Breath Support

Hello again!

WIth my breath support, I can't seem to hold a note or phrase for very long IF it's long... For example in the Christina Perri song 'Human' When she holds that 'human' note at the end of the chorus it's very long and I always fall short. I have been trying to do it for a very long time but I just can't yet! I'm standing up tall, taking deep breaths, practicing deep breathing, and doing the hissing exercises... but why isn't it working?? Am I missing something? Am I letting too much air escape? 

That's possible! You can have great breath control with your intercostals and abdominals, but if your vocal folds are letting a lot of air through, you'll still run out quickly. Please see below!

Tips for sustaining pitches:

1) Touch the note and fall off.

2) Repeat the note a few times (ex: if the word is "night", sing "nah-nah-nah-nah-nah"). This gives your voice the chance to rearticulate that same pitch, with the support of a consonant. 

3) Elongate the vowel. Same thing as above, but lengthen each "ah" sound. 

4) Try sustaining just one note (for longer). 

I find that airflow tends to be my issue with longer pitches; sometimes I've taken in more air than I need, and then struggle to hold that air back. So play with the size of your inhale, too!

Breathing checklist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM5lrvtQTYY

How to stop running out of breath: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-PssF4kE6w