By the way I love your video they breathing really helps. I have a voice disease so my vocal chords close when I try to speak. But I refuse to give up. and your Air and Breath have been very helpful in learning to play trumpet! Thank you so much!!
Thanks for watching, Freddie. Glad you’re enjoying the videos! ‘C for Compression’ was one of the options we considered, but I’m not sure how concise or succinct I could make it. I’m not sure that anybody is ready for a 30+ minute video yet! 😉 Rest assured that it will be addressed, though - we have our eyes on a sequence of 3 or 4 letters, later in the alphabet, where it can fit quite nicely!
Hi Bryan. My instructor taught us to take a deep breath to fill first our lower stomach/lungs first. Not to fill or think about air in upper chest. Then to exhale the air out from the lower abdomen by applying stomach muscle pressure. Is this the correct technique? We also trained by blowing into a tube to fill a plastic milk bag. We could see how much air we blew into the bag with one breath as well as how many breaths it took to fill the bag, etc. Any thoughts about this? Thanks
Hi Timothy. Thanks for watching! That sounds like you were taught more or less the same way to breathe, and take hold of the air on the inhale. With regards to the exhale, I think of it more in terms of using the stomach muscles (more pertinently the upper pair of abs) to apply additional compression to the air stream. I'm not sure how blowing into the tube and filling the bag would work for me - I'm really not moving that much air. See "A for Air" for more on the quantity of air I'm aiming to blow. When you used to do that, how big was the bag and how many breaths did it take to fill it? (I'm not really sure what a plastic "milk bag" looks like!) Anyway, milk bag demo notwithstanding, I'm not concentrating on blowing that hard - it's more like letting notes out rather than pushing them, overall. Any pushing is to generate additional compression, while still trying to keep the airstream as small as possible as I ascend.
Of course air is only collected in the lungs. Who’s talking about trying to put air any place else? What I’m talking about is properly engaging breath support - the proper engagement of the core muscles, which is the natural way we breathe when performing any physical activity. I’m sorry something was unclear - all content in any of my videos represents the tried and true explanations which have proven successful for the majority of my students, over the past 25+ years.
Hi Bryan, great videos, thank you. I find that in my efforts to breathe properly, and create compression of the air, I am causing myself pain in the lower back. Are you familiar with this phenomenon? Do you have any advice for me?
Hi Leora. Thanks for watching and commenting. It’s hard to say without seeing you play, but my guess is that you’re leaning back at the waist, instead of engaging your core. When I compress from the core, if you watch “U for Upper Register”, you can see my additional abdominal engagement, but my posture doesn’t change. Be sure to stand or sit up straight, with your head over your centre. Watch “P for Posture” for more tips on this.
I’m presuming you mean you’re noticing these symptoms when you breathe to play only. If not, and it’s happening generally when you breathe, then it might indeed be a good idea to seek medical advice! If it’s just when you’re breathing to play, you’re either breathing more deeply or shallowly than you naturally would. It’s hard to say exactly what’s happening without seeing you doing it. Are you breathing through your nose or mouth?
Hi Bryan. Nice video as alleays. My problem is not breath before playing, but when playing...breathing in a frase written, solo is ok Do you have a take on that? Have a nice day🎺 Erik Denmark
Hi Erik. I’m not sure I understand the question. If the different musical environment is changing things for you, simulate that environment when you practice. If I’ve misunderstood, please ask again.
@@AirflowMusicNYC Hi again...and thank you for your answer! When I do solo there are no demands according to frase and I can take horn from my lips. When I have to play what is written, then I have to keep horn on lips and there my problems are. I my early years I was told to open the sides of the mouth and breath that way but when I try that now it is bad for my lips and setup for playing. I looked at you playing and it looks like you are sort of dropping your jaw down and breath more relaxed and not changing lips or embouchure. I have seen others do some sort of the same...but I will try what you told me.🎺🎺 Thanks Bryan! 🎺🎺🎺
@@erikandreasbonde551 Hi Erik. Disengaging and opening my mouth to breathe is a bad habit of mine. I am working on breathing through my corners - when I remember to do it, it keeps me much more consistent.
When I was coming up, starting in choir, we were always taught that the "chest breath" was bad and we should do "diaphragmatic breathing" through our stomach. Is the style of breathing advocated in the video based on a newer school of thought that's superseding the older "belly breathing" ideas?
