Take a Deep Breath - Teaching the Inhalation for Singing

Take a Deep Breath:

Teaching the Inhalation for Singing More Effectively – Releasing Abdominal Tension

According to Gillyanne Kayes ‘…when you breathe in, you will feel that your lower abdomen moves out as a result of the diaphragm pulling down…’1 This is true, but does assume that the student already breathes efficiently and correctly. It also assumes that the singer has a good awareness of the detrimental effect abdominal tension has on the inhalation. One of the main breathing challenges I have encountered in the studio is that students find the concept of letting the lower abdomen go into neutral difficult, hence the diaphragm does not depress fully and subsequently the lungs do not fill to capacity. The following are several methods and ideas proposed by both me and my students for helping to release abdominal tension.

1. Inhaling against a wall

A Kinaesthetic Approach

A student can gain insight into the deep breath required for singing through observing the mechanism when they are lying down. In this position the body naturally resorts to effective breathing. However I have found that not all students are comfortable with being asked to lie down on my studio floor during a lesson, albeit with a cushion to support their head and a throw to preserve their clothes. Occasionally students have back and knee problems and such a suggestion is simply inappropriate. As a teacher I do feel that breathing needs to be introduced within the first few weeks of lessons, yet a trusting relationship may not have developed sufficiently to permit what could be a vulnerable situation for the student.

As an alternative I have found that getting a student to check their breathing mechanism while leaning against a wall very effective. The student allows the wall to support them, turning their head to the side so that their cheek is flat against the surface. Arms are relaxed at their sides. I then ask them to lever themselves from this position by releasing the abdominals and allowing the diaphragm to depress, lungs to fill, rib-cage to expand and epigastrium to move forward. If the student ‘chest-breathes’ there is no leverage and this, due to the lack of release of the abdominal muscles, is immediately apparent to them.

I have found this to be an effective method because the student is already upright and experiencing the deep breath. One of the difficulties with breath work on the floor is getting the student to maintain the deep breathing they have so readily discovered when they return to a standing position.

This technique has been effective for about 75% of my students thus far. Effectiveness has been evaluated by how quickly and independently the student comprehends what is required and why i.e. the technique’s place within singing. One of the positive aspects of this exercise is that is allows students to self-evaluate immediately.

2. Abdomen as an Elastic Band –Visualisation

A Visual and/or Aural Approach

Students’ reactions to my explanations of breathing anatomy vary widely, ranging from eyes glazing over to keen interest. I have had to ask myself the question: just how much anatomical information do students usefully need to know and how can I accommodate these different levels of interest within different learning styles?

One of the less orthodox responses to my survey was that of a student who is a hypnotist by profession. This lady recorded a visualisation exercise, coming up with the image of the abdomen as a brightly coloured elastic band which released and expanded with the inhalation. I played this guided visualisation to a cross-section of students and the response was encouraging. Most found it immediately useful, helping them to clearly imagine the abdominal muscles’ activity. Several were very interested in the idea and stated that they would like to experiment further with it. One student who had long-term difficulty getting away from shallow breathing habits deepened her inhalation within one lesson of listening to this visualisation.

Only one student found it categorically unhelpful and preferred to visualise conventional anatomy when inhaling, unsurprising as this student normally approaches tasks intellectually.

The guided meditation was an antithesis to thinking conventionally about anatomy in that it used the imagination and was concerned with the essentials. I was interested to note just how many students related well to this. The recording was not a definitive guide, but a starting point for students to use their own imaginations in visualising the abdominal release.

3. Using Imagery

A Visual Approach

I suggested that several artist-singers in my group class create an image of how they understood the inhalation, in particular bearing in mind the release of the abdominals. The ‘spec’ I provided was that the image could be figurative or abstract and use any media. I also participated in this exercise.

The following week the selected students presented their works, which turned out to be figurative and concerned with the breathing mechanism in general. Given the interconnectedness of inhalation and exhalation this was understandable. Both drawings acknowledged the need for abdominal breathing. The images showed an appreciation of colour and movement which provided information about these students’ learning styles, i.e. visual and kinaesthetic. Interestingly, both drawings revealed a misunderstanding about the breath creating head resonance.

My own contribution was more abstract and based on how I visualise the experience of a deep inhalation.

The group proceeded to practice the inhalation while looking at each of the three images. Several of the group connected well to the latter image with one student stating that it was ‘…simple and had movement and energy’. The two figurative images were well received as interesting drawings, but less effective as stimulators of abdominal breathing.

Encouraging students to do drawings of the inhalation was very useful as the resulting work showed strengths and weaknesses in their comprehension. However, in distilling a method from images I would need to experiment further and ‘…choose them carefully and appropriately for each pupil’2, using my discretion regarding students’ personalities and learning styles. This would suggest the need for having worked with the student for some time.

Further Use of Imagery

I agree with Meribeth Dayme (née Bunch) when she states that referring to the inhalation as ‘abdominal breathing’ is less misleading than the term ‘diaphragmatic breathing’. While the diaphragm is acknowledged as being the most important muscle of inspiration the release of the lower abdominal muscles is vital for maximum functioning of the former.

