Why You Run Out Of Breath When Singing (And How to Fix It)

[@sweetsupernova631]

To me Chris is the best voice coach own here, no competition. He’s not afraid to make weird noises or sound silly for the purpose of demonstrating, that’s the sign of a great coach. He speaks the language of someone who has no vocal training at all and everyone can understand him.

[@davidhenriques9048]

Compression and vowel positioning is really the technical key to most great lines in music i belive, they are the transition from a good singer to a great one

[@dzamija922]

This "resistance approach" is actually how woodwind players practice breath support, interestingly enough. First flute lesson I ever had, the teacher came in, took my flute, said "you won't need that right now" - put it away, and told me to lie on my back on the table (...okay, lady). Then she told me to do this. Needless to say I probably never would've played a single note on the flute were it not for this exercise lol

[@richardjohnson8991]

I've been doing metal vocals for close to 15 years now and it absolutely blew my mind when I started learning clean singing how fast I ran out of air as opposed to being able to hold out 20 second plus screams. Compression really saves your lungs from working overtime on long notes.

[@shanabales4244]

I am the opposite. I am new to taking singing seriously and I am trying to teach myself using videos like this. My problem is I runout of air almost instantly. I can growl longer than I can scream for. One line and I am out of air. Especially if it is fast paced. It is frustrating because I am finally learning how to make these badass sounds that I never thought would come out of me but I can only do a few words before my air is completely spent. I have never had this problem when singing clean vocals.

[@richardjohnson8991]

@@shanabales4244 singing is jogging on a treadmill, screaming is deadlifting massive weight. Vocal folds are muscle and singing/screaming are exercise for your voice but you still have to work up to it. Keep at it and you'll find your endurance increasing. Regular exercise also helps increase lung capacity which will help with your end goal of endurance

[@theunknownbeing7]

This actually explains why I always start singing poorly after the first 2-4 lines... I thought it was because I sucked at singing and believed I was just going into bad singing habits after the first few good lines. I was always searching for solutions to this. But it turns out, I was just getting exhausted running out of breath every time because I wouldn't inhale fully. With low oxygen, my vocal tract was struggling to relax, maintain proper shape, and perform properly... and I would always feel a little light-headed after. Wow. Thanks for this! What an unexpected epiphany, this literally cured it.

[@paulsilva5886]

Newer singers don't know how much of a blessing you are, I had to learn a lot of what you teach by myself, and when I watch your videos, it's all correct (and happy to find that I'm doing things correctly) Sometimes I practice singing songs in as few breaths as possible (for example, weak and powerless by a perfect circle, I can do in 4 breaths), really gets you attuned to being aware of your breath and prepping for future lines Very grateful for you Chris, thank you for what you do for this singing community

[@jamesscrbacic9948]

Chris, you’re a fantastic singer AND brilliant teacher, a very, very rare combination so many kinks in my singing voice, gaps of misunderstanding in knowledge after decades of singing GONE in 1 year’s time thanks to you THANK YOU Chris!

[@craigjenkins6917]

Cornell opening....yessss. This is an eye opener thanks for another great video Chris

[@lordhuebi]

I'm singing in a punk/garage rock band and we're trying to cover Fell in Love with a Girl by the White Stripes. First half of the song, I really like how my vocals are sounding. But then I lose breath and it becomes a mess. This lesson was really awesome, I think it will help me figuring that stuff out. Looking forward to our next band practice now :D Thank you!

[@episode40]

how’s it going :D

[@neilbonavita8623]

This is the first time anyone has ever said or even implied this!! I've playing around with compression and breath control and was so afraid of adding tension that I felt like I was breaking the rules. You are so good at describing articulately while demonstrating . Thank you so much for this!!! WOW!

[@neilbonavita8623]

I watched this video 3 weeks ago and in the meantime have been working on support and compression. What a difference in my breath control. Thanks again for all this incredibly helpful content. It really goes well with your courses. Learning is about repetition, reframing, playing, practicing and imitating. Bravo Chris.

[@WhaleBluePRS]

I try really hard not to spam the comments with this, but "Discover Your Voice" is excellent and it's value far exceeds it's cost. I'm in the process of going back through it a 2nd time and reviewing and/or discovering things I missed first time around. It's excellent and I can't recommend it enough if you're considering it when enrollment is open. I'd post in every video if I didn't feel that would be detrimental. I'm really glad I can be a part of it.

