FOCUS ON VOCAL TECHNIQUE

Some Personal Convictions about Breath Management

by Shirlee Emmons
There is virtually no doubt in any singers mind that breath management is the most im- portant
facet of great singing, although the trouble comes in defining breath management. No singer in
this world can cope with overseeing or micro-managing each of the thirty- six (36!!) muscles that
work together to produce the specialized breathing used by singers. And even if there were a
singer who could manage it, he/she would have no time left over for a few other important things
like legato, interpretation, tone colors, passion, dramatic truth, etc.
Some months ago I was asked by Oxford University Press to review a new book by the eminent
Richard Miller of Oberlin, called Training Soprano Voices. Miller has been closely allied to the work
of the international research team that worked for ten years (1983-1993) to clarify breathing for
singing. This long study has concluded that the singers critical breathing task is slowing down
the ascent of the diaphragm.
Breath management is best achieved by maintaining Lampertis noble position, which elicits
cooperation between the chest muscles, the ribcage muscles, and the muscles of the side walls of
the abdomen--that is to say, by maintaining an appoggio. This word appoggio is clearly derived
from the Italian verb appoggiare [to lean on]--hence an appoggiatura. What will an appoggio do for
your breathing and your singing? Miller says, The internationally recognized appoggio is a
breath-management coordination that must be learned if the singer is to unite energy and
freedom for successfully meeting the tasks of professional vocalism....the term breath energy
refers to the results of appoggio coordination (my emphasis).
A few details to help you understand the physiology of the appoggio:
1. Relatively high sternum=ribcage greatly expanded, diaphragm at its lowest (this is the
posture of inhalation during speech)
2. Fallen sternum=collapse of ribcage, diaphragm at highest position (this is the posture of
exhalation during speech)
The above cycle, which takes place during speaking, is contra-indicated for singing because of
factors encountered in part 2. But, by maintaining the appoggio, the normal speech-breathing
pattern (the ribcage collapse and the high position of the diaphragm) is avoided. The appoggio
makes it possible to keep the inhalation posture of the sternum and ribcage, which, in turn, does
not allow the diaphragm to ascend so rapidly. As you will recall, this was the desired execution
indicated by the European breath study. Millers definitive analysis is as follows:
Here are some bits of information that you should keep in mind.
Diaphragmatic action is still a puzzle to the most knowledgeable of the vocal community.
The descent of the diaphragm is not directly controllable.
The diaphragm does not descend so far down as most singers think.
The diaphragm is passive during singing.
In speaking, the sternum falls, the rib cage collapses, and the diaphragm ascends rapidly (all
of which represent the least efficient method of breathing for singing).
Using the appoggio avoids the rib collapse of normal speaking.

