What is Breath Control? Why is it important for singing?

Breath control is a commonly used "buzzword," often evoking confusion among singers. How is controlling breath even possible? Breathing is a natural process that we don't even think about in our day-to-day lives. However, as we age, we lose sight of the low, "belly breaths" that allow for maximum oxygen optimization.

When interviewing Emily Kristen Morris, vocal coach and Elphaba on the national tour of Wicked, she noted that "a low belly breath, or a singer's breath is a super natural way of breathing. That's how babies breathe. When you look at babies, it's a low breath, you know, they're certainly not breathing into that area. They're breathing into their diaphragm, so to speak. So it's sort of retraining us to do what we already do naturally. And what we do in our sleep, we breathe slow, low breaths in our sleep, and that's a singers breath."

Breath control is all about reverting back to this diaphragmatic breathing. Instead of hiking up shoulders, one is supposed to do the opposite: Relax shoulders, and breathe not just through your belly, but imagine filling your entire lower body cavity with air. Expansion should be felt through your entire intercostal muscle area as your diaphragm expands. This is fundamental to breathing properly, the true natural form.

For singers, it is also important to note how engaging your core with your diaphragm works on a muscular level. As Emily notes, intentionality when approaching songs "changes how you use your airflow through your sound." A pillar of breath control is funneling airflow correctly, to ensure proper airflow and resistance, which starts with engagement of your intercostal muscles.

Try this: Engage your core, as if you were preparing to do a pushup. Inhale, and when you exhale, keep your muscles engaged and make a whoosh sound. Don't allow all the air to escape at once, but rather, keep it controlled, the air moving out on the whoosh sound until you cannot exhale longer. This allows regulation of your breath, and is a great way to practice increasing your lung capacity. Each time you repeat, try to exhale for longer periods of time.