By Peter Bartels

BREATHING

by Peter Bartels

Appeared in September 2002 issue

As teachers we know how important breath control is to flute playing, yet often don’t teach breathing to our students in the same way we teach tone, technique or repertoire. Spending a little time in each lesson undertaking a breathing exercise can greatly improve aspects of your students playing. Celebrated French flautist Phillipe Gaubert once said:

The breath is the soul of the flute; in other words, it is the fundamental point in the art of playing. The disciplined breath must be an obedient agent, now supple, now powerful, which the flautist should be able to control with the same dexterity as a violinist wields his bow. It is the creative force behind the sound, the spirit which animates it, gives it life, and makes it a voice capable of expressing all the emotion. The lips, the tongue, the fingers, are only its servants… (Dorgeuille, p.44)

One important principle regarding breathing is that your body expands to draw the air in rather than the common but incorrect belief that the incoming air is what makes your body bigger.

During inhalation the size of the chest cavity increases in three directions. With the contraction of the diaphragm the chest cavity becomes longer from top to bottom. With the contraction of the intercostal muscles the ribs attached to the sternum lift increasing the size of the chest cavity from front to back, whilst those lower ribs not attached to the sternum splay out and expand the chest cavity sideways.

This increase in size increases the sub-atmospheric pressure of the chest cavity which draws air from the outside into the lungs to equalize the negative pressure. To exhale the opposite occurs, your body decreases the size of the chest cavity causing the air to be expelled from the lungs.

Breathing exercises firstly need to work at improving the body’s ability to increase the size of the chest cavity in order to draw in more air.

To observe the way your chest expands and contracts, lie on your back on the floor with your knees bent and the soles of your feet on the floor close to your torso; the semi-supine position.

Placing your hands on your stomach, your abdomen should rise and fall during respiration which is caused by the movement of the diaphragm. Push your fingers into your waist line and see if you expand and contract sideways during respiration. And if you place one hand under your back and the other on your sternum you may also feel expansion and relaxation between the hands when you breath.

Remember these exercises are supposed to be gently and easy and you should only undertake what you feel comfortable with.

In the semi-supine position, keeping your knees together in the centre, inhale, then as you slowly exhale lower both knees down to the floor to the left. You will feel a gentle stretch along the right side of you body. As you inhale slowly bring your knees back to the centre then continue over to the right side as you exhale. You will now feel a gentle stretch along the left side of your body. Continue this pattern for quite a few minutes noticing how relaxed your breathing can be and how your body is stretching and relaxing.

Still on the floor in the semi-supine position, for a stronger stretch, cross your left leg over your right and gently lower both legs to the floor to the left. Check if your shoulders are still on the floor. Your right shoulder may have lifted off the floor. If so, see if you can gently ease it down towards the floor without forcing. You should now feel a more powerful stretch down the right side of your body. This can help to stretch out the lower back. Stay in this position for around 20 seconds before bringing your knees back to the centre. Repeat this stretch on the same side before swapping sides. Right leg over left and gently lowering to the right.

If you want an even stronger stretch, still in the semi-supine position, place the sole of your left foot on your right knee and lower down to the left and hold for around 20 seconds. Repeat this before swapping sides.

These exercises are intended to improve the body’s ability to expand during inhalation. Teaching your students these exercises over the course of a few weeks can significantly raise their awareness of breathing and be of great benefit to their playing.

Bibliography:

Dorgeuille, C. The French Flute School, 1983. Editions Coderg, Paris.

Moore, K.L. Clinically Oriented Anatomy, 1980. Waverly Press, Inc.

Last, R.J. Anatomy; Regional and Applied, 1978. Longman Group Ltd.

Thanks to Adina Kleiner for her valuable discussions and explanations.