Here are four exercises to help you become aware of your breath support.

1. Observe
You will make quick progress if you pay attention to breath support, but the real art is first of all to observe and learn how your body behaves when you are breathing. Note where you feel your breath in your body as you:

– smell something nice
– sniff
– yawn
– cough
– laugh
– when you sit on a stool and lean forward until your stomach touches your knees (feel your back move!)
– when you breathe in and out slowly

2. Observe with your hands

Lay one hand on your stomach and the other on your chest and breathe in and out for about six seconds. Do you feel how when you breathe in your stomach extends forwards first, and then your chest?
When you breathe out your chest falls first. This is followed by the stomach going inwards. Maybe you don’t feel this. Note, however, where you feel movement.

3. Make space

In this exercise you want to become aware of how to make space in your back, sides, stomach and chest:
Take a scarf and tie it around your waist. Tie it on tightly (though don’t use a knot, so that your arms are free to move).

– Can you push this scarf outwards when you inhale, and cause your hands to come closer together? Can you inhale in this way without using your chest cavity? And can you also inhale when using it?
– See whether you can make the movement greater, and thus use more of the scarf.
– Focus your attention on your back. While inhaling try to feel your back move outwards.
– Focus your attention on your sides. While inhaling try to make your sides go outwards.
– Tie the scarf around your chest. While inhaling can you make your chest cavity expand, and thus push the scarf outwards?

4. Active exhaling and relaxed inhaling

We are not always active when we exhale nor do we always let the inhalation come of itself. However, this is what you have to do when you play a wind instrument (but also when you speak and when you are doing heavy lifting!). You can feel this well with the help of the following exercises:

– Exhale completely using a strong “fffff” and also use your stomach muscles. You may use your hands to stimulate the inward movement of your stomach.

– When you can no longer exhale, let your muscles loose and you will feel that you inhale of yourself with the use of your waist. Your stomach will extend forward again.
Practice this until it is effortless and you inhale quickly.

– Be careful that you are standing completely straight, as if you have a string tied to the crown of your head pulling you up. Be sure you are standing correctly when exhaling, as well as inhaling.

– Also practice this quickly with short powerful exhalations. If you become dizzy, this means that you are inhaling too high and your need to relax more when you inhale.

Het bericht Does breath support takes care of itself? 4 exercises verscheen eerst op Floor Wittink.

Door de neus ademen is beter dan door je mond; dat is inmiddels bekend. Maar wanneer je zingt of een blaasinstrument bespeelt ligt dat wat genuanceerder:

Lengte
De lengte van de uitademing is vaak lang als je speelt of zingt. De tijd om in te ademen is daarentegen meestal kort. De uitdaging is dus om snel en diep in te ademen zodat je de volgende zin kunt uitspelen.

Ademsteun
Met ademsteun is het mogelijk om lang uit te ademen en controle te hebben over je klank, bijvoorbeeld om fluisterzacht te spelen en toch de achterste rij van het publiek te bereiken. Maar dat is een technische uitleg; je kunt ook zeggen dat de adem de klank vormt en dat je samenwerkt om de muziek tot expressie te brengen.

(Ont)spanning

Als je ademsteun gebruikt ontstaat er langzamerhand een onderdruk in de longen bij de lange uitademing. Inademen is dan slechts een kwestie van loslaten en de lucht naar binnen laten stromen.
De uitademing is dus actief en en de inademing passief.
Er is dan een moment van ontspanning bij de inademing. Maar eigenlijk is ontspanning niet de juiste term, want je behoudt wel je energie en vitale houding. Vaak wordt er echter teveel aangespannen en dus geblokkeerd. Je zoekt dus de juiste balans om het middenrif en je lichaam goed te kunnen laten bewegen.

Ruimte

Sleutelwoord is ruimte; om het middenrif optimaal laten bewegen en om de klank te laten resoneren. Probeer maar eens te spelen terwijl je de spieren in je gezicht expres aanspant en merk hoe dat invloed heeft op je klank. Uiteindelijk is wat je doet met je mondholte heel belangrijk voor de ruimte en resonans. Dus wat doe je met je tong, verhemelte en waar adem je als het ware naartoe.

Neus én mond

Maar het verhaal wordt nog iets uitgebreider: wanneer je met ruimte en ontspanning inademt door je mond adem je tegelijkertijd ook door je neus. Misschien is je dat nog niet opgevallen; probeer het maar eens uit en/of voel het verschil met alleen door je mond inademen.

