breathing

date: 02/06/14
orchestra: cyo
attendance: good!
repertoire rehearsed: beethoven again :)

little things i noticed: sorry for the lower caps. i'm typing on my phone, and i have this keyboard that can also type japanese, but it doesn't seem to be bothered about the small “details“ of the english language....

note:
yeah, i think i want to concentrate on breathing. i think it's too important not to.

when we speak, we almost always inhale immidiately before we say anything. for the most part, because we simply need to because we need air to speak.

and if anything we say is almost always preceded by a breath, then the breath is really a part of the speach. and almost always, we find that the breath we take before, shares the same characteristics as the nature of the topic. it forshadows the mood of the conversation, and in some cases, it is even the bigger part of the expression.

i bet you you've never thought about that before! :) but pay attention next time you are speaking with someone - you should almost be able to guess what the person is about to say, a split second before he/she actually says it. maybe not always, but for the most part.

when we play music, we make statements. usually, expressive statements... if breathing is such a big part of human expression, then it must be so when we play music as well. breathe before you play, every time - in time, and in character. this will change everything about how you play. you will also play much better together in an ensemble because we will hear each others' breaths. and i DO think that the audience SHOULD hear your breaths. after all, music is an expression. but of course, the breathing has to be sincere!

fake breathing (trying to compensate for the lack of expression in the sound by over breathing) can be quite ugly and annoying! i see it all the time among some professionals! i hate that!! keep em real. keep em real.

next time when you watch great players perform, really pay attention to their breathing - that's where a lot of things are!