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Re: Oboe and Health issues

Author: huboboe
Date: 2011-04-22 00:37

There are many good comments in this thread. I think the most important is the need to expel stale air before you breath in. This prevents topping off a lungfull of stale air with a bit of fresh: you still have a lungfull of stale air...

Ron has a very good point: you don't need to use a lot of air to play. But there is a difference between breathing before starting or after ending a phrase and breathing in the middle of one.

I teach my students to take a deep breath when time permits and to exhale most of it before playing. Then in the middle of the phrase, when a quick breath is necessary you will have a minimum of stale air and lots of room for fresh air.

Most of all, use the longer periods of rest to breath normally and refresh your oxygen. The more highly controlled breathing you do while playing will not deplete your oxygen supply as long as you do breath deeply when you get the chance.

Taking several deep breaths and then playing loudly (or blowing hard) is an invitation to graying or blacking out. Just breath normally before you play, and remember to exhale before playing. A little experimentation will let you see how much to save; take a full breath, exhale half of it and see how long you can hold a note.

At risk of going overly long here, note that the urge to breathe is triggered by your lungs sensing the buildup of CO2. As long as you keep more fresh air than stale in your lungs you won't get that panicky GottaBreathe! feeling.

Robert Hubbard
WestwindDoubleReed.com
1-888-579-6020
bob@westwinddoublereed.com

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Theyoungoboist

2011-04-19 04:04