Question from a teen: When you sing don’t you exhale out your mouth then inhale in your nose?
Answer: You have the right idea.
You are right to say that we exhale through the mouth when singing (with the exceptions of the nasal consonants M, N, and NG when air necessarily passes solely through the nose). If singing in French or Portugese there will be some nasalized vowels that require the nasal port to be open and thus some air passes through both mouth and nose. But generally as a rule air passing through the vocal cords for singing is released through the mouth.
Whether inhalation takes place through the nose or mouth or a combination of both will be largely dependent upon how much time there is for inhalation.
In the course of singing a song it is wise to inhale through the nose whenever there is sufficient time to do so, during musical introductions, and interludes. The nose is made to clean, warm and moisturize the incoming air, thus maintaining the best balance for the body’s needs.
However, frequently within a song, phrase will follow phrase so quickly that breath intake must be taken as quickly as possible, within a fraction of a second. For this to happen the jaw needs to fall open very quickly with the singer experiencing the “feeling of the beginning-of-a-yawn” and breath can enter the body very quickly and quietly this way. A sudden expansion of the epigastrium (the area just below the sternum) will illustrate how quickly a “catch breath” can be taken. (Practice it.) Some would say that the nasal port can be open then also and air enters through both nose and mouth. Depending upon the song, the need to inhale through the mouth may be frequent during the course of the song.
Still, whenever there is a long enough moment to inhale through the nose, the singer should do so. Habitually inhaling through the mouth can tend to dry out the throat and vocal cords – that need to stay lubricated for singing.
There is a myth that circulates in some places that “one cannot inhale as deeply when breathing through the nose as one can when inhaling through the mouth.” This is nonsense of course, unless the nasal passage is obstructed so that air cannot pass through. What matters when singing is having the time and using the time/opportunity to inhale through the nose when possible.
As I say, you have the right idea.
Best wishes.
Tags: catch breath, exhalation, inhalation