What is the diaphragm?
The diaphragm is a thin sheet of muscle that separates your respiratory
system (breathing department – lungs) from your digestive system
(food department – stomach, liver, kidneys and intestines).
What does the diaphragm do?
The diaphragm has the same function as the plunger has in the syringe.
When it is raised and lowered it changes the size of the chest cavity,
resulting in air being taken in when it is lowered and air being pushed
out when it is raised.
Diaphragm lowered = Air in
Diaphragm raised = Air out
The diaphragm is the mechanism that drives the breathing process. Many
people think that it is the lungs that are “breathing”, but
the lungs are only the receptacles of the air, in the same way a glass
receives water. The glass only holds the water, it cannot cause the water
to be poured in.
The diaphragm is the opposite of most external muscles in that when it
contracts it moves downward and when it relaxes it moves upward. Think
of your arm, in order to move it upwards the muscles have to contract
and when the muscles are relaxed the arm is lowered. The diaphragm is
the exact opposite. Therefore it only controls and effects the inhalation
(air in) and not the exhalation (air out).
This fact is very important to remember, as it is commonly believed that
the diaphragm controls both aspects of breathing. This is not correct
at all! It is impossible for the diaphragm to exert any pressure against the lungs when it is relaxing!
To see a wonderful x-ray video of the diaphragm working click on this
link
http://oac.med.jhmi.edu/res_phys/Encyclopedia/Diaphragm/Diaphragm.html
There is one problem with all this that I should mention at this point.
We have no conscious control over the diaphragm! It is an involuntary
muscle, like the heart, that operates ceaselessly, day and night.
How do we consciously breath for wind playing?
Breathing in (Inhaling)
The diaphragm works in tandem with the abdominal muscles. As the diaphragm
is lowered the abdominal muscles are extended or pushed out. To control
the breathing process we need only to focus on the abdominal muscles –
by pushing the abdominal muscles out, the diaphragm is drawn down and
air sucked into the lungs. The abdominal muscles act as a lever, pulling
the diaphragm into action, causing a chain reaction resulting in a large
volume of air being pulled into the lungs.
As stated earlier the inhalation process for passive and wind playing
breathing is essentially the same. The difference is that the wind player
takes in as large a volume of air as possible.
The Inhalation Equations
Abdomen Out = Air In
And
Abdomen Out = Diaphragm Down = Air In
Blowing out (Exhaling)
There is a big difference between the exhalation processes of passive
and wind player breathing.
When passively exhaling, the muscles that were contracted during inhalation,
are simply relaxed and as a result air is expelled.
Exhalation for the wind player is not just a process of expelling the
air, it is a matter of pushing the air out, through the instrument under
pressure. The wind player applies pressure to the volume of air inside
their lungs.
This pressure or blowing is done simply by pushing the abdominal muscles
out. By engaging the abdominal muscles (i.e. making them firm) pressure
is exerted upward against the diaphragm and then in turn against the lungs,
forcing the air up through the windpipe and mouth, into the instrument
under pressure.
As the air is expelled, the diaphragm is relaxing, being pushed up by
the abdominal muscles. As this happens the abdominal muscles have a tendency
to collapse inward, filling the space being made vacant by the upward
movement of the diaphragm. As this occurs the wind player needs to continually
push the abdomen out, resisting this tendency. This action will sustain
the pressure exerted against the diaphragm and thereby maintain a constant
airflow through the instrument.
The Exhalation Equation
Pushing abdomen out and engaging abdominal muscles
= Upward pressure against diaphragm
= Upward pressure against the lungs
= Air through the instrument at a constant pressure and speed
Why blow air out under pressure?
On a wind instrument the sound is created by setting something into vibration.
On a reed instrument it is the reed, on a flute it the air column itself
and on a brass instrument it’s the lips that vibrate.
The vibrations are caused by blowing air through the instrument under
pressure. It is not enough just to blow air though the instrument, the
air literally has to be forced into the instrument to make it go. The
air is also being forced through a very small hole (except on the flute). This creates a bottleneck
effect, which produces a resistance to the blowing thereby increasing
the air pressure.
