Band Teaching Tips 2 - Better Technique Through Air by John Skelton

In my previous article, I discussed how to get a good deep breath. Now, I would like to talk about using air properly. Initially, I was going to call this "the importance of air", but some people might think that a bit of a truism. Ironically, many beginning wind players are taught without a reminder that it is indeed air that makes their music.

The problem comes from the fact that we use the term "technique" very vaguely. We tend to assume that it has to do with our fingers, when in fact it refers to anything (especially of a mechanical nature) that is required to produce a tone on an instrument. Breathing is just as mechanical as the raising and lowering of fingers (both involve sets of muscles, after all) and is actually more important because you can hit those keys as much as you want, but if there's no air, you're just typing.

The good news is that the elements of technique (air and fingers) are correlated. To really understand how they work together though, it is necessary to understand that every note has a certain 'resistance' to it. In the case of woodwinds, this resistance is based upon how many fingers are used overall, and which ones. In the case of brass, resistance is simply a matter of how much tubing is in use. If you want a really good example of resistance as a variable, play over the break on a clarinet.

First, we have to assume that these instruments are in good working order. Typically, they are not. (Most school instruments are full of leaks regardless of how often they get fixed, which is why kids have to start off with such soft reeds.) But, let's just assume that they play up and down the scale.

Next, when we reach something that is difficult "technically" (again, usually a function of the fingers and sometimes the articulation), we tend to do the very thing that guarantees failure: we focus on our fingers and forget about the air. Then, we wonder why we can't get it smooth and even.

I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't fix your fingering combinations. However, if you focus on your air, you WILL be successful. Whatever the strategy for mastering the passage (i.e. slowing it down, using rhythms, isolating and working backward, etc.), you must blow through the phrase to move the music forward. It will be more accurate AND more musical at the same time. This is because you are overcoming the variations in resistance between the notes; smoothing out the irregularities with the one thing that actually makes a sound.

A great analogy for this is cycling. In order to maintain control while steering or shifting, you have to pedal. It doesn't matter how steep the hill or rough the road, you need motion to move. As my college professor often said, "Music is sound in motion." So, keep the motion in the sound and use that air to connect the notes. Your fingers will follow.