TECHNIQUE

Breathing Preparation

Inhalation:

In general singers want to develop the capacity to breathe at the very bottom of the lung, that area of the lung that is in closest contact with the diaphragm. Breathing from the chest area above the bottom of the breastbone will not properly support the voice.
Everyday breathing usually takes place in the upper third of the lung and such a breath can not be pressurized or supported properly on the exhalation. Such a breath will not provide the pressurized air stream necessary to create a sound that is open and un- constricted.

Developing the Low Breath:
1. Distend Belly. Purposely push the belly out and down as if you had eaten way too much. Do not cramp or tighten the stomach muscles. Do this without taking in any air. Just practice push the stomach out and down. This will stretch out the abdominal muscles from the inside out. Abdominal muscles stay stretched out in the distended position for both inhalation and exhalation. Take in air "behind" or in belly.
No Breathing above the bottom of sternum. No chest breaths. At most take a half breath.
Visualize with straw to particular point in abdomen where you apply pressure with fingers. Feel the breath immediately under fingers with the air going no where else first.
2. Breathing in to the lower back.

Exhalation:

Exhaling the breath comes from a reflexive outward thrust of the disgphragm . Un like normal exhalation there is no squeezing of the outer abdominal muscels to achieve exhalation. The diaphragm itself has an air-propelling reflex already built in to it. Your diaphragm already is programed to propel the air ina strong concentrated stream. All the singer has to do is find the "trigger" mechanism to unleash this considerable reflexive power.

Reflex Triggering exercise:
a)Place two finger firmly on the diaprahm, approaximatelt 2-3 inches below the the bottom of the sternum.
b) Press firmly on that spopt to provive isometric resistance for the diapham during the exercise.
c)Take a small directed breath as described above so that the inhalation is felt centered under you two fingers. No chest breaths. Don't take in more than a 1/8 breath, but center that small breath right under your fingers.
d) Triggering visualization. VERY IMPORTANT. Look across the room at an object or wall. Choose a target 4 to 8 feet away. Pucker lips as if you were going to whistle. Then visualize you are shooting a dart of air that will hit the target almost instantaneously.
e)Then puff air through your puckered lips as fast as your visualization tells you to. You don't have to KNOW how you're going to propel the air. Just BELIEVE the visualization.
DO NOTHING ELSE. DON'T PUSH OR MANIPULATE THE DIAPHRAGM IN ANY WAY. IT ALREADY KNOWS WHAT TO DO.
f) Make sure to keep the belly distended while you're putting the diaphragm through it's paces.

After the exercise is over you may notice the following results:

1) You feel a distinct "pop" of you diaphragm OUTWARDS from the body under your two fingers.
2) You may feel this "pop" out but also feel your lower abdominal sueeze inwards at the same time. REMEDY: Really press ou the lower belly and make sure as you do the triggering visualization-pop that you continue to press out the belly BELOW the diaphram. This is a little tricky. The pressing out of the diaphragm is a voluntary action you do have to think about while the actual pop of the diaphragm is still reflexive. Both can be done at the same time.
3) You must phase out your adominal squeezing (contractions) over time and allow the poppping action of the diaphragm to grow. It will grow rapidly just by doing it in a very snappy, quick way with out added pressure from you trying to "make it better". It gets better and expands just by doing it correctly.
4) Some singers might think ,"Why don't I use both my diaphragm and abdominal contractions together. Wouldn't that be stronger?" Two muscle systems are not better than one. If you continue to develop the outward thrust of the diaphragm but also continue to allow abdominal contractions, these two sytems will actually cancel each other out and you will will find yourself working very hard and the result is that you will end up squezing high in the chest any way (which is what you're trying to avoid) for support which is quite simply WRONG.