Breathing Exercises for Wind Players

by Scott Rush
At the beginning of rehearsal, have the students do brief stretching and then do a few breathing exercises as part of your normal routine. Special attention should be given to doing exercises of inhalation, as well as, duration. Most students find that when they put the tube (1/2 inch PVC pipe or about the size of a small golf club cylinder) in their mouth and inhale, that it is the first time that they have actually breathed correctly. This means with an open throat, saying the syllable OH, MAWH, or HOW. Using the tube allows the student to feel the air hit the back of the throat and to feel the sensation of air rushing into the lungs. The entire process should be relaxed and void of tension. This is the perfect time to make sure that students are dropping the jaw when inhaling. In addition, students should not create resistance on the inhale. In theory, you should not be able to hear a perfect breath being taken, except for the fact that we take in so much air, that invariably, you can hear it! When taking a proper breath one must drop the jaw and inhale much like a yawn. The body should already know how to form the proper embouchure so dont complicate this process just breath and play! Initiate the process with the bag by having students inhale and exhale in two count increments at a rather slow tempo. They should not be preoccupied with filling the bag at first, only to stay relaxed. The quality of air that should be used is WARM air, much like one would use to fog a window or mirror with your breath. Take the time to have students blow warm air on the back of their hand to get a sense of what it is like to take a relaxed breath and blow warm air. Remember: tension is your worst enemy. The following are exercises that you can use with your students: ( = 108) Begin by filling the bag completely, then 1) In for Four, Out for Four (8 times minimum)

2) In Eight, Out Eight

Breathing Exercises for Wind Players

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3) In Eight, Out Eight, In Seven, Out Eight, In Six, Out Eight etc.

The following exercise begins with no air in the bag / the initial inhalation happens outside of the bag: 4) Duples and Triples (blow out series of straight eighth notes / then series of triplets)

Begin by filling the bag with air: 5) Four, Three, Two, One (In four, out four, in three, out three, etc.)

6) In for Four, Out for Eight, In for Four, out Twelve, Sixteen, Twenty-four, etc.

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As your students get better at controlling the air, slow the tempo down. You should notice immediate improvement on producing a steady air stream and solidity of sound. It should be also mentioned that the desired goal is NOT to put as much air into the instrument as you can. 1) Bigger instruments require more air to fill them up and not as much air pressure 2) Smaller instruments require more air pressure (speed) but not necessarily as much air; This would especially include upper brass and double-reeds. 3) On brass instruments, lower notes require less air pressure but more air, and higher notes require more air pressure and should not be overblown or forced. You can actually overload the instrument with air and produce a rather bad sound! Most young players, however, dont use enough air. The important word in good tone production should be the intensity of air right at the moment of attack. Whether the dynamics are soft or loud, the tone must be vibrant! Too much tongue is also detrimental to good tone production. Beginning with air attacks from time to time is a great exercise at the beginning of the warm-up. For Brass and Flute players, they should be encouraged to use warm air and the sensation should be like fogging a window in terms of air quality. The other point to mention is that after the inhale, various instruments require different oral cavity formations to produce a good tone. Where an articulated note on flute or a brass instrument should be indicated as TOH, the saxophones and clarinets may use the syllable LEE (and their throat should remain open). This will allow for proper oral cavity formation and tongue placement. Consult your local private teachers for their feelings on the subject. For brass and flute players, one of the concepts that will aid in the production of immediate tone is illustrated in the following manner:

+ OH = OH
T
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You want to get to the tone part right away and the sound needs to have intensity! This illustration de-emphasizes the attack and puts the emphasis on sound much like the sensation that you get when you push down a key on a synthesizer immediate sound. I once heard Dale
Breathing Exercises for Wind Players

Clevenger make this statement and it made such an impression, that I wrote it down and put it on my music stand when I practiced. This is what he said, The sound must be energetic! There should always be a lot of air going through the horn there should never be a dead sound. There must be a real core to the sound.5 What does this have to do with breathing exercises? Well, everything! Remember, the mental image should be that the bag is the instrument. If students are trained to breathe properly, it is the foundation for good tone production. For middle school folks, this concept along with the development of proper embouchures and good mouthpieces will go a long way in having the band sound that you are looking for!

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Dale Clevenger, Tone Production, masterclass at New College Music Festival (Sarasota, Florida: 1986)