The key is to learn how to control your breathing before you try to control it while singing.

My favourites are breathing in for 5 seconds, holding for 5 seconds then letting out over 5 seconds, then extending the time to 8 seconds, then 10 … And so on! This stregnthens your control over the projection of notes, the legnth of notes and the stregnth of notes.

Then theres control where the breath comes from, the natural way of breathing is when we breath in the chest goes out, and when we let the breath go your chest deflates, try breathing pushing the chest in and the diaphram out, and letting the breath out by pushing in the diaphram and out of the chest. This stregnthens the muscles in both your diaphram and chest so you can control the silence and power of the breath.

Then theres taking a slow breath in and releasing it by pushing it out form the diaphram in sharp short blast, you can start making loud breathing sounds, and making them quieter and quieter, this trains your ear to know the loudness of the breath, making it hardly audible on recordings and in microphones.

Then you can start bringing singing, sing something simple like do ray me, or a nursery rhyme really slowly, constantly listening to your breathing, more than the tune, or the words, and start to pin point, where your breathing loudly, or where your not giving yourself enough breath to finish the sentence and work on that part, singing the rhyme quicker and quicker until it is at normal speed, and hopefully you'll be happy with how your breathing sounds.

These are just bits I've picked up over the last few years off a number of different musical directors, they worked for me, give them a go … Worth a try eh? Lol Good luck chick!

First of all, you don't want to lose the vibrato, you want to learn how to CONTROL your vibrato. Any true voice teacher knows that "losing" the vibrato completely is DAMAGING to the voice. But, proper diaphragmatic breathing will dramatically help with controlling it. Some people have a bad interpretation of what vibrato means. If you are singing right, the vibrato is controlled and unwobbly. If the vibrato is without wobble, than the audience won't really be aware of it. That's what makes a GOOD singer stand out from the rest.

Most people don't know we use the diaphragm everyday for breathing purposes. The difference between "high" breathing (which is probably what you are doing) and diaphragmatic breathing is where you place the air and how you work the muscles with the diaphragm for it to work to your advantage. Let's try this exercise (as I repeat several times on Yahoo Answers).

Get in front of a mirror. Place your hands flat on your tummy (parallel to eachother) with only the tips of your middle fingers touching. Now on inhale DON'T move your shoulders up. In other words, concentrate on expansion of the abdomen verses expanding the upper chest area. Pretend like your tummy is a balloon as you inhale (as if you are filling it up with air). When you do this, your middle finger tips will part. Now exhale. Do NOT blow the air out. Exhale the air out SLOWLY. If you need to make a sound, make a hissing sound like a snake (SSSSSSSSS). This will teach you how to conserve the air as you sing. Now, begin to vocalize using this exercise (with any vowel, but if you are having problems with high notes, use the EEE vowel first). You will see a huge difference.

At first, this exercise will feel awkward, but the more you do it, the more you will get used to it, and the more natural it will become. Of course, finding a GOOD voice teacher will help you tremendously with breathing and tonality problems. Another thing that might be getting in your way is your posture or the fact that your body is not connected with your voice. Make sure you loosen yourself up before you sing by stretching, yoga, anything that can relax your body. Even a simple rolling of your shoulders and head will help out tremendously. If your body is relaxed, the voice is more free. If body is relaxed, diaphragmatic breathing is easier to feel. So relax yourself. Don't overwork your voice by pushing the body too hard. Often when we sing high notes or have problems holding notes are because of trying TOO hard. We get in our own way. If your relax and stay centered, you will find it doesn't take the BODY as much effort as you think once you get the concept ingrained in your mind. Try that breathing exercise, incorporate the concept in your songs, relax your body, and don't overwork yourself when you sing. I guarantee you if you practice this everyday, within a few weeks you will see a dramatic difference. You will one day go "OHHHHHH I GET IT!" If you have any more questions feel free to e-mail me. I bet the thought of you recording as gotten in your head so much that your natural ability to sing isn't shining though.Trust yourself more, breathe better, and relax. My best wishes to you!

Breath support is crucial for the control of your singing.

Breath support is the steady and controlled release of air for the purpose of creating a smooth and consistent flow while singing. Support is important because it enables every other aspect of singing. Proper support utilizes muscles primarily in the lower abdomen that keep pressure away from the vocal cords and the throat and promotes efficient singing. Of all the key aspects of singing, none are more important that support and focus. If you have one, it is easier to achieve the other.

First, it is important to know that there are many ways to breathe and many ways of discussing the technique of breathing as a singer. There seem to be some widespread misconceptions about breathing as well. The diaphragm, often referred to by singers as the place where breath is supported, is actually an involuntary muscle. We do use the diaphragm, but we do not control breath flow with the diaphragm – at least not directly. We use the muscles around and below the diaphragm – the lower abdominal muscles to guide the flow of air.

When you inhale, there is a natural tendency to allow your chest to inflate as the air flows in, and to collapse as the air is released in exhalation. To breathe for the purpose of singing, place your chest in a fully expanded position. This sometimes feels unnatural and even somewhat uncomfortable at first, but after sufficient practice it becomes second nature. When the breath flows in, try to gently push out the lower abdominal muscles, which can be felt as low as the top of the pelvic bone, and feel expansion around your entire body below the waist and in the back. Sometimes it is easier to experience this lower torso expansion by bending from the waist at a 90-degree angle to the floor, exhaling all breath and then slowly inhaling, feeling the outward pressure of the expansion against your lower abdominal area in front, in back and on your sides.

Once you have the feeling of lower expansion during inhalation, we reverse the process for the purpose of exhalation. Gently pull or tuck the lowest muscles you can control in your abdominal wall inward and upward while gently squeezing the buttocks and lower back muscles. The chest should remain fully expanded throughout this entire process.The only muscles moving should be below the stomach area. You might feel a gentle expansion in the upper abdominal muscles as you contact the lower muscles. This is simply displacement. The muscles above the area of contraction may move out to accommodate the tucking and lifting of the lower muscles.

To practice this process, bend from the waist with the arms extended downward while exhaling. As soon as you have fully expelled air from your lungs, inhale deeply while raising yourself to a standing position with the arm extended to the sides at a 90-degree angle to the floor. With the chest fully expanded and the lungs full of air, let the air out in five rapid puffs by contracting the lower abdominal and back muscles (without inhaling any more air – this should all be done with one breath) and exhaling the balance of the air in your lungs on the fifth puff. As you exhale the rest of your air with the fifth puff, let your body bend at the waist to the floor with the arms extended downward and repeat the process. When you have done five sets of this exercise (being careful not to get lightheaded and dizzy in the process), you should begin to feel the coordination of the muscles necessary for beginning breath control.