Singing Tip: How to Spend Less Breath to Gain Vocal Control

I've seen this happen so many times. Spending too much breath unnecessarily is commonplace. The trouble with a breathy tone is that it takes away your control because you spend too much breath. Unless it's deliberate, like Donna Summer so sexily did in some of her songs (but even she admitted in an interview aired on my radio show Boogie that the breathier the harder it is to sing), you should be spending less breath when you sing. This tip sheet is aimed at helping you take control of your vocal by spending less breath when you sing.

On the high notes -- in the falsetto area, especially, I find a lot of my students struggle to stay in control. They spend too much. So here's how to take steps to keep that spend in check. We'll start with the major problem area. Hit the note using your falsetto voice (second voice) with the vowel "I" (pronounced eee). Give it one long straight bar, and while you're at it, listen to yourself very carefully. Does your vocal sound breathy? If yes, then here's what you need to do: repeat this exercise whilst trying to eliminate that breathy tone. You'll want to sound more voice, less breath. Once you've achieved this, comfortably, hit the "I" vowel (pronounced EEEE) and then immediately drop the jaw to produce a note with the vowel "A" (pronounced AAAH). The idea is to STILL have the sharp "I" tone when you're belting out "A". Now, if you do it properly, the note won't shift to a breathy tone because you will have mastered the "I" note. You're only dropping the jaw to produce the "A" note, remember? So your placement SHOULD stay intact. So the next time you're producing that troublesome breathy tone, run your vocal through this exercise to correct it. I hope this helps.

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JOETT
Radio Presenter, Recording Artist & Vocal Coach

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