Use of air & breath control - for recorder players, singers and other wind instrumentalists

[@LobkeSprenkeling]

Check out the other videos of this series: Posture (& embouchure, fingers, support): kzbin.info/www/bejne/jqi2hat9o996l7c Articulation (single, double, inégalité): kzbin.info/www/bejne/q3WThauKasZse7s Coordination of air, finger, tongue: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l3-8f2p-nbh8rbM Versión en español (sub PT/IT): kzbin.info/www/bejne/jarCn6OParKlhKc

[@Springer5]

Thank you for making this video. You explained it really well and, as a beginning recorder player I found it really helpful. I had started to notice that my throat muscles were tense when playing low notes and eventually I had to stop playing to avoid damage. I even found myself vocalising the lowest notes as if making them with my throat. I'm going to try your exercise now to see if I can relearn to create the sound from my lungs instead of my throat. Also just as an aside, it is a joy to watch your graceful movements. Practitioners of Yoga always move so beautifully. Even down to your hands and fingers. Like a ballerina.

[@LobkeSprenkeling]

Thank you so much!! The throat is difficult to control directly and tension there mostly indicates breath support isn’t strong enough and/or the chest muscles are working. As an extra, I recommend you think of yawning when you notice or think that your throat might be tense, along with the inhaling on an “Ah” or “Oh”. Thank you too about your comment about my graceful movements! I’ve actually had ballet lessons for over 20 years and still dance! Yoga came later. Dance has always had a place in my life and ballet has done so much good for me! Hence the hand and arm gestures, I think! 😃

[@theresa74]

This is very helpful Lobke, thank you, my next stop is your website 🙂

[@LobkeSprenkeling]

Theresa Allchin Great, Thank you! You’ll see that the PDF is going to be a handy reminder! 🤗

[@musicoscope]

It's an excellent video! bravo and thank you!

[@LobkeSprenkeling]

Thank you so much!! ❤️

[@boulylemoutonraye]

Very good Lobke thanks

[@LobkeSprenkeling]

@Mouton rayé-BoulyProd Thank you very much!!! Your channel has added the “mouton rayé” to its name, it wasn’t there before, was it? 😃🤗

[@boulylemoutonraye]

@@LobkeSprenkeling yes i had "mouton rayé" before it was BoulyProd_Zic because i have an other channel BoulyProd with Playmobil stopmotion films

[@akosszilagyi8724]

Good summary.

[@LobkeSprenkeling]

@Ákos Szilágyi Thank you very much!! 😊😊😊

[@TheAndrej30000]

Great video, thanks!

[@LobkeSprenkeling]

Andrej Istomin Thank you, I’m glad you think so!

[@viorelene5438]

These exercises are very good. And useful.. 👍😀

[@LobkeSprenkeling]

viorel ene Thank you!!! I think they are, it is good for all of us to connect to our breathing!! 🤗🌺🌺🌺🌺

[@minglorex]

Thanks for this

[@LobkeSprenkeling]

You’re welcome! 🤗🎶 I’m sure these videos will help you to make a big step in your recorder playing!

[@daviddewilde3310]

Great exercises Lobke, thank you. Another trick i learned to feel the abdominal muscles using during exhaling is making the noise you would to scare away a cat. So you say “tssss” or “kssss”, when you do this you can easily feel the muscles you use to control the diapraghm.

[@LobkeSprenkeling]

@David De Wilde Thank you!!! Ah yes, That’s a very good exercise, thanks for adding it! And if you do it slower, you get the emptying bicycle tire 😃 I actually like that one because it is versatile, thank you! 🤗

[@daviddewilde3310]

Lobke Sprenkeling yeah, the emptying tire, that’s also a good metaphor

[@Shine-ef1up]

Can you make a lesson about soprano recoder fingerings for 3 octaves. Hope you do help. ❤

[@LobkeSprenkeling]

I will try! It’s a good idea. I’m going to make a list and will try to get back to tutorials 🤗

[@depido]

Thank you, Lobke! Very inspiring and beautifully made video! Maybe you should have mentioned the name of the breathing exercise (Kapalabhati): makes it easier to look up more information about this wonderful pranayama. Making a beautiful sound on the recorder is my wish for 2020, so if you can elaborate on this theme, I would be most grateful. Keep up the good work: fantastic quality!

[@LobkeSprenkeling]

Hello, thank you very much for your comment!!! Yes, you are right, the name of Breath of Fire is Kapalabhati, thank you! How is your sound coming along?

[@gardeniainbloom812]

This was useful. I always wondered why we don't breathe through the nose when playing because to me it is more natural. Taking a breath through the mouth interrupts the flow. I'll have to keep practising.

[@LobkeSprenkeling]

Gardenia in bloom Now you know! 😊 It’s noisy and takes away of the sound. I’m glad it’s useful to you, thank you!! 🤗😘

[@lahochi4358]

Passionnant... et très instructif. C'est vrai qu'en musicien amateur, j'ai tendance à être vite à court d'air. Si un instrument comme le hautbois facilite (grâce à l'entrée d'air de l'anche restreinte) la progressivité de l'expiration, ce n'est pas le cas de la flûte...

[@LobkeSprenkeling]

Exactamente, c’est juste le contraire! Pour la flûte à bec, on doit s’entrainer à garder cet espace à l’intérieur, même si l’air veut sortir rapidement! 😃 Merci beaucoup! 🌺

[@belindahunt9365]

Thank you, this is very useful. I worry about breathing through my mouth - will this make me more susceptible to sore throats? I already have them almost constantly due to colds/infections, allergy, and past overuse of my voice at work. Is there anything I need to remember or do or avoid, to prevent sore throats from playing? (I am about to start learning the recorder).

[@LobkeSprenkeling]

Hi Belinda, thank you!! Don’t worry about a sore throat because of breathing through the mouth - it’s my weak spot too, and I’ve never experienced any problem because of my breathing technique with the recorder. Just try not to practise in spaces where the air conditioning is full on, but in general it’s recommended to avoid those spaces anyway. If your throat tenses, think of yawning. Work on a good breath support (it’s better if you have classes in person with a good professional) and you’ll be fine! 🤗

[@mendipdobbin]

Thank you for making this - the exercises are particularly useful for me, as a keen beginner/intermediate recorder player. However I don't understand one thing - the distinction between wide/thin air and slow/fast air streams? Towards the end you talk about making the air broader - how do you do this?

[@LobkeSprenkeling]

Hello! Sorry for my late reply. I can blow a high note, which requires fast air, in different ways. If I want to make it “shine”, I widen my airstream within the mouth. In this way, more air is passing. If I want it more delicate, without blowing slower (because the note would drop), I pass less air and in a thinner airstream. Make sure your embouchure is with relaxed muscles around the mouth. Does this explanation help?

[@mendipdobbin]

@@LobkeSprenkeling Thank you for replying at all as I know it's a while since you posted this! So where do you adjust the airstream? It's obviously not with your lips around the recorder. Do you raise / lower your tongue, or is it in your throat? I've seen a comment by Lucie Horsch in her video teaching TwoSet Violin to play the recorder, about narrowing your throat slightly to play the high notes. This is the only place I've ever seen this suggestion though - mostly we are taught to keep an open, relaxed throat. I am starting to realise though that playing the recorder is a very personal thing - we are all built differently and things that work for one person don't work for another - so perhaps I just need to experiment and find what works for me...