I wanted to write this blog because I have recently noticed a lack of knowledge in students and felt the need to address breathing. Not one of the students knew how to breathe let alone why it is important.
When asked to teach me about about breathing as if I was the student, the responses were, “ you sniff”. “ open your mouth and get some air” . Some had been learning for 5 years. It was so sad for me to see and hear because obviously their playing reflected this as well. There was no attempt or knowledge to even think about breathing and taking a breath. Their train of thought started when they started to play. It should have started well before that. It could have been so different for each of them had they been taught the body and breathing.
This article takes a holistic approach to breathing as it is my main focus and passion with tone, expression and playing. The flute is a musical voice and capable of much diversity in tone and colour.
The first port of call is for the player to realise to get the best tone, they have to have the right mindset and that it is a whole of body approach. Tone quality will be at stake at that point. Although the act of breathing is a reasonably simple step and action, it is the awareness and focus on it that matters.
Singers use their body and breathing to the maximum and so should we. The decision to place one’s mind and body as if they were a singer puts the player in a great position to produce a truly beautiful and unique tone. This is the first step, then of course it is all about how we control the airstream, but that is useless unless the first step has been mastered.
Knowledge of our body, lungs, ribcage expansion, relaxed shoulders, chest resonance, and diaphragm are the very basics of playing and should be taught straight away to a student. One can’t drive a car on an empty fuel tank and the flute is no different. The real powerhouse of air is the lungs.
Ribcage sideways expansion to the maximum should be the goal from the beginning of a student’s lessons and getting them to build on capacity. If the player places their hands on the ribcage when breathing, they can feel for themselves the expansion and work on developing and increasing it. The bigger the expansion then the lungs have more space to fill with air. Working in front of a mirror is useful to make sure shoulders don’t rise.
Relaxed expansive breathing is the key to all. The player will hear and feel the difference in their tone and playing if they have thought and taken a good breath before commencing a note.
When the body is in the right position it can deliver the player the necessary air and support to produce a divine tone and phrasing. This makes the difference in the player between blowing the flute or treating it like a musical voice. They have very different outcomes tone wise. If the body is poised to produce a tone like a singer, then the sound will be very different from the player that blows the instrument.
One can hear the clear difference by listening to different flute recordings. An example is “Somewhere over the Rainbow” demonstrates my thoughts on the philosophy of breathing.
How we come in and out of breath can make all the difference to expression and tone production. Breathing is part of our expression and storytelling.
In conclusion the four things to think about are:
- The right mindset.
- Relaxed expansive breathing.
- Having the body in the right position.
- Listen carefully, there is a big difference when the body and breathing is mastered correctly.
Use these videos to teach or learn how to breathe.
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