Breathing. Gasp! Pant! Puff!


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Posted by Howard Read on February 02, 1999 at 19:33:15:

The single most difficult aspect of tuba playing for me is breathing in loud, low-range, sustained musical lines. I have a fairly good "vital capacity", but some large orchestral pieces simply knock me out. I find myself "cheating" by slightly shortening the value of some notes, or, worse yet, by taking a quick small breath through the nose.
A pro player here in the SF Bay area told me NOT to breathe through the nose ever. Yet, in playing some exercises in my Bill Bell book, Bell states that one can practice nose breathing.

I would welcome the opinions of any other "cheaters" out there.


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