Klarinet Archive - Posting 000112.txt from 2000/12

From: fpg <fpg@-----.us>
Subj: Re: [kl] Breathing, the Diaphragm and all that......
Date: Sat, 2 Dec 2000 12:01:25 -0500

Michael O'Neile wrote, "... in those days during coaching and training sessions,

the message was relentlessly drummed into me - breathe with the chest -
in-and-out - don't lift the shoulders - don't swell your stomach, keep it
flat...."

Years ago, when all young men spent time in the military, we were
continually harangued with, "Stomach IN! Chest OUT!" One was supposed to run,
jump, crawl, stand, and I suppose even sleep, looking like a big-chested
flat-bellied mannequin. In effect we learned that normal diaphragm breathing
was wrong. When I started clarinet lessons over two years ago, it meant
learning a new and completely foreign way of breathing. A teacher gave me a
corrective exercise which helped a great deal. She had me lay supine on the
floor with a large book on my abdomen, and use my breathing to raise and lower
the book. This, and a conscious effort NOT to raise my shoulders when taking a
breath, helped very much. (Any time I found myself raising my shoulders to take
a breath, I would start the whole phrase, or even the whole piece, all over).
HTH Frank Galiani

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