Hi - I am just starting – can anyone recommend breathing exercises that would help me learn to conserve breath? I seem to be running out of wind.
Thanks-
DJones
bicycling has helped my lung capacity considerably. more likely, though, you need to work on your embouchure. search around the board for that.
Thanks - I have good lung capacity as I play highland pipes.
Emouchure – yes, I’m probably wasting air.
Thanks - will keep my eyes open for embouchure posts-
DJones
Hi djones
Also, don’t let yourself run down and need to take a big gulp - find lots of places to sip air. A good one is a long note that might otherwise be rolled - replace G3 with ~G or Gsip
Terry
How long should I be able to play between air sips?
ack!!! as long as it is between 'em…
If ya need somethin’ to worry 'bout pick your embouchure…as that improves the time between breaths will grow…or not…depending on phrasing 
Get the Fliuit tutor. You’d be surprised how often you can breathe and how you can change your perspective of breathing from necessary evil to enhancement of the tune.
Chris Norman once told me, “There’s no such thing as breathing too often, just not breathing enough.” I saw Chris with Helicon last weekend. There was one spot where I noticed he hadn’t breathed in awhile. Then he went on and on and on. I have no idea how long the phrase was, but it was the equivalent of at least a part and a half of a jig or reel.
To illustrate the no such thing as too often thing, someone once played me a cut from Micho Russell in which he breathed seven times in the A part of a tune. One of my goals is to breathe as musically as he did.
Breathing is the single thing that I need to work on the most, and it has been since I took up the whistle.
Seeing that you are just starting, let me suggest that you play “long” tones. That is, as a part of your flute studies, before you go on to playing any tune spend a few minutes playing EACH of the tones of your flute at a whole breath, for as long as your breath can last. The benefits of playing long tones are well known. Long tones will help you to more efficiently focus your embouchure, and your musical ear.
i just tried it out.
long notes:
low D:
wooden flute: 15 seconds
silver flute: 16 seconds
second D:
wooden flute: 22 seconds
silver flute: 23 seconds
third D:
wooden flute: 30 seconds
silver flute: 36 seconds
jig (haunted house):
wooden flute: 15 seconds
silver flute: 19 seconds (all but the last 3 measures of the second time through of the first part of the jig)
reel (ships are sailing):
wooden flute: 15 seconds (i cant remember how far it was)
silver flute: 18 seconds (all but the last 2 measures of the second time through of the first part)
in actuality i would never play as long as any of the above examples! it’s only an exercise in air capacity. i would probably breath at least once during every four measures.
I would recommend against exercises. Instead, just keep playing. You will find that breathing is so closely linked to how you play that the only way you can really master having enough air is to develop a way of playing that allows you to get through a phrase without running dry. This will take time and practice, but as you’ve already discovered, lung capacity has less to do with the problems you’re experiencing than the coordination between phrasing and taking in air. The two must work together, so playing tunes and developing your technique will get you where you want to go.
yeah, i second that. just pay attention to your breathing. the more you pay attention, the better you’ll get over time.
That makes sense. However, I still think there is value in improving breath capacity. Over the last 2 years, I have been simultaneously learning japanese shakuhachi and irish flute. One of the major capabilities for playing japanese honkyoku pieces is the ability to play sustained notes for 30 seconds or more. I am nowhere near that yet, but I have found the increased lung capacity and strength in chest and diaphragm muscles has been of great benefit to my flute playing as well - it just gives me more options for picking a suitable spot to breath.
good luck with that. let us know when you hit the thirty second mark!
Arnold Jacob’s Breathing Exercises:
http://fac.hsu.edu/bucknej/Resources/Trumpet%20Talk/Arnold_Jacobs.htm
found the link on my own pages at http://www.worldtrad.org/ , under Resources->Health
Kevin Krell
I’ve made it to 25 seconds at the top of the Kan (octave) register. Apparently the masters can hit close to 60 seconds.
What is the flute tutor and where can I get one?
What is the flute tutor and where can I get one?
i have no idea what it is but you can get it here: