.
The diaphragm worksinvoluntarily during inhalation.
So we focus instead on themuscles we can control to

(09:16):
stabilize our exhalation.
And finally, remember the threeexercises, the fists in the ribs
to engage the externalintercostals, pectorals, and
lats.
Arms up to feel the expansion.
And squats or plies tostabilize and feel support on
those high, challenging notes.

(09:37):
In the end, breath support isabout efficiency, balancing air
pressure with just the rightmuscular engagement to sing
freely and consistently.
Thanks for tuning into theVoice Science Podcast.
I hope this episode on breathsupport gave you some valuable
insights.
If you found it helpful, shareit with a fellow singer or

(09:57):
teacher.
Don't forget to join me nexttime when we'll dive into the
science behind belting a stylethat's full of misconceptions,
but one that can absolutely bemastered with the right tools.
In the meantime, be sure tovisit voicescience.
org for more tips, research, andresources to help you train

(10:18):
your voice more efficiently.
Thanks again for listening andkeep singing, thank you.