Journal of Voice

Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 30-35

1988Raven Press, Ltd., New York

Breathing for Singing

Shirlee Emmons
School for Music, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

Summary: Methods of teaching breathing for singers are diverse. However, it

is universally agreed that breath training and support are essential to good
singing technique. One method is presented in detail to illustrate the difficulties in producing good singing technique in the studio and the need for imagery as well as scientific fact. The need for further collaboration among scientists and voice teachers is stressed. Key Words: S i n g i n g - - V o i c e - - B r e a t h i n g
for singing--Respiration.

of its regulation suggests an answer: psychological

concepts are often in opposition to physiological
systems. Each singer who uses the system successfully describes his or her "method" in terms of the
two or three muscles that are perceived to be in
use. Furthermore, every teacher of singing accepts
the fact that the possession of anatomically accurate information does not guarantee an effective use
of air for singing. Frequently, a working concep~
(even an anatomically faulty one) is more useful.
For example, although lacking scientific support,
experience teaches that the desire (and the ability)
to sing legato really does elicit efficient breathing
for singing. Yet, to rest a teaching concept on an
anatomical impossibility makes many teachers uneasy. Teaching is probably more productive when
concept is matched to facts. This report outlines a
struggle to do just that.
The singing voice demands continuous adjustments in lung volume, rib cage volume, and abdominal volume. The types of adjustment depend on
linguistic demands, artistic interpretation, musical
phrasings, and those laryngeal adjustments that accommodate varying dynamic levels, pitches, registers, and vocal qualities. These differences between breathing for living and breathing for singing
point to the fact that the singer must truly be a
"professional breather." He must be able to fill or
empty his lungs quickly or slowly (duration of

Editor's Note: Although the Journal o f Voice

does not usually publish purely pedagogical papers,
this contribution is included in our special issue on
respiration especially for the benefit of our scientist, physician, and speech pathologist readers. It
provides practical insight into the common language and studio applications of breathing technique that medicine and science are trying to elucidate.
Doubts never cease to plague the voice teacher:
Have I really found the best way to present these
particular facts to my students? Have I really put
together a teaching system that avoids both of two
acknowledged pitfalls: results producing so little
muscular control that skill is lacking, or so much
control that there is no room left for natural competence?
Where breathing for singing is concerned, there
seem to be hundreds of concepts. How is that possible? Surely, there cannot really be more than four
or five that meet the scientific criteria. Hixon's (1)
admirable consideration of the empirical understanding of breathing techniques versus the reality
This paper was presented at the Sixteenth Symposium: Care
of the Professional Voice, New York, June 1987.
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Prof. S.
Emmons, Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts,
Department of Music, New Brunswick, NJ 08903, U.S.A.

30

BREATHING FOR SINGING

sound) and gently or forcefully (intensity and frequency variations) to meet the artistic requirements
of his music.
To address these needs, teachers and singers
have many methods (2), none of which can rationally be disputed. There are widely divergent ways
of solving the problems of teaching breathing for
singing, but about the uses of that air we teachers
are generally in agreement, led by a common musical and vocal esthetic: there must be constant
momentum and unceasing "spinning" of the tone
with an evenness of vibration--none of which must
diminish regardless of dynamic levels, uneven
rhythms, tempo changes, register variations, or
disturbing consonants (which must, of course, be
rendered nonviolent).
When such an effort is successful, it coordinates
air with phonation. Reexamining the question of
whether breathing should be taught as an isolated
or synthesized effort, it is difficult to oppose Appelman's (3) fine case supporting a synthesis of effort between singing and breathing. His main points
are as follows: (a) independent control of each
muscle of expiration is impossible; (b) controlled
expiration in singing is conceptual; and (c) the
singer fares best who has a firm grasp upon the
physical sensation of a completely unified act that
combines expiration and phonation.
The process of controlling abdominal pressures
upon the passive diaphragm in order to send air
from the lungs (i.e., to sing) is immeasurably aided
by the antagonistic action of the muscles of the
thorax. When the management of air is poorly executedl the resultant laryngeal tensions create deterioration of the vocal quality. This tonal impairment
is lessened, if not eliminated, by continuously controlled p r e s s u r e s . The q u e s t i o n f a c i n g voice
teachers is not whether but how to impart such an
ability to control volume and pressure. Appelman's
(3) description is apt: " . . . the artist (who appears)
the most poised and r e l a x e d . . . (is the singer who)
has learned to discipline every muscle to create the
illusion of ease and poise."
Strategies usually employed seem to vary between techniques that demand either relaxation or
support of a so-called " h e a v y m e c h a n i s m . " Relaxation as a goal tends to give a voice that is wellcontrolled, but diminished in size (3). On the other
hand, singing with the heavy mechanism in preference to all other intensity levels (i.e., the cords vibrating at maximum amplitude at all frequencies)

