Cause and Effect

When the ribs move in conjunction with the diaphragm’s descent, air is brought into the body. It is the movement of the ribs and diaphragm and subsequent expansion of the thoracic cavity which causes air to come into the body.

Air coming into the body does not cause the ribs and diaphragm to move – that’s backwards.

The lungs don’t do anything by themselves – they depend upon surrounding structures (the ribs and diaphragm) to move. If it weren’t for the ribs and diaphragm moving, the lungs would just sit there like a liver or an appendix.

 

The Importance of Rib Movement

Ribs are designed to move by virtue of their attachment to the sternum via the costal cartiledge and their attachment to the spine via joints. The costal cartiledge is spongy and flexible, allowing the ribs to swing up and out. In fact, when the ribs swing up and out upon inhalation, they twist the cartiledge, storing energy in the cartiledge. When we exhale, the energy is released, in a phenomenon known as elastic recoil.

It’s the ribs moving that causes the thoracic cavity to expand in volume and the air to rush in.

It’s not the air rushing in that causes the ribs to move – that’s backwards! Rib motion is a primary motion of breathing.

How does breathing information fit into my performing?

Learning about breathing is like learning music theory. It is part of your foundation of knowledge that helps you play your best, even though it may not be at the forefront of your thoughts as you perform. Understanding what a secondary dominant is allows you shape the music and phrasing accordingly; understanding the role of the pelvic floor in breathing allows you to support the tone accordingly.

When you walk on stage to perform, secondary dominants aren’t foremost in your mind, nor should the pelvic floor be (or any other singular part of the breathing mechanism)!

Diaphragm video

Check out the new diaphragm video link under Breathing Resources…

Ribs and Arms

Your arms are not attached to your ribs, they are suspended above your ribs.

Why is this important? Because if your arms were attached to your ribs, they would inhibit the rib movement which is necessary for good breath support.

To breathe well, keep your elbows away from your ribs. Allow your ribs to move independent from your arms; with each inhale your ribs swing up and out and with each exhale they swing back down and in to thier neutral resting position. This motion must happen regardless of the position of your arms.

The Pelvic Floor

The pelvic floor is a network of muscles which serves as the floor to the abdominal cavity. These are the muscles you would clench tightly if you had to go to the bathroom but there were no bathroom around.

When you inhale, your diaphragm presses down hard on the contents of the abdominal cavity. The viscera contained in the abdominal cavity (the stomach, intestines, etc.) flow down and out in a distinctive tide-like motion resulting in abdominal expansion in the front, sides and back. The viscera also flow downward, pressing down on the pelvic floor.

When the viscera press down on the pelvic floor, its downward arch deepens, if you allow it. This motion is rather like stepping onto a miniature exercise trampoline. Upon exhalation, the pelvic floor springs back up, as though stepping off the trampoline. The pelvic floor helps you exhale if you do not clench the muscles which comprise it.

Spinal Excursion

One of the most central (and surprising to many!) movements of breathing is spinal excursion. The spine gathers as you inhale and it lengthens as you exhale, if you allow it.

Spinal excursion coordinates all the other movements of breathing. If spinal excursion is allowed to happen, the other parts of breathing occur as they should.

I like to think of the spine gathering in terms of the vertebrae getting slightly closer together. When this happens, the ribs can swing up and out in the front just that more efficiently. In other words, as you inhale, your spine gathers and your ribs swing up and out in front, blossoming like a butterfly opening its wings.

Lungs are not Muscles!

Lungs are not muscles, they are organs. Lungs can’t do anything by themselves, they rely on surrounding structures to do that. Lungs can’t be made bigger by exercising (that’s like saying you can make your liver stronger by drinking…ok that’s maybe not a great choice of metaphor due to the negative relationship between the liver and drinking!)

Lungs expand to fill every nook and cranny of the pleural cavity as it expands. In fact, the more the cavity expands the more air can fill the lungs. Consequently, if you want to take a big breath, you must move your ribs.

Ribs move!

I had a Master’s student once who told me that her undergrad teacher said “To breathe well, don’t move your ribs”

Not surprisingly, this student was not making phrases and had a rather anemic sound!

The ribs are designed to move. With each inhalation they swing up and out and with each exhalation they return down and in to their former neutral position. They are connected to the spine in back by joints – 24 ribs (12 on each side) and 24 joints (12 on each side).

In the front the ribs attach to the costal cartilage which connects to the sternum. The cartilage is spongy and malleable to allow the ribs to move. When the ribs swing up and out upon inhalation, the cartilage gets twisted and energy is stored in it. The energy is released upon exhalation in a process known as elastic recoil – the body’s tendency to seek nuetral.

The shocking thing about this story is that the teacher of this student is quite a well known trombonist who plays beautifully. I can think of three possibilities for what happened to this student:

1. She didn’t understand her teacher

2. She (perhaps unintentionally) misrepresented what her teacher said

3. Her teacher gave her bad advice

Any of these three are unacceptable. When a musician does not move well because of a misunderstanding like this, she is at risk for injury. Teachers have an obligation to speak the truth and, in fairness, students should make sure they understand clearly what the teacher is saying.

The Truth About the Diaphragm, Part 2

Muscles can do one thing – they can contract. If they are not contracting, they are relaxing. For this reason, muscles generally come in pairs. Think tricep and bicep. If you engage both at once, you get isometric effort, which is great for exercising and terrible for making music!

When does your diaphragm contract? It’s primarily muscle so it can only contract in one direction.

Teachers who say “support with the diaphragm” are implying that one engages the diaphragm to exhale. In other words, this little bit of advice suggests that the diaphragm contracts to push the air out of the body.

This is backwards. The diaphragm contracts as you inhale, not as you exhale. The diaphragm is the primary muscle of inspiration. Upon exhalation, the diaphragm is actually relaxing. Furthermore, this sort of advice is confusing because one can’t directly feel the diaphragm. When students hear this kind of dialogue they are not quite sure what to think so they smile and nod as though they know what you are talking about. They don’t want to be the one student who doesn’t quite understand…

I suspect this scenario is more common than we would like to think. The teacher says “breathe from the diaphragm” (because that’s what we always say!) and all the good little children smile and nod as thought they understand completely what this means. In reality, however, the students are trying to figure out where the diaphragm is and how it works in order to breathe with it.

Try this: don’t talk to young students about the diaphragm. Talk to them about creating a beautiful tone and give them lots of great examples so they understand what a beautiful tone is.