[@korenpollak8344]

I will get it after I finish with the great aggressive singen curse from Chris ! Also great stuff there too. Just unlock false cords scream ! Soooo happpy ! Thank you Chris !

[@WhaleBluePRS]

@@korenpollak8344 I started that course too but haven't finished it yet. Congrats on the false cord scream!

[@angalmeida29]

You sound fantastic Chris ! Your humility is endearing

[@moonicproductions]

Again Chris, your videos have helped me so much. I made a vocal cover of Audioslave - Cochise and I'm really happy to have reached a whole new level thanks to you. Have an awesome day man : )

[@chrisliepe]

Fantastic!

[@johnliljeborg5363]

You wonderful wonderful man! Always there to help me understand my body better and find new interesting ways to use it. Thank you so much! ❤️

[@TopherNgo]

This is super helpful - since I since bass in contemporary a cappella groups, I find that breathy tone adds to that low mid warmth without being overly bright to make room for the other backing vocals. And for years I thought I had bad breath control. But it's simply because that style of music calls for "breathy" bass vocals. All I needed to do is add cord closure and compression to extend the length of my phrases. Thank you so much for this!

[@jamiegunn]

Amazing! Thank you Chris. This was great how you describe how you approach a song in certain ways. Glad you mentioned the Discover Your Voice course. I highly recommend that course for singers of any level. So much is explained in depth and in demonstration. All your videos are so helpful and always there when you need them. I have personally benefited greatly from the courses and videos. Thank you!

[@ellielovesbands]

my main problem, thanks Chris for knowing me to well ✌🏻

[@mickykitty88]

Your videos are always so relevant! Love them

[@officialWWM]

That transition from that huge note to faulsetto was beautiful! I doubt I could ever do that!

[@MikeBidwell]

I used to think so as well. As you learn how the different parts of your voice feel, and where the transitions are, you can learn to stretch them up and down, and how to go smoothly from one to another. By learning your "singers body" (and Chris is an excellent teacher of this), suddenly you find yourself just doing it!

[@6hypnone]

I'd like to add... If one is in choir, you will always run into this issue, and the choir director will help everyone in timing when to breathe. When to stagger breathing too. Though he or she may not go onto this amount of technical detail. I think choir is a great way to at least drill in this concept and will *force* you to be aware of it outside of choir, since it's drilled in so much from choir experience. It's automatic in me... And until I saw you talk about it, I hadn't realized it. So I do recommend taking at least a season or semester of choir if you like to sing 😊

[@JeffIndigo]

Great advice! One thing that shaped my singing that you demonstrated at 7:16 is that compression. I found myself finally being able to do the end of Alter Bridge's "Find the Real" Myles elongated note! That, and it adds a "sweetness" that I didn't know I had in my voice. Thanks as always!

[@FroznColors]

THIS IS SO HELPFUL OMG THANKYOU

[@n1kk1cathar1ne]

Yet another great video, thank you for educating us Chris!

[@cncshep]

Wicked good video thank you once again brother I have improved alot since I started your videos bout 3 months ago truly a great person to help us all

[@SpongeBoss]

Thanks for explaining! I actually did that closure and compression right, unintentionaly. But I still have to yawn after a while. What's up with that? Thx a bunch.

[@aksnails]

Too many good things to say about this video and not enough words. Subscribed.

[@chrisliepe]

Thanks for the sub!

[@rpocc]

Thanks for this one, but I think it’s only one half of the problem. I usually can maintain really long notes when recording backing vocals in studio or make a decent leading vocal track at studio, making it phrase by phrase, but when I try to sing some of my songs live I find that after couple of verses I ran out of breath and my body feels like rejecting any attempts to take something strong, and exhaling doesn’t help too much, I need a relaxation for some time before I can take high notes again. Maybe it’s some kind of fatigue due to insufficient breathing during singing but so far I can’t fully explain that phenomena. Will be very glad to hear something about similar effect from you, and how to get rid of it.

[@ashleyscott-tp9sj]

Thank you so much I’m in choir and i have all state auditions coming up and the songs I’m singing you need a lot of breath and i was struggling

[@fenderfox5080]

Thanks Chris!!

