Breathing

Hi HOD's

I recently noticed during my playing not breathing at all sometimes or badly during fast licks, fast tunes etc. while I never did this before. Suddenly I did this and was it a habit and I really want to get rid of this fast. The licks and grooves sounds tensed and my wrists are locking themselves up. Does any of you have experienced this also in his playing for a while? And are there some of you into yoga or into similar techniques where it comes to breathing? How do I stop not breathing, eh [img]confused.gif[/img]

Well, unconciousness should cure you of that problem pretty quickly.

Seriously, you could just practice doing it correctly. Play those same fast licks or tunes and focus on breathing evenly and staying relaxed. It's probably something you just have to relearn to do correctly. I've nothing against Yoga or anything like it, but it seems like a detour from just solving the problem to me.

I know that watching your breathing is something recommended by many advanced drummers. It really turns into a science, becaue I am sure there are many ways to do it. I must admit that I hardly ever pay close attention to how I breath. I am really not familiar with any special techniques, but I would assume that regular, slow breathing can't be wrong.

I have the same problem... but I usually find myself humming or holding my breath for intense/fast parts/fills. It's really bad actually and most of the time I don't even notice it because I have been doing it for so long... the only time I notice is if I hear myself humming louder than my drums or if I seem to get tired/run out of breath quickly. It's terrible and really wears me out sometimes! I'm trying to find ways around this too. Great topic, I'll be checking back.

That humming phenomenon is pretty common I thik. To my knowledge, I don't do it. My drum teacher certainly does! If he records something for me you can hear it best.

Has anyone checked out the Vinnie clinic excerpt posted by Steve on HOD.com? At one point you can hear him humming too. That's actually where I first discovered it.

I'm humming all over the place sometimes. I don't see it as a bad thing, people usually just makes a joke out of it.

Concerning the breath issue, I highly recommend you checking out the Omar Hakim "express yourself" VHS/DVD he talks alot about it, also about giving space to your chest while playing etc.

some serious great stuff to think about while practicing!

Ya the Omar vid is great for that. Peter Erskine also talks about it a bit. I'd say just play the difficult thing you're working on (lets say a fast tune), and keep playing it over and over, locate the tension, and concentrate on loosening up and breathing better. You'll notice you'll feel more relaxed within a couple of repitions.

Heh i went to a rehearsal and paid attention to my breath, and it clearly improved my facility on the fast singles around the set! [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]

Thanks for putting this up! you quickly make bad habbits if you're not aware of them sneaking up from behind! [img]graemlins/angel.gif[/img]

The reason why humming is not so great is because when you hum, you don't breathe! It's the very opposite... like exhaling. I find that I do this for long periods and then take short breaths, thus the problem... I will check out what Omar and Peter have to say about this for sure.

I think it's just something that has to become part of your overall technique. Focus on it for some time and then it will become second nature.

Back in my drum corps days this topic was a big focus in our development. Not only were we drummers but we had to be conditioned athletes too. I remember personally breathing in tempo with the music whenever things got tense. In for 8 beats out for 8 beats; things along that nature.

Pretty much anything that doesn't help you do what you're trying to do should be viewed as a "bad" thing (holding your breath, weird motions, facial contortions, grip anomalies, etc.). Humming will cause you definite problems when recording. You don't want to force the engineer to try and EQ out some pitch you're humming, screwing up your drum sound.

Keith Jarrett and others have had the same problem.

Thanks for all the input from you guys, I will definitely check out Omar's and Erskine's vids. Indeed Klemme, that bad habits sneak in very fast. When I played three groupings of 5 and had to play the last sixteenth with my foot and another one to be on the 1 again, I noticed that during the groupings I put my bassdrum downwards what resulted in a soft or too late bassdrum note. When you discover this it takes you long to get rid of this again. Just stupid mistakes but hey, we are only human [img]graemlins/smarty.gif[/img]

Yep. I'd gotten into this very same habit long ago, of humming, which is, like was said, basically prolonged exhaling, & then having to breath quickly to "catch up"...not nec a good thing...

As was said, yes; just focus on relaxing the breathing, & "evening it out," for your next couple of wks of practicing/jamming, whatnot...treat it like an adaptation of technique, think about it while playing, & sometimes when not, focusing on it...it'll straighten out.

Rod M used to do this a LOT [humming]. So does M Camilo, & other pnsts...I think I've heard the Tooch doing it during some of his amazing bass solos.

Haven't heard too many horn players who do it, tho... [img]graemlins/gulp.gif[/img] [img]wink.gif[/img]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ June 02, 2005 12:37 AM: Message edited by: got_a_match_grip? ]</font>

I've been singing for as long as I've been playing drums. A percussionist I worked with in college noticed that I was breathing in phrases when I play much the same as a horn player or vocalist and I attribute that to having been a backup singer for so long.

You might want to find a good voice teacher and take a couple of breathing lessons. Just let him or her know what you are trying to accomplish. Learning to breath in phrases can be extremely valuable to a drummer. If your body is breathing with the music it stands to reason that your playing will too.

Rythm makes a good point. If you breathe like a singer you wont be tightening your throat, neck, and chest. If you find yourself humming, loosen your throat and upper body and direct your attention to your stomach muscles and breathe from there. You can isolate these muscles by lying on the floor and do "push-ups" with your stomach. Lift yourself off the floor when you breathe in, hold it for a second, slowly exhale and go back slowly to the floor. It helps if you turn your head, with one arm at your side and one extended on the floor upwards. Try not to over do it cause you will feel like you did a thousand crunches.

For me, breathing becomes sort of a posture check. If I'm slouching I become aware of it if my breathing is not right. Sometimes I'm amazed at the drummers who do hum. Listen to some of the clinic stuff that Vinnie does. Very insightful. The Bonham stuff that someone posted was quite ear opening as well. I love Keith Jarrett's playing but after a while he starts sounding like a bad Jerry Lewis imitation. Ugh!!!

Clint