Breathe Your Way to Better Singing

I cannot emphasize enough, the importance of breathing properly when you sing. Bad breathing equals bad vocals. It's really as simple as that. Two important pointers. Drop the jaw (the way you do when you yawn) and breathe in through the mouth every step of the way. Do not breathe in through your nose. There is a limited amount of air you can inhale through the nose in the short space of time available between each note when singing. Dropping the jaw to drink that breath is key. The wider you open your mouth, the more breath you're able to suck in. You will notice that at the top of your breath intake (when your mouth is wide open) is when you will be taking in the most breath.

I always tell my students that dropping the jaw to breathe not only trains you to open your mouth wide to breathe, it also trains you to open your mouth wide to hit the high notes! Yes, you heard that right.  A half open mouth will only deliver half the goods. I think that's a pretty good analogy. When your throat is wide open, your voice comes through more sharply, you'll have a better tone, and you will hit the high notes with greater ease. So the next time you're having trouble sustaining a note, check your breathing. Chances are you're not breathing correctly (for singing). I have corrected this problem with my students and every time, it has made a world of difference.

Thanks for dropping by!

Joett