Breathing 1

Obviously shakuhachi playing is all about breath. The most common problems with intonation and expression are due to not breathing correctly, but when faced with a difficulty students often forget to go back and work on that fundamental skill. I've heard students blame their embouchure, their finger placement, their head position, and of course their flute for problems that were clearly breathing-related.

The basic technique is this:

1. Breathe in very deeply through the nose. Let the air fill your lungs from the bottom up. You should feel your abdomen expand like a balloon. Some people like to visualize the air pressing the diaphragm downward as they breathe in. The shoulders remain relaxed and motionless, though the chest cavity may "puff out" a little toward the end of the inhalation as you continue filling your lungs from the bottom up.

2. Press the breath out of your body, through your embouchure, by pulling your abdomen in. Keep squeezing the muscles in until you think you're completely out of breath, and then go a little further! Think of wringing out a towel of every last drop of water.

3. Once you've expelled the final bit of breath, simply close your mouth and relax your abdominal muscles. Air will come rushing back in through your nose and your lungs will fill automatically from the bottom up. Monitor your chest and shoulders to make sure they are not getting involved in the action (other than some incidental chest expansion toward the end of the in-breath).

This exercise can be practiced with or without a shakuhachi. Work slowly and carefully and you will find that it will benefit your playing -- and your health -- in many ways.