Breathing

Summary

When playing a wind instrument, we want to use strong "breath support" so that our airflow is strong and consistent. This involves learning to control the muscles that help us breathe, including our diaphragm.
Learn to breathe properly by taking deep, slow breathes that fill and expand your abdomen, while keeping your chest and shoulders stationary and relaxed. Another exercise is to try panting like a dog.
You can find the feeling of support by pushing something against your stomach as you try to inhale or exhale, at the same time pushing your stomach outwards.
Keep your air supported whether you are breathing in or breathing out.
Breathe out by blowing air, not by sighing, and focus the air as if blowing through a straw or spitting a seed.
Breath support can be practiced by breathing in for 8 counts, holding your breath for 4 counts, and then exhaling for 8 counts.

As natural as breathing is, most of us only learn to breath effectively enough to stay alive. When playing an instrument, we need to learn to have full control over our breath by learning to properly engage our diaphragm. The diaphragm is a muscle that sits below your lungs and is used to draw in air.

When most of us breathe, our chest expands. Instead, we want our belly to expand and for our chest to be stationary, allowing us to inhale more air and to then better support that air when we exhale. Getting to this point involves learning what it feels like to breathe with a well-engaged diaphragm.

Inhaling

Try the following exercises in order to understand what it feels like to breathe properly. (Always breathe with your mouth, never through your nose.)

Sitting up straight, take long deep breaths and long exhalations with your hands gripping the sides and front of your waist. As you breathe in, feel your waist expand outwards. If you don’t feel your waist moving, try breathing as if you are inhaling from the back of your throat and trying to inflate your stomach like a balloon. If done properly, you will feel the sides of your waist push outwards and become firm. If done improperly, you will feel your waist narrowing and chest heaving outward.
Push a fist into your stomach, and while breathing in, push your stomach back against your fist as if you were trying to prevent someone from punching through your stomach. Your abdominal muscles should engage and be forced outwards. (Note that engaging your abs is not necessarily the same as engaging your diaphragm, however, your abs often tighten a bit when breathing properly.)
Lie face down and take a deep breath. It is much more difficult to breathe from your chest in this position, and you should feel your stomach pushing your body upwards.
Lie on your back and place a heavy book on your belly. While breathing in, attempt to push the book away.
While standing, bend over and touch your toes. Bend your knees slightly if you need to. Then, grab your waist and try to inflate your stomach. You should feel your waist expand, especially in the back. If you’re still having trouble, try pushing your stomach outwards in all directions, and imagine yourself “sitting” into your waist more by pushing your weight into the center of your body.
Try rapidly panting. You will either feel your chest shake in and out, or your waist. Adjust the way you pant so you feel your waist heaving instead of your chest.

Exhaling

When exhaling, or blowing air out, your waist should feel engaged in almost the exact same way it does while breathing in. When blowing air out, keep the following things in mind:

Always breathe out by blowing the air rather than exhaling as if you are sighing.
Do not allow your ribs to collapse. As you run out of air, you feel your stomach wanting to suck itself inwards. Resist this motion and keep pushing your stomach outwards just as you were while breathing in. Breath support should not stop until you are done playing. With a constantly engaged diaphragm you can smoothly switch between inhaling and exhaling.
Keep trying to “sit” into your waist as you exhale.
To practice maintaining the correct muscle engagement, try exhaling as hard and fast as you can while keeping your diaphragm engaged. Also try exhaling using an “S” sound (like you’re hissing) and then using an “F” sound. Maintaining this with a full sound requires true muscle engagement!
You don’t have to exhale a lot of air. In fact, playing quietly on your instrument requires exhaling the air slower. Regardless of how quickly you are blowing, though, you must still keep the air supported. This feeling of support does not change under any circumstances!

Focused Airstream

On wind instruments, we also want to be focusing our airstream. A good way to understand this is to breathe through a straw, especially a thin coffee straw. Breathing in and out through a straw requires you to use a narrower airstream, and it’s this kind of focus you want to maintain when playing your instrument. Another visual is to imagine yourself spitting a small seed, which requires a narrow, focused burst of air.

Breath Practice

Practice proper breathing every day. It only takes a few seconds – you could even do it while still lying in bed in the morning! Try this breathing exercise:

First set a metronome to 86 BPM, then give a big sigh to release all the air from your body.

Breathe in for 8 counts
Hold your breath for 4 counts
Breathe out for 8 counts
Repeat without stopping

Try the above exercise with these variations:

Lie on your back
Place a heavy book on your stomach
Bend over and touch your toes
Stand on one leg
Try and lift something heavy, or push against a wall

Remember to not just breathe – be conscious of what your body is doing so that you are always in control. The above exercise can be altered to your liking by changing the exact number of counts you are breathing in and out for. Eventually this type of breathing will become second nature and your body will subconsciously engage itself whenever you play.