Line Hilton hosts the Singing Teachers Talk podcast and challenges the continued, vague use of “support” and appoggio in breath management teaching, arguing that research shows no single correct breathing strategy among elite singers and that singers often misidentify what their respiratory muscles are doing. She explains how singing uses much larger lung-volume ranges than speech, often requiring controlled braking against passive recoil rather than pushing more air, and notes that trained singers don’t have bigger lungs—just better coordination. Drawing on sources including Miller, McCoy, Titze, Sundberg, and EMG research, she reframes “support” as task-specific breath management shaped by genre, physiology, and performance demands, and offers practical studio strategies such as audiation, mental rehearsal, the Underwood method, SPLAT, physiological sigh, sustained S/counting, straw phonation, gestural calibration, score marking, CO2 tolerance work, and respiratory hygiene.
WHAT’S IN THIS PODCAST?
00:19 Why the term support bothers me
01:47 What the research says
04:23 Why breath is complex
08:42 The problem with support
14:55 Reframing as Breath Management
15:32 Studio tools and exercises
23:43 Bigger picture and hygiene
24:42 Key takeaways and language shift
About the presenter HERE
RELEVANT MENTIONS & LINKS
SEE WEBSITE FOR FULL LIST OF RESOURCES
FULL LIST OF RESOURCES
Baker, C.P., Miles, A., Allen, J. and Herbst, C.T. (2025) ‘Six-pack singing: On associations between anterior abdominal muscle activity and vital capacity percentage’, Journal of Voice.
Chapman, J. (2006) Singing and Teaching Singing: A Holistic Approach to Classical Voice. San Diego: Plural Publishing.
Huberman, A. (2021– ) Huberman Lab Podcast. Available at: https://hubermanlab.com
(Accessed: 30 March 2026).
Indic, S. (2009) ‘Familiarity with the sensations of breathing and its role in performance’, Medical Problems of Performing Artists, 24(3), pp. 105–110.
Kotby, M.N. (1995) The Accent Method of Voice Therapy. San Diego, CA: Singular Publishing Group.
Leanderson, R. and Sundberg, J. (1988) ‘Breathing for singing’, Journal of Voice, 2(1), pp. 2–12.
McCoy, S. (2005) Your Voice: An Inside View. Princeton, NJ: Inside View Press.
Moss Erickson, H. (2022) ‘A Copernican shift: Reframing how we think about breath in singing’, Journal of Singing, 79(2), pp. 233–242.
Ray, C., Trudeau, M. and McCoy, S. (2017) ‘Effects of respiratory muscle strength training in classically trained singers’, Journal of Voice, 31(6), pp. 757.e1–757.e11.
Sonninen, A., Laukkanen, A.-M., Karma, K. and Hurme, P. (2004) ‘Evaluation of support’, Journal of Voice, 19(2), pp. 223–237.
Sundberg, J. and Leanderson, R. (1987) ‘Breathing for singing’, Journal of Voice, 1(3), pp. 258–261.
Titze, I.R. (2000) Principles of Voice Production. Iowa City: National Center for Voice and Speech.
Watson, A.H.D. (2015) ‘Breathing in singing’, in Welch, G., Howard, D. and Nix, J. (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Singing. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269390383_Breathing_in_Singing
Watson, A.H.D., Williams, J. and James, D.V.B. (2012) ‘Activity of accessory respiratory muscles in classical singing’, Journal of Voice, 26(6), pp. 689–695.
Web resources (separated for clarity):
Alexander technique Available at: : https://alexandertechnique.co.uk/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Breathing Coordination (n.d.) Available at: https://en.breathingcoordination.ch/
(Accessed: 30 March 2026).
Buteyko Clinic (n.d.) Available at: https://buteykoclinic.com/
(Accessed: 30 March 2026).
