Re: Breath Question:
Thank you for your quick replies to my trumpet questions as always Tom. :welldone
Just the same I have more,...
The amount of air used in a Trumpet is similar to that used in playing a Tenor Sax according to research!
Ok, this is quite interesting. Exactly what the heck are they talking about? Surely they can't be talking about the volume of air
FLOW?
I have respiratory problems, and I get winded easily. I was afraid that this might be a problem for the Alto Sax, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I don't have any breath problems playing the Alto Sax. However, now that I have a Tenor Sax I have noticed that it takes quite a bit more air flow. This is liking trying to blow up an air mattress. I can play it alright, but it definitely take a lot more air flow to sustain a note than does the Alto, especially when hitting really low notes.
Now the trumpet doesn't seem to take much volume of air
FLOW at all. In fact, I've been consciously trying to figure out ways to get more air to flow. But you can only push so much air through a raspberry. So when I'm playing the trumped for long phrases, it does feel like I'm kind of "Holding my breath" to a point. Simply because I can't get a large volume of air to flow through the instrument whilst buzzing a raspberry.
And that brings me to the next point that you make:
If you breathe from the diaphragm you will always play for longer - breathing down in order to fill your abdomen with air. When you are playing certain pieces, however, it is better to only take the amount of air in that you need to get to the end of a phrase, as you may otherwise accumulate stale air underneath any air that is taken in on top of that, and will need to evacuate your lungs quite quickly which can feel like shortness of breath.
Well, I do try to breath from the diaphragm. Although I confess that I'm not in the greatest physical shape. I have a bit of a pot belly and so that could be a problem right there. ;} Playing a trumpet apparently requires a pretty good physique. Maybe I need to just get into better physical shape all round to play this instrument.
You say to only take in enough air for a phrase. Well, that certainly makes sense. I've been taking in way too much air for sure. When I'm done with a phrase I really need to exhale before I inhale again. And there's never really enough time for that. Plus as you say, that very act feels like "shortness of breath".
So I'm going to work on trying to take in less air to begin with with. This is going to take some training on my part. But I do see where that can potentially help.
Have a go at seeing how long you can hold a note for, just to see whether there is an identifiable problem. I can hold a note on trumpet for 45 seconds before I need to breathe. My usual first warm-up is to alternate going upwards from G2 to G3 with going from F#2 down to F#1 in semitone steps - playing each note as long as I can. When I have done that and had a short break I think my breathing and note production is good to go.
Well, I'm really out of shape then. I can only hold a note for 20 seconds comfortably, maybe 30 seconds really pushing my limit. Again, probably due to being in such poor physical shape. Now I have an excuse to exercise.
))
Let me know whether that helps the situation.
I think your suggestions will definitely help. You've got me thinking about these things and working up some practice exercises to address them. And even thinking about joining the gym. I'll probably need to get in better physical shape to play the Tenor Sax too anyway. ;}
I should have taken up keyboard. Then I could just sit here and let my fingers to do gymnastics.