 The Fingering Forum
|
Author: Oboe Guy
Date: 2002-11-08 18:55
Just a little quirk. Most people believe that you should "breath from the diaphragm" or "flex" your diaphragm. However, this is impossible because the diaphragm is an involuntary muscle, which can't be controlled. Nonetheless, here's an interesting link:
http://www.public.asu.edu/~schuring/Oboe/vibrato.html
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Torus Tubarius
Date: 2002-11-08 23:06
Well, I've heard that said before, and I have to tell you whoever started that rumor in the music world about the diaphragm being an <i>involuntary</i> muscle is in error.
The diaphragm is in fact a voluntary muscle under the control of the phrenic nerve which originates from cervical roots 3,4, and 5 in the brachial plexus, a huge grouping of nerves in the neck that are part of the somatic nervous system (i.e. controlling voluntary muscles). But you don't have to have a detailed knowledge of such esoteric facts about human physiology to know that; just use common sense. Can you breathe in on command? If you answered yes then you have just proven to yourself that the diaphragm is a voluntary muscle.
Now how I think this rumor got started is that what <i>is</i> true is that diaphragm is not directly responsible for exhalation, rather it is the elasticity of the lungs which causes the thoracic cavity to shrink back down, thus forcing air out. But the elasticity of the lungs is only a passive force, in order to actively force air out of the lungs, we utilize several muscles in our abdomen to push against the thoracic cavity and force it to collapse. This is what is responsible for being able to blow air through an instrument, and it is what is responsible for so-called "diaphragm vibrato". The diaphragm however has nothing to do with exhalation, except that it relaxes and allows the chest to collapse and force air out of the lungs--this does not mean it is an <i>involuntary</i> muscle however.
If you can't already tell, I seriously dislike misinformation. This one is a lot like the one that says we as humans only use 10% of our brains. Yeah... right.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Oboe Guy
Date: 2002-11-09 17:09
yeah, you're right, but you just contradicted yourself there. I know that when you inhaling and exhaling changes the incurve, and outcurve of the diaphragm, but you can't, in your mind say, and actually do it: "I'm going to flex and unlfex my diapragm." the diapragm only changes because of something else. Kind of like your heart rate. you can increase it by running or breathing heavily. I can understand that it isn't involuntary, but it sure isn't voluntary.
Try it, without breathing, move your diaphragm. doesn't work now does it?
Oboeguy
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Torus Tubarius
Date: 2002-11-10 07:06
Well, I didn't mean for this to turn into a debate over respiratory physiology, I was merely trying to explain why the diaphragm is not responsible for vibrato. It does not create vibrato not because it is an involuntary muscle, but because it only functions in inspiration, not exhalation, and therefore takes no active role in the entire process of blowing any kind of air stream through a horn.
But since you asked, you can't move your diaphragm and not breathe; that's the diaphragm's whole purpose. Anytime you move your diaphragm, you inhale, and anytime you inhale you're moving your diaphragm. The diaphragm is a skeletal muscle that moves under its own power, not because of something else. In fact, when you're sitting still breathing normally, it is the diaphragm doing most of the work. Anytime you breathe in voluntarily (or involuntarily), you're moving your diaphragm, so in a sense yes you are saying, "I'm going to flex my diaphragm" even though the thought may not be articulated quite that concisely in your head.
I think where were getting confused is that while the diaphragm is under voluntary control, most of the time you breathe without thinking. That is because unless you consciously decide to alter its contractions, the brain sends continual impulses along the phrenic nerve to the diaphragm to keep you breathing. In this sense it is a voluntary muscle acting in an involuntary manner, but it is still voluntary because you can control it at will, and because of its innervation.
Your heart is functionally not like the diaphragm because it is only innervated by autonomic nerve fibers which either increase or decrease its rate and strength of contraction. The heart actually needs no innervation at all to contract because it has its own pacemaker built into the right atrial wall. The nerves that run to it only modify the speed and strength of each contraction.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Steven King
Date: 2002-11-11 02:49
Has anyone ever thought of asking a mucle specialist if the diaphram is an involintary mucle or not? I think that would solv all of our problems and questions.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Laura
Date: 2002-11-11 06:09
Ummm, yeah, Torus knows what he's talking about.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Torus Tubarius
Date: 2002-11-11 06:18
"The lungs can be expanded and contracted in two ways: (1) by downward and upward movement of the diaphragm to lengthen or shorten the chest cavity and (2) by elevation and depression of the ribs to increase or decrease the anteroposterior diameter of the chest cavity. Normal quiet breathing is accomplished almost entirely by the first of the two methods above, that is, by the movement of the diaphragm. During inspiration, contraction of the diaphragm pulls the lower surfaces of the lungs downward. Then, during expiration, the diaphragm simply relaxes, and the <i>elastic recoil</i> of the lungs, chest wall, and abdominal structures compresses the lungs."
--Arthur C. Guyton and John E. Hall, <i>Textbook of Medical Physiology</i> 9th edition. Chapter 37, p. 477.
"Although breathing (i.e. the action of the diaphragm) is normally regulated involuntarily by the brain stem respiratory centers, we can also exert <i>conscious</i> control over the rate and depth of breathing--choosing to hold our breath or to take an extra deep breath for example. This <i>voluntary</i> control involves direct signals from the cerebral motor cortex to the motor neurons that stimulate the respiratory muscles, bypassing the medullary centers."
--Elaine N. Marieb, <i>Human Anatomy and Physiology</i> 4th edition. Chapter 23, p. 834.
So yeah if you'll look back over my posts, you'll see that is exactly what I have been saying from the get go.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
