I greatly appreciate the content you put on youtube. It's exactly what i was looking for. No unnecessary blabbering. Everything you talk about is highly informative and "digestible" that even "green" people in singing can grasp the idea of what you're explaining. Thank you very much. We need more genuine,passionate and "straight to the point" vocal coaches like you. :)
Karyn, you truly are an amazing teacher (I know I've mentioned my own 34 year music teaching background in comments on other videos you've done). But truly, your extensive knowledge, attention to detail, and clear presentation is really incredible. Thanks so much for providing some of the best content out there! You are in a very tiny class of voice teachers who I feel are the best of the best anywhere!
You're changing my singing and my life. You're definetly the best teacher existing, it's clear you've spent lots of time studying human voice. Also, I had never met a singer that knows anatomy so well (i can tell because I study medicine and I know many teachers who have no idea about how our body is made). Wish you all the best, you really deserve it! ❤ [sorry for my English if it's not very good!]
Wow! I'm SO glad I found you. I have a master's degree in vocal performance but recently have just been having some problems with breath support and so decided to scan for what might be going on especially since my beloved voice teacher died in 2003 and her husband who was a professor of mine and on my grad committee and a WEALTH of knowledge passed last year, and I have no one to check in with when I've run into an issue. Your technical knowledge is very similar to both of them. I've learned all this before but have slipped and have created some bad muscle memory especially in regards to "standing tall". I'm realizing that I've been putting an exaggerated curve in my lower back and that is throwing some things off.Thank you!
I used to think that belly-breathing and breathing from the diaphragm were synonymous, until I watched your video. I’ve watched dozens of other videos and had voice teachers who have tried to teach me how to breathe properly, to no avail. Hearing you explain it was like having a light turned on. Now I breathe so much more freely and comfortably when I’m singing. Thank you so much! I look forward to watching your other videos.
I like complicated songs and always struggle way to much to sing them... Thanks to your information now I feel my singing is so effortlessly, no more fear of thinking if is gonna be there or not, I open my mouth and cool stuff come out. That sticking out of the belly every other teacher in youtube said was killing me. Hope you'll be very blessed.
Thank you. As a retiree, I have started to have singing lessons, but have not been happy with my tone. Your video has helped me so much, so far. I will be following them all. I love singing but do not want to sound breathy or weak. I stopped singing for 30 years after an unkind comment.
You are amazing! Giving the right information at the right pace (a lot of youtube lessons are ridiculously slow) and all supported by the scientific evidence! Thank you very much!
Almost laughed when you summed up with "and that covers". In that moment, it struck me as such an understatement. You are absolutely brilliant! I especially appreciated the part about noisy breath, as that is something I have been wondering about.
Definitely the most difficult to master... and the most difficult to discuss because there are so many opinions and not everyone is going to like or agree with mine.
What do you think about the method that most of the great Italian opera singers used back in the day where they breathed into the lower back while pulling the abdomen inward, then pressed the breath against the chest and relaxed the abdomen outward while singing? Both Caruso and Pavarotti described their breathing as this.
Great thanks for this video! Big fan of your written singwise website here :) I think it is inspiring to say that pushing out the stomach doesnt make sense. I randomly saw some articles saying that instead of inhaling to the front of stomach, inhaling should go the "sideway", is it true? I am somehow confused when I do my practice that sometimes my stomach expand before the rib-cage and the back but sometimes is the rib-cage first and the stomach slowly expanding! so confused! hopefully you could demyth this. Also, I am very very looking forward to your part 2, explaining how to "control subglottal pressure" using the intercostal and keep the chest and sternum up. I heard of people use the pelvis to exhale and support, but I cannot make sense with it as it usually blow off my vocal cord when I really force air out with those bottom muscle. Really look forward to know how to slow down air coming out and keep intense pressure for great singing!
Yes, 'lateral' expansion is a kind of synonym for 'sideways' breathing. You may notice that the abdominal wall expands first because its outward movement is not inhibited by bones (i.e., ribs), so it's more flexible. I generally notice that my expansion happens in all directions simultaneously. This is not necessarily the 'best' or 'only' way of expanding, but I think that it's advantageous for a lot of reasons. I recorded Part 2 last week, but I'm forgot some important points and an exercise that I had wanted to include - I was in a rush when I recorded it - and so I'm going to re-record that second half of the video and post it next week. In that video, I do mention the notions of engaging the pelvic floor muscles and 'bearing down' to support for high or intense notes. I agree with you that it's really not necessary. Those muscles become somewhat engaged (passively), yes, but I don't think that we need to consciously activate them. Usually when singers do, they end up too tense and generating too much subglottal pressure. I like to focus more on the 'inspiratory hold' and keeping the inspiratory muscles somewhat engaged throughout the breath cycle to counter the expiratory forces. I'll explain this in greater detail in Part 2.
