Prac. Tech: Breathing

[The Bash]

Hey, I think it's an important subject.
Maybe we can offer advice on breathing Techs. for maxium practice and performance. I find breathing a key part or should be a key part of one's warm ups as well.
Actually I got plenty to add on the subject, but I gotta formulate a thought first :)
Anyone beats me back here have at it.

[The Bash]

I have a blessing/curse. It’s called ADD. Now, I’ve never been officially diagnosed, but, of about 50 classic symptoms I’m batting .950. I should have been a Ball Palyer J.
Now I might have been (would have been) a little reluctant to admit that (never in a million years), had it not been for Jon Finn. He wrote a very nice column about it in Guitar Player for The Practicing Musician several years back. A few years latter after he stop writing his column, which along with Steve Morse’s Open Ears was my favorite, I emailed Jon thanking him for his great insights. Epically for the ADD article. Jon mailed me back (wadda cool guy) admitting it scared him to write that. That it was one of the hardest things he ever did. But felt it was important because IT IS VERY COMMON among creative people. I agree and so I’m doing the same. If Jon can do it so can I.

Now my little rambles not about ADD (though I think it’s important). It’s about the fact I can guarantee that someone (many) reading this has it too.
It is a blessing in the fact it really can spur creativity, can allow to focus in on mundane task for hours on end, if, and only if, They Don’t Bore You.
It is a curse in that among other things it can cause your mind to wander during tasks that do bore you.
As much blessing as curse is the fact your Brain (least my brain) Never Shuts Up.

This is a Love/Hate relationship with Music. Unfortunately there opposite ends of the same spectrum and you can have one without the other.
A wandering mind can be creative, turning things over and over till you view things in a newfound light. But what of simple (not so hip tasks) like basic exercises. Take the PG lick for example that things so Boring to just do over and over. Boom my minds gone. However as a defensive mechanism to alleviate boredom I get creative, make up variations etc. When all the fun spills outta that I’m back to daydreaming, or my conscious minds talking back at me over and over, and he’s generally not very encouraging. I need to give him something to do. What?
Breath.

The act of merely focusing on breath will give you’re (I gotta be number one) conscious mind something to pacify himself with so you can let your subconscious mind do his job. I do this when my mind starts talking back at me. I do before I ever practice (cause some days my mind’s in rare form) to calm him down. If I don’t I’m just wasting my time practicing anything. You can play the same licks/exercises over and over but you’re only getting out of it what your minds putting into it.

When first learning a new lick/ex/song we NEED that (I gotta be number one) conscious mind. He won’t be there for me if I don’t first calm him down by doing sum basic meditation or simple breathing. Cause nothings getting in with him jabbering away at me.

Now once we know the lick/ex or waddever, and are certain we are doing well, we no longer need mr. (I gota be number one) conscious mind. We need his far more intelligent subconscious counterpart. In this case I find giving him something do do: watch T.V, read, or focus on Breath. Helps get him out of the way.

I find breathing essential to myself in performance situation. I used to be a basket case. If I had the luxury of Gary Moore and actually hadda a dressing room I for one be locking myself in it till the light go down and it’s time to RnR. I found simple breathing and meditation that u can do, with practice, in a Club full of screaming drunk people, to be VERY Helpful to getting me in the right state of mind. The Band would go to the parking lot to achieve that (I guess) I would sit and breath in waddever little safe haven I could find. Ok, sure people thought I was a little out there, but lucky it’s an occupation were that’s not only expected it’s kinna seen as being hip.

Anyway that’s my little novelette on a few reasons why I think Breath an important part of one’s musical experience, be it practicing or performance.

So if anyone any little relaxtion/breathing/warm up tech they wanna share fire away.
I'd offer a few of mine, but typing bores me :)

[EricV]

Hey Bash,
thanks for sharing that with us.
Well, first of all, I gotta say that practising / playing always was a certain kind of meditation to me. Seriously.
When I was a kid, I really had a bad temper, would always kick into a tantrum whenever something didn´t work out. Like, one day, I was playing a game on one of those old Atari consoles, and I lost, I started screaming and one day, I actually stuck a screwdriver into it. ( Broke it, too ).
So, you could say I lacked self-control and was easily aggrivated.

Playing guitar immediately had a special effect on me. It soothed me in a certain way. I´d sit down, even on the first day I owned my first guitar, and just "zoned out" ( This is one of my favorite terms, I use it quite often to describe the state I´m in when I play )
It certainly had an effect on my general behaviour... no more tantrums anymore. I think playing the guitar, practicing stuff taught me how to deal with hard tasks.
You know, if I try to play something and I can´t, I slow it down a bit more and simply try again. Cuz I know that eventually, I´ll get it. I can see that I am getting closer each time I try.
And that influenced my way of dealing with things.

So, then, one day Rose introduced me to Yoga and breathing techniques, like that circular breath. I immediately felt that it in some way was kinda similar to playing. You focus a lot, you use breathing techniques like the circular breath to do so, and you kinda "zone out" when you do certain exercises, or the meditation-type relaxation at the end of the session ( again, can´t spell the name of it... :) )

So I tried to combine both. I started to use that breath when I was practising. All of a sudden, my attention span increased quite a bit. I was even more relaxed and focussed.
Imagine it like this: You wanna read a book, and reading it combined with picking up everything that´s going on around you exhausts your attention span in a certain amount of time. FOr some, it´s rather quickly, for others, it can be a long time.

