Breathing Styles and Appoggio Breathing

         I KNOW I’ve already talked a LOT about breathing but guess what, you can never know too much about it!  My Daddy was one of those guys that had his tools mounted up on peg board in his “shop” with each one outlined in black, sort of a “Color by Numbers” type of scenario.  He did not have A hammer.  Oh, no!  He had, probably a DOZEN hammers in different sizes, for various specialized purposes.  Well, all these breathing posts are kinda like those hammers.  One “size” does NOT fit all.  One breathing exercise is not enough to stimulate all your breathing needs; one explanation won’t give you every detail you need.  THEREFORE, I’m going to continue to add breathing posts with more and more information, and more and more exercises, so you will have more and more and better and more specialized tools for aiding your singing.  Today’s topic is Breathing Styles.  No, there is NOT a different kind of breathing for rock music versus country or pop or even classical BUT in our everyday lives, there ARE different types of breathing “styles” that will AGAIN, help you get better and better at perfecting your singing, whatever style that may be.  I don’t believe I have EVER had a student who didn’t come up against issues in one of their songs, and it ALWAYS stems from BREATHING ISSUES.  If you learn to breathe correctly for singing NOW, no matter what the song, aria, scene, whatever, you will succeed with unprecedented speed and ease.  This is NOT something I THINK is true; I have LIVED this, LEARNED these techniques, and EXPERIENCED the incredible freedom, power, and flexibility that results.  Below are the 4 types of Breathing.  Check out the following few blog posts for more detailed descriptions and exercises.  These changes are NOT quick!  You will have to work on these CONSISTENTLY, FREQUENTLY, UNTIL YOU’VE PRACTICED SO LONG YOU’RE NOT PRACTICING ANYMORE!  What this means is that to BEGIN with, you will have to discipline yourself to practice the breathing techniques and exercises.  You HAVE to practice them a LOT and all the time, and over and over.  The amount of time will vary from person to person but at some point, you will come to realize that you don’t need to practice anymore because you are “connecting” and “controlling” your breathing all the time already.

Breathing Styles:

•            Scapular or Clavicular Breathing - Though some researchers call this the “breath of exhaustion,” from watching distance runners upon finishing a race with hands on their hips, “catching” their breath, I believe Clavicular Breathing to be a much more shallow form of breathing, for the most part.  When you see a person’s shoulders lifting when they breathe, this is Clavicular Breathing.  Interestingly enough, when a physician notices a patient breathing in this way, bronchial problems, such as bronchitis or upper respiratory infection are suspected.

•            Abdominal Breathing - Known as the “breath of life,” this style of breathings deeply, primarily involves the use of abdominal muscles for inhalation and exhalation.  Animals use this form of breathing as do newborn babies.   Abdominal Breathing, ONLY, unfortunately, causes something called “sub glottal pressure” or “the fist in the throat” for singers.  Muscles in the body contract; that’s it, one function.  They rely on other muscles to counterbalance their movements.  The Diaphragm contracts down when inhalation takes place.  If a “forceful” exhalation occurs, as the Diaphragm begins to relax and move back to its original position, muscles in the abdomen tighten and press the Diaphragm back into place.  For a singer, this causes a sensation of pressure or discomfort in the throat, which is the “fist in the throat” and “sub-glottal pressure”.  This pressure can have long-term, negative consequences as well, including causing an uncontrollable “shake” or wobble in the voice. 

•            Intercostal Breathing - The Internal and External Intercostal muscles are tiny, little muscles between the ribs.  We always think of the ribs as solid and immovable but each and every time you breathe, they move, sometimes up and out, sometimes in and down.  The rib cage becomes very “elastic” during respiration.  This is “chest breathing” and does not really engage abdominal muscles.

•            Thoracic or Pancostal Breathing - This is a “combination” breathing style.  By combining abdominal and intercostal breathing styles, Diaphragmatic-Intercostal or Thoracic Breathing results.  The abdominal breath is used for creating a “reserve” or reservoir of air, while intercostal exhalation control allows for strong phrasing and expression.   The greatest challenge with this breathing style is learning to “control” or balance the shape of the chest, while resisting the impulse to expel air with immediacy.  Learning to tighten abdominal muscles, forcing air to fill the chest instead, or learning to resist the outflow of air from the chest, all contribute to successful pancostal breathing.  This is known as “Appoggio” or “supported” singing.  The two most crucial components of Appoggio are learning to preserve the “balance of forces” in the body during exhalation, and that the External Intercostals will be terribly fatigued if the abdominal muscles, especially the Rectus Abdominus (what most people commonly know as “Abs”), are over-inflated during inhalation.  The key word here is “balance” and it is this balance that requires hours and hours of practice to achieve.

Check out the next post for additional exercises to begin building your connection to and strengths in each of the types of breathing addressed above.  Thank you so much for reading!  Please send me any and all additional questions you have about these topics.  For questions about my lessons or me personally, consult my website at www.SingitForward.net.  I greatly love receiving your feedback, questions, comments, and ideas for future blog posts, so please don’t be shy about sending them.  Sing it Forward!