I took singing lessons for a few years, when I was young - up until about 35 years ago. This is in line with what I was taught then and remains as true today. “Diaphragmatic” breathing is just breathing. The diaphragm has one function and it does it involuntarily with every breath we take. It is a protective folding shelf of muscle that flattens out as we inhale to protect the inflated lungs from the rest of the contents of the body. It folds back up on the exhale. The choice we have is whether to engage our core and allow the core muscles to work for us, or disengage and consequently distend the belly, rendering them useless in providing breath support. The former is how we breathe naturally, when we’re not thinking about it. My goal with all of this is to breathe naturally even when, as I stated in the video, we have to do it on somebody else’s schedule.
@@AirflowMusicNYC Thanks for clarifying. By "newer school of thought" I meant that your advice seems to comport far better with the advice of physical trainers to engage the core during physical activity. In the choirs I sang in as a kid, we really were drilled in distending the belly for breathing (also circa 35 years ago). Through watching videos such as this one, it's starting to become clear to me that that was misguided (although we probably received good training in other aspects of posture and breath support).
It’s interesting. Certainly in brass pedagogy, this approach has been the go to for 50 or 60 years or more, although not always explicitly explained. Core engagement in breathing is the cornerstone of Claude Gordon, Maggio, Dr Reinhardt etc.
Hi Bryan.i have a problem with breake between inhaling and exhaling when i play trumpet.do you have some exercise for this problem?and where is your tongue on the begining of the note?(so when you set the embochure and inhale-where is tongue?does he strike back?)
Hi Mihael. Ideally, we should release the air as soon as we’re finished inhaling. (Sometimes, that isn’t possible, e.g. if we’re waiting for a quick downbeat from a conductor, but that’s the ideal.) I’m not sure I understand your problem: do you feel like your air is stuck and you can’t let it go straight away? The position of my tongue depends on what kind of articulation I’m using. The articulation point, if there is one and I’m not breath starting the note, depends on the register - low register is behind my top teeth, it arches higher/further back as the note gets higher.
@@AirflowMusicNYC yes in this break i 'm in big tension.and the beginig of note is not clear or sommetime's don't get out any note yust the air or pfff of you understand.maybe i don't inhale properly and my troath is closed
Ok, I understand better now. Search for #TrumpetProTips E08 here on UA-cam - there are more details about getting a good breath there. I’ll be making a video about articulations soon.
I have been vexed with my vocal chords engaging when playing, especially with bigger steps. It's a subtle hum in my throat that spoils notes. Any suggestions? Some have called it the "pigeon sound.
Hi Bryan - thx a lot for these videos. Finally took the time to watch all of them and have one question regarding this one about breathing. The concept of "keeping the chest up" was new to me so I tried it. I find it challenging not to block my airflow by doing this. Do you have any tipps for letting the air flow easily or is it just a matter of time (and concentration).
Hi Daniel. There are 3 things to watch out for: 1. Let your chest lift as you inhale, don’t lift it in anticipation of inhaling. 2. Be careful not to lift your shoulders. They will naturally raise a little as they are on top of your chest, but actually lifting them will close your throat and impede the air being released from your body. 3. You don’t need to blow hard to play!
I’ve been a bit busy, so I am slow in getting to YT comments the past couple of weeks. I’ve been considering a series of Brass Basics videos, going through things like scale fingerings. Let me fire up the camera and make some now!
My thinking here is that by raising your chest you make room for your diaphram to work upwards against your lungs. That is also the movement Bryan is demonstrating!
Bryan, love your videos! I started playing trumpet about 2 months ago, I have a teacher that i go to weekly and am using the arbans book quite a bit. I went to airflowmusic.com and like what you guys have going on! What book would you recommend I buy first at my level?
Thanks for watching, Joshua. Hope you’re having fun with the trumpet! Combination Drills Vol 1 is great for all levels. You don’t need to play them quickly, to begin with, just focus on getting them nice and smooth. They’ll help you learn your keys and develop range and register connectivity.
By the way I love your video they breathing really helps. I have a voice disease so my vocal chords close when I try to speak. But I refuse to give up. and your Air and Breath have been very helpful in learning to play trumpet! Thank you so much!!
I’ve always practiced breathing a lot so now I naturally breathe really deep.
Thanks!
Thank you, very helpful
Great breathing technique. Really helps above the staff.
The moiré pattern is real!
Yes!!!
What about compression for 'C'? Loving the videos by the way, very helpful, clear and succinct!!
Thanks for watching, Freddie. Glad you’re enjoying the videos! ‘C for Compression’ was one of the options we considered, but I’m not sure how concise or succinct I could make it. I’m not sure that anybody is ready for a 30+ minute video yet! 😉 Rest assured that it will be addressed, though - we have our eyes on a sequence of 3 or 4 letters, later in the alphabet, where it can fit quite nicely!
Thanks different from the way I am breathing but my way isn't working that well. I think this will work well for me...
