Basic Breathing.
Singing with freedom.
To become the best vocalist possible, and to sing with the most freedom, we must learn how sound is produced in our body and become a good steward of the instrument God gave us. After all, unlike other instruments, when they break you can buy a new one...you can't buy a new body! So we must learn how to take care of it! Here we go!
It all begins with a good deep breath.
The air goes up into our lungs, into our trachea at that point the breath enters our vocal folds where pitch is formed. Even the sound of a cough has pitch.
All sound is based of frequencies.
For example the musical note A above middle C is called A440, for the mHZ of sound cycled per second. The higher the note the higher the frequency, the lower the note the lower the frequency. Another example, a healthy body has a frequency of around 65 mHZ. Viruses begin around 58mHZ. Cancer starts around 42mHz. All living things have a frequency because God's voice spoke everything into existence. Essential Oils have their own frequency, Rose Essential Oil is the highest frequency of any known substance on earth mHZ. The vocal folds produce sound when our breath hits it. The pitch is determined based on how many times our vocal folds touch in a second. So for A440 pitch to be produced the vocal folds must touch 440 times per second! To think that happens so quickly for every note we sing in a song and speak. What an amazing instrument God made!
Let's dig a little deeper!
The higher the frequency/pitch we need to sing, the more air we need to produce it. The tricky part is that the higher the note, the longer the vocal folds need to stretch to get that note! At the same time our throat area is more narrow, which means less space for the air to flow. So the higher the pitch we need to sing, the more relaxed and the better technique we need. You can see the vocal folds at work in the following video.
When the lady in this video reaches a higher note, watch how everything stretches and narrows.
So as you watched the video you see that the lower notes the throat area and vocal folds are thicker, shorter and more relaxed. The higher the note the more stress and stretched the area becomes. Taking good deep fully expanded breaths is crucial for good pitch and good tone. One of the most important things to learn as a singer is how to breathe correctly for a healthy and effective voice. There are tips on this page but the best way is to have a trained vocal coach check to make sure you are doing it correctly. If your shoulders go up or you are sticking out your stomach you are not breathing correctly. A full breath is when you entire rib cage and abdominal area is fully expanded and stays expanded while singing a note.
Proper diaphragmatic breathing.
This allows your tone to be correct, your vocal folds to stay healthy and allows you to even scream and not lose your voice. Breathe the same way you do when you sing if you must scream! Low, deep breathing is essential! Think about it, a baby can have colic and cry for hours and never lose their voice. Why? Because they are breathing correctly, they haven’t learned bad habits yet! Proper breathing prevents your vocal folds from becoming thin and dry. Pictures of a breathy/airy voice compare to that of a smoker or one that is dehydrated.
One tip to make sure you are breathing correctly is to put your hands on the back of your neck and then take a deep breath. It prevents shallow shoulder. I have many exercises and tips to help you become successful at this often difficult part of singing.
I’d love to meet with you to see where you’re at vocally, and let you know what exercises YOU need to sing with freedom!
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor and nothing here is used to diagnosis or treat. I can address some throat and congestion issues that get in the way of singing, pain from singing, natural at home remedies for laryngitis, and how to sing through a cold and congestion. This is where the importance of warm-up/vocal workout comes in! All of these things can be tracked in the Vocal Journal.
