Forums » Respiratory Problems

• Melvin Llord (Admin)

  

  • 538 posts
   

  September 24, 2011 10:14:01 PM EDT

  BREATH SUPPORT

   

  The lungs must be trained to produce the steady, focused, sustained air stream needed to make the reed vibrate. Good posture with a straight back and neck will greatly aid the breathing process. Do not raise and lower the shoulders when breathing. Lifting the shoulders creates tension that will affect the sound and the fingers. Players should try to use their entire lung capacity, allowing the lower part of the lungs to push the stomach forward, then filling the upper cavity. The air is then released steadily, controlled by a muscle called the diaphragm. The air stream should always be steady, never choppy. A player can think of filling the instrument or the whole room, never stopping the air except at the end of a phrase or during a rest. Using too little air can result in playing sharp, while using too much air can cause a note to go flat. A good way to practice producing a steady air stream is to play scales at various speeds using the full range of the instrument (see Example 1). Concentrate on producing an even air stream and consistent sound all the way up and down.
  
  
  
  
  
• Christopher Mickel

  

  • 133 posts
   

  September 26, 2011 5:10:55 PM EDT

  Great Post! Producing a steady tone throughout the entire range of the horn is very important. A great warm up exercise is to play the scales in whole notes, not only does it help with breath support but endurance as well.
  
  One thing I think of working on breath support is to realize that the all of the air coming from the diaphragm through your mouth gets to the tip of the mouthpiece in your mouth and backs up because all of the air can't go through the much smaller opening created at the tip of the mouthpiece. For lack of a better word, the air "bottlenecks" and creates back pressure. This back pressure creates the resistance we feel when playing the horn (the degree of resistance comes from our mouthpiece and reed setup). We need to learn to push the backed up air through the mouthpiece making the reed vibrate, the force required for this comes from the diaphragm. When we take a breath we need to completely fill up with air. We will fee our chest fill up, our shoulders rise, and lastly our stomach fill up. This type of complete full breath will create the back pressure/resistance needed to "fill the horn up.
  
  To really fill up the horn and create a good sound we have to learn to push the air hard. This will take more air than we use even to yell. When playing the saxophone we have to learn to really force the air through the horn and this is something that you would only do if you are playing a wind instrument. I always tell my students that the pros make it look easy but they are really pushing a lot of air through the horn.
  
  I hope this makes some sense and is helpful. it's kind of difficult to explain in words. So please feel free to post clarification or questions.