1. TANKING UP
Most singers inhale as deeply and as fully as they possibly
can as they prepare to sing each line of their songs or their vocal exercises,
often in an attempt to avoid running out of air before the end of their vocal
tasks. They may have also been taught that more air necessarily means a better
supported tone. However, ‘tanking up’ or ‘overcrowding the lungs’ like this
unnecessarily increases the subglottic pressure (the air pressure below the
larynx).
For shorter exercises and phrases, less air is needed to
fuel the voice. If appoggio technique (the ‘inspiratory hold’) is maintained,
the outgoing air will be slowly and steadily paced, and there will be no need
to fill up on air for shorter vocal tasks. It is critical that the singer learn
to gauge precisely how much air is appropriate for the upcoming vocal task, and
then inhale only the necessary amount of air. There should not be a tremendous
amount of air ‘left over’ at the end of the phrase.
Singers who tank up also often have a tendency to close off the
glottis in order to stop the tone, employing the adductor muscles (those which
close the glottis) instead of the abductor muscles (those which open the
glottis) to stop phonation. Sometimes, the singer does so in a attempt to
ensure precision of the release of the note. Oftentimes, however, this habit
leads to a lowering of pitch at the end of the note, as well as a noisy release
of the remaining and excess air after the note has ended because the closure of
the glottis at the end of the phrase in combination with excessive amounts of
air remaining in the lungs causes an increase in subglottic pressure, pressing
of the vocal folds together and a ‘pressurized’ release. Learning to drawn in
less air to begin with, to pace the outgoing breath slowly and steadily and to
release the note precisely but with a relaxed and open throat will solve this
problem.
2. PUSHING OUT THE AIR
Ideally, we want to think of the air as being ‘allowed’ out,
rather than being ‘pushed’ out, to create voice. I use a balloon analogy – and
have actually used this as an exercise with real balloons in group voice
classes – that helps to illustrate this concept. When we inflate a latex
balloon (lungs) and pinch the mouth of the balloon (closing the glottis, or
approximating the vocal folds), air pressure immediately begins to build up.
When we stretch the mouth of the balloon, allowing air to slowly seap out, the
latex begins to rapidly chop the exiting air into tiny puffs, thus creating
sound (voice). If the mouth of the balloon is stretched tighter and pulled
longer (as what happens when the larynx pivots to elongate and tighten the
vocal folds), higher pitch is created. Now, suppose for a minute that we decide
to ‘help’ the air make its exit by squeezing the body of the balloon (as when
we compress the air with a diaphragm that has been forced upward by abdominal
muscles). What we will hear is a louder initial sound, yes, but also a less
pleasant and more unsteady tone. Additionally, the air will be lost more
rapidly.
In the case of the human voice, pushing in with and
contracting the abdominal wall will tend to lead to either pressed phonation (a
‘shouty’ or forced voice quality) or a breathy quality after the initial onset
due to the vocal folds being blown apart by the forceful air. Singers must be
assured that the air will flow out of their lungs virtually on its own, thanks
to the elastic recoil of the lungs, and there is, therefore, no need to either
‘help’ it along or to force it out. (This is why we should learn to relax the
abdominal muscles.) Of course, different styles and techniques may require a
more forceful expulsion of air in order to create the desired sound, but as a
general rule, too much air being forced out of the lungs is both unnecessary
and unhealthy.
3. HOLDING BACK THE AIR
Many singers hold back the air, or choke it off, either at
the laryngeal level, in which the singer closes the glottis immediately after
inhalation and briefly pauses before producing voice (known as compression of
the breath), or at the supraglottic level, in which the muscles of the throat
constrict or squeeze and inhibit the airflow. Holding back the air in these
manners are the result of poor coordination between the breathing mechanism and
the larynx. In both cases, subglottic pressure will rise, forcing the glottis
to have to work harder, and opening up the door to potential injury.
The voice will also sound less steady and free. The singer
who briefly holds in the air before singing needs to develop the coordination
of inhaling then immediately turning that breath into tone. For the singer who
tends to cut off or hold back the breath with the muscles of the vocal tract,
training in the Farinelli exercise, which I describe below, will help him learn
to maintain more openness and relaxation of the vocal tract. Singing with a
more open and relaxed throat is critical.
Singers who choke off the breath, especially at the release
of the note, can practice briefly sustaining a vowel on a comfortable pitch,
then gradually allowing that tone to become just a stream of air (with no vocal
sound). Gradually increasing the space in the glottis (moving from closed
glottis to partially open glottis to open glottis) may require some practice,
as it will be a new and challenging coordination to learn.
For most singers who first try this exercise, they find that
they have difficulties maintaining the same pitch (and some can’t sustain
voice) once the glottis starts to open. The key is making this change from a
‘clean’ tone to a breathy tone to no voice (only exiting air) gradual and
controlled. Higher pitches can be tried once the singer can successfully
execute this exercise within speech-inflection range.
Credit: Article sourced from Singwise