Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2019-07-31 01:37
eac wrote:
> Don’t overthink this ...
>
I think this part of eac's comment may be more helpful than the rest. The thing is, filling your lungs isn't a function of strength or athletic prowess. It depends more on relaxing your abdominal muscles and allowing your lungs to expand fully as your diaphragm involuntarily drops to allow air in. Exerting your abdominals on inhalation is more likely than anything else to constrict the lungs. Once the lungs fill, the mechanics of exhaling in a controlled way depend on controlled engagement of the abdominals (I'm deliberately avoiding the word "tension") so that a steady stream of air reaches the reed with enough forward motion to move the reed. None of that takes strength in an athletic sense. It takes careful attention to what you're doing. Alexander may be useful in that it includes a lot of relaxation and, as I understand it, direct, efficient movement (I've never studied it).
I know I'll take heat from some of the other Bboard members for this, but I really think the concept of "pushing" air from your diaphragm (which can't push air anywhere) or any other muscle is overblown (pun half-intended). To the extent that "pushing" becomes misunderstood by an inexperienced player to be almost synonymous with "forcing" it becomes at best counterproductive and at worst destructive to controlled playing. You need to provide the amount of air flow under the amount of pressure necessary to produce a controlled, even sound. So, conceptually, I think the most important thing you can try to do is not to force the air or strengthen any muscles but instead to let the air into your lungs so they fully expand and then *let* the air flow into the mouthpiece to produce the sound. And don't overthink - breathing is something you do naturally.
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