I need breathing exercises for choir.?

Question

My choir director said I need breathing exercises to increase my ability to hold a note and sing the whole line instead of taking a breath. I have COPD and have gained weight lately. Does anyone have any ideas or actual breathing techniques?

Answer 1

Hold a finger close to your lips and breathe out slowly, the breath should be warm and moist and you should notice the action of the diaphram as you exhale. This is the correct amount of breath used when singing normally. A singer does not need to 'force' or 'push' air through the vocal chords to produce a good strong sound, doing so creates too much pressure against the chords, preventing them from operating correctly which can cause damage to the voice.

The stomach area should move naturally inward toward the end of the breath, the stomach should not be 'sucked in' as it prevents the diaphram from working effectively. Instead the abdominal area should remain expanded to the level it was when you inhaled and allowed to gradually decrease naturally at the end of the breath.

This is where the 'control' comes into play - the singer expands the lungs by inhaling and 'controls' the amount of air expelled when singing a note by allowing the muscle support system to remain expanded - this doesn't mean the stomach is pushed out, rather that it is blown up like a balloon when the air goes in and the singer slows down the natural rate at which it goes down. In most people the breathing is shallow and only the top half of the lungs are used - breathing correctly uses the whole of the lungs so that more air is available, the singer then uses the natural action of the muscles (diaphragm and abdominals) surrounding the lungs to control the amount of air that is exhaled when singing a note.

Answer 2

You def need breathing technique to sing. Its all about standing up straight and letting the air flow through you as if you are hanging from a string. They say for choir breath in on four beats and sing ooo... then all the other vowels. its good pracitice to know how much breath you are gonna need for a note. anyone can do it even if you have COPD, because the truth is that breathing is not a differcult thing once you learn how to do it right.. and it will prob help your condition.

Answer 3

Well is difficult to develope a good vocal technique without the adecuate guide.

Many people can tell you how to do these excersises but, how do you know if what you are doing is correct or not?

You need some one to supervise if what are you doing is correct. My adivice as a professional singer and voice teacher is to find a voice teacher who has the knowldge of the basic steps you neend to learn to start singing in a healthy way.

To develope a good and healthy voice technique you need not only to develope your breathing, You need to learn many things like, breathing and support, learn to use your natural resonance cavities, and learn how to focus your voice to create volume and stamina without hurt your vocal chords.

Try to find this book: "How to sing" from Grahm Hewitt, is a text book, this is a great book for begginers to start understanding the basis of a healthy singing. You can find it at www.amazon.com

But my advice is: If you really want to learn the voice technique find a teacher. Bad habits, wrong vocal technique and wrong use of your vocal instrument can cuase a seriuos vocal diseases.

Good luck

Answer 4

Try one of the medical advice website and type in breathing exercises for COPD patients. I receive Emails from the Mayo Clinic that has this info.

Answer 5

Singing is something that everybody can learn and improve. Of course, some are more naturally skilled than others, but even a poor voice can be overcome by dedication, practice, and more practice. Even if you're content to sing in the shower, there are some things you can do to improve your voice. This is probably the best online course to improve your singing skills https://tr.im/0bdt8
Your golden voice will be ringing out in no time!

Answer 6

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Answer 7

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Answer 8

These days you can learn how to sing over the internet. Check out Aaron Anastasi's singing video lessons here: http://www.voicevideolessons.com The videos are very easy to follow and to my surprise extremely helpful even for advanced singers. For beginners I would have to say this is a gold mine. I was able to improve my singing, voice tone and range in just under two weeks and I am an advanced musician, been doing this for the last 13 years.

I live in New York City, I wanted to go to a singing teacher but that would have cost me over $1400 per month. Good thing with this internet, $1400 it's a lot of money for me.

Answer 9

breath in slowley as u count to 1 hold for 1 count or second and then let out for 1 second. then do your 2s try to nake it up to the tens and eventually higher. this helps biuld up your lungs.