Playing tense and relaxation excercises?

[LisaFlute2]

I am a 40 yr. old woman, who just in the past 7 months have been taking flute lessons in a music class where my children are learning clarinet and violin. We are finished using the first book and will be starting on the second book and the teacher is calling us "intermediate" now and not beginners. I am getting a really good tone out of my flute, and can do several octaves on it also. My problem is, at home, I am more relaxed and can make things sound a lot prettier and blended. I have been told that I need to work on my breathing...I can only do around 4 measures without taking a breath and he wants us around 6-8 by now. Depending on the song, is how long I can go without taking a breath. I am concentrating so much on my breathing, that when I have to play by myself for the teacher, he says I am sounding tense. I also must be tonguing too hard, as he thinks I am taking breaths, when I am not. I know I need to learn some relaxation exercises, but don't know how to go about it. We have concerts every 3 months, so we have done two of them so far, and each time he has me do a solo. He says I have a great tone but when I get up in front of people, I can play the first two measures fine, then I start shaking, which in turn makes my flute shake on my lips. The audience, well, my family, in the audience says you can't tell. But I sure can. Anyway, what techniques do you all do to relax and what can I do to get my breathing better? I already take the air into my stomach area instead of my lungs...is it just something that will take time to get down better? Also, could my breathing problem be that I have had bronchitis every winter and could of damaged my lungs and air intake? I know my age doesn't help either. Any tips on what any of you have done would sure help. I think being an adult, and the only adult in the class, doesn't help either. I never was one to get up in front of people, and here I am starting it at my age.

[boglarka]

Hi,

I suggest you play long tones at home every day. When I teach them, I ask beginners to hold a note for 5 seconds and gradually increase the length of time to well...as far as they can go (22-25sec is what most professionals can do). I would use a metronome, set it at 60 and count the clicks as I'm holding a note. Do this on the entire range of the instrument.

With time, you'll get better. It takes patience and practice, though!!
Good luck!

[LisaFlute2]

Thank you, will do that with my warm-ups. I use to do that, but then we got into a certain type of warm-ups and certain songs, that I kind of quit doing that. Shouldn't of, I know...thank you for reminding me about it.

[bladibla]

Thank you, will do that with my warm-ups. I use to do that, but then we got into a certain type of warm-ups and certain songs, that I kind of quit doing that. Shouldn't of, I know...thank you for reminding me about it.

Also, another thing to consider is when you practise long notes, add vibrato onto it. Then you will get a truly beautiful sound.

[LaDanseuse]

Remember to breath from your diaphragm and not your shoulders. You'll take deeper breaths that way, which also translates to longer measures without breathing.

Also one thing about beginner-early intermediate players is that they put too *much* air into their instruments, causing them to run out of air quickly. I'm not certain that it happens to you, but if it does, here's the thing: to play longer with a good tone quality, you need faster air, not more air. That requires higher pressure from your lungs in pushing out the air, but just enough air to keep the notes going. You want to save the rest for the measures to come. So do long notes on fast air until you run out, take a deep breath from the diaphragm, and continue playing. One way to tell if you're using too much air is if you can play really loudly but with a really smoky tone.