Klarinet Archive - Posting 000143.txt from 2000/12

From: "Charles Schneider" <chnani@-----.fr>
Subj: Re: [kl] Breathing, the Diaphragm and all that......
Date: Sun, 3 Dec 2000 09:18:03 -0500

<He told me that Joe
> Allard (NY clarinet and saxophone teacher) had an idea that letting the
> tongue relax (as if saying the word "Heather") and breathe in a little
more
> laterally, as if the air is going in the sides of the mouth more than the
> middle. For me, if I think of the space of the air as about Hershey bar
> shaped (2 inches wide, 1/4 inch high) I get the best effect.
>

Hello at all in the list,
i had wrote some letters with some questions inside maybe
they were not interesting because i haven't answers.
Maybe i had give a wrong image of me with my poor
english. But i am writing you again :-)
Anyway, i learn a lot with you and i thank you.

I remember Mr Allard asking me :
- Show me how you breathe.
I have taking the maximum of air that i can and stay full of air
in front of him, waiting for his advise. He said to me :
- Can you imagine that a singer can sing if he had take
so much air inside him than you! Don't trust people who give
breathing lessons. Generaly they don't breathe correctly.
- Breathe naturaly what you need for playing what you want.

I'm shure that an opera singer takes lot of more air than me
and that we can trust some teachers of breathing,
but "Breathe what you need for playing what you want."
is for me a good advise IF we have found a good way to
naturaly breathe.

Do you really think it's a good habit to always take a
full (maximum) of breathe ? For me the result is
often unmusical and really not a natural way
to breathe, to live the music, to express something.

To breathe in a little more laterally works great, but
i think that it's not a good habit to breathe always
in the same way. For me and it's the main idea (and question)
of what i submit to you in this this mail :
- every musical sentance need a differant kind of breathing,
like every movements we make. For instance, we sometimes
breathe with nose deeply or not, etc.
What do you think about that?

The most important thing for me is to found a natural way
(or rythm) to achieve the whole mouvement of "breath and play".
For instance, to stay full air and observe myself even
a 'micro-second' (stopping the musical/body mouvement)
is really bad habit. There is a good book
"Le zen dans l'art chevaleresque du tir à l'arc".
de E.Herrigel ISBN 2-85076-083-8 ?
It talk about 'your mind have to be in tune with your inconscient',
'to leave your ego', to go far away from the technics of an art
(in this book the art of the "Japonese archevory").
We all know that no body technics work at all without this state
of mind, specialy the breathing process and the high register in
wind's instruments, etc.
I know you certainly agree, but i reapeat me again:
There is a big secret in this very short while between
"breathe and play" and it must stay a secret.
I remember Glenn Gould saying : -i can teach all we need
for playing piano in two hours, i will certainly not doing that.
I think he know all about those secrets but try to forget them
at every minutes.

Thinking the process of breathing/playing a sound
like 'one mouvement'.
Some trumpets teachers gives this advice: breathe
your musical sentance.

Sincerly yours.

Charles Schneider
chnani@-----.fr
http://perso.club-internet.fr/chnani

Page Souffleurs: (EJMAWoodwind's page)
http://perso.club-internet.fr/chnani/ejma.html

"Une anche n'est jamais si bonne ou si mauvaise que l'on croit."
Panda Chnarles.

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