Appoggio singing retains the inspiratory posture of the sternum and ribcage, retarding the
ascent of the diaphragm, by far the most important ingredient of the breath management mix.
Control over the muscles of the side abdominal walls can be learned.
This is support.
Here are Millers masterful discussions of other breathing systems, with some additions by
me.
1. Bear in mind that the cords are apart for inhalation and closed for singing. Some
teachers encourage a sighing technique (high air flow), in which the breath issues fast. Some
teachers encourage what might be called a grunting technique (glottal closure), in which the
larynx holds back the air. When the breath is let go, one hears a grunt. In the international
professional singing world, sighing, minimal breath, or grunting maneuvers do not play an
acceptable role in balanced voice production.
2. As for the efforts commonly made by some singers to increase the amount of breath
that can be inhaled or exhaled, Miller has this to say, It is not the job of the singer to see how
large a volume of air can be inhaled and expelled during the singing of a phrase, nor is it
advisable to conceive of the diaphragm as a piston that drives air upward to the larynx.
3. Disparaging those attempts to push the air out with the diaphragm, Miller uses one
explicit sentence: It should be emphasized that there is no way in which a singer can
consciously exercise direct mechanical control over the diaphragm [my emphasis].
4. Miller dispenses a forceful demurer to those who believe in belly breathing. The lungs
supply the larynx with breath; the column of exiting air does not have its origins in the pelvic or
abdominal areas from whence it is directed upward by the lower abdomen to feed the larynx.
Air is already present in the trachea, ready for immediate use. It does not occupy spaces below
the lungs; ?belly breathing is an unachievable aim.
5. For those who work assiduously at holding the breath for a long time, thinking that it will
extend their air duration, Miller says, Breath management is not improved by attempting to
hold the breath for long periods of time, by sustaining isolated long notes and phrases.
Enough of the negatives. Now for the positives of the appoggio maintenance. It is my
experience that acquiring the appoggio as a reliable technique gives:
a longer and more reliable air supply,
greater stability in the tone,
easier execution of large skips,
improved agility passages with regard to clarity, accuracy, and speed,
far better management of pianissimo tasks,
thus--true confidence in the vocal skills.
Let us now get down to the nitty-gritty of how to find the appoggio and maintain it. As ever,
what should be done is the easiest to explain. How to do what should be done is much harder. I
pride myself on being the most pragmatic of teachers. Although I scrupulously give credit to
the author, I do shamelessly listen to and copy anyones ideas if they are useful. By the same
token, I then always create my own method of passing on the ideas. I create my own regimes
based on the knowledge of the scientist-teachers. Richard Miller is one of them, together with
William Vennard, Ralph Appelman, always the incomparable Berton Coffin, and others.
At the cost of much repetition, I have tried to convince you that the most important part of your
breath management is the appoggio. If I have succeeded and you wish to try it, you must first
learn the physical position of the appoggio, and then you must learn how to maintain it.
The position:
Your effort should be focused on finding a high sternum position, without relying on inhaling for
help. If you discover that lifting your sternum without inhaling is difficult for you, try this. Lift
both arms above your head, pointing to the sky. Then, careful to leave the chest where the high
arms put it, lower your arms. You will find your chest much higher than it was originally, your
ribs expanded farther than they were originally, and you will be highly conscious of your back
muscles. This high-chest, ribs-expanded, shoulders-relaxed position is the one you want to
maintain at all times.

Maintenance of the appoggio position:

This is the harder part. For the first week or so, doing it might actually hurt, and your back
muscles may ache. This will soon go away, however, and the result is well worth it. Start by
doing onset exercises of repeated single quarter notes followed by quarter rests. Concentrate
on keeping the chest up as you inhale between notes. Concentrate on not letting the chest
recoil as you finish the first note and inhale for the second note. The chest should not move
more than minimally. Shoulders should be relaxed, taking no part in the maintenance of the
high sternum or the inhalation. No, it is not simple at first, but it is achievable.
Inhalation:
How should one inhale?
1. Before inhaling, raise the sternum without breathing in. Then, stop thinking about how
low the breath must be. Stop thinking about how much air you must take in. Stop thinking
about whether you want your abdomen to bulge out or tuck in. All of these things will
automatically take place in the proper manner providing that you can manage not to move
your chest up and down and providing that you inhale sideways.
2. Yes, thats what I said. Inhale sideways, not frontwards. Put your hands around your
waist with the thumbs in the back, four fingers in the front. Your index finger should tuck under
the bottom rib, and the little finger should touch your hipbone if possible (some of you will have
more trouble than others in doing this). Breathe sideways where your hands are. You will feel
the expansion of your side walls and your back (exactly as your teacher kept telling you).
Perhaps it will seem as though you are not getting enough air, but you will soon find out that
you are--precisely because the diaphragm is rising so slowly that the air you took is sufficient.
Alma Thomas, my coauthor for the Power Performance for Singers book, being a performance
psychologist, insists that singers should have short but meaningful verbal cues to help modify
old technical habits into new ones. I have found that she is absolutely correct in this. Therefore
I offer you the appoggio formula in the form of verbal/mental cues:
1. UP!
(Lift sternum without inhaling.)
2. SIDEWAYS!
(Make your conscious breathing effort only with the internal and external obliques and the
transverse abdominis, with whatever unconscious help the recti abdominii wish to contribute.)
3. STAY UP!
(Do not allow the chest to recoil when replenishing the air.)
After you have the correct appoggio position and the sideways inhalation down pat, start to
practice difficult breathing maneuvers with the formula intact--such as, approaches to high
notes, pianissimo sections, agility passages, low notes, big skips, etc. Repeat the verbal cues
as you prac- tice. All technical skills will be aided by your new breath management. You have to
remember one rule only, not six or seven: Keep that chest up at all costs! Soon it will be
automatic, and you will even look calm, like those singers you so admire, who never seem to
be breathing. Good luck.