The Importance of Breath Control for Brass Musicians

As brass instruments rely on airflow to produce sound, breathing is an important aspect when it comes to mastering trumpets, trombones, flugelhorns or French horns. As a natural process of our organism, we often take breathing for granted, however for brass musicians, it’s not something they can overlook. The way they breathe affects the overall performance.

In this article, we are going to delve deep into the importance of correct breathing for brass musicians, and share some tips and exercises on how to improve your techniques.

Breath Control and its Elements

The brass musicians produce the sound by buzzing their lips into the mouthpiece that creates vibrations, which are amplified through the tubing. Thus, breath control is not only about how you blow air. It’s also about how effectively you manage this air to achieve the best possible volume, pitch, and tone within the desired musical context.

The better the breath support you have, the more controlled and clearer sound you get. Otherwise, with poor breathing, you can only produce weak tones and missed notes, and moreover, poor breathing can increase the risk of fatigue during extended playing sessions.

In brass music, the breath control involves the following key elements:

• Inhalation and Exhalation. Musicians should rely on deep, diaphragmatic breaths. This helps to achieve the necessary volume of air to produce sustain notes, especially when performing complex phrases.
• Airflow Consistency. To produce smooth notes with even pitch, brass musicians need a steady stream of air. When the airflow is disrupted, it results in a less stable pitch.
• Air Pressure Management. Musicians should master the proper air pressure to be able to play with various dynamics, articulations, and in different registers. Whether they play staccato or legato passages, controlled bursts of air are a must.
  

Breath Control Challenges for Brass Musicians

At the first glance, everything seems simple, but in practice, brass players often face several challenges.

1. Bad endurance without proper breath support. Especially this problem is found during playing long, physically demanding pieces. Without proper breathing, players face performance fatigue sooner than those with better breath support.
2. Wrong amount of air that affects the sound. Without correct control over breath pressure, it’s impossible to play high notes at extreme dynamics. If you have little air, it will make your sounds weak. If you have too much air, it increases the risk of distorted pitch.
3. The lack of the ability to sustain long phrases. Many brass passages require the ability to sustain long phrases without breathing, or to use circular breathing to maintain a continuous sound. The lack of this ability affects produced music.

Breath Control Techniques to Improve Your Performance

Now let’s explore how you can enhance your playing technique and improve breathing when playing brass instruments.

Diaphragmatic Breathing

For brass instruments, air is the most crucial ingredient to produce the sound.  As our ribs, somehow trap lungs, they let them expand only in a horizontal direction. However, you can practice downward movements of the lungs that allow having more space. This process is made possible by the diaphragm, which functions without conscious control. To control it consciously, you need to control the abdominal wall to which the diaphragm is attached. To do it, you need to expand the belly when breathing in.

Sometimes you can see how even experienced brass musicians with lots of practice and concerts behind them raise shoulders at each breath.  This habit has the opposite effect of that we need. When doing this, musicians contract their belly, which leads to the rise of the diaphragm and reduced air intake.

Diaphragmatic breathing (also known as the belly breathing) allow engagement of the large muscle at the base of the lungs and take in more air. You can’t achieve the same effect with shallow chest breathing. Thus, when practicing diaphragmatic breathing, brass musicians can generate enough air pressure to perform sustained notes while having the minimal tension on their upper body.

Tips, Exercises and Techniques for Improved Breathing

Here is what you can do to improve your breathing:

• Breathe in deeply and release air slowly and evenly through the instrument to sustain long, steady tones. This will help you receive a consistent pitch and volume for as long as you need.
• Practice inhaling and exhaling at various speeds to have better control over air flow. Start with inhaling over two counts and exhaling over four. Then gradually increase the exhalation length and counts. This exercise will help your stamina.
• Do the breath support exercises by using your abdominal muscles to control the release of air. Make a full inhale and then exhale on a sustained "sss" slowly with precision and maintaining the "sss" as long as possible. This exercise will help you maintain even tones during playing.
• You can also practice buzzing exercise by buzzing on the mouthpiece alone. This help brass musicians focus on their air flow and lip vibration. When doing it without the resonance of the instrument, it’s easier to see where you have inconsistencies in breath control.
• Practice playing long tones by inhaling deeply and holding a note as long as possible while maintaining steady breath support. You can begin with lower notes and gradually move to higher registers to build endurance and control over the entire range.
• Practice long phrasing by starting with simple melodies and then moving to more complex and longer passages. This will help you focus on breathing only when it’s necessary, so you can avoid unnecessary breaths and keep phrases smooth.
• You should also train your diaphragmatic breathing. Put on your hand on your abdomen and place the other on your chest. Inhale, paying attention to whether your abdomen expands while your chest remains in the same position. Breathe out slowly, trying to maintain control over the airflow. When doing this exercise regularly you can develop the habit of deep breathing, necessary for any brass musicians to take in more air. Also, this focused breathing helps build the necessary lung capacity and control for the instrument.
• There is also a simple exercise for training your tension. Stand at about one hand’s breadth from a door or wall. Take a piece of paper and hold it before your mouth. Start blowing it against the wall or door. When doing it right, the paper remains in position until you interrupt blowing. When doing it wrong without enough tension, it will fall fast.

Devices to Improve Breath Control for Brass Players

In addition to exercises mentioned above, you can use a variety of devices to develop breath control and support. Typically, they are designed to strengthen the muscles involved in breathing. By providing enough resistance and feedback, they serve as a powerful way for improving your skills.

One of the amazing tools that can be used during practices, warm-ups, and exercises is KGUmusic lip buzzing tool also known as a trumpet embouchure trainer. Designed for musicians of various skill levels, from beginners to advanced players, it can improve lips functions, strengthen the muscles responsible for sound production and enhance overall airflow control.

Unlike plastic alternatives, our T.E.T. is made of aluminum, offering superior resonance. It is easy to install as it fits most standard trumpet lead pipes. Once inserted, it stays in place, providing a snug fit.  And thanks to compact dimensions, you can take the device with you in travel or tours.

T.E.T. offers you several options of how you can modify it. You can have it with the mouthpiece sitting over the lead pipe and thus experience a more relaxed feeling in hands. You can have it on an even level with the lead pipe, just to the side a bit. If you play in a marching band, you can slide it under the lead pipe and hold the instrument a little higher.

According to feedback from musicians, T.E.T. is comfortable to deal with for those who don’t do much of buzzing. Additionally, you can use it with a small shank tenor trombone mouthpiece.  

You can buy T.E.T. as a separate accessory or a part of a bundle with two devices at once. For instance, we offer T.E.T. and deflector, or T.E.T and trumpet mouthpiece booster, allowing you to get two training devices while saving your cost.

Conclusion

Breath control is a very important aspect of playing brass instruments, as breathing is the foundation for producing a clear, even, and expressive tone. Doing breathing techniques and exercises, and using helpful breath training devices, such as T.E.T., brass musicians can improve their endurance, strength, and precision necessary to produce excellent music on their instruments.

Would you like to read more helpful articles on refining your skills? Then check out our tips on embouchure development.