Breath support in voice is like electricity in an electronic device. It doesn't properly work unless it has electricity flowing through it consistently.

You're breathing and singing is the same way. You have to consistently have enough flowing air in order for it to “power” your voice properly. Everything dealing with tonality, vocal control, belting, sustaining, and more are all powered with the level of breath support a person has. This means that a person can have great potential in a certain vocal area but be limited in how they display their abilities because of the level of their breath support. This is what make breath support in singing one of the most important things a singer can do in order to train themselves (no matter how good of a singer they are).

Breath support is a good equalizer in the vocal community. It can drastically increase a poor singer’s ability by leaps and bounds or it can decreases the ability in a phenomenal singer lowering their vocal quality. Breathing is basically the movement of the air through your passages. Maintaining a flourishing voice means having an open and flowing passage where the air can flow freely.

Here are 4 big ways to make sure that your voice stays open and free flowing with air.

One, you probably heard of GOOD posture but WHY do this help you sing better? The answer is....

Your lungs are like balloons as in they expand and contract to move the air in and out of the body. However the lung is also surrounded by other organs, and body parts that it has to press up against when it expands. This is why your chest and stomach moves whenever you are inhaling. Slouching over with poor posture limits the amount of space the lungs and the diaphragm has to expand. If the other organs are already in the lungs way (via slouching) then it makes it that much more tougher for the lungs to be filled at capacity for singing.

Two, make sure that the throat muscles are not tight while performing.

Unless if its for a stylistic choice, many singers have tension in their throat area due to improper form or nervousness. They should be relaxed and open while inhaling and exhaling air. A good mental exercise for you to do is to imagine that the air around you is water. When ever the air come in your mouth imagine that you are drinking the air. This will keep you soft palette open as if you were drinking liquid.

Three, you also probably heard about NOT moving shoulders while breathing. Here's Why....

Adding unnecessary movement can trick the singer into thinking that they are taking in more air then they actually are. There are plenty of times that a singer tried to finish a musical phrase and they ran out of air at the end. More then likely the singer thought they had more air then they actually had. To avoid this pitfall, make sure that you breathe properly without the extra movement of shoulders and head.

Four, this is the simplest but most overlooked. Making sure your mouth is wide and open.

Imaging that you are at the entrance of a shopping mall and its Black Friday. You are surrounded by a crowd of people and everyone is trying to enter in the building all at once. You all get crammed in at the door and little by little people trickle in the shopping mall. Security get concerned so they open the entrance doors wider and more people were able to get in without getting crammed. Your mouth is the entrance from which air will flow in and out while singing. The wider the entrance, the more air can come in.