One of the most frequently asked questions posed to me after I play a recital is “How do you manage to play for so long on one breathe?” I find it a very difficult phenomenon to explain. I often bumble around a little telling the baffled questioner that it’s something one learns to do and that, over time, one gets used to it. Invariably dissatisfied with my lame answer, the questioner at this point usually lunges into a description of their own failed attempts as a beginning flutist in some past life, struggling with each gasping breathe to get from one note to the next without passing out on the floor. I would commiserate with my earnest questioner and at a loss for a truly good answer, slip away with a “thank you”.
I wish that I was present when this questioner first learned the flute. I would have given them a good tip that can help understand how our air works and improve their chances at success.
As we all know, the actual act of breathing in and out, an involuntary action, usually remains in our unconscious until we begin exerting ourselves athletically or trying to play a wind instrument. The flute, unrelated to athletics, requires us to breathe in quickly and exhale slowly and controlled. We need to start by taking a more psychological approach.
1) The first step is to “see” the air as a solid, a concrete mass. When I had the privilege of visiting the “gross lab” at Baylor College of Medicine, I was fascinated by the sheer size of the lungs. Each one was like a loaf of bread nearly double the size of the heart. If we can picture the air with color filling our lungs, we are on the way to controlling it.
2) We want to separate the act of breathing from our flutes. By lying on the floor we enable our shoulders, back and neck to remain flat and allow our diaphragm, lungs and ribs to do their job of expanding.
3) From this position, simply feel the air coming in and out evenly through your mouth.
4) Eventually, you will want to strive to bring the air in rhythmically and in a tempo. Always keep the inhale on one beat as the exhale is on one, two, three, etc.
5) You can then increase the number of beats the air is released. Most children can do this pretty well. If you purse your lips (like the French “tu) it is a bit easier to control the exhaled air.
6) Finally, (and here is the magic!) add an increase of speed and volume of air towards the end of the count.
7) Applying this technique to the flute you will want to feel like an oboist. You see, the oboe has an incredibly small aperture through which the air must go. With an increased resistance, oboists can usually hold notes and phrases an interminable length. The flute mouthpiece, with very little resistance, requires us to add it in some manner. We must close the lips slightly without creating a hiss or flattening the sound to control the rate at which the air is released.
8) As you try out step #6 on the flute you will begin to notice a change in your ability to hold the air. Hold a note or play a phrase for a certain count. Increase the volume and speed of air, in effect, crescendo to the end. This may not be musical (we’re only practicing technique right now!) but you will find that it works. It’s a psychological trick, one that gives you the confidence that you have enough air to make a crescendo (which you won’t do in an actual perfromance) and thus it helps you to parcel out the amount of air necessary to make it to the end.
For us professional who have to perform “long-winded phrases” like Afternoon of a Faun, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Brahms First Symphony and countless pieces form the solo repertoire, a good sense of controlling the air will make our phrases have a magic and artistry that causes our audience members to ask us “How did you do that?!”