[@kessencemusic]

love the narration 07:58 :D

[@srijanburmanroy4629]

Thank you chris for all these ❤️

[@juanma.arabia]

If someone wants to connect deeply with their breathing, they can start practicing Pranayama (exercise of breath), one of the three aspects of Yoga, together with Asanas (postures) and meditation. I recommend it as tought by B.K.S. Iyengard. You can read his book "The art of Pranayama" or watch his videos on the subject.

[@alexmercer6585]

Thanks for this video Chris. I am a beginner so I had trouble understanding everything but your video gave some useful insights into how I could improve.

[@chrisliepe]

If you’re a beginner, you’ll get a lot out of my free course linked in the video description!

[@alexmercer6585]

@@chrisliepe Will definitely look into it!

[@dctp65]

Thanks for that Chris. I've bumped into this problem before. Mental note to check out compression in due course.

[@vandarth]

Hey Chris, I was wondering, should I be trying to add a little vocal compression to my speaking voice as well as when I'm singing? Sometimes I find myself running out of breath when speaking.

[@chrisliepe]

Yep, that's a great way to practice the sensations of compression as well!

[@lesegolethaboskosana3393]

You are really really good! My gosh! 👏🏽

[@chrisliepe]

Thank you so much!!

[@masonthorpe4992]

You’ve got to do a video looking in depth into Ghostemane’s vocals on his newer albums. He has so many different ranges it’s insanity.

[@4Timesdafunky]

Chris Cornell wrote "Wave Goodbye" as a tribute to Jeff Buckley and intentionally sang it in Jeff's style. It's amazing listening to your cover because it sounds just like how I imagine Jeff Buckley would sing it. ❤

[@bearbear4389]

Thanks so much for the lesson. If you don't mind me saying, however, an ad appeared during your video where they are saying that one can't learn to sing from KZbin, and they were promoting their own voice lessons, so just thought I'd let you know!😊 I wouldn't like that if it were my channel.

[@chrisliepe]

haha... Ya, that's happened before. I think it's funny because it just makes the ad look dumb :) It's like they are paying to actually provide legitimacy to my videos that ARE helping people and ARE on KZbin! Irony.

[@julianknight8705]

Hey Chris, you're work is awesome. I sang in a few bands, had pretty much a David Bowie voice, but I always wanted a bigger range. About 5 years ago I realized when I speak to my cats I use a cartoony high voice which isn't falcetto. Then later I found your videos and thought hmm...maybe I can access another register by learning what I'm doing with my cartoony cat voice. And it worked, a year later I really sing up there with a highly resonant tone. I can tell that I'm doing something like tilting or pushing down my 'voice box', my vocal chords. And the resonance moves right up behind my nose. It's given me a full octave more, if I support it well and include a bit of chestiness into the tone it sounds great. My question is, what's happening with that feeling of tilting my voice box?

[@benmacdhui]

Great video Chris. I really dug that intro too

[@martinlegaspi6108]

Coach is there a video about the difference between rasp and grit?

[@BIKRANT]

About to watch his video. But did he get a copyright for his singing?? 🤔🤔

[@TemperedLion]

Man, you are an awesome teacher! This is key information. Any capable person can learn to sing awesomely if they follow your videos.

[@Mynamessofia]

I’m in a choir and I often run out of breath while singing thank you!

[@tatemcilwain1775]

thank you for this i've written a song i was having trouble singing but this is helpful

[@selda_KZ]

Hello Mr. Liepe🙋‍♀️im kinda confused about smth cz each coach says smth that it makes me get confused about how exactly a singer should breathe while singing, whats the correct way, the correct & real breathing way (belly-nose-throat-chest-mouth). Like mostly ive heard about belly breathing but is singing always belly breathing n not chest or nose breathing for example? 🤔 I would appreciate if u guide me🙏💚

[@chrisliepe]

Have you joined my free course linked in the video description? That’ll clear up your breathing and support questions. ! :)

[@cgonzt5636]

Will give this a try. Thanks 😊

[@qumbug]

Mr Chris Liepe, can you explain how to project low notes? I feel like when I get into low notes my voice gets real quiet. Thanks for all your amazing videos and practical explainations!

[@chrisliepe]

Great suggestion!