Air pressure
To help you visualize air pressure, think of 2 balloons – one is
blown up twice the size of the other. Which one will have the greatest
air pressure? The biggest one, of course. When you let the balloons go
at the same time, which one will push out the most air ate the fastest rate? Again, the biggest
one.
The same principle applies when playing a wind instrument. The more that
you can take in, the greater the air pressure and the longer you will
be able to sustain the tone.
Also note that the chest walls act like a balloon. As the lungs reach
capacity, elasticity of the chest walls creates pressure against the air
inside the lungs. And like a balloon, the more air taken in, the greater
the natural air pressure.
The thorax
In the syringe example above, I mentioned that the walls of the syringe
stayed stable when the plunger is being moved. For a person the equivalent
“walls” of the human syringe is the thorax (the part of your
body between the neck and the abdomen, enclosed by the ribs and containing
the heart and lungs).
It is absolutely vital that the thorax remains stable in the breathing
and blowing process. The chest shape has an effect on the size of the
cavity of the thorax. The bigger the chest cavity is, the more open the
thorax will be. By keeping the sternum (the breastbone – the bone
that connects the 2 sets of ribs in the middle of the chest) out (a bit
like a soldier standing at attention), the chest cavity is at it’s
most expanded. This allows the lungs to fill to their greatest capacity.
Links of descriptions of the thorax and the sternum (with pictures!)
Thorax
http://www.bartleby.com/107/26.html
http://www.bartleby.com/107/284.html
Sternum
http://www.bartleby.com/107/27.html
Posture
Good posture facilitates the breathing process - the better the posture
the easier and more effective the breathing will be.
Good posture = Standing tall with both feet firmly on the ground, back
straight, chest out, shoulders back and down and relaxed, neck straight
and head high. This should all be done in a relaxed way.
Good posture is more easily achieved when standing. So if you have a
choice, choose to stand when playing and if you have to sit maintain the
same posture.
Incorrect Breathing
The odd thing about teaching students how to breath properly, is that
most people do the opposite of “correct breathing”. When asked
to take a deep breath generally people will do 3 things –
1. Close their throat, increasing the friction sound of the air rushing
through their windpipe
2. Raise their shoulders and rib cage up
3. Suck their abdomen in as they inhale
The irony is these 3 things are the 3 worst things to do when inhaling,
as they prohibit rather than allow efficient intake of air. For the most
effective breathing - taking in as much air as possible, with the least
effort and as quickly as possible - you must do the opposite. The 3 things
that you should do instead are –
1. Open the throat, allowing more air to be taken in
2. Maintain good posture, with chest out and shoulders down
3. Push the abdomen out to inhale
13 Breathing Exercises
The good news is that we won’t be teaching anything new with these
exercises as the breathing process that’s required for playing is
an amplification of what you have been doing since the day you were born.
Up to now you probably haven’t ever thought about what you do when
you breath. The following exercises will help you understand how you are
breathing and how you can become more conscious of the breathing process
so you can gain control of it.
The great thing about doing breathing exercises is that you can do them
anyway and at any time of the day and even in you sleep! What you have
to do is key into the natural, instinctive, subconscious breathing process
and slowly develop conscious control over it.
Exercise 1
Step 1
Lie down on your back with a heavy book on your abdomen.
Close your eyes. Relax. After a while, focus your attention on what the
book is doing. You will notice the book rising as you inhale and lowering
as you exhale. This is how you naturally passive breath, every day of
the year.
Step 2
Once you have become aware of the natural passive breathing process,
start to amplify it. Start making the book go higher as you inhale and
lower as you exhale. If you are doing everything correctly, you should
be moving significantly more air in and out your body.
Step 3
Continue to inhale in the same way but now when exhaling, purse the lips
(as if blowing out a candle) and engage the abdominal muscles. 2 things
should happen –
1. The book will stay raised for considerably longer
2. The air will be exhaled under pressure
If you did all that correctly, congratulations, that’s the breathing
you do when playing.
Step 4
Now see if you can do this vertically as apposed to horizontally (not
many people play lying down!)
Warning - Get up slowly to prevent dizziness.
Step 4 will be the most demanding, so take your time. It not uncommon
for students to breath perfectly while horizontal, but when they stand
up they revert to incorrect breathing. It often takes a long time to develop
breathing correctly.
