Emily C., Malde, Ch. 2

Emily C., Malde, Ch. 2

• What are the three characteristics of good physical movement as described in the opening paragraphs of chapter 2? (11)
• The singer needs to be balanced and free to move in a range from micro movements to large, dramatic gestures. You must be flexible in a way that is inherent in your body. 
• Singing always requires __________________.  (12)
• a correct and refined body map. 
• What words does the author suggest might be substituted for poster? (12)
•  balance and buoyancy. 
• What are the questions you should ask to map your skeleton? (12)
•  Examine, explore, and study the body. 
• Examine human skeletal models. 
• Study anatomical illustrations of the skeleton: How do the anatomical facts compare with what I previously thought about my skeleton’s size, structure, and function?
• Palpate to get to know your body. 
• Cultivate kinesthetic awareness of your body through movement. 
• Watch a dissection, visit museums and science centers, and study structure and function. 
• What is the function of your skeleton? (14)
•  It’s a structure of support, weight striation, and movement. 
• What is a joint? (14)
•  Where two bones connect. 
• What is co-contraction? (14)
•  When you try to move while contracting both muscles that move the structure (unnecessarily introducing tension, constricts movement, and causes injury). 
• What would cause a skeletal muscle to not be able to move freely? (14)
•  When we contract the wrong muscles at the wrong times. 
• What is the difference in the workings of a tense and a released muscle? (15)
•  A tense muscle isn’t flexible, has a limited range of motion, and can tire quickly, while a released muscle has more “movement potential.” 
• A tense muscles works more than is necessary for the task.  A released muscle works only as much as necessary.
• Our muscles should ____ and___upon the skeleton. (15)
•  release, rest
• Describe the location of the 4 different portions of your spine.  What is the function of each? (16)
•  Cervical: The top section of the spine, supporting the head. 
• Thoracic: Bears the weight of the head, arms, chest, and delivers it to the lumbar. 
• Lumbar: supports the torso, arms, head, and delivers weight to sacrum. 
• Sacrum: distributes weight from upper body to pelvis at the sacroiliac joints. 
• What is the name of the top vertebra? (16)
•  the atlas
• How does the thickness and size of the vertebrae differ?  (19)
•  They get thicker the lower in the back you go. 
• How far from your back is the lumber spine located? (19)
•  It’s about 3 inches forward of your back, deep in the body. 
• How much space does the circumference of your spine occupy? (19)
•  About the amount of space if you put your index and thumbs together. 
• What are the four curves of the spine?  How many vertebrae make up each curve?  In which direction do they curve? (19)
•  Cervical: 7, curves in. 
• Thoracic: 12, curves out.
• Lumbar: 5, curves in
• Sacral-coccygeal: 5, curves out. 
• Which part of the spine is weight-bearing (front or back)?  What is the function of the other part? (19)
•  The front is the weight bearing part, while the back allows for movement, like bending, spiraling, gathering, lengthening. 
• What are the three functions of your spinal vertebrae? (19)
•  to bear/deliver weight, protect the spinal cord, and to allow movement. 
• What are the three parts of each vertebra? What is the function of each? (19-20)
•  vertebral body: allows a place for vertebral attachments, like discs. 
• spinal process: attachment areas for muscles and ligaments. 
• foraman: the opening for the spinal cord
• Describe the facets on the vertebrae? (22)
•  They protrude outward and allow for ligaments to connect them to muscle and to each other. They provide freedom of motion. 
• Describe the front of the spine. (22)
•  It’s round and smooth and faces into the body. 
• Describe the form and function of your vertebral discs. (22)
•  The discs have a fibrous outer shell of circular rings/annulus. The nucleus/center of these discs are gelatinous and compress when they bear weight and are elastic. 
• Where is the one place in the spine where there is no disc? (22)
•  The atlas has no body, so there is no disk between it and the axis. 
• What do singers need to avoid? (22)
•  We need to avoid holding the head too far forward and back. We shouldn’t be rigid; we need to be flexible and allow for micro movement. 
• Describe the vertebral ligaments? (23)
• They connect bone to bone, keeping the spine together. 
• What is a tendon?  What is its function? (23)
•  A tendon connects bone to muscle. 
• What is fascia?  What is its function? (23)
• It’s thin, strong connective tissue. They provide a flexible support/movement system for spine and entire body, along with everything else. 
• Where are the six places of balance?
•  A-O joint, arm structure, thorax in relationship to lumbar spine, hip joints, knee joints, ankle joints. 
• Which of these six places of balance is not an actual joint?