Hi Bryan. My instructor taught us to take a deep breath to fill first our lower stomach/lungs first. Not to fill or think about air in upper chest. Then to exhale the air out from the lower abdomen by applying stomach muscle pressure. Is this the correct technique? We also trained by blowing into a tube to fill a plastic milk bag. We could see how much air we blew into the bag with one breath as well as how many breaths it took to fill the bag, etc. Any thoughts about this? Thanks
Hi Timothy. Thanks for watching!
That sounds like you were taught more or less the same way to breathe, and take hold of the air on the inhale. With regards to the exhale, I think of it more in terms of using the stomach muscles (more pertinently the upper pair of abs) to apply additional compression to the air stream. I'm not sure how blowing into the tube and filling the bag would work for me - I'm really not moving that much air. See "A for Air" for more on the quantity of air I'm aiming to blow. When you used to do that, how big was the bag and how many breaths did it take to fill it? (I'm not really sure what a plastic "milk bag" looks like!)
Anyway, milk bag demo notwithstanding, I'm not concentrating on blowing that hard - it's more like letting notes out rather than pushing them, overall. Any pushing is to generate additional compression, while still trying to keep the airstream as small as possible as I ascend.
Of course air is only collected in the lungs. Who’s talking about trying to put air any place else? What I’m talking about is properly engaging breath support - the proper engagement of the core muscles, which is the natural way we breathe when performing any physical activity. I’m sorry something was unclear - all content in any of my videos represents the tried and true explanations which have proven successful for the majority of my students, over the past 25+ years.
Hi Bryan, great videos, thank you. I find that in my efforts to breathe properly, and create compression of the air, I am causing myself pain in the lower back. Are you familiar with this phenomenon? Do you have any advice for me?
Hi Leora. Thanks for watching and commenting.
It’s hard to say without seeing you play, but my guess is that you’re leaning back at the waist, instead of engaging your core. When I compress from the core, if you watch “U for Upper Register”, you can see my additional abdominal engagement, but my posture doesn’t change. Be sure to stand or sit up straight, with your head over your centre. Watch “P for Posture” for more tips on this.
What do you do if you get "light headed" or dizzy when you breath?
You see a doctor because its essential that you breathe.
I’m presuming you mean you’re noticing these symptoms when you breathe to play only. If not, and it’s happening generally when you breathe, then it might indeed be a good idea to seek medical advice!
If it’s just when you’re breathing to play, you’re either breathing more deeply or shallowly than you naturally would. It’s hard to say exactly what’s happening without seeing you doing it. Are you breathing through your nose or mouth?
Hi Bryan. Nice video as alleays. My problem is not breath before playing, but when playing...breathing in a frase written, solo is ok
Do you have a take on that?
Have a nice day🎺
Erik
Denmark
Hi Erik. I’m not sure I understand the question. If the different musical environment is changing things for you, simulate that environment when you practice. If I’ve misunderstood, please ask again.
@@AirflowMusicNYC Hi again...and thank you for your answer! When I do solo there are no demands according to frase and I can take horn from my lips. When I have to play what is written, then I have to keep horn on lips and there my problems are. I my early years I was told to open the sides of the mouth and breath that way but when I try that now it is bad for my lips and setup for playing. I looked at you playing and it looks like you are sort of dropping your jaw down and breath more relaxed and not changing lips or embouchure. I have seen others do some sort of the same...but I will try what you told me.🎺🎺
Thanks Bryan! 🎺🎺🎺
@@erikandreasbonde551 Hi Erik. Disengaging and opening my mouth to breathe is a bad habit of mine. I am working on breathing through my corners - when I remember to do it, it keeps me much more consistent.
Hey Bryan, these episodes are great when you get to 'Z' make sure you get in touch :-) I may be able to help...
Hey Jan, thanks for watching and glad you’re enjoying them! I feel a “Zawada Says...” episode coming on... 😉
When I was coming up, starting in choir, we were always taught that the "chest breath" was bad and we should do "diaphragmatic breathing" through our stomach. Is the style of breathing advocated in the video based on a newer school of thought that's superseding the older "belly breathing" ideas?
I took singing lessons for a few years, when I was young - up until about 35 years ago. This is in line with what I was taught then and remains as true today.
“Diaphragmatic” breathing is just breathing. The diaphragm has one function and it does it involuntarily with every breath we take. It is a protective folding shelf of muscle that flattens out as we inhale to protect the inflated lungs from the rest of the contents of the body. It folds back up on the exhale.
The choice we have is whether to engage our core and allow the core muscles to work for us, or disengage and consequently distend the belly, rendering them useless in providing breath support. The former is how we breathe naturally, when we’re not thinking about it. My goal with all of this is to breathe naturally even when, as I stated in the video, we have to do it on somebody else’s schedule.