Now imagine you find a method to turn of everything but the senses necessary to read, comprehend and "digest" the book. All you do is focus on the book. You are not diverted by anything that´s happening around you. If there are no diversions eating up some of your attention, you have more attention to use on reading the book.
It´s like that with playing the guitar and practising. These days, I often don´t have a lot of hours to practice daily. Instead, I often get like 30 minutes in the morning, 15 in the afternoon, an hour at night.
But I think I can squeeze everythign out of even 10 minutes, cuz once I pick up the guitar, I soon "zone out". I turn off everything around me, if I´m nervous or aggrivated, I can clam down by doing circular breath, and if I have to do repetitive, mechanical exercises like the PG-lick, I really turn off everything but the things necessary to play it and make sure it´s accurate.
omethign similar happens on stage, or when I am recording, but that´s a whole other story. Maybe I´ll get into it later, but I wrote too much already, and I´m again about to head out of the door *sigh*

One other example. I do a lot of travelling, i.e. in the car or by train. When you i.e. have a 6 hour train ride, it can exhaust you, if you pay attention to everything that´s going on... the landscape outside, the people shuffling around in the wagon, etc.
When I do have such a ride, I try to zone out and calm down. I dont pay much attention to what´s going on around me, I just look for a fixation point and zone out. And I noticed that 6 hours of train ride are like... I dunno, feel like half an hour to me.
And I feel quite relaxed when it´s over...

Blah Blah...
Off to the looney-bin, I guess
Eric

[CaptainCarma]

thanks to "the bash", for opening this thread, ´cause as I´ve mentioned in one of the others, I´m really interested in your thoughts and experiences towards this topic.
and of course, thanks for sharing this very personal experiences with us.

it was yesterday, that I checked out rose´s homepage. I haven´t had the chance to read through all of her articles carefully, but in one I really focused on, she descibes the "circular breathing" - technique, eric mentioned. the "funny" thing is, that I had to recognise, that I always use this technique unconciously in situations in which I´m confronted with anxiety or stress, even though I was never introduced to this.
now with all of your insight information, I hope to "perfect" it, to use it as a helpful tool and to use it more conciously...

again, thanks a lot to both of you...



Marc

[The Bash]

Music really is a meditation. It's the only time I ever really feel alone with my real self. My image self, that which is created by those around you may be on stage playing, but the real self is locked in there somewhere. Playing and be "IN The Zone" kinna bypasses the image self. I've often be in the zone, eyes closed, only to look down and see myself playing. No Drugs. Its hard to explain but anyone's ever experienced that knows what I mean.
I could ramble sum more myself but I gotta run as well :)

[d7th]

2000 posts :)

[CaptainCarma]

you´re right bash. I do know this meditative musical situations. I do experience this very often, nowadays. I do lay down, close my eyes and of course, as you mentioned, perceive myself from an outer view. these are always the most satisfiing musical situations, both for me and the audience, ´cause ít´s not just me playing, it´s just like the universe running through my hands, transformed into music.
BUT, till today, I´ve never build a bridge between this experiences and breathing.
I think that I´ve gone in some way full circle now.
thanks again...


Marc

[icecakes]

thanks to all of you for taking an interest in this topic cuz I do believe learning breathing techniques is a vital part of making yourself able to process things in general , better.
One of the hardest things I have ever had to do was sit still for 30 minutes. I was in a class and I thought I was going to die. My back hurt, I was complining in my head saying all kinds of negative things about the nut job who was telling me to sit still. When now I am doing the same to my students. lmao
Like Eric had said about the train rides. I could fly myself to LA from NY and not budge at this point. Once I was on a plane and we couldn't take off and it was hot and they shut the air. Everyone was getting frustrated and started making fans from magazine papers. I just sat there and observed and with breathing techniques got myself through the ordeal. It is important for many facets in life. You can do so much more when the brain is able to slow down and work vs. run around like a chicken with out a head on. It is naturally calming to hear yourself breath. When was the last time u listened to your breath? Do u even know what it sounds like? I know what mine sounds like....
I will always answer any ?'s u have on breathing and will post a few exercises that Im sure WILL help u in your playing as well as manage some unwanted thoughts or worries anyone may have. It is all about letting go. Learning how to let go is the key.

Here is something else to think about.
Do this...and while inhaling pay attention to your body movements k..
Take a big breath in.. inhaling..now let it out..exhale.
When u inhaled did your belly inflate (kinda like a basketball) or did it stay still or move inward? Im guessing the latter.
I say this cuz as the humans we are we have conditioned ourselves to tense up . When u inhale u should breath out through the belly.. like a baby does. Ever watch a baby breath? When they inhale their bellies rise and when exhaling their bellies fall..My favorite yoga line when I teach..Feel the belly rise, feel the belly fall..

You can practice this by laying on the floor and placing your hands on your belly. Always have your chin tucked in to your neck so your spine is straight. When inhaling press the air out and through the abdominal walls, as if there were a basketball in ur belly...then release the air and feel the belly falll. You can almost feel it working as you are not. Try it and LMK

Now that I have taught class tonight and now am breathing through my belly to explain this im beat and going to beddie bye...
night guys..

~Me

NP Victor Wooten live amazing grace

[EricV]

Told you guys... she knows way more about this then I do, and can explain it better, too :)

Oh, and regarding post No.2000... uhmmm... well, I guess since we recently had forum-post no.10000 I should start to think seriously think about the fact that I made about a fifth of those posts... I guess I need to get out more :)
Eric

[Darran]

Could you post a link to Rose's Website here?

Cheers

[CaptainCarma]

the link to her site can be found in her profile...