Breathing for Us Dummies

Brass playing, what a profession! We spend six years of college or more learning how to put air through a piece of metal. Basically we are all just wind machines. Some blow hard, some soft, and some seek to blow the house down. And there are huffers, and there are puffers. There are squeezers and there are pinchers. There are sprayers, and there are flinchers. Sometimes we blow hard, and sometimes we can actually blow soft! We come in countless varieties and shapes, but we all share our dependency on air.

Before we can establish a reputation for a great exhale, we must learn to be comfortable with a great inhale. The exhale is going to be crucial, for hopefully it will carry a great cargo of musical goods. No one likes to see or hear them crash and burn, so fuel up well. Because the journey is usually longer than expected, the inhale will have to at least match the volume of the exhale, ie. enough fuel to get to your destination.

Assignment: No horn, no mouthpiece. Just get used to large intakes followed by fabulous exhales. Think of the music that will be supported by your awesome exhaling!

Four exercises: 1-fast intake, slow release. 2-slow intake, fast release. 3-fast intake, fast release. 4-slow intake, slow release.

Observation: Most embouchure problems suffer from a lack of enough air, rarely an over abundance. Simply, the lips become oxygen-starved. The cure is cheap! Let us not forget the key ingredient of our existence. It's O.K. to be an air-head!