•  The thorax in relationship to the lumbar spine. 
• What is the function of your atlas?
•  It helps to support the 9-13 lb head and distribute its weight to the rest of the spine. 
• Explain how the skull and the atlas fit together.
•  At the base of the skull (on the occiput), there are two occipital condyles that fit into two oval depressions on the top of the atlas. 
• Why is mapping your A-O joint important?
•  Because balance at this joint allows the muscles in the neck/rest of the body to release. 
• Where is you’re A-O joint located?
•  It’s deep within the body, with the base of the head and the top of the spine converging. 
• What is meant by a neutral position for the neck?
•  the neck muscles will release, with a balanced relationship at the A-O joint to the rest of the body. The jaw and head are not balanced as one unit. 
• What are two ways to help find the accurate relationship between your thorax and your lumbar spine?
•  Lying down on the floor with some books underneath the head is a good way to find balance, allowing the floor to even things out. (Make sure the knees are bent).
• What is the function of the pelvis?
•  The function of the pelvis is to distribute the weight of the upper body and the legs. It distributes the weight of the upper body through the wide pelvic arch and the hip joints to outward to the thigh bones. 
• Describe your pelvis.
•  There’s the iliac crest that flowers out in two flat bones that mirror each other. Below that is the sacrum (5 fused vertebrae), then connects to the coccyx with 4 fused vertebrae. 
• What do you know about your hip joints?
•  They are outside of the pelvis and to the side, above the sitting bones.
• What is your torso?
• It is everything from the top vertebra/atlas and continues down to the bottom of the pelvis/sit bones, excluding the arms. 
• Describe your knee joint.
• It it’s a balancing point for everything that sits above it; it bends only forward, but they can be locked as a natural way to prevent falling over. This however can be inhibitory to singing. 
• Where is your kneecap located?
•  It’s located just slightly behind and below the knee cap. 
• What are the three conditions of the knee joint?
•  locked, balanced, bent. 
• How does the position of the thorax affect the knee joint?
•  If the thorax is too far back in relation to the lumbar spine, the knee joints will lock. 
• Do your knees need to bend in order to be balanced?
• No. Bending the knees is a temporary remedy for locked knees.
• Describe your ankle joint.
• It is made up of the fibula, tibia, and the talus(ball of the foot). 
• What are the bumps on the outside and inside of your ankle?
•  On the outside is the fibula, and the inside bump is the tibia. 
• Which of the lower leg bones distributes our weight?
•  the tibia.
• Which other joint in the body has a direct impact on the ankle joint?
•  The A-O joint. 
• How does the position of the thorax affect the ankle joint?
•  If the thorax is not balanced, then the ankle joints will stiffen. 
• In what order should we balance our joints?
•  A-O, thorax, hip and knee, then the ankle. 
• Describe the location of the heel bone.
•  The heel bone extends past the ankle joint, not making an L shape. 
• Describe your foot.
• It’s made up of the tibia, talus, the ankle joint, the big toe, and the heel bone as main points of balance. There are three arches that distribute weight in the foot: the medial longitudinal arch (extending from the big toe joint to the heel), the lateral arch (from the pinkie toe to the heel), and the transverse arch (from big to pinky toe). 
• Describe the structure of each arm
•  The top of the arm begins at the collarbone with the shoulder blade directly beneath it. The upper arm bone attaches at the shoulder blade, extending down and attaching to the two lower arm bones, then the wrist bone, which is, of course, attached to the hand. 
• Name and describe the arm joints.
•  sternoclavicular and upper arm: connects the entire arm to the sternum/breastbone. It can rotate in circles. 
• elbow: it connects the upper arms and the lower arm bones, only bending in one direction. 
• wrist: It connects the hand to the lower arm bones, moving in circular motions.
• Describe position of collarbones and shoulder blades and how arm structure should be balanced.
•  The collar bones should be at rest in a neutral position that doesn’t require any muscular forcing. It’s not too far back or forward, and they are not pushed down. 
• Your skeleton will be_____ when your muscles are not_____.
•  better balanced, recruited to do the work of your skeleton. 
• My spine and my postural muscles that surround it ­____ my front and my back, ___ my front and my back for________.
•  support/align, allowing, freedom of movement. 
• What are the five poor postural instructions given at the end of the chapter?
• stand against the wall to achieve good posture. 
• stand “straight” as if the spine were a straight, solid broomstick. 
• lift the sternum high
• roll the shoulders back and/or hold them down.
• tuck the pelvis under
• suspend your head by an invisible string from the ceiling.