Omkar Sadhana: The Secret to a Singer’s Voice

A dermatologist by profession; a singer by passion. And it is a passion that I have dearly pursued for a large part of my life. One of my previous blogs on my journey in Hindustani Classical Music introduced you to how I am grateful and have cherished this gift all my life. Having been a singer for 25 years has endowed me with bountiful joys.

Interestingly, being exposed to music has also enabled me to equip myself with supplementary skills and techniques of much value. For instance, the knowledge of music enables me to better understand the compositions in Kathak.

Today, I am going to share with you one such elemental learning from my music that has helped me mastered my vocal range and has enhanced my overall being. I wish to share it with you, essentially, because you too can enhance your being. A branch of Pranayam, the art of breathing, practising it for a few minutes daily can mean gifting yourself a calm that you always crave for.

Omkar Sadhana, Pranayam & Abdominal Breathing

Omkar Sadhana. It is nothing but the recitation of Om. Combine that with Pranayam, it becomes a breathing technique employing diaphragmatic or abdominal breathing; especially for singers. The basis of Omkar Sadhana is how to breathe correctly. Scientific studies say that abdominal breathing does not interfere with the vocal cords; enabling singers to perform for longer duration effortlessly. Thus, this technique is said to be the secret to a singer’s voice. Overall, Omkar Sadhana is a tool for singers to use their total lung capacity in a sophisticated way, whilst culturing their voice.

This technique forms a part of Pranayam which is an art that teaches you to exercise control over your breathing. According to Pranayam, when you breathe in, the air reaches every cell of your body. A combination of abdominal breathing and Pranayam for Omkar Sadhana means, feeling the inhaled air right up to the pelvis and feeling the entire body expanding. The basis of Omkar Sadhana is breathing; a technique very simple and accessible to anyone.

In the context of vocalists, one of their most common woes is that their voice distorts or cracks during singing or mid-performance. Usually, when this happens, the vocalist is most probably breathing through the chest. The result is a disturbance to the vocal cords, caused either by the air or strain. Breathing through the chest means only filling the apex of the lungs and hardly the base.

The idea of abdominal breathing and Omkar Sadhana for singing is to allow for filling up of both the apex and base of the lungs and using your total lung capacity in a sophisticated way. When one uses abdominal breathing, he/she creates a resonance in the chest.

Research on Omkar Sadhana (Om shakti)

Although a recent discovery, I learnt this technique from Dr. Jayant Karandikar of Ahmednagar, Maharashtra. Apart from being a renowned physician and cardiologist, he is also a musician and pioneering force in the Omkar Sadhana or Om shakti technique. His research of more than 15 years on the universal philosophical sound energy of ‘Om’ is widespread, where music is just one aspect.

According to his research, he has developed d 64 different types of Om pronunciation methods and 20 ideal breathing techniques for singers. He studied and conducted experiments on the effects of these on numerous singers over the years. The results of these studies showed positive changes in the voices of these singers. This technique is said to bring about the development of holistic musical voice in singers.

There are plenty of benefits enlisted by his research, specifically in singers’ voices. Some of them are a qualitative and quantitative opening of pharyngeal cavities, extraordinary improvement in breathing for singing, ideal throw of voice, relatively stable singing voice, improved vibrato, higher tonal quality, faster and flawless singing in three octaves, improved rhythm and ease in singing, effortless depiction of expressions and emotions in music etc.

Are Omkar Sadhana and Pranayam synonymous from a Singer’s Perspective?

Omkar Sadhana is a part of the Pranayam. However, Pranayam has different schools of thoughts which have propagated popular techniques known to people today. Kapalbhati, anulom-vilom are just a few to name and have been popularised by many spiritual gurus in India.

To take the instance of Kapalbhati, this technique calls for fast and short bouts of inhalation and exhalation where the air is pushed out. This jerky effect can affect the vocal cords and is not good for singers. Thus, singers must be mindful of what and how to practice breathing techniques as not everything under Pranayam may be suitable for them.

Omkar Sadhana is essentially a means to culture your voice through correct breathing. When you practice Omkar Sadhana, you train your voice and ultimately it becomes your voice.

How to go about Abdominal Breathing?

Abdominal breathing mainly calls for breathing from your mouth and not your nose. If you observe it to the T, you will realise that it is mere pressure physics. While singing, when you open your mouth, allow for maximum air to go in. While exhaling, let it out as slowly and for as long as possible. The minute you run out of breath and open your mouth, the air goes in and fills up again. While doing this, it is important that you are aware of the location of your diaphragm. As you breathe, the air must not only fill up vertically but also horizontally. As a result of this full extent of breathing, your diaphragm must go lower and be contracted.

