If you have been singing for very long, you have probably heard a teacher, conductor, or instructor tell a vocalist to use his or her diaphragm for better breath control. I can remember hearing that comment from my high school choir director, and I was perfectly willing to do what she asked, but I did not have the faintest idea how to go about it. After some research into the physiology of vocal production, and studying singing with several different teachers, I can now say that I have a better understanding of why it is important for a singer to be able to use his or her diaphragm.

What is Your Thoracic Diaphragm?

There are several diaphragms in the human body, and other types that are man-made, as well. They are all thin flexible sheets and can be defined as any separating membrane. Your thoracic diaphragm is the one we need to be concerned about as singers, however. It is a large sheet-like muscle found at the bottom of your chest cavity below your rib cage. It helps you get air in and out of your lungs when it rises and falls. Try feeling your diaphragm at work by taking a really deep breath. Your diaphragm moves down and you should feel some expansion in the area between your sternum and navel. If you are very tall or long waisted, there will not be as much outward expansion because you have more room for the air to go.

Next, try forcing all the air out of your lungs until you cannot exhale any more. You should feel some upward pressure in your chest because your diaphragm has risen to push the air out. Try exhaling very slowly. You should notice that for the first few seconds of your exhale, you are controlling what is happening, but when you get toward the end of the breath, your diaphragm takes over and does the rest of the work for you. That’s because one of the diaphragm’s primary purposes is to be sure that all stale air is expelled.

Most of the time, your diaphragm works without you being aware of it at all. You breathe in and out with no conscious effort, and the muscle of your diaphragm works involuntarily. When you are singing, however, you need to become aware of your diaphragm and learn how to control it effectively. Normal breathing has three stages: inhalation, exhalation, and a recovery period. Breathing during singing has four stages that should be under the singer’s control. First you breathe in, and then you pause while setting up the controls for that breath. Next comes exhalation with phonation (producing a sound) followed by a recovery period. A novice singer might need to think about each step in this course of action and practice controlling the stages until the entire process becomes automatic.

So, the next time someone tells you to breathe with your diaphragm, you can be sure that they want you to be conscious of the way your lungs fill with air and empty out again. When you are able to control your breathing and have command over the amount of air that is passing by your vocal cords while singing, the tones you produce will be much more controlled, as well. A well-supported breath uses the muscle of the diaphragm to allow just the right amount of air to be released so that optimum sound will result. A singer skilled in using his or her diaphragm will be able to sustain notes longer, hit pitches more accurately, and sing with power and finesse.

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