[@sciexp]

Thanks for sharing this.

[@josemartcarv]

wave goodbye!! amazing song

[@adamthedude9997]

Planning breaths is what I've been thinking about the last couple of days then I saw this video. Awesome channel, I enjoyed the Kurt Cobain video also 🎵

[@Marimusic2024]

Like your singing on this Chris

[@IAMNODINE]

Thanks for this

[@n7ck47]

“Now I’m imploadinggggg” haha great tutorial 🙏

[@chrisliepe]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@inigobj]

Great tips Chris. The difficulty lies on how you actually control the level of compression .

[@chrisliepe]

Right, takes a ton of practice... but worth it!

[@RODZACABOCATUBAY]

Hi cris what do you mean? Should i hold my breath? And how about in my nose should no air also pass there?

[@chrisliepe]

Have you joined my free course linked in the video info? That'll answer your questions :) !!

[@dookhynabeelah4897]

Thank you 👍🏻👍🏻

[@GeonusKaikun]

I got totally winded trying to sing a metal song at karaoke last night. It was so bad that I swore I'd never do it again. Now after watching this video, I think I may try to work on this more.

[@wowawewah]

Is this for all genres and styles of singing? A degree of compression depending on the style. What about for really soft parts where you need to hold it and even be breathy e.g. Hallelujah (jeff buckleys version) where he holds a soft note for about 20 seconds or so if I remember correctly.

[@coleG112]

I’m nowhere near qualified to make proper suggestions, but something I’ve been noticing a lot is volume. Oftentimes, soft actually is quiet (although it doesn’t HAVE to be. It’s all a stylistic thing) Take Disturbed’s Sound of Silence for example. Because of the mouth noises, the pronunciation of certain syllables, and the kind of singing it is, we can tell that he’s actually very quiet in that first verse. Billie Eilish’s timbre is very similar - very quiet, very soft, but completely in control and you can tell there’s a good amount of power available. Same thing with screaming. It’s loud, but it’s not nearly as loud as you expect it sometimes, especially ow screams. Finding the middle ground between quiet and loud, loose and compressed, and combining them to get the sound you want, that’s the key. And in my opinion, it’s the key To all singing in general

[@calebmarshall5739]

Not an answer but he holds the note for 28 seconds ;)

[@chrisliepe]

Yep, it can be adapted to all genres for sure!

[@nicolot4652]

I use a type of compression to Scream with rasp in a Kurt Cobain/Kirk windstein way, but I really feel like out of breath if I sing like that for a while, like my voice quickly disappear After a certain level. It happens if I sing songs like Dive by Nirvana or even in a mixed voice Ugly Truth by Soundgarden. I also have a light pectus excavatum, which can't allow my lungs to extend 100%, could that be a reason?

[@NikkiEdmunds]

Sir, you’re good.

[@musikhippie817]

As someone who studied voice for a 3 years im college I've never been told about this technique. Ive struggled with that collapsing feeling for years and have tried to deal with it and I could never move past it. You just earned me as a sub. I have a question that's been on my mind for a while maybe you can give me some tips. Like i said I studied voice for 3 years but mainly focusing on art song and Irish folk music, now that im older and out of college im trying to do my own thing with different genres like rock, indie, and others but u find myself going back to this choir boy classically trained singin and it does fit right in those genres of music, how would you recommend working on developing your voice for more modern genres of music?

[@Alidolado]

Changing notes, speacially during long ones get's me REALLY out of breath. I'm a breathy soprano typa girl so I run outta breath REALLY fast I need to learn how to support myself better.

[@psychlyeslg]

7:46 That mosquito in my room be like

[@jamessuraciart]

Any chance you could do a video about Drew from Rishloo's vocals (with special emphasis on the end of their song "Alchemy Alice"? I would love to see if you could replicate that...be forewarned, it wont easy.

[@Rosannasfriend]

Helpful. Thanks.

[@fasgamboa]

That is my problem!

[@anthonycaminiti8734]

I get this light tickle in my throat when i try to use clean compression on lower notes. Should i only use it in my upper registers, or is something wrong?

[@chrisliepe]

Gotta place it higher in the vocal tract!

[@LolaBethmusic]

Ive been trying to sing some amy lee but maybe Im wrong, i dont know if she uses cord closure because her sound is so breathy and I love that sound. I dont know how she does it and is able to hold out notes.

