How to ACTUALLY Use Breath Support (Ultimate Guide)

[@ryanbrown7737]

Every single time this guy puts out a video on technique all my vocal teacher's lessons make a little more sense. Can't wait for the inevitable video for resonance.

[@bob.smeenk]

Haha thanks Ryan!

[@KaitoYNZ]

Holy smokes, this has got to be one of the best breath support videos out there…

[@bob.smeenk]

Thanks! That was my goal, as I had difficulty finding useful & complete support videos myself. Really appreciate the comment :)

[@TheSeeking2know]

❤ 19:32 Excellent points! I do notice this !

[@bob.smeenk]

Great! To apply it in real songs is the next level :D

[@squishylover3]

No one makes videos this good and can actually back up their claims with good singing

[@bob.smeenk]

Haha thanks Alec, appreciate it :)

[@Faz_Plays]

Wow... I've been told about breath support from so many vocal teachers and I have never understood it fully until this video. I knew a bunch of what you were talking about, but always had trouble finding how to do it in my body and you filled in some gaps in my knowledge. Amazing guide!

[@bob.smeenk]

Good to hear :) I heard this from so many singers I thought it was time to try and tacke this subject once and for all!

[@woah117]

Are you reading my journal!? This is exactly what I needed...

[@bob.smeenk]

Haha you're welcome!

[@personalwatching9312]

Pro coach here. Best video ive ever seen on youtube. I was waiting to roll my eyes from bad info but this is excellent and 100% correct and physiologically accurate.

[@bob.smeenk]

Thanks! Much appreciated colleague :)

[@Samuel-hj9ty]

You have the best singing tutorials I have found on KZbin. This channel’s going to blow up!

[@bob.smeenk]

Thanks Samuel. I hope so :)

[@JOTAPELEMES111]

I've been searching for something that explains how breath support works for so much time that I had given up... and all of the suddenly this videos appears to me, answering all my questions once and for all... thank you so much, I literally watched all videos on this subject and this was the best one. 🙏 🇧🇷

[@bob.smeenk]

Glad I could help!

[@3ngan498]

So this is modern voice coach look like, brilliant!

[@bob.smeenk]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@davirtuoso]

This couldn't be clearer, and literally 2 days ago I was told I need to improve my breath support - I didn't know where to start. Thankyou for posting this! Liked and subscribed

[@bob.smeenk]

Great! Than I posted this in just in time :)

[@TheDimzevs]

Bro, your explanation of breath support is so far the best on internet ❤ well done. Thank you for your content

[@bob.smeenk]

Thanks, I tried :)

[@Nathanaelsun22]

kind of videos that illuminate things you do already and so much more and then you see it ALL and your SiNG from the rooftops .... because that breath flow is so mmm such an inn from this excellent video that you loose your self into emotion that suprises yourSelf.!

[@bob.smeenk]

Love this :D

[@Homiloko2]

Every one of your videos is a mine of gold. I'm learning so much, thank you.

[@garytomlinson866]

After hearing so many “just breath from the diaphragm” directions, I finally feel and hear a difference, and understand breath support. Thank you so much!!!

[@bob.smeenk]

Glad it was helpful!

[@SomaCruz100]

Thank you so much Bob! Actually, the best information you can get anywhere on a breath support! much appreciated!

[@bob.smeenk]

I was aiming for that, as it's just an important subject, but I'm happy you think I succeeded :)

[@PaulMulhearn]

This video is so long I had to have a day off work to finish it! …. But totally worth it as it really is the ultimate guide on breath support!…well done Bob!!

[@bob.smeenk]

Haha I was afraid it would be too long. But I could not figure out how to shorten it without diluting the message. So I'm glad you had a day off Paul :p

[@gabrielglenn1714]

You watching in .25x speed? 😅jk

[@lopres1910]

New subscriber, i just want to say thank you, since lately im having trouble finding that sweet spot on my voice, with your help i was able to find it now, works like a magic, all your explanations makes sense, there are those people in the internet that do vocal coaching but i think yours is the best very fond of your teachings, i'm very lucky to find your channel. your videos deserve more views good luck with your career, i'll be watching your success from now on :))

[@bob.smeenk]

Great to hear and thank you :D

[@piereligio_ds]

What an amazing video, thank you so much. It cleared up so many doubts I had in one shot!

[@bob.smeenk]

Great to hear! :)

[@dalemcmillen2065]

Excellent video. After years of being away from singing, I've just started taking lessons again. Happily my new teacher very much teaches these approaches, but having a video that explains is super helpful. Funny how old misconceptions can still subconsciously influence our singing. Many many years ago while learning Bel Canto method, I was taught to (a) keep the ribs neutral and only breathe in from the diaphragm and (b) breathe in as much air as possible. It's so helpful to understand the problems with this approach, specifically (perhaps?) since singing CCM and not Bel Canto is my goal now.

[@bob.smeenk]

Great to hear :)

[@syltinettecavalli1029]

33:15 I celebrate your "Dad joke" .... My husband and I have four children and at every meal we eat together there is a lot of amused eye-rolling because my husband is also constantly making dad jokes. I thought that was our family thing...I had a great time. But of course: your videos about singing are awesome. Thank you very much!

[@bob.smeenk]

Haha you're very welcome. My daughter is 5 now (my son 6 months). She doesn't really get the dad-jokes yet, but she does make up her own and then laughs hysterically :P

[@syltinettecavalli1029]

@ Look forward to when they get older! What fun! Life with kids is so cool, enjoy it!

[@bob.smeenk]

@@syltinettecavalli1029 haha will do. Love it so far :)

[@CalvinLimSH-ld5le]

That's why we usually sing from the diaphragm with a breath control air released triangle support for the singing voice. The higher the voice goes "Hey" the less air support needed (top of the triangle) and the opposite goes when singing low chest voice "Mah" (bottom of the triangle) where more air releases needed to support the constant pitch before running out of breath. It is much harder to sustain a low note compared to the high note for the same amount of breath over a period of time. When singing high we tend to sing more aspirate "H" the moment we constricts and when singing very low notes we will switch to the vocal fry "Ah -> Oh -> Oooh ...". I like your second method pull the handbrakes toward your body for the high vocal techniques to sustain and maintain the high fuller tone. Thanks for a wonderful breath support takeaway lesson from your video channel. We are always constantly looking for good contents where we can used to improve our singing voice. I will try to assimilate your breath control companion chart and learn more from your breath support airflow techniques.

[@bob.smeenk]

I'm not sure if I understand everything you mentioned above, but I'm vey glad the video was helpful :)

[@BrainrotDenis]

After having that one session with you, Bob, i've practiced the high powerful notes and actually got to feel what good air flow control is! I've got sick unfortunately so i cannot sing, but this breath support video makes just so much sens to me! I can t even try it but i can feel the methods working, the wide rib cage is so real Thank you Bob!!

[@bob.smeenk]

Great to hear Dennis! I'm so happy it's working for you :D

[@Indibluu]

watched it 2 times back to back, got better the next day, and the next day also, and today i was also better than yesterday, with just the video watched 2 times. And now watching it again, so i understand better, and get better the technique. Great Video, thank you very much. :)

[@bob.smeenk]

Amazing! Love to hear this :D

[@Indibluu]

​@@bob.smeenktoday i know why i got better. because of the "Fffffh" and "sssssshhh" to breathing out as much possible. so it was never wrong breathing technique. its was Just Not the full range of Motion. its like a Lot of people breathing Just more in and using that until they go to the Standard pressure Back so they dont utilize the air thats left in the lungs. so it was Always half range of breathing Motion. so Just Training the full range of Motion. getting used to it. and thats all the Magic. breathing fully in AS much possible. breathing out as much as possible. with The Letter "sssshhhh" the Last bit of Air. ty again :D

[@prashantinerellapalli]

You nailed it. Always felt I had to exhale after singing every single line. Too much inhale. Thanks!

[@bob.smeenk]

Great! Yeah many singers have this "problem". This will save you so much energy :)

[@d33znutz420]

29:21 The hilarious timing of this portion starting as soon as my cat started taking a shit in the litterbox 😂😂

[@bob.smeenk]

Haha perfect 👌

[@micahisonYT]

Ok so aside from really appreciating this as a singer - this is exceptional KZbin content that may grow somewhat slowly but continue to snowball into with way sustain than a bunch of surface level videos. Really interested to see where you take this channel both as a viewer and just a social media nerd.

[@bob.smeenk]

Thanks Micah! I'm curious to see where this goes as well :)

[@bergZig]

Thank you ❣️ very detailed how breath support works 🎶🎵🎶🎵

[@bob.smeenk]

You're welcome! :D

[@lapinchepulga406]

Bob i love you

[@bob.smeenk]

Haha❤

[@pedrovitor5324]

Thank you, only video ever to teach me what brath support actually is and how to do it!

[@bob.smeenk]

You're very welcome :)

[@hdhdhhdhdhd2624]

I love this guy❤

[@bob.smeenk]

❤

[@madupercan]

Oh gosh look at this, gold content, thank you so much ♡

[@bob.smeenk]

You're very welcome Madu :) You have some amazing covers on your channel!

[@madupercan]

@bob.smeenk I really appreciate your words. Keep up your good work here, Bob! :)

[@wisitech4310]

MORE VIDEOS MORE VIDEO MORE VIDEOS MORE VIDEOS!!!