31

approaches the limits of the singing voice, and as

such is dangerous.
Serious study of this dichotomy, added to singing
and teaching experience, informs us that allowing
too much emphasis on forceful contraction of abdominal muscles results in excessive tension in the
neck, and a final tone that becomes "pushed," not
to mention incapable of a pianissimo. The fairly
common practice of encouraging the singing student to concentrate exclusively upon abdominal
muscles would thus appear to be less than salubrious. On the other hand, attention focused exclusively upon the chest muscles produces vocal cords
that seem too relaxed and a sound that is colorless
if not breathy. This method produces antithetical
results far tess often for the reason that concentration upon thoracic musculature frequently elicits a
healthy response from the abdominals even without
conscious invoking of their strength.
For the singer and for his teacher, a practical deduction seems inescapable: the problem resolves to
one of maintaining a balance b e t w e e n the two
muscle groups. Surely, this opposition was what
Lamperti (4) described with his famous but ambiguous term, "lutta vocale" ("vocal battle").
Appelman's (3) phrase "point of suspension"
and Sbriglia's (5) "point d'6pui" appear to indicate
the way for the teacher, who seeks a simple and
efficient means of teaching his students to maintain
this balance. Picture the acrobat who tries to balance himself on his tightwire. He holds a long pole
upon which his attention is riveted. As he maintains
the absolute equilibrium of the pole, his body,
acting as a fulcrum, responds in various complex
muscular ways to the task. As long as he succeeds
in keeping the p01e in balance, he stays on the wire.
He cannot get so good a result by focusing his attention on the various muscle groups that must perform that task.
Another analogy, less perfect in the physics
sense, is the seesaw. The problem can be viewed as
that of maintaining perfect equilibrium of the
seesaw board. Imagine two men seated at opposite
ends. One represents the abdominal musculature
whose job is to reduce lung volume by an expiration from below (i.e., to produce a singing tone).
The other man represents thoracic muscles whose
job is to provide resistance during the expiration
(thus producing controlled pressure). The two men
are absolutely balanced at the beginning of the expiration. After a few milliseconds of spending air,

Journal of Voice, Vol. 2, No. I, 1988

32

S. E M M O N S

the "abdominal" end begins to be less weighty. As

a result, the seesaw inevitably lowers on the other
end unless the thoracic forces are given more
weight.
These analogies underline one fact: the necessarily unceasing fluctuations of balance between
the two opposing muscular forces are of utmost
complexity. An accomplished singer must be able
to elicit the best coordination between these two
groups and the best performance from each group.
The teacher's reasoning, as he or she searches
out a practical solution, may well be based upon
the following axioms: (a) no muscle works alone; it
is steadied in its activity by the opposition of other
muscles; (b) muscles always function better when
they are forced by mental discipline to perform a
real task; we have but to let them know what they
should be accomplishing. Surely (as in the tightrope
walker's act), the breathing muscles would perform
better if they were given the freedom to decide, so
to speak, what to do to complete that musical task,
rather than for us, the singers, to control their complicated activity directly. So may the teacher be led
to look about for a way to control the thoracic and
abdominal muscle groups indirectly, a way that
would allow them to respond to the task, rather
than to the specific controls of the singer. Ideally, in
other words, the singer should be in charge of a
secondary control that would elicit minute accommodations of the breathing muscles to the musical task
at hand, such as producing loud or soft dynamics,
accommodating register changes and gradations in
the size of the resonator, extending the usable
breath supply, etc.
At this point, the teacher may find it expedient to
move into the area of the conceptual, where the accompanying vocabulary might even stray into the
language of imagery. (In the voice studio, pragmatism has top priority; what the teacher counsels
must " w o r k . " ) The method for teaching breathing
that I personally have adopted cannot be guaranteed to have more than a basic relationship to scientific accuracy. However, it does afford the singer
control without specific control, efficiency, stability, ease, and simplicity of effort. In its favor, it
must be reported that it is easily mastered (literally
within weeks by an experienced singer) and that its
results are invariably described by the disconcerted
singer as "doing nothing." Echoing the younger
Lamperti's (6) not very helpful assertion about
breath ( " I f the singer feels exertion, he has not the