This way, one cannot hear the breathing on the microphone per se and also enables breathless singing. Thus, this type of breathing is very effective and controlled for singers. I recommend that all singers should be trained in this technique.

If you notice consciously, you will find that there is a difference in temperature of air when you inhale through your mouth and nose. When you breathe in through your mouth, the air is warmer and does not affect vocal cords. When you breathe in through your nose, it is colder and does affect your vocal cords. There is also a slight jerk which affects your singing.

When you are singing, the mechanism is that of the contraction of muscles. They have to be kept relaxed without any external pressure. For a singer, the movement in the neck region should not be visible. All the breathing takes place from the base of your lungs/abdomen. This can be attained by practising abdominal breathing.

How does Omkar Sadhana help?

For any singer, the three most important results of practicing Omkar Sadhana are Resonance, Volume Control and overall Voice Control. It increases the range of your voice and allows you to reach all octaves.

If you are breathing right, you can create resonance at different levels of your body. To be able to do this, it is important to be aware of your body and Pranayam helps in this. The main principal of Omkar Sadhana is to ingrain it in singers so that they employ it subconsciously. Inhalation of air to the full capacity must happen the minute the mouth is open. If this happens, a singer will never have to find his/her breathe before commencing singing.

As a technique that helps in voice control, it allows a singer to hit high notes in the desired volume. Voice control helps in maintaining a melodious voice. By training your voice, no matter how high you go, you can maintain the melody and still sing in the high pitch. Thus, Omkar Sadhana helps in making your voice sound strong but not deliberately forceful.

Practising Omkar Sadhana

As per Indian beliefs, Om (ॐ) is the most sacred pronunciation. Further, it is said to be the origin of all languages. Omkar Sadhana simply means reciting Om multiple times as one bout of breath allows. You can start with 4 recitations and move on to practice in the progression of 8, 16, 32.

While reciting Om (ओम), the O(ओ) is to be expelled out and the Ma (म) is inhaled in. The sound of O is resonating in the abdomen while the voice is thrown out. The M is softly resonating within and can be clearly heard even after the lips are closed.

Moving forward, the Om needs to be sung at every note in the octave. Sing it loudly, scream, if needed. That helps in culturing the voice. Consistency in practising it every day is necessary. One can begin their Riyaz with Omkar Sadhana.

One’s voice should be treated like a wind instrument. You have to work at polishing its texture, much like creating an instrument. This technique helps you to culture and polish your voice. It is the basis of how to keep your voice strong.

As a singer, your voice cannot quiver or shiver. It must be firm but not forceful. In a large gathering space, your voice must be able to fill up that space, no matter what it's the area. You can then comfortably sing even in the absence of a microphone.

There are also other techniques targeting the production of specific voice types. It can teach you how to distend your abdomen when you want to sound louder. Inversely, it teaches you how to contract the abdomen when you want your voice to sound thinner in a higher pitch.

One of the key points to remember for any singer is to avoid letting your breathing sound on the microphone. The trick to singing at higher pitches is to be conservative while exhaling; let out lesser air. Open your voice as far as possible.

Building your very own internal amplifier

There are singers who sing in falsetto throughout. A lot of times, falsetto does not allow you to utilize your voice to the fullest. To sing falsetto at a higher pitch but with an open voice, you need to control the volume. After all, your voice should retain its identity and not sound like anyone else. Your voice must have an ideal throw.

God forbid if tomorrow a vocalist does not have access to a microphone system due to technical glitches, in the middle of a performance in a packed auditorium! In such a situation, he/she must have their own internal system of resonance. Your voice amplifier should be built within! When you hit the high notes, with a resonance, you should know how to control the volume. That comes from abdominal breathing.

Final Thoughts

In Classical Singing, methods of such training of the voice are present; albeit the basis is not widely discussed. A guru asking you to practice ‘Sa’ (first note in the octave) for an extended duration and you obliging is nothing but culturing your voice. Such a method does not have a label like Omkar Sadhana or Om shakti.

Thanks to the research done and the knowledge shared by many veterans in the field of music, such a process is now broken down for ease of understanding. The point of breathing right as a singer now seems plausible. It is slowly evolving into a pedagogy which must be accessible to the young learners of music from early on.

Otherwise, one can simply recite Om while practising any form of meditation. After all, as a sacred pronunciation, the resonance its utterance creates brings about a unique meditative experience.