i'm a freshman and i play tenor sax in my school's jazz band. i have a lot of trouble with my breathing. I have a lot of trouble hitting low notes and i'm constantly running out of breath when i play. is there anything at all i can do to fix this!??!? I'm not trying to be mean, but I'm a little worried about some of the other answers to your question. Some of the answers would make your problem worse...
Here's the info:
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But here's the real deal...
#1 - Sound is vibrating air. So the way you use your air is very important when playing any wind instrument!
#2 - How to breathe. Lay on your back and place a book on your stomach. You should see the book rise naturally without trying to raise it! When you take in a breath take in all the air you can. Breathe in through your mouth! musicians don't breath in through their nose (unless their circular breathing!), it's too restricted, slow and you could never play if you were stuffed up and sick and I've played many a gig stuffed up!
Because there is normally so much air around, people aren't used to taking in all the air they can... they don't need to. Practice taking large, comfortable breaths with an open throat, making sure your stomach is coming out. If your stomach is coming in, you're restricting your lung capacity. Take in your breathe first with your stomach and then your chest. Make sure your throat is open so that you can get as much air as possible into your lungs as quick as possible! You should never tighten your throat! It's never good to tighten anything related to breathing when playing a musical instrument. Tightening creates problems with not only tone quality, but intonation (being in tune), comfort, ease of air flow and stamina!
Posture is very important as it determines how much air can travel into your lungs. If you are slouched your lungs are slouched and restricted. If you are sitting up straight your lungs are open and free to take in the maximum amount of air!
NOTE:
Actually you never want to control your diaphragm. It's actually impossible. The Diaphragm is an involuntary muscle! You never want to push! Let the air come out naturally. Sax players who push normally have a sharp and stuffy sound. Sax players who let their body work naturally have a free, in tune and beautiful sound!
#3 - How you use your air:
It's not just about how much, it's about how your air is used. Here's what you need.
- Consistency of Speed. Your air needs to maintain a consistent speed while playing. If your air slows down, you'll go flat.
- Amount. More air gives you a louder volume, less air a softer volume. NOTE* you need fast air to play soft! Most people say speed up your air to play loud and slow air for fast... this is FALSE!
#4 - Understanding/Comprehension of technique. Think of your air like a sink faucet. Turn on the faucet and the water comes out at a steady speed, no matter how much or how little water you're using. Your air should be the same way. Ideally, you have an unlimited air source (obviously impossible, so get as much as you can) and you maintain a steady speed while playing, adding more air when you need to crescendo (louden) and decrescendo (soften).
Air is the fuel of your sound, to say you don't need a lot is like saying it's smart to fill your car up ever 2 miles with 1/2 gallon of gas.
**As far as Stamina... the Sax will strengthen your lungs! So your problem is going to get better with time and as your body adjusts to the tenor sax.
Low notes - My good friend who is a world class (seriously) saxophonist always said the looser the better. You want to play as loose as you can while still getting a good sound. This may take some practice! (The sax is very different then the clarinet in this regard. The clarinet requires quite a bit of tightening! ) Make sure you are pointing your chin down and that your mouth is shaped in a circular fashion. A lot of high school sax players don't point their chin so they have trouble hitting low notes and have a problem with the "D" right past the break. Just pointing your chin and loosening your embouchure will rock those low notes out, because it's all about how the air travels to make the reed vibrate, and how that air travels through the sax body! If your not giving it a perfect circular air stream the sax and reed can't respond properly!
Another way to work on low notes is to approach them chromatically from a higher note you can play well. So if you're going for a low "D" start at a G (no back key) and slowly work down to the F#,F,E,Eb,D etc. concentrating on a full deep beautiful sound (although sometimes students have more trouble with the Eb rather then the D because of the pinky key).
good luck! I played the clarinet so I know what you mean.
Try breathing techniques
In through your nose and obviously..out through the mouth.
Don't blow too hard, too fast all at once. Take a bigger breath right before the low notes. Tighten you r mouth and throat a bit. Don't blow quite so hard or so fast during the low notes. Let the air out slower.
~Music Resource~
http://www.squidoo.com/music-resource i play the clarinet and when im out of shape i run out of breath faster are u standing or sitting when u play. if ur sitting then make sure ur sitting streight and and feet flat on the ground u are propably tired of hearing that because ur director propably says it all the time .ihate it too but it will help. it can also depend on ur reed u might need a new one The correct way to get a great sound out of the sax is to blow from your diaphragm. This will get you a better sound and use less air. You will need to push though. This will kind of feel like you are flexing your abs while you are breathing out. Also, if you breath from your lower stomach (your diaphragm), and then fill your chest you will get the maximum amount of air to fill your lungs. Good luck Open your throat and breath from your diaphragm. Once you do that then you should be able to breath better. JB gave you an AWESOME Answer.. he's got it all nailed.
One point to add on low notes..
Open your Throat... which also adds to the "looser" approach. | 