Breast breathing "reserve" allowed?
Breathing is challenging in Gary's Blues. I have followed your lessons about breathing, but often those techniques are not enough to make me confortably breath (I will post another question about that). When I have filled all my lower "stomach" space, I need to finish with some breast ("upper") inhaling. Then everything becomes tense, shoulders and throat...
Can breast-breathing be used as a last-chance "reserve"? and in that case, should I learn to stay relaxed even when doing it (seems hard)?
Or is it a red line I should not cross, and everything can be done with lower breathing, and I have to stay in that range?
Or maybe it is too soon, at my level I shouldn't use breast-breathing at all, and maybe later actively learn to use it relaxed?
Thanks for sharing your experience. Your breathing seems more relaxed and natural than "technical" (though as a pro, natural and technical may be hard to distinguish!).
Taking this point, I think I should experiment playing really softly. I don't feel I'm playing loud, but I do feel much air coming in and out! And breathing is a race and not so natural (which cause tenseness, it surely does not help). This may be the issue, more likely than my nose, which I'm already paying attention to (but I will double check this to be sure).
I'll strive for a moment to play very soflty (now that my bending supports it, which is very new!) and (once again) relax, instead of planning to "pass" Gary's Blues from start to end for the moment.
Once more (as with all my questions) it seems to come again to practice. I'm too impatient...
Sounds like a good game plan ÉricD
... and you were right, there must be a leak, even if I pay attention to it! I no longer feel air passing through, as I did before, but if I close it mechanically it does make a difference in how long I can sustain breathing in.
Thanks for insisting on that even if I was suggesting it was fixed...
No worries, that's my job!
Hello ÉricD.
Because we can breathe before and between licks, and through our nose while we play as we need to, it really doesn't take much air to play the harmonica. Because of this, I don't normally think about breathing while I play... I just play.
With this said, I know I use my diaphragm a lot while I play (each slap gets a small diaphragm pump for example), but I generally only become conscious of my diaphragm when I need more air (in or out). This is where I focus on my diaphragm for that extra bit of air (the bellybutton to the spine for example for the blows... like I teach in the lesson).
I just now played for a couple of minutes to see what my body is doing. There's so little air coming in and out that I don't feel much of anything move (it's hard to tell if it's diaphragmatic breathing or chest). Mostly the movement I feel are those diaphragm pumps for dynamics. I most likely am using both chest and diaphragm, just like I do when I breathe without the harmonica in my mouth.
I would say I mostly am breathing with my diaphragm, but I do feel my chest move a little. I wouldn't obsess over where the breath is coming from, it's most likely both, just like in normal breathing. If you need extra tidal volume, then go to the diaphragm to the rescue.
Where the breathing is coming from is not your real issue. Most likely your nose is opening unintentionally while you're playing... this is the common issue... focus on this.