[Perform-Talk] Questionable singing advice opinion needed

[Kelsey Nicolay]

Hello all,
Just thought I would update everyone on how it is going. It turns out that I have a health condition that prevents me from being able to use proper low breathing; I was diagnosed with teeth grinding back in May which has locked my upper body up pretty badly which in turn locks up the core, so my only option is chest breathing. My choir director is aware and I am exempt from this due to the discomfort it causes. However, at rehearsal last week, we were doing warm-ups working on breath support and my meighbor assumed I needed further guidance since I was just standing there. I very quietly told her I couldn't do the exercises and left it at that as I didn't want to go into detail about my reasons since the director already knew. I know she was trying to be helpful, so did I do the right thing or is there a more tactful approach I should take if she steps in again this week?
Sent from Kelsey Nicolay’s iPhone 

> On Jan 1, 2026, at 11:36 AM, Chris Nusbaum via Perform-Talk <perform-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi Kelsey:
> 
> Good question. I too haven't heard advice like this from a voice teacher, and I'm a bit surprised that a voice teacher would assign physical exercise of the kind you describe. That said, like any other subject, each teacher has a different approach to teaching certain concepts, particularly one as detailed as breath support.
> 
> As you likely know, the part of your body that is primarily used to support your breath while singing is your diaphragm, which is a muscle in the middle of your abdomen. For the best breath support, you're looking to breathe deeply from your diaphragm, with your shoulders down, without your chest raising. As far as I can tell, this doesn't have to do with the strength of the muscle; it has more to do with where the breath comes from. My first teacher had me lay on the floor in her studio, which forced me to breathe from my diaphragm, then put my hands on my diaphragm to feel how the muscle raises and lowers. As we went on, she laid on the floor with me and had me feel her diaphragm so I had an example to follow. Perhaps you could try this, either in or out of the session with your voice teacher. Remember too that no singer always gets it right every time—I still catch myself "chest breathing" when I'm in the higher end of my register, even after over 10 years of training.
> 
> Hope this helps. Please let us know how it's going.
> Chris Nusbaum
> 
>> On Jan 1, 2026, at 10:51 AM, Kelsey Nicolay via Perform-Talk <perform-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Hello,
>> i booked a lesson with a teacher a couple weeks ago who has been teaching in schools for a while but is relatively new to my area. She seemed nice, but I'm not quite sure I trust her advice and was curious what you all think. i struggle with breathing and have for a while, so she proceeded to tell me that the reason I am having trouble getting a deep inhale without raising the shoulders is because of wak abdominal muscles and advised me to do crunches every day for a week and I would notice a difference. I have never been told by any previous teacher to do crunches; she actually had me get down on the floor during the lesion and do some so I could feel proper engagement. i could be wrong, but it is my understanding that you don't use the abdominal muscles to inhale, only to supportthe realease of air when singing. I have another lesson with her on Monday, but I'm considering canceling it since I am not sure her advice is correct. For those of you who have more experience with this than I do, what are your thoughts? Have I been given incorrect advice and should not continue with the lessons or is this accurate technique? luckily the teacher allows booking one lesson at a time, so I can terminate at any time without losing anything. I chose this teacher because she specializes in contemporary genres which is what I'm interested in, but her advice on breathing has me a little concerned about the validity of her training.
>> Sent from Kelsey Nicolay’s iPhone
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