Klarinet Archive - Posting 000449.txt from 1997/02

From: Frauke Nonnenmacher <fat.cat@-----.uk>
Subj: Re: breathing in etudes
Date: Thu, 13 Feb 1997 16:57:22 -0500

On Wed 12 Feb 97 (16:47:50), bill.fogle@-----.com wrote:
> Frauke, thanks for your comments. I'll have them with me the next time
> I play. I'm conscious of my breathing during playing and I make efforts
> to breathe. I just forget (the excitement of the music, getting "on a
> roll") and then end up flat on my butt (musically) with nothing left to
> give. It ruins the "thought" or the momentum I get in passages of
> music. Of course it's gotten better over the years but lags behind, way
> behind, my other technical equipment. I can play the piano for hours,
> and after warming up I get to a great place of giving and receiving (I
> suppose I should just say 'interacting') with the music. With clarinet
> this is so difficult. All because of my flawed breathing. I'll keep
> working! ---Bill F.

If you're "getting into the roll" - is that by any chance a sensation like
this:
At the end of the piece you seem to 'come out of it', like surfacing from under
water? You feel as if you didn't percieve anything except the music while you
were playing and can't remember how long you've been at it, as if time stood
still?

This is an awkward description, I know, but maybe you'll recognise it. If you
do then I can tell you what happens: The right hand side of your brain took
over (which is good). With me it means that I completely forget to breathe.
The only way to avoid this is to get the breathing technique into your "muscle
memory" (like your fingerings) so you don't need to think about it, because in
this state it's nearly impossible to think consciously.

There's a very good book in which this phenomenon is described: 'Drawing on the
Right Side of the Brain' by Betty Edwards. If it's in your library, get it out
- it's fascinating! Even if you aren't graphically inclined.

Bye for now

Frauke
--
--
Frauke (fat.cat@-----.uk)
WWW: http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/fat.cat/

   
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