Breath Support

[SonnyMurphy]

Can anyone out there give an explanation of "breath support"? I've yet to have heard a clear description of it.
thanks

[Ritchie]

The ability to put some air through the horn.

[MarkD]

Can anyone out there give an explanation of "breath support"? I've yet to have heard a clear description of it.
thanks

It's also called "air support" or "wind support."

It means to make sure that your air stream is being controlled by your lower (abominal) muscles or like my music teacher in grade school used to say "from the diaphragm up!"

If you feel like you are using your cheek muscles to push the air (as in whistling) or your feel that your throat is tight then you probably are not using the diaphragm enough.

To exaggerate what it means to push from the diaphragm, put down your saxophone, open your mouth wide and exhale by pushing from your gut. You'll get plenty of air out without relying on your throat or cheek muscles. Once you get the feel for it you will find that playing with proper air support will become second nature and will be as easy as exhaling. You'll also find that it does wonders for your tone.

Now dont' get me wrong, the cheek and throat muscles do play an important part in saxophone playing. For example, the cheek muscles should be drawn in to get a good embouchure and the throat muscles are indispensible when you start playing in the altissimo range. But for good solid tone in the "normal" 2 and half octave range of the sax you need to breathe freely from the diaphragm up with an open, releaxed throat and cheeks drawn in.

"The Art of Saxophone Playing" by Larry Teal is a good book to refer to for information on these points.

[MS]

http://www.sneezy.org/Databases/Logs/1999/04/000786.txt

[SonnyMurphy]

Hey :P !
thanks guys... Mark D: your description sounds equivalent, but more thorough, to one I'd read saying that the exhalation was like squeezing an orange with your bellybutton (roughly, more or less).
thanks again