I've learned that there was a certain way of singing in elementry school, but I forgot which. Do you breathe in, with the stomach 'in' or the stomach 'out?'

Umm....what I remember is you stick your ribs out, so I guess breathing in.

Ur suppose to sing from your diaphram(however ya spell it).

Originally posted by Dr. Lu Delgado
Umm....what I remember is you stick your ribs out, so I guess breathing in. So... it's, breathing in with stomach out?

Originally posted by Jo's the bomb
So... it's, breathing in with stomach out?


yes...I believe soo

Originally posted by hockeybabe528



yes...I believe soo Isn't that how everyone breathes? LOL I know it's suppose to be the opposite of how you're suppose to...

Okay, I've studied voice since I was 10... let's see if I can tackle this question.

Most people breathe through their chest which is wrong. As babies, everyone breathes through their diaphram, which is why babies can go on crying for hours without losing their voices. Somewhere along the line, we learn how to breath incorrectly. I believe its because of society, and an image thing... breathing correctly isn't pretty because it involves your stomach moving in and out.

When you inhale in, your stomach should fill with air, therefore making it go out. The incorrect way of breathing in is sucking your stomach in and your chest going up. When you breathe in, make sure your shoulders stay down and still! Also, make sure you're not expanding your lower stomach, because that can really mess things up for females. ;) That's not where your diaphram is. Your diaphram is the muscle a little above your belly button. You want to make sure you're working that. Of course, your whole stomach is going to fill up, but make sure you're not pushing anything but that muscle. The best way to practice is to lay down and put a book on your stomach where I just described. As you breathe in, the book should rise.

Breath control is important when it comes to singing. It shapes the whole tone of your voice, making it much fuller and less airy, plus it saves your vocal chords! Breathing incorrectly puts strain on your vocal chords, and can do some serious damage in that area.

When you're exhaling, make sure you don't automatically let your stomach in. You have to slowly let out the air and preserve your breath. You do this by pushing your stomach out while you sing until you're out of breath, and that's when your stomach will come back in. Granted that's only when singing. Don't think you have to have your stomach out 24/7, LMAO! When you're trained how to breathe correctly for voice though, you tend to breath that way all the time, which is good for you, although if you're a dancer too (like I happen to be) your teachers will rag on you if you forget and breathe that way! You always have to suck your gut in when dancing! How confusing to those of us who sing AND dance!!! No one ever said life was easy. LOL

I hope that helped a little? If I confused you, I'll try to clarify a bit! :)

Originally posted by Dr. Lilith Sternin
Okay, I've studied voice since I was 10... let's see if I can tackle this question.

Most people breathe through their chest which is wrong. As babies, everyone breathes through their diaphram, which is why babies can go on crying for hours without losing their voices. Somewhere along the line, we learn how to breath incorrectly. I believe its because of society, and an image thing... breathing correctly isn't pretty because it involves your stomach moving in and out.

When you inhale in, your stomach should fill with air, therefore making it go out. The incorrect way of breathing in is sucking your stomach in and your chest going up. When you breathe in, make sure your shoulders stay down and still! Also, make sure you're not expanding your lower stomach, because that can really mess things up for females. ;) That's not where your diaphram is. Your diaphram is the muscle a little above your belly button. You want to make sure you're working that. Of course, your whole stomach is going to fill up, but make sure you're not pushing anything but that muscle. The best way to practice is to lay down and put a book on your stomach where I just described. As you breathe in, the book should rise.

Breath control is important when it comes to singing. It shapes the whole tone of your voice, making it much fuller and less airy, plus it saves your vocal chords! Breathing incorrectly puts strain on your vocal chords, and can do some serious damage in that area.

When you're exhaling, make sure you don't automatically let your stomach in. You have to slowly let out the air and preserve your breath. You do this by pushing your stomach out while you sing until you're out of breath, and that's when your stomach will come back in. Granted that's only when singing. Don't think you have to have your stomach out 24/7, LMAO! When you're trained how to breathe correctly for voice though, you tend to breath that way all the time, which is good for you, although if you're a dancer too (like I happen to be) your teachers will rag on you if you forget and breathe that way! You always have to suck your gut in when dancing! How confusing to those of us who sing AND dance!!! No one ever said life was easy. LOL

I hope that helped a little? If I confused you, I'll try to clarify a bit! :) Thank you VERY much. And no, it wasn't confusing at all. You finally got this thing off my chest. (No pun intended) :)

... About the dancing and singing at the same time.. that was funny. :lol: :rotlfmao:

Originally posted by Dr. Lilith Sternin
Okay, I've studied voice since I was 10... let's see if I can tackle this question.

Most people breathe through their chest which is wrong. As babies, everyone breathes through their diaphram, which is why babies can go on crying for hours without losing their voices. Somewhere along the line, we learn how to breath incorrectly. I believe its because of society, and an image thing... breathing correctly isn't pretty because it involves your stomach moving in and out.

When you inhale in, your stomach should fill with air, therefore making it go out. The incorrect way of breathing in is sucking your stomach in and your chest going up. When you breathe in, make sure your shoulders stay down and still! Also, make sure you're not expanding your lower stomach, because that can really mess things up for females. ;) That's not where your diaphram is. Your diaphram is the muscle a little above your belly button. You want to make sure you're working that. Of course, your whole stomach is going to fill up, but make sure you're not pushing anything but that muscle. The best way to practice is to lay down and put a book on your stomach where I just described. As you breathe in, the book should rise.

Breath control is important when it comes to singing. It shapes the whole tone of your voice, making it much fuller and less airy, plus it saves your vocal chords! Breathing incorrectly puts strain on your vocal chords, and can do some serious damage in that area.

When you're exhaling, make sure you don't automatically let your stomach in. You have to slowly let out the air and preserve your breath. You do this by pushing your stomach out while you sing until you're out of breath, and that's when your stomach will come back in. Granted that's only when singing. Don't think you have to have your stomach out 24/7, LMAO! When you're trained how to breathe correctly for voice though, you tend to breath that way all the time, which is good for you, although if you're a dancer too (like I happen to be) your teachers will rag on you if you forget and breathe that way! You always have to suck your gut in when dancing! How confusing to those of us who sing AND dance!!! No one ever said life was easy. LOL

I hope that helped a little? If I confused you, I'll try to clarify a bit! :)

Holy elephant!! That was awesome! LOL. Thanks for the great advice. :) And the whole book-breathing thing...we did that when I took singing...except we did it with our CD cases, lol.