Reasons to Breathe

Reasons to Breathe
Principles of Breathing for Musicians

There are two reasons to take a breath:

1. You need oxygen (REFLEX)
2. You want to “say” something (IMPULSE)

REFLEX:
For maximum breathing efficiency, and volume where necessary, you need to create a situation where both reflex and impulse function to spark the in breath to happen.

A lot of this has to do with how we breath OUT!

Usually as we blow breath out (play or sing long phrases), we tend to collapse or tense as air decreases. This means that at the end of a phrase, we have less space to create that lovely vacuum inside where air can flow into.
So the first rule of breath is:

LENGTHEN AND WIDEN your frame as you exhale in music making.

You can try out how to do this in the warm-up “Space to Breathe” stretch.
It is not a fake “standing up straighter” thing, but an organic stretch, using the springiness of the postural structures, the arm muscles that make up chest and back, and the springy energy of the diaphragm, which is sparked by a smile behind the eyes.

As in the “Space to Breathe” stretch, when you are at your maximum length and width, and you are empty of air, the air pressure in the outside world, reacting to the vacuum in the expanded space inside you makes the breath take itself, silently and effectively.

And, if you have used up most or all of your air, then your brain will also say “Oxygen please!” and your reflex breath is assured.

IMPULSE:
The other reason to breathe is that you want to say something: the musical phrase. When we talk, we do not first take a blank breath, and then think what we want to say. No! We think what we want to say and presto!: We have the breath to say it.

Musicians often breathe deeply, and only then think of the message in the music.
The order is:

MUSIC MESSAGE itself creates:
Musical impulse → neurological impulse → breath comes in → sound!

Without the musical impulse, your reaction to the musical message, it is like you are clicking the switch on a lamp without plugging it in!
Music is energy! Music is movement! Music is breath!

There are many ways to work on this, many of them in the flashcard section of the website. Mental study, Alternating silence with sound, and the more specific motor-skills mental studies or navigation exercises like Cleaning the house or Frames of Attention can help us to move and breath more authentically and in tune to the music.
Accessing the power of the musical impulse makes breath powerful and also subtle.

Many of the instructions musicians receive from their main subject teachers, masters in their musical profession, point to this powerful secret. Listen to what they say with new ears. Plug in all the good tips from these experts to the musical impulse!