Some Quick Breathing Exercises to Build Your Control and Stability

Here are SIX breathing exercises for strengthening your Breath "Control".  This is a tricky subject because on the one hand, you want to be relaxed from torso to chin BUT you will need to maintain a certain degree of "tension" in your Diaphragm in order to have great Control over your breath stream.  These exercises should be carefully done so that you are able to MAINTAIN a RELAXED posture ABOVE the Diaphragm, while becoming more and more aware of controlling the tension and control of your Diaphragm and abdomen as it contracts and moves.  Should you begin to experience tension in your throat, you need to stop the exercise, relax, and start again once you have been able to get back to a composed and flexible posture.  Each of these exercises are performed using a form of the "s-s-s-s-s" consonant sound.

1.  This first exercise begins with an inhale and on the exhale, intone a constant, SOFT, STABLE "ssssssss", as if you were a snake.  Begin with 3-5 seconds, unless you notice tension.  Your inhale should always be to a count of 5.  Your exhale can then begin with the "ssssss" to a count of 5, then 10, then 15, and so on.  However, the inhale value should not change.  It is unrealistic to think, as a singer, that you will have, honestly, even 5 seconds to breathe but certainly no longer.
2.  Exercise two is the same as Exercise one except that the "ssssss" is LOUD and STABLE.  This will require a greater volume of air, so please beware of tension and do not attempt to progress beyond any level that causes any degree of stress in your throat.  The progressions, however, can occur just as in Exercise one.
3. Exercise three is a Staccato version of the "sss" sound, "ss-ss-ss-ss-ss-ss-ss-ss..."  No volume level is stipulated for this particular exercise but the progressions are to follow and grow or be maintained as with exercises one and two.  "Staccato" means detached and disconnected.  However, it does NOT mean to sing so disconnected that you take breaths between articulations; it is learning to articulate a "connected" sound, as opposed to a disconnected one.
4. Exercise four begins combining elements of the earlier exercises.  For this particular one, begin by taking your inhale to a count of five and on the exhale sing "ssss" softly" but then, Crescendo (get louder) to a Loud "ssss".  As in earlier exercises, after your 5-count inhale, begin with a 5-count exhale, doing the SOFT to LOUD technique.  Once you are comfortable with the 5-count exhale, extend it, as earlier, to 10-count, 15-count, or even 20-count.  To make this exercise even more effective and challenging, you can also change up the combination of the soft and loud "ssss" sounds.  Though you may not realize it, this is replicating activity you will do in actual songs.  
5. Exercise five is another combination.  This one begins with the Staccato "ssss" sound and moves into the SOFT "ssss".  Again, after your inhale, you begin with a 5-count exhale and gradually extend that as you are comfortable.  This one can also be made more challenging by alternating back and forth between the Staccato and Soft "Legato" (stable and steady) versions of "ssss".
6. Exercise Six combines all of the elements from the above exercises.  After your successful inhale, as you begin to exhale sing the Staccato "ss-ss-ss-ss..."into the SOFT "ssss" into the LOUD "ssss".

These are relatively easy exercises BUT they are also very easy to perform incorrectly.  When I said above you don't want ANY STRESS when you do these exercises, I REALLY mean NO STRESS!  Take this slow!  Take it SLOW!  Ultimately, you will improve SO much faster if you do this correctly!  You want to focus your energies on THREE AREAS:  1.  Focus on how your Diaphragm FEELS, how your back expands, how your rib-cage expands, and how your abdomen as a whole moves.  2.  As you are concentrating on the muscular movement of your breathing, you should recognize that the air moves DOWN in toward your abdomen, as well as OUT.  What I mean by this is, try to visualize the air as if it were a "heavy liquid" that would follow gravity and fall LOW to the bottom of your Lungs first.  At the same time, the air is so "powerful" that as it enters your Lungs, it pushes the Diaphragm down, pushes the abdomen down and out, pushes the ribs out, and even presses outward near the Lumbar spine (lower back area).  3.  Lastly, it is of optimal importance to MAINTAIN the muscle tension during your exhale but ONLY in your Diaphragm and surrounding areas.  Sometimes, it may be as big a challenge to keep your chest and throat relaxed as it is to keep up the necessary tension through your abdomen and Diaphragm.  This is why you MUST take your exercises for learning to breathe CORRECTLY.  NO ONE is going to judge you for not being able to hiss for 20 seconds but you will WOW all kinds of folks when you are able to control a long phrase, and really inspire and motivate an audience to do whatever you want them to do.  Singing WELL is NOT easy; it takes a LOT of work!  If you want to sing as a sideline, no worries.  However, if you want to be a GREAT singer, want to be able to control your voice and your breathing and your phrasing, you just have to WORK and TRUST ME.  I am here for YOU, not for me.  Please comment below with questions or needs or check in on my website at SingitForward.net.