If that constitutes a “newer school of thought” then so be it!
@@AirflowMusicNYC Thanks for clarifying. By "newer school of thought" I meant that your advice seems to comport far better with the advice of physical trainers to engage the core during physical activity. In the choirs I sang in as a kid, we really were drilled in distending the belly for breathing (also circa 35 years ago). Through watching videos such as this one, it's starting to become clear to me that that was misguided (although we probably received good training in other aspects of posture and breath support).
It’s interesting. Certainly in brass pedagogy, this approach has been the go to for 50 or 60 years or more, although not always explicitly explained. Core engagement in breathing is the cornerstone of Claude Gordon, Maggio, Dr Reinhardt etc.
@@AirflowMusicNYC Looks like there's a lot to look into out there in terms of this approach.
Hey so my name is Miles Hampton. One of my biggest weakness is tht I cut off the air flow. Do you have any advice on that?
Hi Miles. Is there a particular situation in which you tend to cut off your air? Something in particular that you play when it happens?
@@AirflowMusicNYC It's definitely in the throat and that's where I put too much pressure in my embochure (lips)
It happens when I am in the upper register
Click through to my channel and look for the #TrumpetProTips series. Ep 8 - Tension is about exactly this.
Hi Bryan.i have a problem with breake between inhaling and exhaling when i play trumpet.do you have some exercise for this problem?and where is your tongue on the begining of the note?(so when you set the embochure and inhale-where is tongue?does he strike back?)
Hi Mihael. Ideally, we should release the air as soon as we’re finished inhaling. (Sometimes, that isn’t possible, e.g. if we’re waiting for a quick downbeat from a conductor, but that’s the ideal.) I’m not sure I understand your problem: do you feel like your air is stuck and you can’t let it go straight away?
The position of my tongue depends on what kind of articulation I’m using. The articulation point, if there is one and I’m not breath starting the note, depends on the register - low register is behind my top teeth, it arches higher/further back as the note gets higher.
@@AirflowMusicNYC yes in this break i 'm in big tension.and the beginig of note is not clear or sommetime's don't get out any note yust the air or pfff of you understand.maybe i don't inhale properly and my troath is closed
Ok, I understand better now. Search for #TrumpetProTips E08 here on UA-cam - there are more details about getting a good breath there. I’ll be making a video about articulations soon.
@@AirflowMusicNYC thanks 😀
I have been vexed with my vocal chords engaging when playing, especially with bigger steps. It's a subtle hum in my throat that spoils notes. Any suggestions? Some have called it the "pigeon sound.
Hmm. I’ve not encountered that before. I’d need to see/hear it in action to advise.
How to make a sound a trumpet
Hi Bryan - thx a lot for these videos. Finally took the time to watch all of them and have one question regarding this one about breathing. The concept of "keeping the chest up" was new to me so I tried it. I find it challenging not to block my airflow by doing this. Do you have any tipps for letting the air flow easily or is it just a matter of time (and concentration).
Hi Daniel. There are 3 things to watch out for:
1. Let your chest lift as you inhale, don’t lift it in anticipation of inhaling.
2. Be careful not to lift your shoulders. They will naturally raise a little as they are on top of your chest, but actually lifting them will close your throat and impede the air being released from your body.
3. You don’t need to blow hard to play!
can you go through the notes c d e f g (c scale)
d. June Conley this video is very old so he most likely will not address this, do you mean the fingerings?
I’ve been a bit busy, so I am slow in getting to YT comments the past couple of weeks. I’ve been considering a series of Brass Basics videos, going through things like scale fingerings. Let me fire up the camera and make some now!
Hi Brian, are you sure the chest should stay lifted uo?
Hi Bettina. Yes, absolutely.
My thinking here is that by raising your chest you make room for your diaphram to work upwards against your lungs. That is also the movement Bryan is demonstrating!
Thanks Brian and Goran, I got it by doing it :-)
Check out Rashan
Bryan, love your videos! I started playing trumpet about 2 months ago, I have a teacher that i go to weekly and am using the arbans book quite a bit. I went to airflowmusic.com and like what you guys have going on! What book would you recommend I buy first at my level?
Thanks for watching, Joshua. Hope you’re having fun with the trumpet! Combination Drills Vol 1 is great for all levels. You don’t need to play them quickly, to begin with, just focus on getting them nice and smooth. They’ll help you learn your keys and develop range and register connectivity.
Make C , for Control
Unfortunately, I can’t go 3+ years back in time. Perhaps I’ll take a 2nd spin though the alphabet at some point.
@@AirflowMusicNYC ok 👍 thanks