Riley recommended to me that I inhale through my nose so as not to change my position on the
mouthpiece. It sounds like good advice, but I find it hard to breath quickly enought through my
nose, so I still use my mouth. Those things that some athletes tape on their noses would help no
doubt, but then you'd have to wear one every time you play...
I've wondered myself whether lengthening the time you can hold your breath increases your lung
capacity; the common-sense response is that it only makes it easier to resist the impulse to
breathe that you feel when the CO2 level in your blood rises from not taking a breath, thus making
it easier to use all of your breath. There are other things that help: for one, fill your lungs as
much as possible by using the diaphragm and pulling air into the lower part of the lungs as well
as the lower back. Developing the muscles to do this takes time, especially for an adult as most
of us haven't breathed deeply since we were babies. Then learn how to control the air stream. Of
course a smaller embouchure will lengthen your tones, but be careful that your sound doesn't
become tight and small/thin as well. Kakizakai sensei tells me to control the breath behind the
lips, so that the embouchure can remain somewhat open without all the air escaping. Much easier
said than made clear, much less performed, but I find when your sound reaches a certain level you
get enough back-pressure from the flute that you can maintain this--it seems like a standing wave
of sound is created. Whether that's the case or not is something for Nelson Zink or others with
such knowledge to explain, but that's how it feels. As with anything improvement in this regard is
incremental, with occasional euphoria-inducing breakthroughs, often followed by relapses and much
time and effort spent recapturing what worked :-).
Peter H
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