[@bob.smeenk]

WORKING ON IT WORKING ON IT WORKING ON IT😁

[@waynehales5765]

great video and advice Bob.

[@Melissa-ju1pm]

Fantastic!

[@lizettegratacoswys2958]

How good!!! 👏👏👏 Thanks

[@bob.smeenk]

You're welcome :)

[@HJ-mx2rt]

It helped. Thank you very much bro! 🔥

[@rodrigovazquezoficial]

Best video ever. Many thanks for sharing this! Cheers from Brazil 🇧🇷

[@bob.smeenk]

De nada Rodrigo :)

[@rodrigovazquezoficial]

@ hahaha good one! :)

[@bob.smeenk]

I travelled Portugal for 2 years. Love the language :) Although I prefer Brazilian Portugese.

[@rodrigovazquezoficial]

@ Legal! Então, só tá faltando você vir pra cá treinar o português brasileiro. Se vier pro interior de São Paulo será um prazer recebê-lo!

[@kbytube1]

Wow, another banger, I wish I'd had this a year ago! Some really useful exercises to incorporate. If I may though, I do have one physiological point here regarding what you said about using the stomach to push up on the diaphragm during singing. You may know this and were just simplifying, but we don't actually "push" our stomach up against the diaphragm (we can't really exert the stomach's muscular force like that). Rather, its the entire "lower cannister" from the pelvic floor diaphragm up to the lung diaphragm, which involves many core muscles, which we flex to exert that steady pressure through the stomach, through the lung diaphragm, onto the "upper cannister" of the lungs. I learned this from a deep dive into vocal physiology that was relevant for me because, due to old athletic-related things, I had a very weak pelvic floor diaphragm. Until I improved that, I could not generate much upward pressure on the lung diaphragm no matter how much I worked on the upper cannister aspects you spoke of in this video.

[@bob.smeenk]

Thanks for the explanation. You're right. As this is such a complicated subject, and the video was getting quite long, I tried to simplify some things. For most people the stomach cue is enough to be useful. It's also the easiest to use because it's so visible. Involving all necessary core & pelvic muscles can overcomplicate things. But now you mention it, I should have at least added an extra line to explain. Here's my take, for the sake of completeness. I'm curious if you agree and if this matches what you learned: When inhaling, the diaphragm pushes our intestines down and out. That's what makes our stomachs bulge out. We don't actually breathe into our stomachs. When exhaling, we can (lightly) push the intestines back into place with our core and pelvic muscles. Most people find this easiest with their stomachs/front abs. But this is just one side of the "lower canister". You could also work with the muscles in your flanks/back. However, if there is a "weak" link in the lower canister, like your pelvic floor, pulling in one area of the lower canister, the weak area might bulge, instead of pushing the diaphragm back up. This can be a problem if you need to generate a lot of pressure, like for athletic activities like heavy squats. That said: for singing we don't need a lot of pressure, or we'll start straining and entering the orang and red zones. So in my experience, the pelvic floor being weak, will not often directly be the problem when singing.

[@kbytube1]

@@bob.smeenk "in my experience, the pelvic floor being weak, will not often directly be the problem when singing." Well, if you're in the 'normal' majority who have always had some basic muscle tone down there, I suggest you might take for granted the strength, stamina, and coordination needed to bring a gentle, steady, finely-controlled force to bear. Who knows what % of singers and wannabe singers, like me, have had a deficiency for some or most of our adult lives, who can't even begin to feel the weakness or work on strengthening until they first "find" the activating nerves? There's no visible indicators to see such a condition, and no language norms with which to talk about it. I heard vocal physiologists speak of clients, professional voice users, who had a leg or foot injury or condition and couldn't figure out why their voice was suffering; they had no idea the cause was that they were standing with their weight on one leg, which was impairing their lower cannister function. It's not something they had ever thought about before, they just took its proper functioning for granted. All that said, I know I am in a minority here. I have not yet found the "Bob Smeenk" of the lower cannister, someone who has a few simple graphics / cues / drills that won't lead to overcomplicating or overusing 😞. On my own, I am undoubtedly making detours into the same kinds of blind alleys that you are concerned about leading your students into with too much physiology.

[@bob.smeenk]

@@kbytube1 thanks for the extensive reply. Very interesting about the voice users with leg/foot injuries. Also very annoying to be a minority case. Difficult to find info online then. If you're up for it, we could do a videocall. I think we'll both learn things. I think I might still be able to help you, even though I'm not (yet) familiar with your specific condition. If you'd like that: email me :)

[@galudy9251]

THank you Bob ! Bless you

[@bob.smeenk]

You're very welcome :)

[@PelangoMusica]

Gracias ❤

[@bob.smeenk]

♥️

[@tabbatharenea8766]

dear god this is helpful!!

