In my last article I wrote about breathing for singing. Let's review that information so this article will follow in logical sequence.

Breathing, as I said, means the regulation of the ever-constant inward and outward exchange of air in the body. Even though breathing is vital to life and is something we all do, singers must have more than the normal capacity for controlling their breathing mechanism. Breathing for singing is not instinctive. On the other hand, it is not as mysterious as many people seem to believe. It may take time for a singer to master breathing techniques, but the coordination of breathing skill is a process which, when taken step by step, can be succesfully mastered by most people.

I said that learning how to relax is the first step in learning how to inhale and exhale air properly and easily. The muscles of your upper and lower abdomen, your pelvis, your chest muscles, your rib cage and your lungs are the focus of your attention. All of your muscles must be free of the tension and stiffness caused by stress so that your body can actually breathe fully. Sustaining prolonged exhalation requires oxygen. Contraction of your laryngeal muscles requires tremendous supplies of oxygen. All of this appears to the audience as a natural phenomenon, however, we know better.

We began last month by having you simply sit still and breathe to increase your awareness of your present breathing habits and your current capacity for inhaling air freely. You must observe what is happening right now before you can change or imporve. Your breathing must be slowed and calmed down to a point where you become in touch with yourself and your body.

Next, I said to lie down on your back and place your hands on your abdomen and observe the movement as the air enters and leaves your body. You will notice, if your breathing is correct, that your abdomen swells as you inhale and gently contracts as you exhale. This much of your breathing is involuntary and this is where we begin the new information for this month.

Besides putting your hands on your abdomen, you can offer some more resistance to your abdominal muscles by putting five to ten pounds of weight on your stomach while lying there on your back. Anything that weighs no more than ten pounds will do. I usually just take a few books off the shelf and use them. Any time you want an exercise to improve something in your body, you must put some kind of stress on the muscles. In this way the muscle will increase its capacity to work harder and thus the exercise is developmental.

Putting books on your stomach will provide resistance and your abdomen will have to work against the weight in order to expand fully. When you remove the books after a few minutes or so, your abdomen, free of the weight of the books, will suddenly respond with free movement. You will note that there is much more expansion when you inhale and that exhalation is smoother, more of an involuntary reflex. By putting books on your abdomen and breathing with resistance against the pressure, you have set up an environment where your body involuntarily taps into its own primitive, instinctive breathing process.

Now, turn over and lie down on your stomach. Put one arm down by your side and one arm above your head. Turn your head to one side and make sure you are lying comfortably still. Begin the process of observing your breathing again. This time you can use the floor as the resisting object. Breathe so that you make full contact with the floor as you inhale. Don't force or push -that would not be involuntary breathing and therefore would be incorrect. Again, breathe steadily and easily and observe the expansion of your body.

Now, take those books and put them on the small of your back as you lie on the floor and begin the procedure again. In addition, pucker your lips and breathe in hard, making noise as you inhale. As soon as you are full, exhale making a hissing sound through your teeth. Take your time inhaling and exhale as slowly as you can comfortably. The longer you take to exhale, the better it is for your singing. The harder you inhale, the more your body has to work to expand and breathe.

Again, the idea is to offer resistance so that the body has to work harder to respond to the demands of the work load. Your body responds through its involuntary nervous system. This is how an exercise such as the one mentioned in this article become part of your automatic technique. The way you breathe when you sing becomes an automatic reflex which finds its beginnings in exercises that draw upon responses from your reflexes and your instinctive motor functions.

These and other exercises are what I call floor work. They should become part of a daily routine, part of your training and/or preparation to sing. As your breathing process becomes less and less of a mystery, you get closer and closer to gaining full control of the process of breathing for singing.

See you next month.