Breath Support for Strong Clear Voice (Diaphragm Breathing and Exercises Voice Therapy)

Having adequate breath support is very important to have a clear strong voice. Why? It’s because air is what powers the voice as the air moves out of the lungs between the vocal cords causing them to vibrate. If there’s insufficient air, then the voice will be weak no matter how perfectly the voicebox is working. As a corollary, that also means if not enough air enters the lungs, then not enough air will leave the lungs either.

Abdominal or diaphragmatic breathing is required to achieve good lung volume of air. Also known as belly breathing, the diaphragm muscle is activated moving downward into the belly with inhalation. This causes the belly to push outward.

In contrast to belly breathing, chest breathing also known as thoracic breathing, moves the ribcage instead of the belly. With chest breathing, less air flows into the lungs resulting in short, quick, and shallow breathes. Belly breathing is slow and deep.

Belly breathing is also more energy efficient as it only requires diaphragm muscle movement. Chest breathing uses chest muscles to inflate the lungs by pulling on the ribcage which is more energy intensive.

Here are some exercises to help achieve good belly breathing to help your voice be strong and clear.

- Diaphragm Anatomy (0:26)
- Chest vs Belly Breathing (0:42)
- Posture (1:30)
- #1: Inhalation and Exhalation (1:48)
- #2: Book on Belly Supine (1:59)
- #3: Book on Belly Upright (2:25)
- #4: Fist Over Mouth (2:38)
- #5: "S" Sound on Exhalation (3:02)

Video created by Dr. Christopher Chang:

#breathsupport #breathing #breathingexercises #voicetherapy

[fauquierent]

*Check out our other basic voice therapy videos!*

[Gray-Today]

For some people, a simple thing like this needs a very simple explanation. And I mean, people like me. Thank you. The term "deep breath" just never got through to me.

[barbaracimini]

Oh lord! I’ve been doing it wrong all my LiFE!!!!😫

[StephenMooreOfficial]

I guess I'm lucky cause I've always belly breathed naturally. Unless I'm yawning or something

[Vidgirl]

I would like to use this video for a course on singing. How would I get permission to use this?

[aileenkapphahn]

😂😂😂OMG. she is so wrong. If you just wany air to breath, you already do it, that's why you are still alive. But it is very wrong to think you can sing better or speak better following this advise. My belly hurts just think about it .