[@bob.smeenk]

Glad to hear it😁

[@tiagoelzaem2922]

Bob, I love your useful video clips. I am from Egypt, and I ask you to activate the translation option so that I can enjoy watching and benefit from your valuable information.❤🎉

[@bob.smeenk]

I think it takes KZbin a while to (automatically) generate them. I cannot switch them on or off. Maybe come back in a bit to see if it works.

[@Fancytheboldd]

Awesome. Vowel modification next?

[@bob.smeenk]

Did you see my ABC Voice Model video? That contains an overview of my take on vowel modification. I will dive in deeper in future videos :)

[@Alex-The-Chalex]

This was amazing! Please do a video on how to Vibrato. I need help haha…

[@bob.smeenk]

Haha you're welcome. It's already on my list. But so are a lot of other cool things :P So don't know when I'll get around to doing a vibrato video

[@dork3132]

Ok, so the video I needed just didn’t exist yet…thank you

[@bob.smeenk]

Haha those are the best ones right?

[@christiansmakingmusic777]

Sans the profanity, this is a fantastic video. The vocal coach of the future has arrived and it looks pretty good.

[@bob.smeenk]

You're very welcome ;)

[@jamesmonkmusic]

My hero

[@bob.smeenk]

🤓❤

[@Ot_Tokn]

Thank you⭐️

[@bob.smeenk]

You’re welcome 😊

[@Nathanaelsun22]

Excellent channel supurb video .. best of the best

[@bob.smeenk]

Thank you so much 😀

[@Samuel-hj9ty]

How is pitch related to the graph? I noticed that if I’m just singing in my chest voice with low notes, no matter how much air I add, I don’t break to falsetto. I only increase my volume.

[@bob.smeenk]

Some people will also break to Falsetto when they're singing in the low part of their voice. A bit like Tarzan doing his jungle-yell. But the breaking mostly happens when you're trying to sing powerful high notes (above your break pitch). Does that answer your question?

[@Samuel-hj9ty]

@@bob.smeenk Is the chart mostly for singing above your break pitch then?

[@bob.smeenk]

@@Samuel-hj9ty it's for your whole range. You'll also start straining on low notes if you sing them with too much airflow. But in their low (comfortable) range, most singers automatically sing with the right amount of breath support. Most "problems" arise when singing higher and approaching or surpassing the break pitch.

[@rotemaryjeanbongon1554]

thanks for this vedio...

[@DailyFumbo]

Awesome stuff Bob! Will I be able to perform hinokami kagura after this?

[@bob.smeenk]

Haha for sure!☀

[@angalmeida29]

Omg omggggg there is a god ! Thank you so much ❤

[@bob.smeenk]

❤

[@weslentenorio595]

Ah acabei de chegar 😁, OPS não consigo ativar as legendas

[@bob.smeenk]

Might take some time to generate. Hope it'll work soon :)

[@weslentenorio595]

@@bob.smeenk 😁 Thanks so much for letting me know! I’m really looking forward to it and can’t wait. My English isn’t great yet, but I’m working on it-hope I won’t need subtitles forever! Your content is absolutely amazing! :~)

[@bob.smeenk]

Thanks, really appreciate it!

[@Nothing_Left_To_Say]

When i do a siren, when i get to the end of my easy range (baritone, d#5-e5), I turn silent, only air, but if I increase air support I get the f5-g5, but it strange because the pressure required for higher should decrease right? Why is that? Is it because I can't get the proper closure so I try to accommodate with air? It does take effort compare to the lower notes

[@bob.smeenk]

If there is only air your vocal folds are not vibrating. The opening in between is too big. So like you said: you need a bit more closure. Technique & breath support could help. Warming up (& SOVT Exercises) could help with closure as well. The pressure and airflow you need for higher notes depends on the sound and volume you're going for. I hope this helps, but without hearing you it's hard to really help you fix this. So if this is important to you, you could consider booking a private session with me.

[@pascaastrid8026]

Do you have a tictoc account?

[@Nothing_Left_To_Say]

‏‪4:45‬‏ did you mean the threshold is higher for higher notes? There are no such thing as "loud notes"

[@bob.smeenk]

No I did mean loud notes. As in: you can sing high note. You can also a (high) note loudly. If this is incorrect English then my bad. Some intricacies of the language are lost on me as a non-native speaker.

[@Nothing_Left_To_Say]

@bob.smeenk Im also not a native so don't stress over my corrections. For me "loudly produced notes" would be clearer. Thank you, your tips and explanations made me improve immediately. I finally found out why I'm straining and "sigh" at the end of each sentence as I was young Britney spears in heat

[@bob.smeenk]

😂