Monday, February 10, 2014

LaeKin Burgess Malde Chapter 2






What are the three characteristics of good physical movement are as described in the opening paragraphs of chapter 2?  Graceful, buoyant, balanced.

Singing always requires Movement


What words does the author suggest might be substituted for posture?  Balance, buoyant, springy.

What are the questions you should ask to map your skeleton? How large is my skeleton? Where is my skeleton located? What is the construction of my skeleton? How does my skeleton move?

What is the function of your skeleton? Serves as a structure of support, weight distribution and movement.

What is a joint? A location in your body where tow bones connect.

What is co-contraction? Trying to contract two opposing muscles simultaneously.

What would cause a skeletal muscle to not be able to move freely? Chronic tension.

What is the difference in the workings of a tense and a released muscle? (15) Tense muscles cause the rest of the body to feel tense as well. Released muscles allow us to accomplish a task with ease and efficiency.


Our muscles should RELEASE and REST upon the skeleton. (15)

Describe the location of the 4 different portions of your spine.  What is the function of each? (16) Cervical is in your neck and supports your head. Thoracic extends from your neck through the abdomen and supports chest, head and appendages. Lumbar further supports head and abdomen. Sacral-coccygeal section is by your tailbone distributes the weight of the upper body evenly on the legs.

What is the name of the top vertebra? (16) Atlas

How does the thickness and size of the vertebrae differ?  (19) The vertebrae are smaller at the top of the spine and gradually get larger as they descend to the lumbar.


How much space does the circumference of your spine occupy? (19) The cervical vertebrae take up 1/3 of the width of your body, Thoracic takes up ¼ of your width and the lumbar spine takes up ½ of your width.

What are the four curves of the spine?  How many vertebrae make up each curve?  In which direction do they curve? (19)  7 Cervical curves forward, 12 Thoracic back, 5 lumbar curves forward toward center, 9 Sacral-Coccygeal curve backward until the tail bone it curves back toward the center.


Which part of the spine is weight-bearing (front or back)?  What is the function of the other part? (19) Front

What are the three parts of each vertebra? What is the function of each? (19-20) the body: bears weight, the foramen: opening for spinous process, the spinous process:

Describe the facets on the vertebrae? (22) small gliding joints that allow ribs to connect and the spine to be flexible and stable.

Describe the front of the spine. Vertebral bodies and discs that bear the weight of your head and torso and delivers it through the sacrum into the pelvis.

Describe the form and function of your vertebral discs. (22) They are about ¼ inch wide have a fibrous outer shell called the annulus. Each has a gelatin like nucleus. They have hydraulic qualities help them compress on spring back to shape.

Where is the one place in the spine where there is no disc? (22)  There is no disc between the atlas and the axis.

What do singers need to avoid? (22) That is a broad question, but probably putting our heads too far forward or back throwing ourselves out of balance.

Describe the vertebral ligaments? (23) Ligaments are strong yet flexible fibrous bands of tissues that connect bone to bone.

What is a tendon?  What is its function? (23)  Same a ligament but connects muscles to bone.

What is fascia?  What is its function? (23) Thin, strong, connective tissue that provides flexibility to the spine.

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? Thorax in relation to the lumbar spine.


What is the function of your atlas? Support your fat head distributing its weight to the rest of the spine.

Explain how the skull and the atlas fit together. Atlas meets the bottom part of you skull which has two condyles. These fit nicely into the two depressions at the top of the atlas.

Why is mapping your A-O joint important? Balance here will allow other muscles of the neck and back to release.

Where is you’re A-O joint located? At the base of your skull.

What is meant by a neutral position for the neck? A position where all layers of neck muscles are working only as much as is necessary.

What are two ways to help find the accurate relationship between your thorax and your lumbar spine? Lie on the floor with books under your head and/or walk backward.

What is the function of the pelvis? Distribute the weight of your upper body to your legs.

Describe your pelvis. Two bones on either side of you that mirror each other. The top is called the iliac crest. Between the two bones lies the sacrum.

What do you know about your hip joints? This is 2-3 inches higher than where the thigh bones reaches toward the pelvis and has a bulbous end called the greater trochanter.

What is your torso? The area that begins at the atlas and ends at your sit bones but excludes you’re appendages.

Where is your kneecap located? Located behind and slightly below the knee cap. Not the knee cap itself.

What are the three conditions of the knee joint? Locked, balanced, or bent.

How does the position of the thorax affect the knee joint? If thorax is not balanced students will lock their knees to compensate for it.

Do your knees need to bend in order to be balanced? No, they just shouldn’t be locked.

Describe your ankle joint. Ankle joint is located where your tibia and fibula meet the talus bone of your foot. The talus bone lies on top of the heel bone.

What are the bumps on the outside and inside of your ankle? The ends of your tibia and fibula bones.

Which of the lower leg bones distributes our weight? The larger, tibia.

Which other joint in the body has a direct impact on the ankle joint? A-O joint.

How does the position of the thorax affect the ankle joint? If the thorax is out of balance, the ankles will lock.

In what order should we balance our joints? A-O joint, thorax, hips and knees, ankles.

Describe the location of the heel bone. Right underneath the talus bone.

Describe your foot. There are three arches of your foot that distribute your weight evenly. The first is the medial longitudinal arch which spans from your heel to the head of your first toe. The lateral arch spans from the head of your fifth toe to your heel and the transverse arch spans across the foot from the head of your first toe to the head of your fifth toe.

Describe the structure of each arm One collarbone, shoulder blade, upper arm bone, two lower arm bones, a wrist and a hand.

Name and describe the arm joints. The joints are sternoclavicular, upper arm, elbow, and wrist.


Describe position of collarbones and shoulder blades and how arm structure should be balanced. If the collarbones go up the rest of the arm moves too. It should be centered over your weight bearing spine with collarbones roughly parallel to the ground.

Your skeleton will be BETTER BALANCED when your muscles are not DOING THE SKELETON’S JOB.

My spine and my postural muscles that surround it ­­ SUPPORT my front and my back, FREEING my front and my back for MOVEMENT .

What are the five poor postural instructions given at the end of the chapter?
-Stand against the wall
Stand straight as a broomstick
-lift the sternum high
-Roll the shoulders back and/or hold them down
-Tuck the pelvis
-suspend your head from an invisible string on the ceiling


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