Vocal Exercises: Tuesday 16th September 2014: Engaging the Diaphragm

Tuesday 16th September 2014

Engaging the Diaphragm

The first vocal technique we will be exploring is engaging the diaphragm. The diaphragm is located underneath the lungs. When we breathe in, our lungs increase as the air fills up. The diaphragm then flattens and tightens (contracts) whilst moving downward to adapt for the lung expansion. When we breath out the diaphragm relaxes and moves upward into the chest cavity.

Here is a diagram of the process: 

Using your diaphragm enables singers to sing and belt notes without straining their voices so is a vital part of vocal technique. Your diaphragm can be easily trained and controlled through a performance and it is incredibly important to source the energy of sound through you diaphragm to resist strain or power taken from your chest or neck and draws from the abdomen.

The engagement of your diaphragm is strongly supported by your core muscles in your stomach. Breathing with contracting the diaphragm will help you understand how it should feel when singing and how to engage the diaphragm. The power of a song won't come from you pushing your head up or tensing your shoulders - it will come from engaging and contracting your diaphragm correctly.

When practising a song you may feel like you stomach is contracting and working quite hard, this is normal but as your practise more and you voice develops it will become easier.

Here I have supplied three vocal exercises which focus on engaging the diaphragm, one is my personal one and the other two and ones I've researched:

Number #1: 
(My personal exercise)

I learnt this exercise with an old singing teacher I had. It involved me focusing in on a bit of the wall, breathing in and then blowing out slowly with controlled and sustained breaths for 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 15 seconds (increasing as you get better and developing to increase improvement of your voice).

You then exhale in five short sharp breaths, as you do this your stomach should get drawn in as you exhale. The sharp breaths shouldn't come from your chest but from your diaphragm. This allows you to control and use the air efficiently and easily detect where you're engaging the diaphragm from.

I tend to use this exercise to help breath control as well as engaging the diaphragm. It also allows me to create focus and clear my mind ready to focus on singing.

Number #2: 

This is a breathing exercise featured on YouTube: 

The exercise involves laying on the floor with a book on your chest and a book your stomach. As you breathe in you're aiming to move the book on your stomach and not the one on your chest. This will detect whether you're engaging your diaphragm or not.

To develop this exercise you could use sound to increase familiarity of singing and engaging the diaphragm.

Number #3: 

When I was learning to sing "Don't Rain On My Parade" last year, Grace Willis helped me with a note by telling me to perform the song in a deep plié position.

A plié position:

As soon as I performed the position I could build up the power to sing the note because I was engaging my core and my diaphragm. This exercise is a great way to detect the engagement of using the diaphragm whilst singing a song to reach a note.

Engaging the diaphragm is certainly an important part of singing and with the right exercises it will become much more easier along with the right knowledge... Did you know what the diaphragm really was or was it just a word that comes across now and then...? This knowledge and those exercise could be the difference between reaching a note or falling flat... The difference between being suitable for a role and not!

Hope you enjoyed!

Good Luck,

Somer x