I don\u2019t think there\u2019s a singer alive who hasn’t been told to sing from the diaphragm! But what does that mean, and more importantly, is it an instruction you should even take any notice of?<\/p>\n
Have you ever been told to \u2018sing from the diaphragm?\u2019 From my experience, it seems to be an age-old instruction that many singers associate with \u2018singing well.\u2019 But when I ask beginner students to locate their diaphragm for me, not only do most people not know where it is\u2026they often don\u2019t even know how it works or what it does.<\/p>\n
So firstly, what is it? Well, the diaphragm is a rather large muscle, the second largest in your body actually, that literally separates your thoracic cavity, containing your heart and lungs, from your abdominal cavity; the lower half of your torso. The diaphragm has a dome shape and is often labelled as having two divisions: left and right. Unlike other \u2018voluntarily\u2019 controlled muscles, the diaphragm is connected to the autonomic nervous system. This enables you to breathe without having to think about it\u2026even while you sleep. But of course, singing is a very conscious activity requiring intentional management of the diaphragmatic movements. So how does that all work?<\/p>\n
Well, the best way to think about the diaphragm\u2019s work is to simply ignore it! That\u2019s right. You see, firstly you can\u2019t really directly control the diaphragm. In fact, you\u2019ll never hear me telling you to learn \u2018breath control.\u2019 The word \u2018control,\u2019 to me at least, suggests that the singer needs to learn to consciously move the diaphragm up and down, just like you choose to move your arm or your hand. No, we don\u2019t have that kind of \u2018control\u2019 over our diaphragm.<\/p>\n