Editor's Note: A word of caution: always be careful with your breathing;
make sure you're getting enough air to your brain! :) Ask a parent or teacher to help you
out if you decide to try out these circular breathing techniques, okay?
Imagine that you're at a the concert of a famous classical band. They're playing
a song that's slow and beautiful. Suddenly all the other instruments play softer
and a flute begins a solo. The music soars and drops like the ocean. And it goes
on and on like the ocean too! The player goes on and on, never seeming to stop
for a breath. You start to wonder why the flutist hasn't fainted for want of
air! It's like magic, but not really.
What the player is actually doing is circular breathing.
That's where you breathe in and out at the same time. Okay, not really. What you
do is as you're blowing air out into your instrument, you save air in your
cheeks. Then, when you run out of air, you push that air out with only your
cheeks and no support from your lungs, while you take a quick sniff of air
through your nose. This can be done on all instruments, but some are harder than
others. The easiest instruments to circular breath on are trumpet, oboe, French
horn, and bassoon. Clarinet, soprano saxophone, and other brass instruments are second
easiest. The larger saxophones are even harder. But the most difficult
instrument of all is the flute.
The first people to use circular breathing were probably Australian
aborigines. They use it when playing the didjeridu (dijereedoo, etc), which is a long hollow
stick-like instrument. Didjeridu players can sometimes play for hours. It
was and is used at funerals and births and, among the Aborigines,
thought to have healing powers. For them, didjeridu playing has a deep spiritual
meaning.
Circular breathing is also used in some music that is written by composers who don't
realize that people who play brass and wind instruments need to breathe every
once and a while! If there are many instruments, then you could use staggered
breathing, or some people breathing at different spots than everyone else. But if there's
only one instrument, the audience will notice if you stop to take a breath. This
is where circular breathing comes in handy.
The technique can be hard to learn. Some people can get it in 10 minutes while
others need years before they can use it at all. This I know partly from
experience because I'm trying to learn it myself. I'm definitely not one of
those people who can get it in 10 minutes!
Some exercises you can do if you want to learn circular breathing are:
1. Find a straw and a glass. Fill the glass about half full with water. Practice
blowing bubbles through the straw using the circular breathing technique. You
will not get it right away. Don't worry. This takes practice!
2. Blow a balloon up. Then move air between the balloon and your mouth by
pushing your cheeks in and out. This helps strengthen your cheek muscles.
3. Play a high note on your instrument, one that you feel comfortable with. As
you play, slowly fill your cheeks with air. When you run out, try to push the
air in your cheeks out using only your cheek muscles, and get the note to sound.
It's hard to get the air to come out hard enough at first, but keep practicing!
Don't give up! Practice circular breathing about 3 minutes every time you
practice your instrument. That way, you don't get discouraged and give up after
trying to do all day. Good luck to those of you who try it! Just remember that
you don't have to know circular breathing to be a good player.
I'm off to play my flute!
Adiso,
Aruby
Sources:
http://www.mills.edu/LIFE/CCM/DIDJERIDU/instruction/lesson_circular_breathing.html
http://experts.aboutcom/q/2059/2770804.htm
http://wwwmusicforbrass.com/articles.php?artnum=62
http://www.didgeridoings.com/Philosophy/Graves.html
http://www.bobrk.com/saxfaq/2.12.html