Journal of Voice, Vol. 2, "No. 1, 1988

right method."), this reaction does seem to be a

vote of approval. The procedure produces a feeling
of ease, but is decidedly not relaxation. Fatigue of
the back muscles is generally noted by the singers,
but no concomitant tiredness of the larynx.
Of necessity, specifics differ with the type of
singer. Beginning singers simply will not practice
air control by themselves, says Vennard (7), because the subject is so dull. I concur, and therefore
do not teach it until several lessons have passed.
With beginning singers, it is best to get the voice
going in other respects, and only after several
lessons to show the singer what a difference the
breath makes in tone and ease of production. At
that time, when the student is willing to make sufficient efforts to learn breath control, a certain
amount of time must be spent correcting posture
and teaching the singer to keep the shoulders relaxed and independent of the breathing mechanism.
Vennard (7) has two efficient exercises:
Imagine yourself a marionette, hanging from strings,
one attached to the top of your head, one to the top
of your sternum. This keeps the head erect and lifts
the chest, allowing the pelvis to hang in position.
Swing the arms circularly, as if they were wings,
rising on your toes with each swing to add to the
psychological effect. This both relaxes the shoulders
and expands the thorax.
The beginner must be taught to identify the sensations connected with the use of those muscles of
the abdomen that are most easily palpable (in addition to the transverse abdi3minus and the two
obliques, adding the latissimus dorsi in the back
gives a recognizable circle of muscles). These
muscles must be kept in good tone. Two exercises
to strengthen the abdominal muscles are as follows:
Lying on your back, lift both legs, knees locked, to
about six inches from the floor and hold. With time,
the distance from the floor can be diminished, adding
to the difficulty and thus to the strength of the abdominals.
Sitting on the floor, knees drawn up, hands
clasped behind the head, lean back to a spot at which
the abdominals quiver at a slow count of ten. Hold at
this spot for five more counts. Relax forward and
then do another. These sit-backs, with time and
added strength, can be performed at a spot further
back, more strenuous, but more effective.
Beginning s t u d e n t s - - o r any singer who demon-

B R E A T H I N G FOR S I N G I N G

strates the n e e d - - s h o u l d also perform exercises

that coordinate muscle strength with lack of throat
tension, a prototype of actual singing.
Lie on your back. Singing an easy a in the speaking
range, perform a slow double leg lift. The intoned a
must not wobble as the legs come up; that is to say,
throat tension must not accompany the sung tone.
Neck tendons will tense because of the leverage
problem, but the throat must not.
Physical movements that identify for the beginner
the external intercostals are imperative:
Lift the arms above the head, with which movement
comes an elevated rib cage. Lower the arms while
maintaining an expanded ribset.
Helpful in this context is an exercise that is believed to be a favorite of Jean de Reszke and was
one of the standbys of the great teacher, Paola Novikova:
Sit with shoulders rounded (preferably straddling a
chair backwards), elbows on knees, hands hanging
down in relaxation. Take in breath by expanding the
lower ribs but without allowing the chest to rise dramatically. Sing is this position, keeping rib expansion
intact as long as possible.

