circular breathing

TheScarecrow · Post by **TheScarecrow** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 12:27 pm

I can circular breathe no problem on oboe, but I can't on flute. My director says you can on flute, but puffing out my cheeks wrecks my flute embouchure so I can't inhale. Is it possible on flute? Any tips?

flutepicc06 · Post by **flutepicc06** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 12:44 pm

It's possible, but extremely difficult to do well on flute since the only resistance is that which you provide with your embouchure, and that is easily disrupted by trying to circular breathe. This creates an audible disturbance in the sound if you can even manage to get the circular breathing down, and is difficult to smooth out. I've seen estimates that it takes about 1 year of dedicated practice to learn to do it well, and quite frankly, circular breathing is NEEDED only in a VERY few pieces, so it's a much better use of your time to practice other parts of your playing. There is almost always a place where a breath can be taken that makes sense musically, even if it's difficult to find. In fact, circular breathing can often give the audience the sensation that THEY'RE out of breath just from listening to you. This is because they expect short breaks for breath within the music, and personally, I have no desire to give my audience a minor anxiety attack. If you really want to learn to circular breathe (which I'd personally advise against, as it's more of a gimmick than a useful tool for the most part), Robert Dick has a book that might help you called "Circular Breathing for the Flutist."

Serpentine · Post by **Serpentine** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 12:59 pm

here's a guy whose good at circular breathing, i assume, as i couldn't hear any breaths or time for him to
http://sunflute.com/pages/sounds/flight.mp3

remnantpark · Post by **remnantpark** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 1:54 pm

You can watch a man show an example of circular breathing on the flute perhaps this may help?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ddSSx7HsH0

apicultrice · Post by **apicultrice** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 4:52 pm

I have only recently gotten the hang of circular breathing, which is pretty sad because Robert was one of my teachers! I never really bothered to learn while studying with him.. The best way for me to learn was by blowing bubbles through a straw and trying to maintain the bubbles even as I took a breath through my nose. It's hard to translate to the flute, obviously, but I did it a few minutes a day on the headjoint, just through trial and error. I try to keep my abdominal muscles engaged and my lower abs kind of "aimed" towards the floor, so that my lungs have room to expand quickly.. I sniff air quickly through the nose while "shoveling" it out with my tongue. I learned it specifically for an Ian Clarke piece, but agree that it's not particularly useful. Just kind of a nice party trick!

I wish that I could be more helpful. Definitely check out Robert's book!

TheScarecrow · Post by **TheScarecrow** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 5:39 pm

Thanks a lot for the advice. On oboe and various other instruments it is very easy to circular breathe without causing anymore than a minute difference in sound. On the flute however, I could very rarely even continue the sound much less have good tone. Thanks again!

fluteguy18 · Post by **fluteguy18** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 7:45 pm

I would love to be able to circular breathe.... too bad that it is so hard to learn.

FLflutist · Post by **FLflutist** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 7:47 pm

Circular breathing to me is just usless. My band director sees it as a party gimmick or something like that... only useful if you want to impress people by saying "I can hold a note out FOREVER!!"

TheScarecrow · Post by **TheScarecrow** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 10:37 am

On oboe it comes in handy on long solos with few places to breathe. It is really hard not to end up with useless air in your lungs, so instead of having to let out air at one rest, and breath in again at the next breath you can circular breathe.