Background and Objective: The act of breathing for singing is a complex motor skill having to contend with a constant external force (gravity) and ever-changing internal mechanisms (e.g., passive recoil, muscle-fiber length). However, this complex motor skill is often over simplified as so-called “abdominal-diaphragmatic breathing.” The objective of this presentation is to review briefly the complex mechanics of breathing and the intrinsic feedback that the motor system uses to control breathing for singing, and to discuss the likely sources of overgeneralizations about breathing for voice.

Method: Literature review.
Literature will be surveyed up through 2025. The resulting information will be used to describe the mechanics of the chest wall and how each component of breathing mechanics contributes differently to phonatory efficiency, especially in classical singing. Further data will be presented on singers’ descriptions of their breathing that are inconsistent with their kinematic data.

Results: The review highlights the complex interplay of ribcage and abdominal mechanics in breathing for voice in general, and in singing in particular. Particular attention is paid to the reliance on extrinsic feedback, e.g. vision, and less-so intrinsic feedback provided by Golgi-tendon organs, muscles-spindle organs, joint-kinesthetic receptors, and lung-stretch receptors in breathing control for speech and singing. Several hypotheses emerge about the reasons behind common oversimplications of our understanding of breathing mechanics in voice and possible missteps that such oversimplification may introduce into clinical and pedagogical practice. One particularly relevant finding regards the inaccuracy of singers’ perceptions of their own breathing mechanics in singing, documented quantitatively.

Conclusions: There is clinical and pedagogical value in a deepened understanding of breathing mechanics in speech and singing, as highlighted by this review. There is also value in recognizing the distinction and often mismatch between actual mechanics and vocalists’ perceptions of breathing mechanics in speech and singing.