[Harp-L] What I know about Breath Control

["samblancato" <samblancato@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi folks,

 

I hope I'm not ruffling anyone's thread here but I wanted to chime in on the
Breath Control thing and share what I know.  I posted a month or so ago
about my recent pulmonary function test which I had to take in the course of
a series of tests designed to find out the extent of my sleep apnea.  My
pulmonary function test results were at 130% which means that I function at
30% above average for my age, weight etc.  When I told the Nurse
Practitioner I play the harp she said she wasn't surprised at the test
results.  The test doesn't measure lung capacity - or, rather, one's
performance doesn't have anything to do with lung capacity.  What it
measures is inhale/exhale strength, duration, and how effectively oxygen is
used (if you exhale a large percentage of what you inhale then you're not
breathing very effectively.  I feel sure that most of the players on this
list who have played for a long time and practice daily, like I do, probably
would do as well or better.

 

What does this tell me about my playing and how to improve it?  Not a lot
but what it does tell me is very useful.  First of all it tells me that lung
capacity is pretty much set by the time you're out of puberty.  You might be
able to play with great strength and with great efficiency but if you have
unusually small lungs you will more than likely not be able to do sustained
solos that are all draw notes.  

 

And yet I am CERTAIN that my breath control has improved dramatically in the
past three years so I am convinced that in playing harp it's more about how
you use your breathing muscles than how much capacity you have.  So lots of
practice will yield growth here.  Here are a couple of other things that are
worth considering.

 

*I always play with more strength and control ON AN EMPTY STOMACH. Don't
crowd your diaphragm. 

*I have noticed when practicing that if I lean forward and rest my elbows on
this book case I have in my living room (it's slightly higher than my waist)
breathing becomes easier and I think this is because in leaning forward from
my elbows. My stomach hangs forward and gets out of the way of my diaphragm.


*using your stomach really works. By this I mean your abdominal muscles more
than the action of distending your stomach.  I have gotten into a habit of
keeping my abs mildly clenched at all times while playing so as to be always
in that act of dumping air - even when I'm not actually doing it.  This way
any break that comes up, no matter how small where I can evacuate my lungs,
is used to greatest effect.  

*This is real important.  I have a gym membership and my exercise regimen is
not as regular as I'd like (that's another story!).  But when I get into a
stretch of about five weeks of 4 to 5 day a week cardio work (which is how
long I go before I seem to get distracted by other stuff and slack off) I
KNOW my playing improves dramatically.  Since about mid January I have
started to slack off on the old elliptical work-out and it has definitely
effected my playing.  So, regular cardio vascular exercise really helps a
lot.  

*Singing helps a lot too.  Since I've been practicing regularly with a band
and spend a lot of time singing, my breathing has improves greatly.  But I
am still a little suspicious of breathing exercises intended for singing
being of any use for harp work since singing is all about breathing out and
harp playing seems to be all about breathing in (at least in blues).

One final thing here:  I don't have any proof, but I believe that now amount
of cardio-vascular exercise will help you improve your speed on strong
blow/draw work like on Train songs or Fox Chase songs.  I think you simply
have to practice A LOT.  

 

Sam Blancato, Pittsburgh