Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2001 13:56:44 -0500 From: "Mike Will" Subject: Tone Tip
Everyone talks about breathing from the diaphragm and playing with resonance as essential elements of a full rich tone. I think, though, that there's a point that often gets overlooked.
When we discuss breathing from the diaphragm we talk about feeling the stomach move, and keeping the shoulders still, since shoulder movement is an indication of breathing from the chest instead of the diaphragm. But, we neglect to discuss that the chest/shoulders/lungs can be at different positions and still remain still while breathing from the diaphragm--and not all positions are equal.. some are better than others.
Basically, you probably want to open up your lungs by having your chest fairly expanded.. maybe a position like having your lungs 66-75% full of air. (Maybe it's only >50% if you consider the most air you can hold.) Then you keep your chest/shoulders out of your playing and use your diaphragm to breath in and out. If you don't expand your chest/lungs some then it's likely that you're not getting as much resonance as you could. Having your chest/lungs expanded should minimize the effort required to move air in and out.
This posture should also make deep draw bends easier to hit, and encourage proper bending technique.
Mike Will
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