Breathing for singing

Hello :) My name is Namwan.

I would like to ask about the "Breathing for singing" in Day6 beginner lesson. The 10 sec Ssss lesson says when I exhale, my abdomen should be down and out. I mean, am I understand this correctly that my abdomen should be bigger or maybe stay at the same size when I exhale. Sorry about my english too TT

I mean, everytime I do the long exhale or singing long phrases, collapsed and tensing my abdomen when I almost run out of the air always help me to sing a few seconds longer. But when I try to make my abdomen bigger, not collasped or tensing when I exhale, it makes me able to Ssss and sing shorter than I used to be. So, Im not sure did I do anything wrong. Or if my understanding was right haha?

Thank you in advanced.

Hi, Namwan! Good question! 

Your abdomen will eventually start to contract as you use your air. But our goal is to delay that from happening. When your ribs stay elevated and your low abdominal muscles are gently engaged, then your diaphragm can stay low (which allows your lungs to not deflate as quickly). 

As long as you're taking low belly breaths to sing and maintaining tall posture to the end of each phrase, that's a good place to start. Then take note of what your abdomen is doing: if it's squeezing or tensing, that will negatively impact your tone. Rather than thinking of pushing it out, focus on slowing its contraction, and see if that works better for you!

Thank you my teacher :) This gives me lots more understanding. I will try it on my workout today.

Great! My pleasure!