Breathing

No technique is more important to good trombone playing than proper breathing. Sadly, no technique is as misunderstood as breathing.

I could fill page after page with information about breathing but for now, I’ll summarize the most common student mistakes:

1. Don’t do breathing exercises away from the horn and then do something different when you pick up the horn.

2. The most important part is the blowing. Focus on moving wind through the horn and don’t get preoccupied with how to inhale.

3. Move constant, steady air regardless of how you are moving the slide. Blow without hesitation across the partials and note changes.

4. High notes require fast air and low notes require slow air. Don’t mix these up or your range extremes will suffer.

5. Don’t be a belly dancing breather. Yes there is very important motion which occurs in the abdominal area when you breathe, but the motion is secondary to rib movement. Moving your tummy where your belly button is does not cause air to enter the body.

6. You can’t directly feel your diaphragm and you use your diaphragm every time you breathe. Don’t use misleading phrases like  “support with your diaphragm” because they imply that you can directly feel the diaphragm (you can’t) and that there is some other way to breathe that does not involve the diaphragm (there isn’t).

Here is a video about how to use breathing devices:

Here is a video discussing efficient breathing during technical passages:

Here are some additional resources to help you with your breathing:

Breathing is one of the most important fundamental skills for trombone playing because it provides the foundation for many of our other fundamentals including tone, articulation, range, endurance, intonation, flexibility, and phrasing. If you want to improve one of these important musical attributes, start by improving your breathing. The Breathing Book is a blended textbook and method book—it contains information about breathing and activities designed to help you use the knowledge as you play trombone. The Breathing Book is not an exercise book—it’s a “learn how to move” book and includes videos for some of the chapters and movements to clarify the content. The Breathing Book explores all the individual movements of breathing and, in the end, will help you coalesce them into a singular, well-coordinated, and organic motion.

“The Breathing Book provides clear and specific guidance to develop effective breathing skills, including maximizing air capacity, control, and power. The reader will find many great new ideas to simplify the process of inhaling and exhaling effectively, and even relaxing while practicing and performing. This book has given me ideas that I can incorporate into my own playing. Have fun exploring your most musical and relaxed breath!” – Peter Steiner, Trombone Soloist

Purchase The Breathing Book for Tenor Trombone

Purchase the Breathing Book for Bass Trombone