Dear Breath Support Master:

I am a 45 year old man and I remember vividly when my voice changed as an adolescent but who expected to yet again have to worry about my voice changing as I turned middle aged? I seem to have already lost some vocal power, endurance and some pitch control.

Signed,
Getting older every day

Dear Getting Older:

Some think that the voice is like the violin or wine, improving with age. If the violin is stored correctly and played, and the wine is kept in a climate controlled environment, they will improve with age. Likewise, our voices may sound completely different yet improve if we train it correctly, separating the diaphragm from the voice training as we age. And age can give your voice a quality that you could not achieve as a younger singer, especially if you do diaphragm training.

We have taught 70 year old singers and seen significant improvement over a brief time as they incorporated diaphragm training into their daily routine. Another benefit of this type of practice is that older singers regain vocal power, endurance and flexibility.

Diaphragm training is like restorative yoga for the voice. Here is one seated position diaphragm training exercise to prove my theory. Try it 5 times (consecutive breaths) each morning for a week and see if you feel and sound different when you sing.

In some religions, it is the trinity that makes things work out.  Typically one is earthly, one is spiritual, and the third is the creator.  When they fight, and don’t agree, really bad things happen.  Floods, Plagues, crucifixions, and other nasty destructive things come into play.

Likewise, your articulators must work in concert or you could be crucifying your voice.  You can control your own trinity.  It includes:  YOUR JAW, YOUR TONGUE, and YOUR LIPS.  When they are working together, the rainbow appears, showing a myriad of colors and lightening up the sky.

In the 80’s, the fastest runner of the 50 yard dash could do it in 5.24 seconds, yet in 2013, the fastest runner made it in 4.35 seconds. That is a direct result of the coaches’ understanding the body and training their athletes better. Likewise, voice “coaches” can speed the learning curve of their students.

In the beginning singers were focused on the external muscles of vocal support. Back in the 30’s and 40’s teachers of the voice believed that if you trained abdominal, chest, back and intercostal muscles that your vocal support would be enhanced.

THEN- the prophet appeared! Doing studies with emphysema patients in military hospitals in the 50’s and 60’s Carl Stough changed our belief system FROM focus on the external muscles TO focus on the internal membrane of the diaphragm. Carl was an award winning choral director when he was asked by a pulmonologist to do this research. This seemingly small discovery changes what is possible for vocal development and achievement.

a. Lie down with pillows under your head and knees – placing one hand on your lower abdomen and one hand on your upper chest. Make sure that your chest and abdomen are completely relaxed.

b. Breathe through your open mouth – 10-20 breaths and notice that there is no tension in chest and abdomen restricting your organic breathing pattern.

c. For 5 breaths, use your exhale to passively produce a “la la la” sound.

d. Do the exercise again, breathe for 10-20, and la la la for 5-10. Then, get out of bed and go to work!

Steven Flam has perfected the training of your diaphragm for vocal power.
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