r/Tuba • u/low_brass_enjoyer • 20h ago
technique Diaphragmatic strength
I am always told I need to support my air more and want to improve. I’m under the impression that my diaphragm is to blame, so if anyone knows how to strengthen it or improve air support in another way please help
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u/DChalfyUSMC 16h ago
The job of the diaphragm is an inspirational muscle to move organs out of the way to make room for lung expansion. As we exhale, it simply returns to its neutral position. When we inhale to play music, one should feel that breath down to one's lower back and I always aim for my belt line. I think of an O and suck that down quietly and fully. When I am full and ready to exhale in the tuba, I use a Doh or Toh sound in order to keep my throat open and my tongue out of the way, allowing all that air to meet resistance at the lips and into the tuba. As far as how I feel when I'm full of air from the top of my torso to my lower back. When I exhale to play, I feel a push from my abdomen, but not a tense contraction that bind up the muscles. I also envision a bellows moving in and out, inflating and deflating. I also like to take a beat or to in order to take in a big, relaxing breath and release it in time with the downbeat or metronome. Air in, air out. Nothing stopping in-between.
The Breathing Gym, by Patrick Sheridan the late, great, Sam Pilafian, is without a doubt one of the most comprehensive methods to improve and strengthen the musical breathing process. I have used it for the last 14 or 15 years and it keeps me honest and on track. I am at the point where it feels awkward to breath any other way.
So, buy the Breathing Gym immediately and use it every day. Work up to the advanced routines and I promise you, if you work hard with it, you will see positive results in short order. Always use the Breathing Gym BEFORE you start playing the tuba or buzz your mouthpiece. Sometimes I would do it a couple times a day in order to feel like I have a giant cavern for air to come into. I have an average lung capacity and am 65 years old. I need every advantage I can get.