Breathing

Sara · Post by **Sara** » Sat Aug 11, 2001 10:29 am

Hi everybody,

When I'm playing the pennywhistle, I always run out of breath before there's a break in the song, so I have to stop often. Do any of you have any suggestions on breath control? Thanks,
Cheerio,
~*§ara*~

Post by **rich** » Sat Aug 11, 2001 10:44 am

Breathe sooner!

See, I'm a veritable fountain of advice.

On the other hand, StevieJ is a veritable fountain of <i>good</i> advice; check out the <a href="http://www.rogermillington.com/siamsa/brosteve/">"Where do I breathe?"</a> section of his <a href="http://www.rogermillington.com/siamsa/b ... tinwhistle tutorial</a>. The short version is that you don't <i>want</i> to breathe at the end of phrases like you would in classical music.
<ul>-Rich</ul>

ErikT · Post by **ErikT** » Sat Aug 11, 2001 11:28 am

Another tip: Don't stop. Even if you loose the notes, keep going. Just come back in when you have your breath.

Erik

TonyHiggins · Post by **TonyHiggins** » Sat Aug 11, 2001 11:50 am

My usual advice is to listen to a lot of recordings of flute and whistle players and note where they drop notes to catch a breath. You notice it's not in the same place the next time through a repeat. Also recognize which note in a group of 3 or 4 is dropped for a breath. (You can't play all of them, breathe, and play all the next ones.) Listen to different recordings of the same tune by different players. You'll see there are a lot of options possible. Experiment. Learn what the rules are and bend them. There's a fine line between brilliant and ridiculous, sometimes.
Tony

AnnaDMartinez · Post by **AnnaDMartinez** » Sat Aug 11, 2001 12:43 pm

Ron Clarke, who sent me my first whistle, said to just let the breathing be part of the onamentation, and it worked for me, don't really care if it's obvious, kinda like where Erik T breathes on "The Boys of Blue Hill" He also described just suckingit ion when you're desperate, but what the hay! I sometimes prefer turning blue on expressive airs! LOL!

Cinead · Post by **Cinead** » Sat Aug 11, 2001 3:16 pm

When you breath, breath deep. Let your lungs expand into your stomach area, not just your within your rib cage. That's basic opera training technique, but applies to whistling as well.

Demo 1: (shallow rib cage breath)
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Demo 2: (deep belly breath)
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
(to be continued)

Cinead · Post by **Cinead** » Sat Aug 11, 2001 3:17 pm

"...hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...
(to be continued)

Cinead · Post by **Cinead** » Sat Aug 11, 2001 3:18 pm

"hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."

Passing out now.

Penny_whistle · Post by **Penny_whistle** » Sun Aug 12, 2001 8:09 pm

Skin divers know that you can hyperventilate a little before you take a deep breath to be able to hold your breath longer under water. Take 3 short quick breathes before you start and you can last much longer before needing another breath. HOWEVER, if you do this too much you will be unconscious and have to try to explain it wasn't the Guiness. Good luck whistling under water!!!!

Sara · Post by **Sara** » Sat Aug 18, 2001 7:31 pm

Hi all!
I just wanted to say thanks for all of the suggestions. I have been working on my breathing, especially taking three short breaths before I take a deep one. And it's helped me tremendously. Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks.

Cheerio,
~*§ara*~