Here are some indicators that you may have bad air support
- You don't have a steady tone; there are warbles
- Your tone sounds weak, airy or not full
- Your tone does not project
- You cannot easily play quiet notes
- You have intonation problems
Now what exactly is air support? I personally think that the term air support is used of pretty loosely. Generally, air support can be broken up into two sections. Air support in the lungs, the diaphragm and throat.
1) Keep shoulders and neck relaxed.
2) When taking in a deep breath, make sure your shoulders do not rise before your stomach inflates. Some teachers say that your shoulders should not rise at all, but I personally see nothing wrong with this. When inhaling a deep breath of air, if you put your hand on your stomach, you should be able to feel your stomach inflate. If on the other hand, you feel your shoulders rising, this is an indicator of poor breathing technique. Breathing by using the shoulders is an inefficient method of breathing and does not allow for the maximum intake of a air into the lungs.
3) As you blow air through your saxophone, you should contract your abdominal muscles while keeping your upper body fairly relaxed. Contracting the abdominal muscles uses your diaphragm and helps in pushing a more focused and steady stream of air through the saxophone.
4) When blowing, your mouth should be open as if you were saying the word "O". In addition, blowing should also be done with the throat. Try speaking a sentence in a hushed whisper. Now try saying louder, still in a hushed tone. What you might feel is a slight sensation in the throat. What's happening?
Whispering occurs when the glottis (vocal cords and its folds) are contracted and the air stream becomes more focused. Imagine a hose with running water. If when were to put there finger over the opening of the hose, the water stream, still constant, would flow out more quickly because it is being squeezed and compressed.
The glottis performs the same task in playing the saxophone. There is a misconception that to play louder, one has to put more air through their instrument. This is true; however, often misunderstood. The reason why putting more air through the instrument creates louder volume is due the change in airspeed of the air, not necessarily due to the amount of air. The shear amount of air builds pressure within the mouth which then accelerates the air out of the horn. This is often why you would hear beginners become very out of tune when playing loud, because they use the wrong technique to play loud.
What should be done instead is that instead of air being compressed within the mouth, the air should be compressed within the glottis, like that example of a finger on a hose. When you are playing the saxophone, you should get a feeling as you are blowing from your throat and as if you were whispering. Try playing a note and then articulating a sound as if you were whispering, something like a "haaaaaaaa" sound. Try whispering very lightly at first and then build to a more harsh whisper. There is a point where you can over contract your glottis and the will become weak; however, you should notice that there a certain balance between over contracting and just right, then your tone will begin to open up and become more focused.
To summarize, air support consists of three parts of the body working together: the lungs, the diaphragm and the glottis.
The lungs are important because it takes in air. One should inhale from the stomach, not through the shoulders to maximize lung capacity.
The diaphragm is important in tone production because it is what forces the air out of your lungs. By flexing your abdominal muscles, you can achieve a more focused and steady air stream.
The glottis is important because it helps regulate the stream of air coming from the lungs and the speed. By contracting the glottis through whispering, one can accelerate the stream of air which will help in more volume, a more focused and better production.
1 comment:
Outstanding facts and tips. Thank you!!
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