Posted by Same problem orclose on August 06, 2002 at 22:07:00:
In Reply to: 85% of the problem solved! posted by Doug on August 06, 2002 at 20:20:58:
Yeah, I had the same, or similar problem. Too tight to get a good breath. Tight throat and tight smile. My teacher told me all the right stuff, but what finally seemed to click for me was a clinic by Pat Sheridan, where he discussed the physiology of getting a full breath and demonstrated it, and had us practice it. I'd still say I haven't got the muscle memory trained well enough, but when I relax AND DON'T THINK ABOUT BREATHING it works much better. Better attacks, better sustains and better phrasing.
The paradox of playing brass is that you get the most air when you're totally relaxed. Of course, when you really need that air is when you're playing hard and emotionally, just the wrong time for relaxing.