During the past few months of my research I have collected several phrases evoking images that have helped facilitate ‘abdominal breathing’. They are as follows:

1. ‘Bellyful of breath’

2. ‘Pregnant with breath’

3. ‘Imagine a hole in the abdomen through which breath enters’

4. ‘Balloon filling the abdomen’ (student contribution)

5. ‘Sea rolling in and out’ (student contribution on inhalation and exhalation)

The use of imagery has proven very effective for most students and I would not hesitate to develop this method further. I have been very interested to hear students’ own creative ideas. If an image is personal it is likely to be effective.

4. SPLAT! (Singers Please Loosen Abdominal Tension)/ The Recoil Breath

A Physical Approach

Gillyanne Kayes talks about her own study of breathing, being advised by one instructor that ‘…the secret of breathing in was to breathe out.’3 My understanding of this quote is that if a singer has an insight into what their abdominal muscles are meant to do during the exhalation, they will learn what these muscles are not meant to do during the inhalation, i.e. contract. Janice Chapman is also an advocate of SPLAT!, incorporating it in her ‘Primal Sound’ technique.

SPLAT! involves exhaling at any given moment, a special preceding inhalation not being required. The singer draws their abdomen in towards their spine, pushing any lingering scraps of air out of their lungs. At the point when the exhalation has reached its limit the body will reflexively release the abdominal muscles, allowing the diaphragm to depress and lungs to fill to their capacity, i.e. the recoil. As with the wall leaning exercise I demonstrated SPLAT! in the first instance and students subsequently practiced it under my supervision. The exercise was attempted in a standing position.

SPLAT! had a diverse response. Some students grasped it well and others found it frustrating and strenuous. Over a period of several weeks it was clear that not everybody was releasing their abdominal muscles as a result of this work. In asking students for feedback I found that this was due to the power of old holding habits or simply a lack of clarity about the mechanics of the exercise*.

*The exercise revealed that a number of students had previously assumed the abdominal muscles were contracted during inhalation and relaxed during exhalation. I attempted to remedy this misunderstanding with the following phrase:

‘In=Out’ and ‘Out=In’

Simplified from:

‘Inhalation = Abdominals Out

Exhalation = Abdominals In’

I have noticed recently that when students get confused during SPLAT! they start to repeat this phrase to themselves before re-attempting the exercise. It does appear to help them focus their efforts.

Conclusion

My research demonstrated just how vital it is to fathom a student’s personality and learning style when teaching technique. Having several tools available is necessary and this requires a teacher to be open-minded while simultaneously grounded in facts of anatomy and physiology. I am pleased to come away with alternatives to my original teaching method of demonstration and use of anatomical drawings, a more intellectual approach. I won’t fully abandon this but nor will it be my default method in the future. Though traditional and time-tested, I was never entirely comfortable placing my hands on my students. It is timely to have more options that enable students to clearly practice and self-evaluate abdominal release.

Opposition to abdominal release came in several forms. Unsurprisingly many of my students were uncomfortable with having to release their lower abdominal muscles. The learned response is to hold these muscles tight and all of the above exercises focus on the necessity to ‘reduce the holding patterns in the abdominal wall’4. One student told me that the release was in direct opposition to maintaining the ‘central core’ required for Pilates, another activity she engaged in. Several dancers had the same concern. I was alarmed that so many students interpreted releasing the abs as an instruction for the whole body to slouch. It was vital to pause and address posture during the work.

Several students consistently contradicted my research, those who engage in shallow breathing without their capacity and control being compromised - and apparently without the usual resultant tension on the larynx. I am still considering how I need to go about advocating the benefits of abdominal breathing to these students, so my research continues.

As with any investigation there are as many questions raised as are answered. Svend Smith’s ‘Accent Method’ merits more research as does Janice Chapman’s work with ‘Primal Sound’ which interestingly combines deep, reflexive breathing with emotion. There are many other studies of technique that are not singing related such as breathing for yoga, re-birthing, Chi Gung and athletic activities, to name a few. I feel that it would be useful to have a working knowledge of these, if not to apply directly to singing then for the purpose of achieving a rounded understanding of the power of the breath in different situations. In short, there are many worthwhile and interesting avenues that can be followed for developing a thorough pedagogy for breathing.

Bibliography:

Kayes, G (2004) Singing and the Actor (Routledge)

Dayme, M (1997) Dynamics of the Singing Voice (Springer Wien)

Chapman, J (2006) Singing and Teaching Singing:

A Holistic Approach to Classical Voice (Plural Publishing)

Harris, P (2006) Improve Your Teaching! (Faber Music)

Footnotes/ Indices

1 Kayes, Gillyanne (2004) Singing and the Actor (Routledge)

2 Harris, P (2006) Improve Your Teaching! (Faber Music)

3 Kayes, G (2004) Singing and the Actor (Routledge)

3 Chapman, J (2006) Singing and Teaching Singing: A Holistic Approach to Classical Voice (Plural Publishing)

© Cathryn VM Robson 2009