I have a follow-up question that always wanna ask and it seems a question in the internet is missing. I found when I sing diaphramatically, I would go out of breath and my chest collapsed and after that, I can't breathe well until I take a upper chest breath. how can I avoid the chest to collapse? and is it normal to take a few upper chest breath in a song, as the chest might collapse slowly? I think many people talks about how to engage ribs to avoid chest collapse, but it seems no one really explain about what mis-doing makes chest collapse and how to avoid it. Wish you all the best with your singwise channel! my friend started watching and reading your stuff and they found it useful also ;)
Hi! Thanks so much for your amazing channel and content! I have a question about inhalation-I noticed on the inhale that my neck muscles already start tensing and contracting before I even make a sound? What causes a labored inhale and how do I remedy that pattern? Thanks in advance. Feels like my sternocolidial muscles or the ones around the neck constrict on the inhale if I’m taking a faster deeper breath to expand the lower ribs.
Would you recommend to actively inspire or rather use a SPLAT-in breath (automatic in-breath by the release abdominal). I have read that ideally there is a rib expansion but that we shouldn't actively do it because that would involve a forced inspiration.
I really do believe that it's something that singers and singing teachers don't spend enough time thinking about and learning how to do properly. It can make a very big difference.
I agree with almost everything in this video other than that the natural elasticity of the voice is enough to produce all singing sounds. I don't like the term "never" as every body will fluctuate in terms of its natural elasticity, and at the end of the day we are looking to maximize subglottal pressure for the task at hand. I find this natural form is mostly true for women, but most operatic baritones and tenors tend to employ a form of mild hooking (the motion of the contraction of the pelvic muscles of the inhale, contraction of the rectus will obviously tug at the throat) while singing in the top of their voice as a way of carrying an unnaturally thick vocal production higher than intended as demanded by the perceived sound ideal. Of course, I do think one should approach from the standpoint of maximizing subP before assuming a hook is necessary.
Thanks for your comment. My comment about the natural elastic recoil of the viscera, diaphragm, and lungs being enough to generate (but not sustain) adequate subglottal pressure for loud singing is based on research that Sundberg discusses in his book The Science of the SInging Voice. The study showed that it didn't matter which muscles - or no muscles at all - were used to initiate the tone because high levels of subglottal pressure could be generated in multiple ways. (Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that all methods of generating high subglottal pressures are equally advantageous. I'll be discussing this in Part 2.) I think I alluded to this in this video: I'm talking about generating the pressure at the onset, not about elastic recoil being enough to sustain the same pressures throughout the entire phrase/vocal task. This video was restricted to discussions on preparing the body for managing the breath (supporting the tone). I'll try to get into other aspects of using the body to maintain consistent pressure levels - and also how to change those levels for varying our dynamics - in the next video.
singwisevocals in this case I agree with you. I actually cited multiple Sundberg studies in my thesis on variations of subglottal pressure and its application to various styles of singing.
The advice of imagining a tube around the midsection doesn't require much imagination because we do have muscles that do exactly that, the "Transverse Abdominus" this set of muscles are like a girdle and they are connected to the lower part of the back and come together in the center of the abdomen. The way to exercise these muscles is to suck in the belly button, there are tons of exercises on RU-vid to keep these muscles in shape. However, in singing it would be impractical to do this and sing but you can learn through practice how much to engage, about 5-10% which also helps to support the expansion of the ribs and hold them there, it also helps slim up the midsection.
Excellent video young lady! I'm going to watch all of your videos because you obviously know what you're doing and I shall be a sponge to your knowledge! (By the way, I wrote this in a very posh English accent - even though I'm rather working class :)
As you've already noticed, I have several videos covering this topic. This video just explains the 'set up' for good breath management during the expiratory phase. As we exhale, I encourage maintaining a bit of comfortable lateral expansion (around the lower sets of ribs) for at least the first part of the vocal phrase. Most of the 'support' comes from a very slight contraction of the transverse and oblique muscles, but I find that this contraction is almost automatic when we maintain some of the lateral expansion because when the intercostals (between the ribs) are preoccupied with keeping the ribs slightly expanded, the transverse and obliques muscles (antagonists to those intercostals) become the primary expiratory muscles. In one of my videos, Supporting in a V, I talk about gently contracting the muscles immediately above the pubic bone first, then allowing the contraction to move upward, much like squeezing the tube of toothpaste from the bottom, not the top. Again, though I find that if we start with good body alignment and an efficient inhale, then maintain a bit of lateral expansion, this action of the abdominal muscles becomes almost automatic. And, as always, I think it's best to 'allow' the air, instead of 'pushing' or 'forcing' it out. Don't thrust the rectus abdominus muscle inward, as this will create too sudden and too high a subglottal pressure increase, and possibly cause a locking of the solar plexus.
