Should i flex my stomach when singing as i heard this really helps with support?

[lucianwilson]

Should i flex my stomach when singing as i heard this really helps with support? I ve had mixed replies from googling so would love to hear your opinions . Thanks

[davie]

"Flex" isn't exactly the right word to use. I would say that the stomach or abdominal muscles should be "engaged" instead. The abs should stay flexible and have a subtle movement to them. But if you flex and tighten your abs so much that it becomes rigid then it will make your support worse.

[berniemcpeak]

I don't know the technicalities of it, but it's pretty much what Davie said.  I always find that standing up straight (good posture at the mic) and keeping my "core" muscles just a little tightened, not flexed helps. I found if I tried to keep my core flexed or flexed harder during higher notes I would just end up tired with sore abs.

 

Try singing something on the edge of your range while seated, and then sing it standing straight up.  I think you'll find it's much easier to sing while standing because your core muscles are holding you upright.

 

This is just my .02 cents

[staticsound]

Depends actually...normal singing, no. And flex is a bad word, engage would be a better one, as Davie said. And it's your lower abdomen your engaging. The only time you need to really engage your lower abs is if your singing heavier styles of music and adding grit or distortion.

[blankfile]

i think it has a lot to do with the muscle group you're refering to. If you're flexing the outer muscles - that is the muscle you see when you look at six pack abs, then you're gonna have a hard time singing properly.

when those muslces are flexed, it's usually in situations where you need to defend yourself, or maybe to lift something. it's not the best situation to be able to focus on expressing yourself.

on the other hand, the inner muscles that help your singing, you don't really have that much control over.

actually, let me rephrase: you don't want to have control over those. or any muscles for that matter.

you want to reach a point where your body just gives you what you want without you having to think about flexing or relaxing.

and that comes from repeated practice. here's an example of a singer whose muscles are so well trained that he can sing from any position and doesn't have to worry about posture anymore:

 

practice on the right exercises and pretty soon you can just focus on expressing yourself without worrying about the small stuff.

keep singing!

[ehenrichon]

This is interesting to hear this, I have minimal experience with it but I have been told almost to push out my abdomen rather than tighten it  I am not hearing that much on here from the more experienced singers, and sometimes i can do it and sometimes I just forget (the fault of beer or going too fast) to be able to do it properly.  

[birdsong1]

Here's how you do it properly. When you breathe in the air goes straight to your "stomach" (at least that's what it should "feel" like). As this happens your stomach (not cheast area) GENTLY expands.  While you are still breathing in,   when your stomach feels expanded the air then GENTLY makes your chest expand slightly.  That's how you correctly breathe in. It's all relaxed, no flexing, no tightening, no physical stress whatsoever.

 

Then the next step is to breathe out whilst making a sound. It should feel that the sound is coming from the stomach (abdomen) ..... this is acheived by putting a very TINY and GENTLE amount of "outwards" pressure coming from the stomach. When the filled stomach flattens,  it then feels like the air is coming from the chest area. You "don't" tighten or put pressure on the chest area while this is happening.

 

Singers who sing without over flexing abdominal, chest or thoat muscles are the singers who can sing with ease, regardless of the style they sing in.

 

The biggest trap of all, by FAR, is the temptation to "consciously" use muscles and tension as voice "support". Obviously muscles must be used in order to make sound, but by conscoiusly adding  "extra" amounts of conscoius muscular support, you will make your singing feel and sound worse.

[arteg]

I think you sould release your stomach as much as possible when singing