How Can You Properly Support Your Voice? Hint…Learning To “Sing From The Diaphragm” Is Not One Of Them…

Sing from the diaphragm. Don’t sing from your throat. Make sure you’re using proper support. This is all good advice, but what does it all mean? All these suggestions lead to similar outcomes, but they all mean very different things. This is why communication and proper use of terminology are crucial with voice instruction. In this guide, we'll delve into one of the crucial concepts of singing to help properly support your voice and avoid singing from the throat. Let's unravel the mysteries behind these instructions and explore the proper use of terminology in the realm of voice instruction.

Singing from the Throat: Understanding Intrinsic and Extrinsic Muscles:

The throat houses intrinsic and extrinsic muscles, integral to processes like inhaling, exhaling, and swallowing. Singing from the throat involves engaging unnecessary muscles to expel air while singing, a practice that can lead to a strained sensation, vocal fatigue, and even injury over time.

Intrinsic Muscles:

Extrinsic Muscles

“Singing From The Diaphragm” Is Not A Thing You Can Do:

One of the most common phrases known as “singing from the diaphragm” takes center stage in our exploration. First, let’s clear something up regarding this terminology. Learning to “sing from your diaphragm” is a very popular term, but here is the funny thing about it. It’s not an actual thing. You cannot, I repeat, cannot sing from the diaphragm. The diaphragm is an involuntary muscle. Which means you cannot control this muscle. You can influence it. But you cannot control it. So, being instructed to “sing from the diaphragm” often has singers either trying to press their abdomen muscles outward or under/overly inflating their lungs when inhaling. So, let’s take a second to understand how the diaphragm actually works.

Functions of the diaphragm:

The diaphragm is a thin dome-shaped muscle that sits at the base of the lungs and is attached to your sternum (a bone in the middle of your chest), the lower part of your rib cage, and your lumbar spine. When the lungs inhale, the diaphragm flattens by contracting and pulling downward. At the same time, the muscles between the ribs contract and pull upward. This increases the size of the chest and decreases the pressure inside. As a result, air rushes in and fills the lungs.

When the lungs exhale, the diaphragm relaxes, and the chest cavity volume decreases, while the pressure within it increases. As a result, the lungs contract and air is forced out. This happens involuntarily. Meaning, we don’t have to think about this process to make it happen. Much like how our heart beats automatically on its own.

Controlling The Diaphragm vs Influencing The Diaphragm:

Now, although we can’t control our diaphragm, we can influence it, much like how our heart beats. If we engage in energetic exercise, we can speed up our heart rate. Vise Versa, if we rest and relax, we can slow our heart rate down as well. But we cannot control whether our heart does or does not beat. However, we can only control HOW it beats.

The diaphragm is much the same. By placing pressure from underneath the diaphragm by flexing or forcing out our abdomen we can place direct pressure onto the diaphragm changing how the diaphragm interacts with the lungs during inhalation and exhalation. This could restrict the amount of air we let into the lungs during inhale or increase the force of the air pressure that expels out of our lungs during exhale.

How to properly support your voice: Tidal Breath/R.E.L:

Properly supporting your voice involves understanding the technique of what “singing from the diaphragm” is trying to reference. To achieve this, we want to discover your tidal breath—the ideal amount of air for singing—and your resting expiratory level (R.E.L), the maximum amount of air you should release.

Finding Your R.E.L (Resting Expiratory Level):

To find your R.E.L take a relaxed breath in and then exhale by letting the air out quickly without forcing the air out. Your body should feel relaxed and should feel like you’ve let the air out but don’t feel the need to take in another breath right away. The base of your relaxed exhale is known as your R.E.L. (Resting Expiratory Level).

This is important to know because if you find yourself singing without a sufficient amount of air in your lungs this will cause you to feel a forced sensation as you try to push out the last bit of air you have left in your lungs. Which means you are trying to support your voice using a volume of air that is less than your R.E.L.

Finding Your Tidal Breath:

Start off by taking in as much air as you can hold in your lungs. Then hold your breath for a few seconds. You’ll notice that this feels very uncomfortable and will feel a lot of pressure and tension in the chest.

The lungs are made of an elastic material. So, when we over-inflate them the lung tissue tries to snap back while our muscles within the ribcage are trying to hold our chest open creating a tug-o-war between your lungs and your chest cavity causing that pressure and tension you feel in the chest.

This time try taking in a relaxed breath. Don’t try to take in as much air as you can hold. Just enough where you can feel your lungs inflate, but not enough to feel tension in the chest. This is known as your tidal breath.

Putting it all together:

Take in a natural amount of air and hold your breath in a relaxed manner. While holding your breath you can feel a very slight engagement in your abdomen wall as it holds open the expansion of your body. Now, while singing, let go of the engagement in your abdomen wall as slowly as you possibly can. Don’t let go of this engagement too quickly or it will cause you to force or push too much air out while you’re singing. If done correctly you’ll notice that your stomach will return to its original size very slowly as you vocalize. If done incorrectly you’ll notice your stomach shrink back to its original size very quickly and forcefully. Doing this will lead to what we indicate as “sing from the throat”.

Elevating Your Vocal Mastery:

By deciphering the nuances of proper support, you'll be well on your way to elevating your vocal prowess. Communication and proper use of terminology are key to unlocking these concepts. Armed with this knowledge, embark on your vocal journey with confidence, knowing that you're singing not only with your voice but also with a profound understanding of the mechanics behind it.

Sources:

https://medlineplus.gov/ency/anatomyvideos/000018.htm#:~:text=When%20the%20lungs%20inhale%2C%20the,in%20and%20fills%20the%20lungs.

https://medlineplus.gov/ency/imagepages/19380.htm#:~:text=It%20is%20a%20large%2C%20dome,pulls%20air%20into%20the%20lungs.

https://teachmeanatomy.info/neck/viscera/larynx/muscles/

https://www.teachpe.com/anatomy-physiology/respiratory-volumes

https://nwpg.com.au/the-essential-diaphragm/