Breathing Exercises For Singing

As a singer, you’ll be aware of how important your breathing is. Although, not just breathing, but breath control too. And just as successful athletes need to train to perform at their best, so too do singers. Breathing exercises for singing are essential to ensure that you don’t run out of air or strain yourself during a performance.

Breathing exercises for singing

Most beneficial to singers is to improve the strength, function, and endurance of your breathing muscles. This is possible with inspiratory (breathing in) and expiratory (breathing out) muscle training. And this can easily be incorporated into your daily vocal exercise routine.

Connecting to your primary breathing muscle, your diaphragm, is of fundamental importance to you as a singer. In fact, diaphragmatic breathing is something you do, without thinking, from the moment you are born. But as you grow, bad habits start, and shallow breathing takes over with the stress that a busy lifestyle brings. If you also work at a desk all day or find yourself bent over your mobile or tablet, your posture is also impacted which in turn also compromises your breathing.

Good breathing technique is the foundation of a great vocal performance. After having learnt to breathe using all your breathing muscles again, your subsequent singing performance will be drastically improved.

How to do breathing exercises for singing

The ultimate goal of these exercises is to help you to breathe in as much air as possible and breathe out as much air as possible when your singing calls for it. After all, to breathe out well, you need to have taken a deep breath-in first.

So, how do you do such breathing exercises for singing? Well, POWERbreathe inspiratory muscle training (IMT) will help you to take in strong, deep breaths. POWERbreathe expiratory muscle training (EMT) will help you to exhale with force and power.

Breathing Trainers – IMT and EMT

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And finally, the Flow-Ball Ultra by POWERbreathe will help you control your exhale by training you to release your breath gradually.

Improve your inhale

POWERbreathe IMT will strengthen your inspiratory muscles and improve stamina, helping you to take in as much air as possible, both vertically and horizontally, to fill your lungs. This is essential for helping you hit the high notes. It works on the same principles as resistance training and users often call it a dumbbell for their diaphragm. IMT will help you to snatch a quick, deep breath in when you’re partway through a musical phrase. In fact, performance of the highest and lowest pitch sounds within a vocal register in a single breath and phonation times can be improved by inspiratory muscle training.

Improve your exhale

POWERbreathe EMT improves your expiratory muscles’ strength, function, and endurance. This will improve your vocal strength, stability, endurance and power, which is essential for the times when you need to hold a long note without running out of breath.

Research shows that performing IMT and EMT simultaneously within the same breath cycle is not recommended. This is because training both breathing phases at the same time creates such a demand on your breathing muscles that training becomes too uncomfortable and difficult. This results in impaired training response and benefits. This is why POWERbreathe develops devices for training your inspiratory muscles, using IMT, independently of your expiratory muscles, using EMT.

Master your breath control

Another essential technique to master is breath control. Breathing exercises for breath control will train you to adjust the flow of your exhale, helping you to control your phrasing and breathing dynamics. Learning to control your exhale will help you to achieve a constant and powerful voice and tone.

The Flow-Ball Ultra by POWERbreathe is a breathing exercise tool that encourages a steady exhale. This will help you to hold on to a note, and improve your vocal range and quality of tone. Learning to control your breath will also help prevent you from releasing all your breath when you hit the higher notes. And, with the popularity of hip-hop, knowing that you’re able to grab a breath and release it gradually and consistently as you rap is essential. The Flow-Ball Ultra will help you with this – and it’s fun too.

Watch this playlist for ideas on how to use the Flow-Ball Ultra:

You can also download this Basics of Singing guide from English choirmaster and BBC broadcaster, Gareth Malone OBE.

Finally, by reconnecting with your diaphragm and strengthening your breathing muscles, you will find that your posture improves too.

“I bought this product [POWERbreathe Plus MR] as a precautionary measure for its measured results in keeping systolic blood pressure in a healthy range. I’m writing because it seems to me that the device has an additional “off-label” benefit of significantly improving my posture. The device makers make no claim about this, but it stands to reason that the lung muscles are part of the set that holds us up. With weaker muscles as we age (I’m 66) there is a tendency to slump. I used to consciously correct myself frequently. Now, when I think of it, I find my posture is already good & I’m moving strongly as a result!

Leslie Speakes (verified owner) – December 11, 2022

If you are a singer and are already using POWERbreathe breathing trainers as part of your vocal training, we would love to hear your thoughts. Find us now on POWERbreathe’s social channels:

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