Singing Tips #1: The Deep Breath

Day to day, most of us breathe as deep as our chest. As long as our lungs get their fill we're content with this. However, to sing properly and with ease, there is a proper way to breathe that will not only help you develop more control the breathhing itself, but help you support the voice that is inside of you. It will also affect how you sing, project, sound, and will ultimately enable you todo those melismas and other singing techniches that you so badly want to emulate.

Another benefit of this deep breathing, is relaxation. Which helps with stage fright, anxiety, stress, and over all confidence!

That said, the first things you need to know about breathing:

1. Stand up straight, arms by your side. Exhale all of the air in your belly.
2. While counting to ten in your head, take a slow, deep breath in to your belly. Fill it up with air. Think of it as being pregnant with air. This is what you want to see. What can help you achieve this, and help you see whether you're doing it properly is standing in front of the mirror and placing both hands on the sides of your belly [without force] while doing the breathing. If you're doing it properly you should see your hands expand with your belly. You really need to see your belly expand, and almost feel it pulling on the inside. This is telling you that you are, in fact, filling up the right area.
3. Hold the breath for another ten seconds.
4. Release the air as you count to ten again.
5. Repeat another three times, but don't go overboard. You might get dizzy or light headed, so take it slow. If counting to ten is too much for you, start with five and work your way up! Remember, there's no rush, and certainly no standard speed at which people learn to sing, breathe, or anything for that matter. Take your time and do what is right for you! Everything will work out in time!

Control over your breathing is very important, and this will help you a lot later one. Think of it as the foundation on which your skill will be relying on.

And as everything else, practice, practice, practice! It doesn't matter how good you think you are, or how much you're fed up of doing silly elementary exercises! I can't stress enough how important it is to keep the basics a priority if you really want to develop your skill.

If you have any questions, comments, concerns...anything at all, please don't hesitate to send me a message or a comment! I'm happy to answer any questions you may have!

-Sarah :)