I read Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor on my flight to Costa Rica. I recommend this as an excellent book for singers, but also for anyone who breathes. The main takeaway? Inhale through your nose, not too deeply.
Inhaling through the nose has a couple of significant benefits for singers. One is that the nasal passages act as a filter, protecting our airway from pollutants and allergens. Another is that our nasal passages humidify the air as we inhale, so that the inhale doesn’t dry out the vocal cords. This reminds me of the advice of Tosi, a singer from the 1700’s who advocated for a silent inhale. If you can hear yourself inhale, this means the vocal cords have narrowed, and you are sending air whooshing through them and, unintentionally, drying them out. In summary, if you have time in your song for a low, slow, inhale through the nose, take it.
As singers, we sometimes take in every breath as if we are about to sing the longest phrase of our lives. This can cause us to have an excess of breath pressure which can create tension in the voice. It can make it difficult to use all the air before we are done singing a phrase, causing us to hyperventilate and feel dizzy or lightheaded. It is better to match the intesnity of your inhale with the task at hand. For short phrases, this means not that deep of a breath. A Voice Teacher I follow on Instagram, Allie Tyler, uses the cue “allow the breath to enter”. This promotes a more organic inhale that is aligned with the needs of the body, rather than one that is gasping, tense, and overdone.
This month, if you have time, read Breath. And connect more to the sensation of breath. How can you allow it to be more organic, more free of tension, while still responsive to the needs of the music?
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