Breathing : Something Useful
Posted: Mon Apr 19, 2021 10:56 am
We recently had a longish discussion on the topic of breathing for flute playing. Today while researching a tangentially related subject, I ran across a couple of short videos that I think may be helpful for those new to flute/whistle playing who are having difficulty managing airflow. The information and exercises in the videos may well have some benefit for those who have been playing for a while too.
Just a couple of things I’d like to mention:
1. The teacher in the video is a classically trained singer and a long time vocal instructor at one of the most well known and respected music colleges in the U.S., not some randomly chosen YouTube “vocal coach” of dubious background and experience.
2. Please note that in the first video there is no discussion about, or coaching to distend the belly in an effort to get a deep breath. I’ve discussed in previous posts why that’s not necessary and is, in fact, a bad idea and poor form. You can clearly observe that when she inhales she is NOT pushing her belly out.
3. Also note that there is no FOCUS on using the accessory muscles (intercostals etc) during the inhalation phase as a way to get a deeper breath. Yes, of course allow your rib cage to expand as you focus on breathing DOWN with the diaphragm, however you will notice the emphasis on the intercostals comes into play on the exhale, at which point you are focusing on using the intercostals to prevent the rib cage from quickly dropping/contracting, which would force air out of your lungs more quickly.
4. With flute we tend to talk and think about our embouchure size, and perhaps the size of the flute bore and tone holes as being the factors that cause us to run out of breath quicker than we like, at least this is true for those new to the instrument. I think the second video presented here makes it quite clear that running out air quickly has little (practical)to do with any of those things: count how long she sings and talks on that long breath keeping in mind she isn’t singing and talking through some tiny little dime edge size flute embouchure, but rather and open mouth.
Here are the videos, hope they are helpful to some.
Part 1:
https://youtu.be/6afe69QwA9E
Part 2:
https://youtu.be/eypESWrWPI4
Just a couple of things I’d like to mention:
1. The teacher in the video is a classically trained singer and a long time vocal instructor at one of the most well known and respected music colleges in the U.S., not some randomly chosen YouTube “vocal coach” of dubious background and experience.
2. Please note that in the first video there is no discussion about, or coaching to distend the belly in an effort to get a deep breath. I’ve discussed in previous posts why that’s not necessary and is, in fact, a bad idea and poor form. You can clearly observe that when she inhales she is NOT pushing her belly out.
3. Also note that there is no FOCUS on using the accessory muscles (intercostals etc) during the inhalation phase as a way to get a deeper breath. Yes, of course allow your rib cage to expand as you focus on breathing DOWN with the diaphragm, however you will notice the emphasis on the intercostals comes into play on the exhale, at which point you are focusing on using the intercostals to prevent the rib cage from quickly dropping/contracting, which would force air out of your lungs more quickly.
4. With flute we tend to talk and think about our embouchure size, and perhaps the size of the flute bore and tone holes as being the factors that cause us to run out of breath quicker than we like, at least this is true for those new to the instrument. I think the second video presented here makes it quite clear that running out air quickly has little (practical)to do with any of those things: count how long she sings and talks on that long breath keeping in mind she isn’t singing and talking through some tiny little dime edge size flute embouchure, but rather and open mouth.
Here are the videos, hope they are helpful to some.
Part 1:
https://youtu.be/6afe69QwA9E
Part 2:
https://youtu.be/eypESWrWPI4