Re: breath control

["Barry B. Bean" <bbbean@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Fri, 31 Jan 2003 16:23:05 +0000, Jp Pagan wrote:

>   I might be playing with a "band" soon and one thing i'm worried about is 
>my breathing. i usually have some trouble playing long passages or playing 
>continuous back up (breathing IN seems harder to control than breathing OUT. 
>i fill up fast.), and i don't wanna end up just playing little fills all the 
>time.

I've heard several jazz players comment that they try to play like they talk - in sentences and paragraphs. I've found it helpful to think of my phrasing in the same 
way and break things up into manageable "sentences". This keeps my breathing fairly natural.

Another concept worth playing with is efficiency. The longer I've played, the more I've been able to get out of less air. Try not to over-play all the time, and really 
listen to (here's that dreaded concept again) your tone. Once you get the tone you want, don't push any harder. Let the mic or amp do the work and just 
concentrate on saying something worth hearing.

- --
Barry B. Bean
Bean & Bean Cotton Company
Peach Orchard, MO
www.beancotton.com
www.beanformissouri.org