Music First, Breathing Second

Although a lot is written about breathing for wind players and I appreciate all of it, you do not need to understand the breathing process to play a wind instrument.  Take the analogy of throwing a ball: your motivation is the target, say, your friend’s glove.  And without knowing the inner workings of the arm, you will change your wind-up based on how far he or she is standing.  The glove you are aiming for is analogous to the note or phrase you are going to play, and the wind-up is analogous to your inhalation.

Imagery is a wonderful tool because focusing on body mechanics can lead to ‘paralysis by analysis,’ overthinking, standing in the way of your goal.  Here is some suitable imagery for the breath: a yawn, an underwater swim, a candle, inflating a beach ball, a “hot soup in your mouth” breath, a stethoscope (doctor’s office breath), or a surprised gasp.  You can also use a real or imagined pinwheel, paper that you hold up and blow away from your face, or a breathing device, often adopted by wind musicians.

Imagery and devices can help change unwanted habits such as excess breath noise or shallow breathing.  Any thought devoted to body mechanics should be a last resort, guided by a good teacher, and kept simple, for instance “open your mouth just a little wider when you breathe,” or “take a quieter breath; you’ll get more air.”

The bottom line is to try to produce the music the way you want it to go, regardless of breath.  How would you play the passage if you did not need to breathe?  Come to your answer by listening to recordings and performances, not only of the exact piece, but of music in the same style.

Put the music in the foreground of your thought and the breath in the background; it is ultimately not the important part.  Once I was working on a solo and I told my teacher “I don’t know when to breathe” and he replied, “Breathe when you need air.”  Does this mean that I never plan any breaths?  No, but after that lesson I planned them less often, putting the music first, and quickly breathing without ruining the phrase.

Those quick breaths are best when you commit to full value before the breath and an on-time entrance after it.  It also helps for the body to be relaxed, to have good posture, and to not be so low on air that abs become tense.  Keep your head up by aiming your sound at an eye level spot across the room.  When sitting, sit tall.  Everything above the pelvis should be the same as when standing.

Breath control during exhalation is another matter.  A colleague of mine asks students to picture a water tower with an open spigot near the bottom.  When the tower is full, the stream shoots out of the spigot in a strong straight line. As the water level in the tower decreases, the stream weakens.  The same is true for our air stream.  If you sigh after a full breath the air escapes quickly, then with decreasing force.  When I play the trombone and have air in reserve, I am playing with a controlled ‘sigh,’ which is my most relaxed state and helps me achieve my best tone, so I strive for this.  However, as the air in my lungs decreases like the water in the tower, I must actively support the sound, or blow, to put it simply.  The same is true for louder playing.  I try to avoid squeezing air out of the lungs below the conversational state of relaxed equilibrium by inhaling completely enough and often enough.  Squeezing or pushing (engaging the abdominal muscles) creates tension, making the next inhalation more difficult and sometimes causing the note after the breath to be late.

Arnold Jacobs’ Concepts

  • Breathe to expand; don’t expand to breathe.  The body expands as a result of moving wind: it is not the cause.
  • Think of your body like a bellows.
  • You cannot directly control the diaphragm, so don’t think about it. Simply suck in air, feel it pass over the lips, and it will go to the right places.
  • When you inhale you’re at a gas station; when you exhale you’re an artist.
  • Keep the front abdominal wall weak, like jelly.
  • Breathe in from the corners of the mouth, leaving the mouthpiece in place.
  • It is not important to know how breathing actually occurs.  Wind is just the fuel; think more of the song.

Other Tools, to Maximize Capacity and Engrain Good Habits

  • Use breathing aids (see links below).
  • Inhale through a drinking straw.
  • Hold your forefinger in front of your lips in a “sh” pose, create an “O” shape in the lips, and inhale, creating a soft, hollow sound.
  • Play a long tone on an empty bottle.
  • Use a pinwheel, which can be taped to a music stand.
  • Dangle a sheet of paper and blow the bottom of it away from the face
  • Buzz through a mouthpiece and leadpipe or inner-slide tube (remove the outer slide) while aiming at a pinwheel.  Many people lose air-flow when they buzz, and the pinwheel will show this.  Keep it spinning.  You can also show air-flow by buzzing your leadpipe and making bubbles into tub of water or by attaching your mouthpiece to an incentive spirometer; make the air flow while buzzing as strong as without the buzz.
  • Use a breathing bag, made by affixing a plastic bag with a rubber band to a plastic tube (the tube should be a little narrower and longer than a toilet paper tube…found in the plumbing section of most hardware stores).  The bag is there to prevent hyperventilation, not to be filled with air.  The benefit from the breathing bag comes from the tube keeping the teeth apart, tongue down, throat open, and large volume of air passing through.

More About Breathing

A Brief Description of the Breathing Process from The Simon and Schuster Handbook of Anatomy and Physiology by Dr. James Bevan

The lungs occupy most of the thoracic cavity.  They are elastic structures and it is this elasticity that helps with the movements of breathing.  The main muscles for breathing are the diaphragm and the intercostal muscles, which run between the ribs.  The accessory muscles that can sometimes be used are the shoulder, neck, and abdominal muscles. They are used to help regain breath after running, by resting the arms on a table.  This rigidity of the arms allows the arm muscles to move the chest wall instead of the chest wall acting as the firm structure for arm movement to aid in breathing.  During normal breathing the diaphragm does most of the work.  It contracts, becoming flatter, and the rib cage expands.  This increases the volume of the thorax and air is drawn down the trachea into the lungs—known as inspiration.  Expiration takes place passively by the natural elasticity of the lung tissue and is effortless movement. More forceful active expiration can be produced by using the using the intercostal and abdominal muscles.  The intercostal muscles can help the diaphragm with inspiration.

Written 1/1/2005, revised 8/31/2006 and 12/27/2016