“Sing with your Diaphragm.” 

If you’ve been in any kind of educational singing environment, you’ve probably been given this advice. If you asked what it means, you likely got a response having to do with somehow pushing upward from your abdomen, or holding your abdomen tight, or even (as one person described it once to me) pumping your stomach.

This advice lacks understanding of what’s happening in your body when you produce sound. First, poor technique still uses your diaphragm, as does any expulsion of air from your lungs. More importantly though, pressing in, or pumping your stomach are examples of straight-up bad advice.

Most who offer this advice are simply passing it on, with only a vague (if any) understanding of what it might mean. By the time you finish reading this you will no longer be one of those people. And you’ll recognize misinformation when you hear it and steer clear. So, let’s get started…

You probably know your vocal cords vibrate to create sound. But what else is going on when you sing? How does the vibration occur?

The three main parts (other than vocal cords) of your singing instrument. 

• The ribs (a cage of bones protecting our lungs)
• The diaphragm (a sheet of muscles inside the lower part of the rib cage)
• The lungs (the sacks of air above our diaphragm and inside our ribs)

Each body part plays a role in both breathing and vocalizing. Let’s talk breathing first. Take some time to compare the steps of an inhale to the accompanying diagram below. It’s important to understand what’s going on when you breathe.

The steps of an inhale:

1. Ribs expand.
2. Diaphragm flattens and its muscles become engaged (active).
3. Lungs are stretched downward (by the diaphragm) and outward (by the ribs), thus creating a vacuum inside them.
4. The vacuum created causes air to get sucked in through the mouth or nose.

The steps of an exhale:

1. Ribs go in.
2. Diaphragm goes passive (relaxes) and moves upward to is domed resting place.
3. Lungs are pushed up (by the diaphragm) and in (by the ribs).
4. The air inside the lungs gets pushed out.

Here’s what it looks like:

Your diaphragm has two primary functions. The first is breathing, as you learned already. It lowers and contracts to help pull the lungs open for an inhale, and returns to its domed, passive position for an exhale.

Its second function is regulating your air. You think about singing a pitch and your diaphragm decides how much air to send up to your vocal cords to create it. It does this automatically, based on your intention. This is great news because we singers have enough other things to worry about. But there is one catch…

Active vs. Passive Muscles.

You probably noticed that I used the words active and passive a few times when talking about the diaphragm. What do these words mean? An active muscle is engaged and ready to perform a function. A passive muscle is at rest and not ready to perform anything.

That means that for the diaphragm muscles to perform the function of regulating your air, they must be active. Do you remember when the diaphragm is active?

That’s right. During an inhale, when the ribs are out, and the diaphragm has flattened. When in this position, you can intend your pitches and your diaphragm will press against the bottom of your lungs to send the needed amount of air up to the vocal cords.

Is this really that different than letting your diaphragm go passive and push an indiscriminate amount of air out of your lungs?

Yes!!! With multiple exclamation marks!!! Yes!!!

Letting air just flow out unregulated is undesirable for many reasons. Some examples:

• Strain. Pushing too much air through your cords will unnecessarily over work them. If you find yourself putting tougher songs earlier in a set because your voice gets too tired to sing them later in the night, you are likely putting too much strain on your instrument.
• Tension. Your body will try to do what you tell it to do (with your intention) even if you’re working against it. In this case, your throat will attempt to hold back the extra air that you are forcing through your folds. This creates muscle tension, which can lead to more strain, fatigue, and rob you of agility and a resonant tone.
• Loss of Power. When you allow your ribs to lower while singing, you lose your foundational breath support. The only way your body can attempt to sing with power at that point is to push from your neck, jaw, and throat. Doing that will cause unnecessary strain, robbing you of agility, richness, power, and stamina.
• Pitch. I haven’t talked much about vocal cords here (more on that subject in a later lesson), but as you sing they are working hard to create the pitches you request of them. If you push too much air through the opening they’ve created, you can force the opening bigger and alter the pitch.
• Progress. You can still improve your skills while singing with poor technique, but you are significantly limiting and slowing your advancement. If you batter your cords and throat each time you sing, you’re stepping backward by requiring a recovery period. If you do this repeatedly without allowing for recovery, you will eventually deal with vocal nodes. In contrast, when you work with your body, each time you practice or perform, you’re maintaining and strengthening your muscles, and continually honing your skills in a forward trajectory.

Hopefully, I’ve convinced you to choose good technique and allow your air to be properly supported and regulated. But how do you do that?

Remember two things…

1. The diaphragm is the sheet of muscles capable of automatically regulating your air.
2. A muscle has to be active to perform any function.

So your job, as the singer, is to keep your diaphragm active. How?

(drum roll, please)

By keeping your ribs open while you sing.

When your ribs are open, your diaphragm is engaged. Then, it can press against the bottom of your lungs to send up air as needed.

When people tell you to sing with your diaphragm, what they mean (or SHOULD mean) is, “Sing with your ribs expanded.” The concept is that simple, but it takes a little time and intention to get good at it.

Don't worry! I'm going to teach you how. My exercises make it super easy. But first, let's test your new knowledge.

Test your knowledge: