Breath control is one of the pillars of singing. People who know how to control their breathing often have few or no problems at all with their voices. One should be able to co-ordinate their abdominal muscles and diaphragm when breathing. An exercise that can help in this is where the singer lies flat on their backs and places their hands on their waist with their fingers pointing at their belly button. One should then focus on filling their stomach with air from its bottom to its top. One should feel the stomach rise and their hands rising gently outward until they feel their chest expanding. The expansion happens in the body’s front, sides and back. The singer should then slowly breathe out and count to five. They should then repeat the exercise ten times. One should practice daily before they get out of bed in the morning and before they go to bed for five to ten minutes daily, then progressively increase to three or four times daily. It is also advisable to do the exercise in other positions such as standing and sitting.

If one wants to increase their breath control, they should count on a breath and sing every number out loudly. When performing this exercise, one should use one breath at the pitch with which they feel comfortable. They should start with small numbers such as five to ten then slowly increase to twenty-five onwards without tensing, running out of breath or straining.

If one wants to breathe properly when singing, they should try this exercise. They should do this while breathing low at the bottom part of their lungs; this will help to engage the diaphragm, expand their back and their rib cage while leaving their upper chest and shoulders in the same position. The exercise involves inhaling and exhaling completely for two counts initially then for four counts. After the fourth count, they should hold their breath, then exhale after four counts and inhale again after four counts. The exercise should be repeated for three complete sets. Due to the easy nature of this exercise, one will not have a difficult time doing it daily. Progression is important and one should increase their count to numbers such as eight, twelve and sixteen. Since singing phrases are not always the same size, one should practice different airflow situations.

Here is another exercise that could help. The singer should inhale deeply all the way to their abdomen, then exhale in a steady stream slowly. They should repeat the action ten times and then five more times. Only this time they should pick a comfortable note they can hold through the breath. For each breath, one should pick a different pitch. The action should be repeated five more times with the singer changing the volume pertaining to each note from the lowest to medium and back to lowest for the duration of the breath. In the last five breaths, they should change their timbre to be faster than their volume. This exercise improves pitch.