June Quickie Better breath

Breath control, support your sound.  We’ve heard these phrases–but how to practice this?   I play the tenor saxophone, and my tone was uneven.  Hmmm–support your sound…  Horn players do ‘long tones’,  one note played loud-soft-loud for the entire length of a breath.  SO! For speakers like us, try these:  Pretend you are a fire hose with air.  Expel the breath as completely as you can, let the lungs fill, repeat.  Notice the muscles you’re using: the diaphragm, and  those little ones between the ribs, called  intercostals.  Now don’t so this too many times in a row! You’ll hyperventilate and get dizzy.  With sound: hum on a pitch for as long as you can.  You can add volume, but go gently.  Another one is to count for a long as you breath lasts–and see if you can add numbers.  Keep your tone even.  As you practice this, your voice will become more supported with stronger intercostals and bigger lung capacity.

For the visual learners-

Image result for muscles between ribs used for breathing

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