Diaphragmatic Breathing

Top to Bottom Highlighted: Trachea, Bronchial Tubes, Lungs, diaphragm

“Belly breath!“, the voice teacher instructs the beginning singer. What is a belly breath? The student never asks because they are confused. How does your belly breathe?

A student or parent will call me asking about voice lessons for their student. I always spend a good half hour with a prospective student to learn about the child; age, prior musical experience, previous instruments that they may have studied, and to get a feeling for the student. What I hear over and over again is “my voice teacher told me the belly breathe..”

so I’ve probe the student to find out what they know about breathing add most of the time They will tell me that the diaphragm is used to belly breathe. I then ask what the diaphragm is and that’s where they are perplexed.

So why the confusion? in my experience Voice teachers make an assumption that students understand the process of breathing. They take for granted that the student understands the anatomy and physiology of the breath. From my years of experience I can tell you that about 10% of the people I run into understand the processes involved in breathing.

Let’s delve into the fundamental aspects of breathing. Breathing is based on the concept of pressure and vacuum pressure, to be precise. When the external pressure is sensed by your brain, it sends a signal to your phrenic nerve. This nerve controls the diaphragm’s movement. Upon receiving the signal from the brain, the diaphragm contracts and moves downward, creating a vacuum space for the lungs to expand. Once inflated, the brain detects the excessive pressure in the lungs and sends a signal to the diaphragm to contract and expel the air through your mouth or nose. This process continues throughout your entire life. Singers and speakers must learn how to control the diaphragm for optimal efficiency to produce a strong and supportive sound.

Once I explain this concept to the student, they experience an “Ah-Ha” moment, and the rest of the lesson takes on a new meaning. The science of singing is just as important as the art of voice.