You mentioned Alexander Technique. Do you know if there's a resource to learn about it aside from teachers of the technique? In which cases would you say conscious abdominal engagement is appropriate versus naturally allowing the abdominal wall to come in? Also, what would you do in a case where the singer has a very difficult time releasing the abs on the inhale so their expansion seems to only happen in the solar plexus region? Thank you.
There are several books on the subject (e.g., Body Learning: An Introduction to the Alexander Technique by Michael J. Gelb; Voice and the Alexander Technique by Ruby Jane Heirich; The Alexander Technique for Musicians by Judith Kleinman and Peter Buckoke; Indirect Procedures: A Musician's Guide to the Alexander Technique by Pedro de Alcantara; Born to Sing: A singer's journey toward mind-body unity by Ron Murdock), as well as some good on-line resources, including articles and RU-vid videos. I'll explain this more clearly and thoroughly in my next video, but there are certainly times in which some conscious contraction of specific abdominal muscles may be appropriate for the task/type of singing being done, especially in intense singing (such as belting) that requires higher levels of subglottal pressure. (We still need to keep those pressures balanced, though, so as not to stress the vocal folds.) Otherwise, I believe that the abdominals will contract intuitively in order to generate the necessary subglottal pressure level and maintain a consistent subglottal pressure. One of the things that I have found is that very slender individuals (with small builds) and those with very firm abdominal muscles often don't experience as much visible lateral expansion as others do (i.e., those with lax abdominal muscles). This is something that needs to be consciously trained and encouraged over time. However, it shouldn't be forced or overdone. It's not so much how 'big' the expansion is that it's important. It's 'where' and 'how' the expansion happens that matters more - the coordination. The important thing is flexibility, as opposed to rigidity/stiffness. (If the body is stiff, this can be improved through stretching.) If the rib and abdominal muscles are flexible, but don't necessary move/expand a great deal, that's likely okay. That doesn't necessarily mean that the diaphragm isn't lowering enough to get a good breath. (The fact that the solar plexus area is 'popping out' is actually a good sign that there is at least some flexibility in that area, which is an area that a lot of singers stiffen.) But this has to be evaluated on an individual basis. Hope this helps.
singwisevocals thank you, that's very helpful to know. Let's say someone is panting or doing stacatto breathing exercises; should bounce occur in that solar plexus area? would that be good since it is not stiffened if it is bouncing?
Yes, if the solar plexus area is flexible and not locked, there might be some movement as each staccato note is initiated. If it's 'bouncing' along with the rest of the abdominal wall, it's probably good, but I won't say a definitive yes because it's also possible that it's stiff but is merely being 'bounced' by the actions of the abdominal muscles.
Hi Karyn, when I inhale for Appoggio exercise, as you said the focus is to expand the side ribs. However, I found that my front also expand, is it normal? Should I try to keep expanding the sides and back only? Thank you
Yes, that's normal. As the diaphragm lowers, the viscera (abdominal contents) get displaced somewhat, and so the belly distends. Some forward expansion is good, but it shouldn't be the only direction in which we expand.
Love this and I love Alexander Work too:) Love your videos I have been singing rock music for over 20 years in rock bands and I recently have been struggling with dysphonia from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and menopausal hormonal changes. Do you have any videos for the female menopausal singers?
Very Helpful Thanks Karyn. It's yoga breathing. You draw you navel in more with yoga but you breath into your back. Shoulders lowered. It's going to see strange because I'm used to drawing navel in and raising my hip bones a the front. The drawing up right and raising the rib cage is the same. It does help.
Sorry to hear that. I'll probably record a video on neck tension in singing because it is such a common problem. In the meantime, examine your posture first, then your breath management strategy. If it's ineffective, it may initiate a snowball effect going up the vocal tract, and then you'll start having to recruit the extrinsic neck muscles more. Let me know how else I can help.
Hey Karyn, I sent you an email back in December with a video of my singing to see if you could maybe help me... have you received the email? If so, it would be wonderful if you'd check it out! :) Also, regarding exhalation, I notice that when I sing and try to maintain proper posture, my obliques and back contract, but I still don't feel that complete freedom in the throat... I still feel like maybe I'm pushing too much air. Is there a way to lessen the pressure at my vocal folds but still continue that natural contraction of my abdominals? Thanks so much Karyn! Have a great summer!
