The Clarinet BBoard

RE: Mouth Breather's

Author: SWTClarinet  Date:   2002-02-28 15:28 Hi! First this is just my take on this subject from how I was taught: I learned that it was easier in the long run to breath through your mouth when playing because there is a better chance to take in more air than through your nose. This is for two reasons from what I remember from sixth grade: 1. When breathing through your mouth, it's easier to breath with your stomach/diaphragm to achieve a maximum amount of air capacity. This helps when playing long sustained passages, or even those short fast spots where notes need enough air support. To test this, try lying down on your back, and breath through your nose and then through your mouth, each time playing an open G or whatever other note you'd like to choose and see how long you last. Remember to breath with your stomach (like making yourself fat) and compare tone. I've found that I get a warmer sound by breathing through my mouth. 2. Tone... I've learned that breathing through your mouth helps you open up your throat and helps create a "darker" sound, IMO. Breathing through your nose tends to be thin and tight, and requires more work to push warm air through the horn. I don't know, I've developed my playing by breathing through my nose religiously as some my say and I've often been complimented on my sound. I teach lessons now and one of my students had started breathing with her nose, but when I had her try breathing through her mouth, focusing all her air into her stomach and relaxing her throat, she played with a warmer sound, even on the cracked reed that beginners love to use Just my two-hundreths of a dollar's worth... Jose

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RE: Mouth Breather's

Author: SWTClarinet  Date:   2002-02-28 21:19 If you mean will you get enough air to play without breathing through your nose, more than likely so, as long as you breath with your diaphragm as opposed to your shoulders (I like to think of this as an out as opposed to up sort of procedure. The diaphragm rounds out, rather than the shoulders shrugging up.) Unless you can breath both through your mouth and nose, which would be an amazing and humorous sight!, you should be able to produce enought support for playing without using nasal air. Perhaps I don't understand still haha, it'd be nice to hear what others thing. Jose

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