 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Dave
Date: 2002-12-02 09:33
I've spent the last couple of weeks getting back up to speed on the clarinet after a twelve year lay-off. It's mostly going well, I'm building up stamina again and I'm starting to address deficiencies in my technique that were a problem when I originally played.
One problem I have is prooving to be a relatively major handicap. I have a tendency to automatically take fairly deep breaths and "top-up" between phrases. I'm finding that my lungs are still relatively full and pretty soon, things start to get unpleasant as I start to run out of oxygen and carbon dioxide builds up in my lungs. This doesn't really help my playing a great deal.
What is the answer to solving this? Does it lie in taking less air in at the start of the piece and controlling the amount I take in between phrases? Or should I maintain the deep breaths and find a way of expelling the remainder of the air in my lungs?
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Author: jez
Date: 2002-12-02 12:29
It's important to remember to breathe out as well as in. There's no point in constantly 'topping up' as you're not taking in enough fresh oxygen to keep going physically, though you may have plenty air to keep going musically.
jez
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Author: Jerry McD.
Date: 2002-12-02 13:46
Dave,
What you are doing is sometimes known as 'stacking.' Taking in air without completely exhaling (by either sending it through your clarinet or physically exhaling before you inhale again) can possibly make you hyper-ventilate (sp?) or in a worse case scenario pass out. Either way you need to stop doing it. The first thing is to recognize the problem. Second, practice expelling all your air before inhaling. This is a conscious act, most people have to think about their breathing....how to do it and when. One thing you could try is take a piece of music you know well, perhaps a slow Rose etude, and really concentrate on your breathing. Mark in breathmarks on the page (the longer the phrases the better) and force yourself to not 'top-up' between them. At the breath marks -stop- expell your air and inhale- then continue. Practice this way and work towards breathing properly in tempo. Playing long tones is an excellent way to work on long phrasing and figure out how much air you really have. Most people can play longer phrases than they think they can. Just a couple of suggestions from someone who's been-there.
Good luck!
Jerry McD.
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Author: John
Date: 2002-12-02 13:51
"Breathing out" is one of the skills that playing oboe taught me. Having too much air for too long a time is uncomfortable and effects your concentration, so a short reverse breath from time to time helps. For me this doesn't apply on clarinet so much, but it is still a useful part of the air technique. Also, I wonder if you are using enough air? It takes a fair amount for a full sound.
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Author: d dow
Date: 2002-12-02 14:55
One fine point may be to make sure your aren't raing your shoulders when your breathing.
Tension can tend to make one feel as if they aren't playing with enough air when it really is they aren't supporting the note properly from the diaphram. This leads to the feeling you can't get rid of the air you have without hyper-ventilating.
Another danger is to take too quick of a breathe. Remove or end phrases before the breathe with a slight taper in the tone (through support.)
Try not to cut the ends of phrases off with a sharp brusque sound.
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Author: graham
Date: 2002-12-02 16:00
At a masterclass with Colin Bradbury he commented that people usually think about breathing in in order to breathe out. Bradbury said it was better to think of breathing out in order to breathe in. With that change of point of view it is sometimes easier to breathe when you need to, that is when your lungs are empty.
But if that sounds too "psycho", my guess is that you would do better to breathe out (around the sides of the mouthpiece) when the CO2 gets too much, rather than planning to take in smaller breaths to start with. That way you don't run out of both oxygen and the right amount of air at the same time.
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Author: Sandra F. H.
Date: 2002-12-02 23:10
**Try lying on the floor, resting your hands on your stomach and breathing completely out and then in by concentrating on your hand movement up and down. Do this slowly and rhythmically until you master breathing out easily. It should be one flow. Did you ever notice how rhythmically young children breathe? We adults tend to hold the breath...
**Here is a beneficial exercise: While standing, hands on hips, take a deep breath, then exhale completely while moving the hands slowly to your sides. Then without taking another breath slowly bend down and touch the floor (or attempt to) then exhale even more. Then raise slowly yourself upright while inhaling slowly and replacing your hands on your hips.
I found by doing these exercises that my breathing while playing improved. Good luck!
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Author: Brenda
Date: 2002-12-03 01:45
Use a stronger reed, 1/2 strenth stronger. It will force you to use the air you take in. This was drilled into us by our teacher who's a 25 year veteran of the Philharmonic, and who plays many other shows on the side and teaches. Use a stronger reed!
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Author: Willie
Date: 2002-12-03 05:37
Good advice above as I got away from breathing properly on my soprano after playing my contra so much. With contra, I expell a lot of air so its not much of a problem for me. When I got back to playing my soprano, I started having dizzy spells as I wasn't expelling enough air before taking a breath. During one rehearsal I had to stop playing for a bit. The conductor (knowing I had a bad heart and lung problems) asked if I was alright. I replied, "You don't know how important breathing is 'til you forget to do it" We had to take a short break till veryone regained their composure.
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Author: Dave
Date: 2002-12-03 10:05
Thanks for all the suggestions.
I'm definately hyper-ventilating. I think I'm putting enough air through the clarinet as I've always been complimented on my tone.
I'm currently using a Vandoren 2 1/2 strength reed, although I haven't been rotating, so it's probably less. I'll get some size 3 reeds and try that. I'll keep you posted.
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