[@badzs.]

I don’t quite understand how to add compression to your voice, if someone could explain it more in depth for me, I would appreciate it❤

[@chrisliepe]

This course goes in lots of depth and helps you practice compression in many ways: www.mymusicalvoice.com/p/the-aggressive-vocalist-s-master-plan-of-attack

[@badzs.]

@@chrisliepe awesome, thank you! ❤️❤️

[@thunder2269]

Can you do a vocal review of leave the door open?

[@qwertyasdf001]

can you do the Snowman by Sia challenge??? the challenge is to do the whole 32 second chorus with one breath!!!!

[@alexnajarianmusic]

Chris is a compressing fool! 🤣 Held that vocal forever.

[@studioblasi]

Please, explain me, If I'm right? Are we breathing all the time during singing?

[@chrisliepe]

Yes but to varying degrees! Join my free course linked in the description for more on. Teaching and support!

[@dianaV1212]

I'm sorry I'm lame, but I'm not really getting the term compression 😔 I cant tell when you compressing or not

[@sA-mk4fq]

I quess this is is glottal compression. Ken tamplin base a lot of his singing on this concept :)

[@korenpollak8344]

Hi Chris can you please pls do Chris Harms from Lord of the Lost ? It will be a dream comes True !

[@RobbieFitzgerald]

Every once in a while I seem to be able to hold a note quite long. I guess its switching on compression but I havent figured out what it feels like to be able to do it consistently.

[@beehype46and2]

Comment for thy algorithm Streak coconut🥥: 64

[@MetalNeverDieswithMarkA]

I thought it was because I was fat but this makes sense

[@themusicexpress8904]

Do we have to take normal breathing or diaphragmatic breathing?

[@chrisliepe]

either is fine :)

[@SpiritsOfAnotherDay]

Great stuff Chris! )) ))) )))))(still using compression))))))))))))))))))))n

[@markeugenelee2083]

Very useful

[@dancetx]

Now I know why I run out of breath so quickly! I compress too little

[@chrisliepe]

YEP!

[@stephenmcgraw3610]

Hi Christ one of your video that you use a knive I can’t stop gagging to I try it a lot to stop from doing it

[@jMerkyJJ]

Chris, what about messa voce?

[@chrisliepe]

Great idea for another video!

[@thissphere4777]

Hey Chris,i have a problem that my voice is kinda low,so when i sing i end up singing too low,can you help me?

[@chrisliepe]

YES! Have you joined my free voice course yet?

[@thissphere4777]

Yes,i have,learned a lot there thanks

[@LuciBriggsMusic]

Of course Chris Cornell comes up in a breath control video. Not surprised at all.

[@justinallenrucker]

If I closed my eyes I could almost mistake you for Tom Yorke. Did he influence your music?

[@chrisliepe]

Absolutely yes!

[@justinallenrucker]

@@chrisliepe I knew it! Awesome voice man! 🙌🏽

[@youlie1943]

Are.we really going to get free learning?

[@chrisliepe]

Yep!

[@youlie1943]

@@chrisliepe thank you i have never seen a youtuber giving something for free till now

[@wowawewah]

I feel like I'm constricting if I do this and doesn't feel great.

[@chrisliepe]

Gotta place it higher in the vocal tract!

[@wowawewah]

@@chrisliepe Does it sound more brighter and your larynx raises?

[@xbox123456789]

I sometime take so much breath. it stop me from singing the next line....

[@Montygoatz]

You can really sing

[@Cutejohn1234]

does it work on kids just asking for friend :>

[@jet9852]

3:16

[@harryfitzgerald260]

You sound like Josh Homme from QOTSA

[@daniellalayoun6423]

I'm here cz i can't sing the 'of yesterday' at the end of hello by evanescence without running out of breath especially that she ends it breathy how the fuck 😭

[@lweendoadorechabu6014]

Hey Chris, I recently started running out of breathe very fast and my throat hurts I have a big performance in two days and am panicking Any advise for me?

[@chrisliepe]

Start by living by THIS video (that you commented on) Zero in on how you are moderating your airflow and your cord closure! , and then check out video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y6mQnXtmeZqgj8k

[@philippebedroom4665]

yeee