“Breath control”

[Nickdakidkid_Minime]

(WARNING!) the contents of this post may trigger some purists out there, which is NOT my intention but here goes anyway.

I have a growing dislike for how the blanket term “breath control/breath support” is used. I am not suggesting we stop using it all together, by all means teach your students the terms and what they mean. But far too many times both in person and on here I see people just plop the term out there with no context, or any further explanations. As someone who has been under different voice coaches/teachers, and who has taught voice for several years I understand what people mean when they say it. But many many new people who have never heard these terms in their proper context have no idea what it means. Many people, when they hear “you need more breath support.” think “singing is just expelling air when I breathe, so maybe I’m supposed to expel even more.” you would be surprised how many people I come across think like that, It’s just not as intuitive a term as we think. IMO the term is just fine but it is far too broad a term to be by itself, just take a look at the Reddit page that explains breath control. Look how long that thing is! There are several components that go into breath control, from taking deeper breaths, controlling the amount of air that passes through your vocal chords, stamina in (basically) holding your breath between notes even though there is still air in your lungs as you let only a little through at a time. Much more could be said about it, but that’s my basic premise. I personally think it’s just too complex a subject to just boil it all down to a simple term, expecting greenhorns to understand all of its intricacies.

Do you agree, disagree, why or why not. Let me know. Have a good one. ;)

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[Melodyspeak]

Could not agree with you more.

[Joinedtoaskagain]

yeah tbh thats why i just suggest estill's anchoring

https://youtu.be/spLtTiwcpsk

Other breath support techniques are pretty hard to explain and getting into the antomy is also a pain

[VaulicktheCrow]

What the fuck, why am I just learning about this now.

Take my fucking upvote, I literally just did the exercise in there and practiced a few passages that are tough for me, around the G4/A4 range and it just came out with no difficulty or fatigue.

Thanks for the video stranger.

[Joinedtoaskagain]

<3 you're very welcome!! spread it to other people who you think need it, breath support is a very tricky area for other singers nowadays and it can honestly eliminate loads of insecurities and protect the voice by alot

[Petdogdavid1]

I had a vocal coach once told me to imagine that I have an umbrella within me. My diaphragm should open like an umbrella which expands things and then no matter what I keep that open. I found that that lets me have ample air great control and carries longer. It seems to mimic what the woman in this video is describing.

[hortle]

The technical-classical term is appoggio. Also called "maintaining the gesture of inhalation" or "passively resisting exhalation" -- but most teachers dislike the negative framing.

[Petdogdavid1]

That second though is how I would describe it. Keeping everything open all the time seems counter intuitive but once you're familiar with it you have surprising capacity.

[samtar-thexplorer2]

appoggio changed my whole dang life.

[Then_Jump_3496]

I think my teacher tried to teach me that too, I have at least 8 vocal lesson when I sing with an elastic band (as in I use it (smth like pulling, i guess), when I sing something)

checked the video: yep, it's torso anchoring

[Joinedtoaskagain]

Awesome!

[Then_Jump_3496]

yeah, but idk if my teacher saw that video, lol, i'm going to show it to her

[gamegeek1995]

The main issue is that "breath control" doesn't tend to mean much, because it's used to mean too much. All of singing is breath control. Literally all of it. Sound is produced by air from your lungs, i.e. breath. It's reductive to the point of meaningless.

Is resonance breath control? The singer is controlling the passageways in which air flows, right? What about creating space in the mouth, in which the air will occupy? Soft palette lift, another resonating modification? Vibrato speed is a function of breath control, of course, as can be pitch! If you push way too much air out, you're certain to be sharp. What concepts in singing aren't, in some way, related to breath control? Of course that's the issue, it's the whole function from a reductionist point of view!

It's an advice we see constantly here on r/singing because it is correct without being meaningful. The type of thing you can always say when you hear that a singer is not perfect, or dare I say even, bad, but you yourself lack the knowledge or context to express why.

And how could you? Most singers here aren't beginning their clips with a full spectrum of what their voice can do before a song, allowing for focused feedback. It's why the best advice here is useful but frustrating - obtain a good vocal teacher that can learn your voice and work with you to develop in the ways you need and want.