At this time, correct inhalation--not an easy procedure--should be investigated with the student.
The first step in my preferred method is a forced
exhalation. The state of collapse so induced seems
to elicit a natural and unforced inhalation accompanied by the requisite loose shoulders, low diaphragm, enlarged abdomen, and expanded ribs.
However, care must be taken that the local control
exercises not continue for too long a time, without
moving on to a synthesis of phonation and air control. An uninterrupted flow of air (legato) can be
encouraged by such exercises as continuous lip
trills and use of the consonant " N G " on slow
moving melodies.
With experienced singers, it is possible to plunge
immediately into a method of maintaining balance
between the two muscle groups without overcontrolling specific muscles. Once the muscles affording an expanded chest and the muscles affording abdominal drive are recognized by the student (and prove to the teacher's satisfaction to be
without disability), they can proceed to control
these efforts by secondary means. There is a spot
located slightly below the epigastrium, generally

33

above the belt line, that a singer identifies as the

center of his or her body in that moment after a
complete and deep inhalation. This spot, recognized by dancers, d e v o t e e s of the A l e x a n d e r
method and yoga discipline as the "center of the
body," is simply the place where one feels the fulcrum of the breathing muscles, thoracic and abdominal. It happens also to be directly outside the
celiac plexus. This probably explains why so many
people regard that particular location as the center
of the body, identifying it by a lay term, "solar
plexus."
At the completion of a proper, deep inhalation,
the celiac plexus area is in a condition that can be
called "poise." By definition, the word "poise"
refers to a state of equalization, steadiness, levelness. Thus do I use it to describe a state of balanced tension, which hovers between a muscular
contraction so strong as to feel rigid to the fingers,
and a total relaxation of that muscular area. This
state of " p o i s e " (not relaxed, not tense) of the
muscular "point of equilibrium" that has been attained at the end of a deep inhalation must be maintained regardless of the inclination on the part of
the singer to change it. When the singer can sustain
the " p o i s e " in the point of equilibrium (not allowing it to become rigid or flaccid) throughout dynamic, register, tempo, and lung volume changes,
then he or she can execute with dispatch and ease
all of the complex maneuvers required by artistic
singing. In the last analysis, it amounts to a species
of remote control that demands trust that the thoracic and abdominal muscle groups will balance
themselves during the execution of those musical
instructions that the brain (and the music) demands.
During the process of learning to monitor effectively the point of equilibrium, a second check
should be made on the tonicity of the abdominal
and thoracic muscles. If either or both sets of
muscles are wholly or in part ineffective, it soon
becomes apparent because of the tone quality. If
such is the case, it is wise to concentrate for a time
on strengthening the deficient muscle group before
returning to the quest for balance. With experienced singers, the most common scenario by far is
one in which the thoracic expansion is weaker than
the abdominal strength. This appears to be more
prevalent among teaching methods.
When constant balance is achieved, the forces of
expiration and phonation are unified and coordi-

Journal of Voice, Vol, 2, No. 1, 1988

34

S. E M M O N S

nated, the production of unwavering sound is assured, changes in size of the resonating system are
accommodated, an ample supply of breath with some
reserve is provided, variance in amplitude of the
cords is supported, and undue tensions of the musculature of the neck and throat are averted. The
preceding list reads like a panacea of proportions
too great to be credited. In my own experience,
however, this balancing does everything but make
the resonator more efficient. Certain acoustical calibrations involving the tongue and j a w opening
must be accomplished with expertise in order not to
impede the action of the vocal cords, but, other
than this, the concept of maintenance of balanced
tension ("poise") in the point of equilibrium is paramount in providing what we call support and in
eliciting a beautiful tone quality.
My teaching method includes asking singers to
practice this maintenance of "poise" under various
exigent conditions that imitate the musical tasks
asked of a singer. All exercises are done with the
fingers touching the point of equilibrium, monitoring it for unvarying balanced tension ("poise")
while (a) singing a five-tone scale (or any other extremely simple melody) in which a perfect mezzo
forte is sustained until the breath is exhausted
(placing the voice so that it speaks fully to the end
of the breath is necessarily equivalent to an increase in breath force); (b) singing large melodic
skips upward on one vowel with one dynamic level
that must be kept unwavering despite register
changes (variations: downward skips; two different
vowels on the skip; performing the skip at the end
of the air supply); (c) singing two or three nine-tone
scales on one vowel with one mezzo forte dynamic
level to the end of the breath (variations: alternate
vowels during the scales; decrease to piano at the
top; increase to forte on the top of the scale); (d)
attacking in various registers at a mezzo forte level
(variations: use front and back vowels; add a preceding consonant; attack at piano or forte level;
this is the most difficult coordination between
larynx and breath, requiring firm approximation of
the lips of the glottis, which in turn will demand
less air, not more); (e) singing rapid arpeggios of an
octave and fifth at an absolutely even mezzo forte
level (variations: slow tempo; piano and forte
levels; crescendos and decrescendos at the top; legato and staccato; the addition of consonants); (t)
singing fioratura passages featuring complicated
combinations of diatonic and arpeggiated configu-

