Singing from my diaphragm?

A

aznricey

New member
So I record covers and play a little guitar/drums. This other day I met a professional vocal coach and she told me that I did not develop any use of my diapgragm in my singing, and that if I do my singing will drastically improve! She also commented on how nice my voice is ;) :D

Anyway she gave me an exercise to try out. Basically lay down on the floor with a book ontop of the area around my lower rib, and raise the book as i breathe in.

I tried this out for a night and felt like i still had difficulty finding or knowing if I actually used my diaphragm in my breathing... Could anyone perhaps point me to the right direction here?

Thanks in advance =)
 
basically use your diaphram to inhale and see the stomach rise as you breath in, keep the shoulders relaxed and down and fill the bottom of your lungs. Join a choir or something and learn some breathing excersises it will as the person said to you improve your singing all together. look it up on you tube even
 
Yeah, your tummy should go OUT when you inhale...instead of just inhaling through your chest. That's half of the equation. The other half is exhaling without tightening your vocal chords. I know it sounds cliche', but when you're doing it right, you know it.

I thought this guy did a decent job on the inhale part of the equation, and I think he's absolutely correct when he contradicts the age old "tighten your abs" method... YouTube - Learn To Sing From The Diaphragm


Funny thing, though...the dude sings flat a lot...even in his recording at the beginning of the clip. But I don't think that's due to improper technique. He's just not as awesome as the rest of us. :D
 
Man I don't know if I am ADD or what but I could only watch like 1:30 of that video.

My wife doesn't sing anymore because she had her diaphragm removed...

ok sorry I don;t have anything constructive to add... :o
 
Hey thanks for the helpful tips. The video really touched base on my questions, people say different things (chest, stomach, back of stomach). One specific question is, when you fully inhale(with your diaphragm), is your stomach suppose to feel really tight? How should it feel?

Below are some inconsistency i seem to find.

YouTube - 3D view of diaphragm << looking at it it shouldn't effect your stomach... but here at the video below it tells u to touch your stomach as an indicator of expansion and working of diaphragm...
YouTube - Voice Lessons - "Diaphragm Breathing"

Thanks in advance =)
 
aznricey said:
One specific question is, when you fully inhale(with your diaphragm), is your stomach suppose to feel really tight? How should it feel?


looking at it it shouldn't effect your stomach... but here at the video below it tells u to touch your stomach as an indicator of expansion and working of diaphragm...
Click to expand...

There are two types of breathing, abdominal and thoracic breathing. In abdominal, you contract your diaphragm, which pulls the lungs down increasing their volume and pulls air in. In thoracic breathing, you use your accessory muscles (the muscles in your chest) to increase lung volume. In a natural resting state, men do abdominal breathing and women do thoracic breathing. So if you're a guy you probably have that covered. You don't need to worry about how your stomach feels, if you're belly pops in and out while you breathe, thats the diaphragm working. About the video; when the diaphragm contracts it pushes the stuff below it down, which is why the stomach is effected.
 
aznricey said:
Hey thanks for the helpful tips. The video really touched base on my questions, people say different things (chest, stomach, back of stomach). One specific question is, when you fully inhale(with your diaphragm), is your stomach suppose to feel really tight? How should it feel?
Click to expand...

Nothing should feel "tight" when you sing. Some old school vocal teachers will tell you that in order to maintain control of your air output, you need to tighten your abdominal muscles...(sort of like pushing hard to take a dump). I think this is poor advice. I'm not a vocal instructor, but I know that I sing better when I'm relaxed and I have a cavity full of air.
 
Thanks for all the advice again. Yeah i'm a guy, but either way I feel like I still haven't been fully conscious/aware of my diaphragm yet, but it might be getting there.

As for the "taking a dump" feeling, i've been told that nermerous times from a few knoledgeable people i've met, and I think it's a valid claim. They may not mean you're literally doing that, but that feeling is there in a relax state :rolleyes:

For some reason I still feel like I get let in more air when I "breathe in all the way" without involving my stomach, which is the way i've been doing when I sing or anything since forever.. and that involves my shoulders moving too, which is also a no no. I think i have a long way to go here :(

Either way, I just wish someone could tell me if i'm doing it right or not haha. I guess I'll update some clips of my singing once in a while, you guys can keep me accountable ;)

Here is a clip is did: http://profile.ultimate-guitar.com/howangcturtle/music/all/play973171
Here is a clip i redid: May not be much difference, but i lowered the key and tried to apply some of the breathing stuff in: http://profile.ultimate-guitar.com/howangcturtle/music/all/play996819
 
When singing you should control the in/out so you have lots to work with. Short in breaths and whatever it takes to sing the phrase out. Phrasing is important because you want to allow yourself time to breath in between phrases. I find over time that my phrases get longer not ridiculous or anything but surprise myself not having to breathe in quite so often.
I don't even think about breathing much anymore, it just "happens". Took a few years, quitting smoking and singing within my natural range to figure it out though. Definitley sing from my diaphram though, I run out of air too quick if I don't load up air to the bottom (lower abdomen).
 
The term 'Singing from your diaphragm' is dumb.

You don't sing FROM it, you sing from your vocal chords. You use your diaphragm to SUPPORT more air for your vocal chords.

The exercise he/she gave is a popular and affective one =) Also see if you can expand your back and sides for a full intake of air.
 
Steve Martin once said that a woman was talking dirty to him when she said "Sing from your diaphragm!":laughings:
 
I've been told that when you sing, you sing from your diaphragm - everyone does, so what you should have been told, was to develop your breathing technique because everyone already uses their diaphragm when singing :P

I hope you sorted it out though!
 
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