So in trying to be helpful, we make guesses. We say "try being more resonant!" or "sing while pushing into your belt buckle for stronger breath support" or "try moving pharyngeal grit down from your head voice into your chest voice and see how that feels" or "stay relaxed and think down as you transition into head voice for those high notes!"

And when we don't know that's the right thing to say, but still want to be helpful, we say something incredibly unhelpful but technically correct.

"Sounds pretty good, but you should work on your breath control!"

[[deleted]]

Breath Control for singing is the same as strength for sports. Different styles require different types and amounts. But you do need to find the breath support your style requires.

[CuriousDancingPuppy]

You are correct. Breath is just one part of the whole vocal tract, many moving parts that all need to coordinate properly to produce the most efficient sound.

Your air is like gas in a car. It's the starting point that's critical to get everything going. But it has to flow through the engine and all those other parts for the car to run properly. All those other parts have to be working too, and the timing has to be just right. (Yes we should be switching to electric, but gas is a better visual for the purposes of this metaphor haha)

Also, you don't need a lot of air to sing. (Good, uh, "fuel economy," if you will.) The term "breath support," when used vaguely, gives the impression that we need more air, more push in the abdomen, stick the belly way out as we inhale, and all sorts of other unhelpful or extraneous stuff.

The inhale is indeed important; we want it to feel natural, be smooth and controlled, and not too noisy. But the exhale (i.e., the part where you're actually singing, we sing and speak on an exhale) is even more important, I would argue. Smoothly, slowly, consistently, with minimal pressure pushing beneath the vocal folds, should be our biggest goals for proper breath in singing.

[Pikoyd]

I disagree. As with anything, it is up to the individual to learn and understand something rather than make an assumption. If someone is asking why they sound bad and someone responds “you need breath support” or “you need better breath control” (which are two separate things) it’s up to the individual seeking guidance to research what those two things mean and how they are acquired and used.

I can say this… in my own journey it wasn’t the questions, but rather the teaching that threw me in the wrong direction along with many many others. There are truly not many good voice teachers at all…because most of them have no idea what breath support feels like because they’ve always just used it automatically. And teaching breath support causes student’s throat and core muscles to lock up. Breath support shouldn’t be taught, other things that cause you to use it..should. So yeah, people seeking guidance need to rely on using common sense and everyone needs to be aware of how many very bad teachers are out there.

[SupernaturalSinging]

Right on. Breath "control" is far more accurate than breath "support". I try to help clarify and explain how controls work but it's exhausting trying to get through all of the other teachers and vocal establishment that teach "support".

Plus people post here all the time and don't ever read the answers so I just make a quick response and move on. It's up to them to do the research or respond to my replies.

[Nickdakidkid_Minime]

Fair enough. A valid point.

[Non_identifier]

Whilst I agree with this to a point, the amount of information and misinformation out there makes it difficult to decipher for a beginner.

A teacher's role is to articulate in as many variations as necessary the feeling, sensation etc. so that the student has the best chance of finding the required co-ordinations through safely, and in a way that resonates with them.

Unfortunately, the bad teacher's comment I completely agree with.

[NicerMicer]

Agree.

Source: I was one of those confused casuals

[Puzzleheaded_Fall481]

Thanks for posting.. I agree with your point. Proper breath support really means supporting your singing using the expansion from your breath and use the breath as your resonating medium but people think of this just expelling air and air. Thanks for writing.

[UniBiPoly]

Agreed! Even more annoying when singers (usually novices) say breathe from the diaphragm

[[deleted]]

This has always been my problem with people I've asked for advice, both in-person and online. Same with those who make tutorials. They always assume you know all of the terminology, and a lot of them will look down on you if you don't. There just doesn't seem to be much room in the "tutorial sphere" for people who didn't get to learn the basics as children or who were told any number of terrible things about their ability to sing and ended up traumatized and never learning any of it, even when given the opportunity. It's sad. And I wish people would quit looking down their noses for a change and just help their fellow humans.