Journal of Voice, Vol. 2, No. 1', 1988

rations at an even mezzo forte level (variations:

piano and forte levels; including crescendos and
decrescendos); (g) singing melodies with various
rhythmic complexities, resisting the strong tendency to let the air flow follow the rhythmic pattern
(dotted patterns are most difficult); and (h) singing
m e s s a di v o c e excercises on one note in various
registers. As the skill at maintaining poise in the
point of equilibrium increases, the singer revels in
the ease and stability of his vocal emission, qualities that remain intact even during extremely difficult vocal and musical maneuvers.
Along the way, the n e c e s s i t y for some fine
tunings will become apparent, such as the complex
differences of balance when singing piano as oppose to forte, which must be addressed directly
with a bit more hands-on attention. Some discoveries are expected. For example, since keeping the
ribs up and o u t - - a pulling, not a pushing action-is contrary to their natural function and is, in a
sense, a negative instruction (do N O T collapse),
they require more vigilance than do the abdominal
muscles, which are functioning naturally, if with
greater strength. (In fact, rigidity of the larynx and
tensions in the neck and throat often, although not
invariably, stem from overuse of abdominals and
concomitant collapse of the ribs.) Several small adjustments are necessary: The singer must, for example, learn to spare some attention to the ribs to
make certain that they are maintaining their height
and breadth. This must be done at a specific moment in each phrase--that moment just before one
notes that the air is running out. At that point, the
brain's demand for oxygen is encouraging the ribs
to collapse and push the remaining air from the
lungs. If the intercostals are not attended to before
that point, it will be fairly useless to attempt to
stave off their collapse until the next inhalation.
Once the singer is capable of maintaining expanded
ribs while not changing the balanced tension
("poise") of the celiac plexus region, the resultant
ease and control is so rewarding that progress is
swift.
Dedicated teachers find it impossible to rest until
they have sought out the most efficient way to
teach the execution of each technical maneuver required of the singer. At a certain point, however,
mechanical i n s t r u c t i o n s - - h o w e v e r well based in
fact they may b e - - b e c o m e counterproductive. In
putting together a method for teaching breathing, a
teacher might well try to circumvent rigidly mecha-

BREATHING

nistic proclivities and to find, instead, a way of allowing the body to answer the demands of the
singing breath.
From this vantage point, one can identify a great
service that the Voice Foundation's yearly symposia do for its teaching participants and auditors:
they inspire us to take a n e w look. Further collaboration among singing teachers, voice scientists, and
physicians should lead us all toward the new visions that will serve to improve the teaching of
voice, and thus the health and the quality of vocalism for our singers.

FOR SINGING

35

REFERENCES
1. Hixon TJ, et al. Respiratory function in speech and song.
Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1986:69-71.
2. Fields V. Training the singing voice. New York: King's
Crown Press, 1947:94-7.
3. Appelman D. The science o f vocal pedagogy. Bloomington,
IN: Indiana University Press, 1967:11,16-19.
4. Coffin B, Francesco Lamperti: A treatise on the art of
singing. N A T S Bull 1982;39(2):39.
5. Coffin B. Sbriglia's singing method. ]VATS Bull 1984;
40(3):38.
6. Coffin B. The technics of bel canto: Giovanni Battista Lamperti. N A T S Bull 1983;39(3):30.
7. Vennard W. Singing, the mechanism and technic. N e w
York: Carl Fischer, 1967:18,19.

Journal of Voice, Vol. 2, No. 1, 1988