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Derek Reaban · 06-28-2006, 11:07 PM

Glenn,

I had a discussion on TH and pulled a reference to March Slav that might be helpful to you:

I found an old TPIN post that I wrote in Jan 2002 that gives a good example of what happens when I was taking too many breaths!

TPIN Post---------------------------

I found myself referring to the book Song and Wind this past week due to some breathing problems that I had encountered in Tchaikovsky's March Slav. I was covering the 1st Piston part for March Slav in an all Marches concert with the Mesa Symphony this past weekend. I was amazed at how difficult it was to get through this part, even though it didn't appear to be that demanding. At the tempo change on the last page (which has a repeat), I found myself grabbing a lot of quick breaths after the short fanfare lines. On the repeat, it was almost impossible to take a full breath.

I attributed this to the fact that I was in a mild state of Hyperventilation (i.e. extremely low levels of CO2 in my body). All the other players in the section were feeling this same sensation, claiming that they couldn't get enough air.

When I offered up the explanation that it wasn't that we couldn't get "enough air", it was that we had too much air, I found that I had to support my position. They all were very interested in the text in Song and Wind. The suggestion that I offered to successfully negotiate this part was to "postpone" breathing, and not take a breath even through there were many chances to breathe in any four bar section. If there was a beat or beat and a half of rest between these short phrases, I suggested that we force ourselves to delay our breathing. By doing this, normal accumulation of CO2 would result, and a full breath would be possible after four bars.

It was very difficult mentally to not breathe during these rests, but very surprisingly, this part was much more playable when approaching it in this way. It had been several years since I last read this book, and I was very pleased to be able to identify my "breathing problem" based on "stored knowledge". When I understood what the problem was, I was able to improve our entire musical product from a section perspective. The non-believers became believers very quickly when I had a perfect run of this section at the dress rehearsal!

06-28-2006, 11:07 PM	#3 (permalink)
Derek Reaban Mezzo Piano User Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Tempe, Arizona Posts: 616	Glenn, I had a discussion on TH and pulled a reference to March Slav that might be helpful to you: I found an old TPIN post that I wrote in Jan 2002 that gives a good example of what happens when I was taking too many breaths! TPIN Post--------------------------- I found myself referring to the book Song and Wind this past week due to some breathing problems that I had encountered in Tchaikovsky's March Slav. I was covering the 1st Piston part for March Slav in an all Marches concert with the Mesa Symphony this past weekend. I was amazed at how difficult it was to get through this part, even though it didn't appear to be that demanding. At the tempo change on the last page (which has a repeat), I found myself grabbing a lot of quick breaths after the short fanfare lines. On the repeat, it was almost impossible to take a full breath. I attributed this to the fact that I was in a mild state of Hyperventilation (i.e. extremely low levels of CO2 in my body). All the other players in the section were feeling this same sensation, claiming that they couldn't get enough air. When I offered up the explanation that it wasn't that we couldn't get "enough air", it was that we had too much air, I found that I had to support my position. They all were very interested in the text in Song and Wind. The suggestion that I offered to successfully negotiate this part was to "postpone" breathing, and not take a breath even through there were many chances to breathe in any four bar section. If there was a beat or beat and a half of rest between these short phrases, I suggested that we force ourselves to delay our breathing. By doing this, normal accumulation of CO2 would result, and a full breath would be possible after four bars. It was very difficult mentally to not breathe during these rests, but very surprisingly, this part was much more playable when approaching it in this way. It had been several years since I last read this book, and I was very pleased to be able to identify my "breathing problem" based on "stored knowledge". When I understood what the problem was, I was able to improve our entire musical product from a section perspective. The non-believers became believers very quickly when I had a perfect run of this section at the dress rehearsal! __________________ Derek Reaban Tempe, Arizona