There are generally three breathing methods for blowing cucurbit silk

Thoracic breathing: When inhaling, the middle of the thorax expands forward and on both sides, and the lungs expand laterally.

Abdominal breathing: When inhaling, the lower part of the thorax expands, the diaphragm descends, and the abdomen protrudes.

Thoracic and abdominal breathing: When inhaling, the chest and abdomen expand outward at the same time, the diaphragm descends, and the two ribs are opened and lifted, so that the entire chest and abdomen are filled with air.

The third method can fully mobilize the active function of the respiratory organs, inhale a large amount of air, and is conducive to the control of breath, so most wind instruments use the third method.

how to practice breathing

1. Inhale

Relax your body naturally, take a deep breath with your hands on your hips, mouth and nose at the same time, and focus on your mouth. Like yawning and smelling flowers.

Notice:

(1) The inhalation action should be rapid, but do not make the muscles too tense, and practice from slow inhalation.

(2) Don't shrug your shoulders when you inhale. Some people inhale more and shrug their shoulders very high. As a result, they inhale less, not only the muscles are easily fatigued, but also the image is ugly.

2. Exhale

After inhaling, the breath must be uniform, exhaled slowly from the mouth in a concentrated manner, and the abdominal muscles are slowly retracted in a controlled manner to promote a strength of exhalation. To overcome the natural tendency to exhale quickly, it is best practiced while lying in bed (typical chest-abdominal breathing).

3. Ventilation

The ventilation should be fast and accurate. At the end of a phrase, leave a short period of time for quick breathing, but it cannot affect the accuracy of the beat of the narrow phrase. The ventilation should be fixed, and it is best to design it before playing. If you change the air at will when you play, it will not only destroy the artistic quality of the music, but also the player will play more and more urgently.

The reverse reading of breathing is breathing, so you must first learn to inhale correctly before you can exhale correctly (play). In order to maintain normal physiological needs, the human body generally breathes 12 to 16 times per minute. You don't even have to think about it, you will breathe naturally, and the breathing time is basically the same as the breathing time.

The wind instrument is completely different. We consciously and forcefully inhale a large amount of air quickly according to the needs of music (under the premise of normal physiological needs), and slowly breathe out (blow out), such breathing has skills.

The technique of abdominal breathing is based on natural breathing. When inhaling, keep your shoulders and chest in a stable state, never shrug your shoulders up, ignore your chest, and focus on expanding your abdomen, dantian position, left, right, and back waist outwards, so that the diaphragm muscle sags and the lungs are the largest. Inhale air to the limit, this is the correct way to inhale.

Why not consider the chest, because when you think about the chest, your shoulders will be shrugged, and the dantian and waist will feel unable to breathe, but this is actually chest breathing, like deep breathing, with arms raised, abdomen and waist Instead, shrink inward, which is a big mistake.

You can practice inhalation without cucurbit silk first. After you find the correct feeling, you can practice with cucurbit silk. In fact, you can get twice the result with half the effort. The natural breathing process of ordinary people is mainly through the nasal cavity, and if you experience it carefully, you will feel the natural ups and downs of the abdomen.

At this time, I will tell my friends a way to practice breathing in through the nose first, to find the feeling of smelling something. For example, suppose there is a pot of flowers in front of you, people smell it through the nose, and slowly inhale the breath. At this time, you can experience the natural direction of the abdomen. External expansion, the waist also has a feeling of outward expansion, this is the feeling of correct natural breathing.

After you are proficient, gradually increase the inhalation speed, and then try to use the mouth to inhale without changing the movements of the abdomen and waist, so that you will master the correct inhalation method of abdominal breathing. When playing, the abdomen gradually shrinks with the exhalation of qi, but the dantian must be tense, and the feeling of pulling outward is found. This is control.