Holding my breath?

Something I only just noticed (D’UH *hitting self in the head*) is that, especially with songs I find a bit difficult (either with lots of fast words, high notes or loud/strong tones required), I always feel this huge strangling tension in my chest area. Like my ribs and lungs are encased in a vice. I assume this is because I’m holding my breath here. Oh dear.

I got a book on singing, and it keeps saying to raise the palate…like you’re almost going to yawn…but HOW do I do this constantly without letting it relax, and how do I do this and NOT sound like I’m yawning!?

It's possible that the strangling tension in your chest area is due to lack of air. Singing high, lots of fast words and louder volumes all use more air.

I learned that bouncing the sound off of the hard palate helps to achieve better head resonance. One way to help with this is to smile with a slight open mouth.

Wilton

this is irritating.....i hear so much contradicting information on the internet...

u say singing needs more air...that is what i personally experience but i heard the oppoisite so i assumed i had horrible breathing technique...and did a lot of exercises to try and fix it.....

if only i could really trust just one source...*sigh*

I take it all as being...sort of like...you do obviously need sufficient air to get a nice, strong and comfortable sound when you sing, but you shouldn't be taking in as much air as possible and then holding your chest / lungs / diaphragm all tense with it. At the same time, you shouldn't let it all out at once either, or you will run out of air. I personally notice that when I'm (possibly) "holding my breath", during difficult parts in songs, at the end of the difficult part, I've got air left to spare and tend to let it out slightly all at once in a form of releasing the tension. This is NOT right I'm sure.

One of my voice teachers as a kid used to tell me to imagine someone putting a hot metal pipe down your throat. You would try to expand your throat as wide as possible so you wouldn't get burned. Do it right now.

The soft palate goes up. And you don't yawn.

This singing recommentation is easier to master when you're singing choral music, but if you practice it, it will become more natural.

None of these singing techniques are easy to employ while you're performing and thinking about them, so it's ideal to make them habit while practicing. That way you aren't concentrating on it on the stage.

I think the "holding your breath" thing is a result of singing from your throat and not from your diaphragm.

A totally different voice teacher I had as a kid said the flexing of the diaphragm sometimes feels like you're trying to fart. LOL I never forgot that.

I always try to keep an even air flow, no matter what I'm singing, high or low. While I'm singing (breathing out), I think of my diaphram/lungs/larynx mechanisms as working together like a slowly contracting bellows.

I think "pushing" too much is not only counter-productive, but can be damaging to the voice in the long run.

This is my recent video about diction, but I also talk about keeping an even air flow while singing, starting at about 3:00.

WrigZyydOds

I have to post my usual disclaimer: I'm not a voice teacher, but I am an exerienced professional singer. That said, you should probably take a pro voice teacher's advice over mine if there is any conflict.

Resonance is volume , air is not volume , air can temporarily produce volume, however it is not sustainable.

Holding your breath often produces the balloon effect which results in a restricted throat, not conducive to singing.

Look for the resonant ring in your voice, the ring is the goal , when you find it, lots of issues will be resolved.

Resonance is volume , air is not volume , air can temporarily produce volume, however it is not sustainable. Holding your breath often produces the balloon effect which results in a restricted throat, not conducive to singing. Look for the resonant ring in your voice, the ring is the goal , when you find it, lots of issues will be resolved.

In my experience, strat2 is correct. This is what I'm talking about when I am talking about consistent air flow. There is a certain "sweet spot" of air flow that produces a strong, sustainable, resonating sound in the voice with very little effort.

I occasionally find a sweet spot...but it disappears so quickly. Dammit.

I've been trying to feel more specifically what happens when I get the strangled holding my breath feeling, and it is I think when I'm either so tense I'm holding my breath, and singing from my throat and then have air left at the end that I let out all at once after the sung line, and/or I'm actually running out of air (during the more difficult parts of the song when I tend to feel this, like using heaps of words quite quickly, or very high notes), and this makes me feel that strangled chest feeling.

My whole big issue is resonance. I don't think I usually have ANY. A prime example (which hopefully makes sense) is Grace Slick's song called "Let it Go". I love this song. It's beautiful. Grace has resonance. Her voice is very strong. I don't think, at least not at first, she knew how to sing "properly". She never had lessons or anything back then. But she just had resonance anyway.

In this song, at first she sings fairly softly, and then about 2/3 of the way through the verse, she gets that resonance happening. You can just hear the difference. That seemingly effortless strength and projection. Whenever I sing along with this song, I'm fine on the beginning soft bit, but as soon as the stronger singing begins, I lose it. I suddenly notice this huge difference in both the sound of the voices and how I feel in my throat. It begins to hurt and feel bad, and it sounds like my voice just literally "falls flat" whereas her's soars.

Here's a link to the song for anyone who's interested in seeing what I mean, and my precise problem. I really think this is a 100% accurate auditory illustration of 90% of my problems in singing...

PS. I have been "trying to fart" for the past 5 minutes. It's interesting. lol.