| If I may respectfully disagree,
The term support is extremely misunderstood when it comes to wind playing. As a result of many a teacher and/or music director saying "Support!", then pounding his stomach as an accompanying gesture, it has become a misimpression that support means to tighten the abdominal area.
It does not.
Support is critical to expelling air for a wind player. Support is the gradual inward movement of the abdomen as the lungs deflate. It is easier to notice this when we play a loud low C and more difficult to discern when we play two octaves higher because the resistance is greater.
Your abdomen kicks in when you sneeze, cough, or sigh. Try stiffening your abdomen during any one of those actions and you'll decrease the efficiency of that action. I believe, PH, that's what you're advising against as would I. The term support is about gradual inward movement, not stiffness.
Eric, if you just sit without playing and notice that your abs and chest expand out when you inhale, you'll also notice that when you blow out a candle without forming an embouchure, rather like a little kid instead, your abs move naturally inward. You have probably been subverting nature by holding your abs tense instead of letting them shrink naturally when you blow out.
ML |