Basics of Vocal Technique: How to Do and Practice Abdominal Breathing

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2025/09/12

Basics of Vocal Technique: How to Do and Practice Diaphragmatic Breathing

1. How to Practice Diaphragmatic Breathing

First, lie on your back in a spacious area.
Place your hand on your stomach and try breathing.
You should notice your stomach expanding as you inhale and contracting as you exhale.

If this feels difficult, recall this common scene:
When you see someone lying on their back asleep, you may notice their blanket gently rising and falling around the stomach area. That movement signals diaphragmatic breathing. Humans naturally breathe this way while sleeping on their backs.

When sitting and relaxing, diaphragmatic breathing may also occur, but when singing, many people tend to raise their shoulders while inhaling, which leads to chest breathing.
※ This does not mean chest breathing is always bad. In fact, many professional singers produce very attractive sounds using chest breathing.

Click here to take the Vocal Certification Exam.

2. Benefits of Diaphragmatic Breathing

Mastering diaphragmatic breathing provides many advantages:

  • You can produce a louder voice with less effort.

  • Pitch becomes more stable.

  • Falsetto (head voice) and other weaker tones gain stability.

  • Soft tones like whisper voice can resonate and carry clearly.

  • Less strain on the throat, leading to greater vocal stamina.

Where your pitch may have once been unstable, it will become solid and steady, giving listeners a sense of reassurance.
Even in high notes, falsetto, or whisper-like sections, diaphragmatic breathing allows you to produce a fuller and more stable tone.
Since the power comes from the abdomen rather than throat tension, you’ll also greatly reduce problems like hoarseness or losing your voice after singing multiple songs.

Click here to take the Vocal Certification Exam.

3. Keys to Mastering Diaphragmatic Breathing

Some mistakenly believe diaphragmatic breathing means tightening the stomach. In fact, it’s the opposite—it’s about relaxation. Just as in sports or martial arts, mastery comes through release, not tension.

For example, consider a baby’s cry. Despite their small size, babies produce incredibly powerful sounds that can make adults cover their ears. Can you, as an adult, produce such volume effortlessly? The truth is, even without training, babies naturally understand the foundation of vocalization.

Other examples:

  • In elementary school, when a ball hits your stomach in dodgeball or basketball and you involuntarily let out a sound.

  • In martial arts, when taking a body blow and a sound escapes you.

  • Or at home, when a cat suddenly jumps onto your stomach and you let out a reflexive “ugh!”

In all these cases, you didn’t plan to make a sound—it simply happened due to sudden pressure. That moment of total relaxation allowed your voice to come out unexpectedly strong. This same principle can be harnessed to produce surprisingly powerful sounds when singing.

Think also of a dog panting, tongue out, making a “huff-huff” sound. That is diaphragmatic breathing in action. If humans try to mimic it, the pace is too fast to maintain properly. In this sense, dogs are true masters of diaphragmatic breathing, which explains their ability to produce far-reaching, resonant howls.

Click here to take the Vocal Certification Exam.

4. A Simple Method for Beginners

Beginners often find that when they try to inhale, their shoulders rise, causing chest breathing. To avoid this, try inhaling through your nose.

Sit in a chair, relax your shoulders, and breathe in through your nose. You should feel your stomach expand. As you then contract your stomach, air naturally flows out—this is diaphragmatic breathing.

Once you can feel the expansion while inhaling through the nose, you’ll eventually learn to draw air into your abdomen even when inhaling through the mouth.
Repeat this process until it becomes second nature.

Click here to take the Vocal Certification Exam.

5. Timing Over Force

Diaphragmatic breathing is about timing, not tension.

Athletes often describe the sensation of a perfect hit in baseball or tennis as having “no impact”—the bat or racket feels like it moves effortlessly through the ball. This perfect shot occurs when power from the legs flows naturally through the body in perfect timing and relaxation.

The same is true in boxing, where fighters say, “the knockout punch doesn’t feel heavy.”

Professional singers and vocal coaches excel at this timing. They transmit energy efficiently, without wasted effort, turning it into powerful sound while appearing completely relaxed.
That is why their voices sound so strong yet effortless—it’s not that they look relaxed while producing a big voice, but rather, because they are relaxed, the big voice emerges.

Click here to take the Vocal Certification Exam.

6. Practicing When You Can’t Sing Loudly

Vocal practice is often done at karaoke or in a studio where loud singing is acceptable. However, to improve quickly, it’s ideal to also practice at home, on the train, or even at work—without disturbing others.

The Straw Exercise

  • Prepare a straw.

  • Place it in your mouth and slowly inhale through it. (Keep your shoulders relaxed, ensuring diaphragmatic breathing as your diaphragm expands.)

  • Take about 5 seconds for the inhale.

  • Hold your breath for 5 seconds.

  • Then remove the straw and exhale normally in one burst.

The straw helps you draw in air more consciously and prevents your shoulders from rising. Over time, try lengthening your inhale to 10 seconds and increasing your hold time to build stronger breathing capacity.

Click here to take the Vocal Certification Exam.

7. Conclusion

In this lesson, we explored diaphragmatic breathing, the foundation of vocal technique.

As with sports or martial arts, proper form may initially feel awkward, and you may revert to your natural habits. But with consistent practice, diaphragmatic breathing will become second nature, allowing you to sing with ease, stability, and endurance.

Some people naturally produce loud voices without training, but that often comes from straining, which can sound harsh to listeners and quickly exhaust the singer.

True vocal mastery begins with strong fundamentals. Once you have a solid foundation in diaphragmatic breathing, you can then deliberately use chest breathing for expression, or even employ strained shouts as a stylistic choice. But first, build the base—your voice will thank you.

Click here to take the Vocal Certification Exam.