Are we talking too much about the diaphragm? Pt. 2

So…what other muscles are used in a singer’s breath?

We’ve already learned that as we inhale, our diaphragm flattens its dome shaped form to make room for our lungs to expand. While that is happening, our external intercostal muscles are pulling our ribcage up & out and the lats are helping to open the back of the ribcage! Go ahead and feel this happening, put your hands around your ribcage and feel the way it expands. The internal intercostal muscles then work to bring the ribcage back into its original position.

Our abdominal muscles are also engaged during exhalation and we work to keep our diaphragm in that lowered position and the ribcage open while we are singing. This is often the hardest part as our body’s instinct is to contract, we have to fight against that contraction with a process the Italians call “appoggio” or “to lean”. We want to feel that our ribcage is leaning outward as our muscles of inhalation and exhalation work to keep it open.

There are so many more specific muscle groups and things to consider when talking about a singers’ breath, but these are just the basic ones that will get you started in your knowledge of diaphragmatic singing! I hope this helps and keep an eye out for more blog posts about pedagogy :)

Jenna