Saxophone breathing question?
I’ve only taken up sax a few months ago. When playing I find that when my lungs get fatigued, exhaling relieves it, not inhaling. Is the main root of this problem that I need more lung strength, or that I need to practice exhaling all my air quickly before taking in new air during a song, or do I need to do something else?
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Since you started only a few months ago, you’re still getting used to playing saxophone.
You’ll build up lung strength as you play.
A good exercise is called doing ‘long tones’ where you play notes for an extended period of time.
One exercise I do takes about 8 minutes. I spend one complete breath split between two notes. Then progress up and down chromatically one octave from low E to E.
Great post! I thought it would be the reverse – inhaling to relieve the lungs.
Can you tell me how early one can start learning the sax? I would like my son to learn because he always looks fascinated when he sees anyone playing the sax.