Speech Level Singing or Vocal Breathing Exercises?

Which one is better for you?

Did you ever wonder just how important vocal breathing exercises really are? Have singing coaches ever told you “Sing from your diaphragm!”? I bet they have! Many vocal instructors say that vocal breathing exercises are definitely the way to go. However, I disagree.

After years of practicing “diaphragmatic breathing”, with little success, I decided to explore other options. I soon discovered that learning how to practice speech level exercises was much more effective than doing traditional vocal breathing exercises.

I am not alone in these thoughts. Such stars as Whoopi Goldberg, Michael Jackson, Keith Urban and Stevie Wonder also use speech level singing exercises, rather than traditional vocal breathing exercises.

Why is all of this the case? Well, one reason is that it takes very little air to sing, actually. Also, when you sing higher notes, your vocal chords will close off a bit. That means that you actually require less air to sing higher, not more. Although many vocal breathing exercises teachers tell you to give your voice more support, meaning send more air to your vocal chords, sending more pressure to your chords when they are already requiring less air will not be useful at all. In fact, it may even be painful to you.

That is one of the primary reasons why I feel that focusing on speech level singing is much more important than practicing vocal breathing exercises. Speech level singing exercises allow you to practice without putting unnecessary strain on your voice.

Speech level singing exercises are good because they target and strengthen the specific muscles you need to use, in order to sing better. That means that your vocal chords will work better and you will be able to easily hit any note that is within your range. You will no longer have to strain to reach certain notes. It also means that your voice will have a consistent sound.

There are a couple of interesting, positive bonuses to using that technique, rather than vocal breathing exercises. One is that, as your vocal chords begin to “zip up” when you practice speech level singing, you will find that you will be able to hit notes that you didn’t even realize were in the realm of possibility before. That’s how much your comfort and range will increase. The other is that, as you do speech level exercises, your air pressure will balance out naturally. That means that you’ll have mastered ‘diaphragmatic breathing” anyway, while improving your voice in many other ways.

So, don’t waste time doing vocal breathing exercises that are getting you nowhere. Jump on the speech level singing bandwagon today. In no time at all, you’ll be singing with the same ease as some of your favorite superstars. You don’t need vocal breathing exercises to improve your voice!

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Technorati Tags: sing from your diaphragm, speech level singing exercises, vocal breathing exercises

ShareThis  |  Email It  |  Print It  |  Subscribe to It!
This entry was posted on Friday, May 16th, 2008 at 8:59 am and is filed under Vocal Exercises Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.