In a workshop at an international vocal conference, a woman presented her new vocal method for the audience. When she demonstrated how to teach diaphragmatic breathing, she divided it into 10 distinct steps. Can you imagine having to think of all 10 steps every time you inhale? Your band would finish the song long before you got to the hook!

Here is a Singer Quick Fix to help you with Diaphragmatic Breathing.

The first step in any vocal training always ought to be posture, or body alignment. The body is your instrument as a singer and it must be straight and strong to produce a clear and distinct sound – your sound.

Get aligned:
Ankels over heels
Hips over ankels
Allow the lower back to readjust and the torso to align itself
Shoulders on top of the rib cage
Head on top of the body, earlobes over the shoulders

Next step is a simple, opening inhale. Your inhale is not really about filling the lung with air. It’s much more about opening the airways where breath and sound flow through.

Opening Inhale:
Unhinge the jaw and let the mouth drop open
Widen the nasal passage (behind the nose and out to the cheekbones)
Soften your lowest abs and back muscles
Let the breath drop to the tailbone and pubic bone

The above steps can eventually be done simultaneously. If you can do just one, that’s great. The others will follow. Actually when you ‘let the breath drop to the tailbone and pubic bone’ you will also feel the space behind the nose open up. All 4 of these steps are interdependent.

Now to our exercise – the Candle Exercise:
Candle Exercises make diaphragmatic breathing a habit. They encourage the breath to move quickly and efficiently along the specific path opened on inhale. Placement of candle can change the direction of the breath flow so do your best to keep the candle steady and your chin level to the ground.

Try it right now. Your thumb becomes the candle, placed sternum height about 6” from your body. With 3 quick, powerful blasts of air, blow out the candle. Feel which part of your body is doing the work to move the air. Yes, you feel the abs doing the work, just as they were meant to.

The focus is on blowing out the candle and not on working the breathing muscles. They work naturally because you are focused on blowing out the candle!

Try it: say “Sh” three times in a row as though asking someone to be quiet, releasing the jaw in between each “Sh.” Your goal is to blow out the candle with each “Sh.” You are engaging the diaphragmatic breathing to perfection without making it work through physical effort – just blow out the candle. Your breath may or may not hit the candle. What matters is the focus of the breath.

Take the next step. Begin with “Sh’ Sh’” and on the third blast at the candle, say “Shot.” When you release “shot,” you are asking the body to continue that perfect release of sound begun with “sh.” Spit the consonants and then allow the vowel to puff out after it along the same path. Your body will be most cooperative when you focus on blowing out the candle as you clearly say the word.

We then match “Sh’ Sh’” “Shot” to musical pitch. This step you will want to watch on video which you can do with some of my YouTube videos. Also, email me SingLikeYouSpeak@gmail.com with Singer Quick Fix in the subject line, and I will send you a free Singer Quick Fix video. How cool is that? All the best with the exercise! It will make diaphragmatic breathing simple, natural and habitual.

About the author

Sally Morgan is a professional vocal trainer with over 30 years of experience. Sally is also the creator and author of SingLikeYouSpeak(TM)!

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