Tijd

Ademen door de neus duurt wat langer dan door de mond. In het dagelijks leven is dat heel goed want dat is gezonder. Maar als je snel en diep moet inademen is dat niet handig; daarom ademen we dan door de mond (en tegelijkertijd door de neus).
Ik heb specialisten horen zeggen dat ademen door de mond zorgt voor een oppervlakkige ademhaling. Ik denk dat dat alleen het geval is bij een snelle ademhaling; dus bij veel ademhalingen per minuut.

Conclusie

Voor musici is het nodig om door de mond (én tegelijkertijd door de neus) te ademen als er weinig tijd is om in te ademen. Ademsteun gebruiken betekent dat de uitademing actief is en de inademing passief. Maar passief wil in dit geval zeggen dat er een optimale balans is van energie die de adem vrij kan laten stromen.

Bekijk deze video van Maria Callas en let erop hoe ze de adem naar binnen laat stromen en hoe een snelle inademing verschilt van een langzame.

Nose or mouth when playing?

When speaking about breathing and health, it’s very clear that breathing through the nose is preferable, but when singing or playing an wind instrument the story is more complicated;

Length
The length of the exhale is usually long when playing. The time to inhale on the other hand is often very short. So the challenge for musicians is to quickly inhale enough air for the next sentence.

Breath support
Breath support is the key to a long exhalation without losing control over your sound and for instance play very soft and still be heard. But this is a technical explanation; you could also say that the breath forms the sound. I see it as a collaboration between musician, breath and music.

Passive
When using breath support, negative pressure is created in the lungs. Inhaling is just a matter of letting go and let the lungs automatically fill with air. So the exhalation is active and the inhalation is passive. Passive seems to correspond with relaxation but of course you have to remain energy in order to play. It’s about the right balance that makes it possible for the breath to move freely and to optimize the fine motor skills.

Space
The key word is space: we need space for the diaphragm to lower and widen and for the sound to resonate. Try to tense up your facial muscles and notice how this influences your sound.
The position of the tongue and soft palate and the direction of the breath (your focus) are of great influence on your breath and resonance.

Nose ánd mouth
But the story is more complex: when you inhale with space and relaxation you breathe in through the mouth ánd the nose.  Maybe you didn’t notice this before: try it out and feel the difference with inhaling only through the mouth.

Time
Breathing through the nose takes more time. In daily life this is very good, because breathing slow is healthy. But when trying to inhale quickly and deep it’s easier through the mouth (and nose at the same time). But also here you could argue that if you inhale and create space it’s both possible.

I heard breath specialists say that breathing through the mouth causes shallow ‘high’ breathing, but I think this is only the case when breathing in a fast pace.

Conclusion
For musicians it’s often better to breath through the mouth (and nose at the same time) when there is little time to inhale. Using breath support means that the exhalation is active and the inhalation is passive. But passive means in this case that there’s balanced energy to let the breath flow.

Have a look at this video with Maria Calles and observe how she inhales; see how she let’s the air flow in and also pay attention to the difference between quick and slow inhalation.

Het bericht Neus of mond?/Nose or mouth when playing? verscheen eerst op Floor Wittink.

Our thoughts are connected to our emotions, and the breath mirrors how we feel. Every emotion affects our breathing. Discover this for yourself: when you see something exciting, your breathing immediately goes up. You catch your breath or you inhale quickly. Then think of a beautiful moment in your life for which you are grateful, and your breathing immediately drops and slows. There is room to breathe. Breathing is actually a processing of what you’re feeling.

But sometimes the processing doesn’t go well, for example because you’re holding your breath in. Or because the stress response no longer stops and on a long-term basis you’re breathing too much. The breath is then the simplest way to let the entire system rest.

In summary: our thoughts and emotions affect our breath, but the same also applies the other way round.

When playing a wind instrument or singing, the breath is the bridge to sound. We as musicians work with the breath to have control over our sound through breath support. But technique alone is not the way to musical magic. Just like learning a new musical piece; technique and practice is required but just as important is the next step of surrender in order to pave the way for the music itself to shine through. When you can’t let go it results in tension and your breath will mirror that.

So in order to develop or improve breathing technique it is necessary to be aware of your whole body and emotions and to be open to what your breathing is telling you. In that way the breath is showing you where you are. It becomes a constant process of becoming aware, letting go of tension, acknowledging how you feel, focusing on the music and work together with the breath to create the music.

In my online course Effortless breathing for musicians (available on my website and on Udemy) I give exercises that will help you to become aware and discover the power of breathing, combined with knowledge about the physical aspects of breathing, breath support and the influence of breathing on our health.

More information

Het bericht Mindset, music and breath verscheen eerst op Floor Wittink.