Lung Support

[altosaxguy1]

Can anyone help me find an exercise to build up lung support to play longer without taking a breath. My director said long tones. Any other ideas?
thanks

[saxmanglen]

Long, hilly and quick paced bicycling has helped me. 30-45mins. 3 times weekly. Bikes rule! LOL

[jazzbluescat]

Stick your head underwater, don't forget to hold your breath. :)

[gary]

To begin with, although only your lungs can contain the air, lung support is not a good term. You support the sound with your abdomen and the lungs should remain relaxed; just want to make sure you know that.

I think it was Ernest Williams who came up with this (I got it from Claude Gordon who studied with him) and that is walking and breath-holding. Take a walk, increasing the distances over time and, while walking, take a breath over two paces, hold two paces, exhale two paces. Increase the number of paces for each stage as you progress.

Personally, I recommend using a variation of a Yogic ratio, which would roughly mean inhaling 2, holding 4, exhaling 6 which is more akin to what you would do playing a wind instrument.

Don't forget - shoulders relaxed always; inhale with your abdomen sucking the air in as a bellows would do; you fill a glass with water (lungs) from the bottom up not from the top down.

Swimming is also excellent for building air control.

[Sorba]

Why not stick with your instructors advice and go for long tones? Will do your sound good too.
othervise try to find something like this: http://synonym.dk/mall/shop_varer.asp?action=show_item&shop_id=3347&vare_id=378374&cat_id=84767
the idea is to keep the ball flowing in the tube by blowing and inhaling also.

[gary]

Why not stick with your instructors advice and go for long tones? Will do your sound good too. othervise try to find something like this: http://synonym.dk/mall/shop_varer.asp?action=show_item&shop_id=3347&vare_id=378374&cat_id=84767 the idea is to keep the ball flowing in the tube by blowing and inhaling also.That device is handy - I use it to illustrate breathing with my students and sometimes to make a little game out of their lessons to keep them interested but it does not develop good breath support. And there is no way it replaces some of the physical exercises mentioned above, and nor are the physical exercises and long tones mutually exclusive.

[jazzbluescat]

Stick your head underwater, don't forget to hold your breath. :)

I was just kidding.

[Timmy_G]

I've been playing for about 8 years. Air support is the biggest issue that affects my playing in a negative way. The most part is (Ithink) is that I'm 19 and I'm underweight at about 53 KG's. Because I don't have the weight, when I start losing energy, I immiadetly feel it in my chest.

[saxmanglen]

For a lung burning bike workout you could do what I did this morning:

http://hogranch.com/files/Bitmaps/airstream-cycle.jpg

NO, actually I guess I just played a round of golf:?

Never mind.......:D

[Dog Pants]

Bootman, (the Sadist, :) ) has just laid a Clarinet on me. The breath support required to get a decent tone and even a moderately big sound, out of the Clarinet, is mind altering!
I'd recommend it to any and everyone. It immediately exposes all your shortcomings and lazy habits as a sax player. The rotten bastard just won't play unless everything is spot on.
I can also smuggle it in and practice on night shifts.
Needless to say I'm lovin' it. :D :D :D

[Sassaphone]

Hey Saxmanglen, that Airstream is nicely focused.

[Pete Thomas]

I'm about to upload a whole load of new long note exercises to complemet the exising ones. My aim is to make practising lotes a bit more interesting than usual, this is important. So watch out for them.

[Razzy]

Larry Teal discusses the breath-count while walking exercise in "The Art of Saxophone Playing".