I find the best way to deal with the ribs is to
find my best singing posture, with everything lined up
properly, and I usually find thinking about my upper chest
and my back most useful in achieving this. When I have my
best posture, the ribs, along with my entire respiratory
system are ready to do what is necessary to support the
breath for singing. There are times when I might *think*
ribs to remind myself of correct posture. But that's not
the same thing as artificially forcing the ribs (or anything
else) into a particular position.
Peggy
I agree that posture can make a huge difference in obtaining and
maintaing the lovely balance between abdominals that allows optimal
breath function while singing. Several years ago I came up with a trick
that seems to help EVERY singer who tries it. I have them stand with
good posture and then raise the arms as though they were going to
conduct, keeping them bent at the elbows and at about chest height.
This alone seems to really promote an excellent ribcage position; I then
add a simple downward movement of the hands during inhalation (mimicking
the fall of the breath into the body) and have them then bring the hands
back up to chest level as they prepare to sing. While singing, the
hands are given a gentle bounce up and down an inch or so; this seems to
help maintain the abdominal balance nicely and keep things from
collapsing, as well as making it almost impossible for the abdominal
area to be too tight (the actual problem for which I developed this!).
The students use these hand movements for as long as they need to in
practice. When the results without the hands are as good as with the
hands, they stop using them. I cannot believe how incredibly well this
works for all sorts of breathing issues. Try it! You'll like it!
Sharon Szymanski
The Szymanski Studio - "encouraging excellence in the vocal arts"
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