I run out of breath

Hi, Ms Camille! While doing beginner warmups I tend to run out of breath. It tires my voice a lot. Do you have any advice? Thanks

Hi, Sunaina!

- Maintain good posture with the chest lifted and ribs expanded! (That's more important than anything else, because once your shoulders roll forward and your chest collapses, it's much harder to stay supported). 

- Relax belly muscles for a low, relaxed (medium-sized) breath.

- Engage those muscles (intercostals and lower abdominals) to keep the ribcage expanded - but know that you will lose some of that expansion as you use your air. We do want air flow, and we don't want "locked" muscles. Feel this action by breathing in and suspending (holding) the air for a second or two before exhaling. You can also feel the correct (gentle) muscle engagement by singing on a lip trill. 

- If your posture and body are working well, but you're still running out of breath: be aware of extra air leaking through your vocal folds. If that's an issue, try singing with a slightly stronger, "clean" tone. If you can't do that yet, train firmer cord compression by singing on a lip trill, through a straw, or using a warmup syllable like "GIHG" or "GUHG".