Inhale Through the Nose or Mouth When Singing?

I'm often asked whether we should breathe through the mouth of nose when inhaling. Here's my answer.
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[@JackMajor]

You sound so well educated with all your general knowledge in human anatomy and know specifically how the body responds to air intaking during singing. Great tip, you are definitely helpful when making these in a technical sense to grasp an idea of how it works! :D

[@singwisevocals]

Thank you. :)

[@Zamstein]

A vocal pathologist by the name of Hadas Golan at BMC in Boston told me that if you have sinus issues, breathing through your nose MORE not less will help alleviate them. That often times sinus issues are caused by mouth breathing subconsciously during the day, or while sleeping. If we have a stuffed nose, she taught me that trying to breathe through it as much as possible in and out will loosen it up. This has never failed me.

[@kkshukla6142]

You have given such a useful info in less than 1 minute...👍 THANKS...😊🙏

[@singwisevocals]

You're welcome.

[@kiwi_rainbows]

Thank you for this clarification!

[@singwisevocals]

You're welcome. Thank you for watching and commenting.

[@TheMidnightModder]

Habitual mouth breathing has proven to be detrimental to our health in all facets, so yes, if possible, breathe through your nose! The more you breathe through your nose the easier it becomes as the tissue opens up for more airflow.

[@esfsddfsafsasgsdfgsdfg1728]

very helpful. also thats a straight forward answer. subbedddd

[@gperkins1080]

Another great tip! Plus your voice is sounding healthier. I hope you are doing better

[@singwisevocals]

Yes, thank you. My voice is mostly back, although I still have a bit of a cough and my voice sometimes cut right out!

[@gperkins1080]

singwisevocals Here's to your full recovery!

[@ekechi100]

Great explanation.

[@Zamstein]

Both! Circular breathing ftw :)

[@carlosnoriega7296]

When i inhale through my mouth when singing i often feel like burping in the middle of the song. Is that common or am i breathing wrong?

[@singwisevocals]

So sorry for not seeing this question when you posted it. It sounds to me like you might be inhaling too much air ari too often and maybe expanding your abdomen too much.

[@austintheson4823]

you ate a lot of food

[@rocachick860]

I do a little of both simultaneously but mostly through the mouth. I find that a small stream of air through the nose during inhalation reinforces that higher resonance feeling before singing a phrase. Are there any drawbacks to doing it this way that would make it a bad idea? I never really though too much about it until now.

[@singwisevocals]

Interesting technique! I think the only drawbacks would be the drying of the mouth and possibly a slightly slower inhale. But if it works for you - if you can draw in an adequate air supply in time for the next vocal phrase - then I'm sure it's fine. (Honestly, I think that breathing through the nose is more important throughout the rest of the day, and especially when we're out and about in public places, than during our comparatively shorter singing practice times. I have a deviated septum and chronic allergies, so breathing through the nose during singing is not a viable option for me. I can barely produce my nasal consonants half the time!)

[@kyliehuettel1614]

Is there a specific vocal exercise to get a better sounding head voice? My chest voice seems fine, and I've worked on lowering my larynx, using the ng sound, putting my tongue root forward, and some others, but my head voice still sounds weird to me (I don't have pain after/while singing also). Please help!

[@singwisevocals]

I haven't yet recorded a video on developing head voice. Developing head voice isn't a matter of performing a specific exercise. You'll need to find the right balance of the breath, vocal effort, muscular control, and vowel resonance (i.e., singing the right vowel for the pitch, vowel modification). Without hearing your head voice, I can't know for certain how best to guide you, so please feel free to e-mail ([e-mail]) a sample of your upper range singing. This might interest you, as well: I just recorded an interview with a renown mezzo soprano and professor. We specifically discuss the mezzo soprano and soprano voices and she talks about how to develop the upper range and make a smooth transition between the middle voice and head voice. You might find some nuggets of wisdom in that video. It was a long talk, so I'll be dividing it into two and posting them in the next couple days.

[@jeff420sparky8]

don't you mean out in after phrase?

[@singwisevocals]

This video address how to inhale/draw in the breath between phrases.

[@jeff420sparky8]

@@singwisevocals yes but why do you hear pop singers breathe out in ater phrase on mic? also do you get out of breath after performing?

[@jeff420sparky8]

have you ever breathed out in through mouth on mic after phrase? after concert on scale of 1-10 with 10 being so much you can't speak what are you for mouth breathing ?

[@jeff420sparky8]

I guess no answer means you have done that on mic

[@gold9994]

But the real reason is Diapraghm.