Breathing tips for singing??

Question

Well, Im decent at singing, but I dont think Im good at the breathing part. Like, its hard for me to be loud for a very long time withought taking another breath, you know what I mean? So I was just wondering if there are any breathing excersises that will help increase my lung capacity to help my breath last longer. Thank you very much

Answer 1

I am a vocal instructor, so I should be able to help you with this. You must 1st and foremost learn good breathing technique for reasons of vocal and overall health. Without learning the proper way to breathe, you won't support correctly which will lead to v. chord stress or possibly nodules and so forth and so on... I digress, I strongly suggest you first read this breathing how to, to make sure you're correctly breathing in the first place:
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog&Mytoken=F6E31D4D-83B0-44E0-8A77DBF96BED76F231854994

After reading that,

1. Stand with good posture. Take in your deep diaphragmatic breath and push with your diaphragm three controlled puffs and then exhale the rest of the way. Repeat.

2. Lay on your back with a book on your stomach (it's there so you feel the weight) and take in some deep diaphragmatic breaths. The book should should raise and lower with every breath - not because you're using your stomach muscles to push, but because the diaphragm is moving to make room for the expanding lungs.

3. Stand next to a wall - have a small square of paper. Inhale a deep breath and blow the paper so that you can take your hands away without the paper falling. This will take controlled breath and a good steady stream of air. To begin, try to keep it on the wall for 15 sec. then work your way up.

4. Try to make it second nature. Every time you eat, try breathing correctly with the diaphragm. If you do this every time you eat, (not just meals) it will become natural - which is your overall goal.

Let me stress this - becoming a vocalist is just like any other dedicated art form. It is comparable to a martial art (karate or ninjitsu) or gymnastics - you must train your body, not just your mind. There's more to consider than just knowing the notes and words - you must work on your posture, diction, tonality, breath control, tension, etc... If you want to make the most of this without hurting yourself, find a good instructor in your area. Otherwise, you could potentially ruin your voice.

Hope it helps. Enjoy!

Answer 2

It's not all about the lungs. You need to breath from your diaphragm. Work on that and you'll do just fine.

Answer 3

just take a deep breathe between every pause you have in the song.. break the lines in to segments and you will sound a lot more relaxed and your notes will sound better

Answer 4

Check out this simple, but thorough, website on breathing for singers, with exercises.

http://www.vocalist.org.uk/breathing_exercises.html

Answer 5

to properly breath when singing, you should feel your diaphragm go out when you breath in and it should go in when you breath out. It works great!