Why and how do we breathe?

As a singer, it is absolutely essential to learn how your respiration patterns differ from normal breathing to singing.

 

[marker color=”#8ed65e”]First of all, why and how do we breathe?[/marker]

 

We must all breathe to live. The most important function of breathing is gas exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. When we breathe in, air travels through the larynx into the trachea, which is also known as windpipe. The trachea is divided into two tubes called bronchi that connect to the two separate lungs. Inside the lungs, the bronchi divide into thinner branches called bronchioles which have small sacs at the ends of the bronchioles, which are called alveoli. Here, the alveoli are in close contact with capillaries, thin walled blood vessels, in order to diffuse oxygen and carbon dioxide in and out of the blood. Oxygen is loaded onto the red blood cells while carbon dioxide is unloaded from them into the air. The oxygenated blood then flows out of the alveolar capillaries, through venules, and back to the heart via the pulmonary veins. Finally, the heart pumps the blood throughout the systemic arteries to deliver oxygen throughout the body.

When we fail to exhale enough air, or try to hold our breath, the buildup of carbon dioxide in our bloodstream that stimulates our body to breathe again. However, the lungs cannot expand themselves without the action of muscles and bones in both the thorax and the abdomen, because the lung tissue does not contain muscle (Watson, 2009). Therefore, the volume of the lung is indirectly dependent on the movements of the walls which are comprised of ribs and intercostals muscles. The abdominal wall also plays a major role in respiration. There are two most important muscle groups; the rectus abdominus, also known as the six pack, and the lateral abdominal muscles (which are comprised of internal and external obliques, and the transverse abdominal muscles).

The intercostal muscles contain a layer of inspiratory and expiratory muscle fibers. When you breathe in, the intercostal muscles between your ribs moves upward and outward in order create larger space in your chest cavity. During the process of expiration, the elasticity of the lungs and chest wall makes them return to their resting shape and push out air out of the lungs when inspiratory muscles are relaxed. Therefore, when a person is at rest, no effort is needed to breathe out. During any larger respiratory efforts than rest, abdominal muscles contract, raise abdominal pressure, and push a relaxed diaphragm against the lungs, causing air to be pushed out.

Here is an educational video, ‘Mechanisms of breathing’.

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• Where does my ‘support’ come from? Have you heard of the diaphragm?

The diaphragm is the most crucial muscle used for inspiration. It is attached to the base of the sternum, the lower parts of the rib cage, and the spine. As the diaphragm contracts, it increases the length and diameter of the chest cavity, by contracting and descending, and consequently expands the lungs (Lechtzin, 2014). This procedure results the abdominal walls to bulge outward as the organs are pushed down in the abdominal cavity. This is possibly why your teacher tells you to use your lower abdomen.

The extent and effectiveness of the movements of the diaphragm is heavily influenced by one’s posture. Poor postures will disable the free expansion of the abdominal walls, with a consequence of a reduction in vital capacity. Therefore, it is essential for singers to learn how to maintain correct posture during singing.

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There are two main types of respiration; voluntary and involuntary. During singing, we voluntarily breathe in for more air. The voluntary breathing is controlled by the motor cortex and the activity of respiratory muscles during singing is rather more complicated than in normal breathing. It requires precise control of the pressure, and flow rate that regulates the volume, pitch, and temporal structure of the notes. In order to prolong the breath or maintain a constant flow of the breath pressure while having the mouth opened, we must try to resist the shrink the thorax known as respiratory braking as the intercostals muscles remain active after the beginning of the exhalation during singing (Watson, 2009).

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Vazquez, D. (2008). Breathe – Respira [Online image]. Retrieved April 22, 2015 from https://www.flickr.com/photos/dani_vazquez

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