When standing, it is preferable to place your hands on your abdomen instead
of a heavy book, as a heavy book will usually end up landing your toes!
Exercise 2
Do the same as Exercise 1 but slowly count (in your head) to 4 throughout
each stage of the breathing process.
Note: always start with the lungs fully deflated I.e. abdomen in.
As you inhale slowly count 1234
Hold, with lungs fully inflated, count 1234
As you exhale slowly count 1234
Hold, with lungs fully deflated, count 1234
Also try this exercise seated.
Exercise 3
Warning – Only try this exercise if you are confident about standing
on your head.
Do a headstand (it’s safest to do it against a wall)
When you are upside down, due to gravity, the abdomen will collapse downwards
into the chest cavity. This pushes out the air in your lungs. When upside
down, the only way to breath is to use your abdominal muscles in tandem
with the diaphragm.
This is the best way to discover how the breathing apparatus works, as
it is impossible to breath incorrectly when you are upside down.
Exercise 4
Lie down on your front.
Relax. Start paying attention to your breathing. Notice the action of
the abdomen. When you breath in, the abdomen will press down into the
floor and when you breath out the abdomen will rise.
Warning - Get up slowly to prevent dizziness.
Exercise 5
Yawn!
Notice what happens –
1. The jaw drops
2. The throat is wide open
3. The abdomen is pushed out in tandem with the diaphragm descending
This is exactly how to inhale. Notice how relaxed the process is. Try
to copy this process before you start playing.
Exercise 6
Walking & Breathing
Next time you walk anywhere match your breathing with your steps.
Inhale for 4 steps
Hold for 4 steps
Exhale for 4 steps
Hold for 4 steps
Repeat until you get to your destination!
Exercise 7
Pretend to get a fright.
When you get a fright, as when someone startles you with “Boo”,
your body immediately takes a deep breath, doing it all entirely correctly,
with the abdomen being pushed out. Take note of this and replicate it
when playing.
Exercise 8
Place your hand on the abdomen.
Start slowly counting in a whisper and ending in a shout.
Notice the abdominal muscles engaging and going in towards the spine
as you get louder.
Exercise 9
Standing, suddenly pull the abdomen in forcing the breath out of your
body. Then, with your mouth shut to prevent air being taken in, strongly
push the abdomen out and then pull it in again. Keep repeating many times.
This exercise will help you develop greater control of your abdominal
muscles.
Exercise 10
Rhythmic Breathing and Blowing
This exercise aims to emulate what you do when playing.
Use a metronome set to 60
Blow out the air in your lungs with a sudden pull in of the abdomen
In time with the metronome count 1 2 3 and on the 4th beat inhale by
pushing the abdomen out suddenly so there is a strong intake of air into
the lungs
Then blowout for 4 beats
Then count 1 2 3 and on the 4th beat inhale
Then blowout for 4 beats
Keep repeating this process many times.
Repeat this exercise but extending the blowing to 8 beats.
Exercise 11
Repeat Exercise 8 but play your instrument instead of blowing.
Exercise 10
Pant like a dog!
This will develop awareness of the breathing apparatus.
Exercise 11
Exhale fully.
Inhale (a big, full, relaxed breath – filling the lungs to capacity).
Close your mouth (prevent any air to escape) and start pushing the abdomen
out vigorously.
Notice that the abdominal pressure created pushes in all directions –
down into your pelvis, back into your spine, forward and up into your
chest.
Keep pushing strongly, building up the pressure, not allowing any air
to escape.
After a few seconds suddenly release the pressure by opening your mouth.
Notice what your abdomen does – it will suddenly collapse inwards.
Exercise 12
Cough repeatedly.
Notice what the abdomen is doing – it goes in when the air goes
out.
Exercise 13
Blowing
This is a very good exercise to develop focusing you breath and increasing
its power.
Place a sheet of paper against a wall, holding it with your finger. Stand
with your toes touching the bottom of the wall, so your nose is only millimeters
from the paper. Now blow against the paper, releasing the your finger
and pinning the paper to the wall with your blowing. See how long you
can hold the paper against the wall.
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