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Re: circular breathing

Author: NBeaty
Date: 2010-10-10 15:26

It's not a bad thing to learn and is certainly not very difficult to learn. When to use it is another story...

I use it in:

-Band. If I missed a breath and can't make it to the next one. (or if I got bored)

-Orchestra- Things like the Revueltas piece where the bass clarinet plays low Eb to low E in 16th notes for the first 5 minutes of the piece with no breaks and no place where you "wouldn't be missed" if you took a breath.

-Technique- Sometimes in practicing technical exercises at slower speeds I circular breath to keep from stopping the fingers. I don't do that frequently, but sometimes I find it beneficial so my brain and fingers keep going as they would going at a faster tempo.

Solo rep- Sometimes in performance or lesson there are long passages that went OK in the practice room or rehearsal, but all of the sudden in the heat of battle you find yourself out of breath well before you intended to be. A circular breath here and there can save you from crashing and burning.

To learn:

I never did any of the straw in a cup tactics. All I did was to think about it, conceptually, for a while before even trying it. Contemplating what has to go on and when and practicing letting my cheeks puff out. All can be done by forming a small opening\embouchure and literally blowing air out of your mouth, making the opening small enough to have a working resistance.

Then, as others have stated, working on it for a few minutes each day. A year to master it is ridiculous to me. It may indeed be better after a year, but to be able to do it well enough for performance shouldn't take very long and can be done in a matter of days.

The first time I used this technique was in a solo performance of Nielsen's Clarinet Concerto when I ran out of breath before the low E was done on the first page. It saved me from just dying away on a note that was long and Forte.

Good luck!

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circular breathing

smokey4016

2010-10-10 13:05