Using your diaphragm for a big saxophone sound
John Coltrane had a marvelously robust tone and could play solos of considerable length. He obviously used his diaphragm properly.
The diaphragm is the muscular membrane that separates our abdominal and thoracic cavities. In other words it separates our chests from our stomachs and is located around the midriff. Now that’s much lower than many people realise and it’s all too easy to pick up our instruments and just blow in a lazy fashion. I know because I’m guilty of it myself sometimes.
Next time you pick up your saxophone, clarinet or flute, and put it to your lips, pause for a moment and check that you are relaxed. You will not get all the air you need unless you are. Then take a deep relaxed breath.
I mean really deep! Fill up with air. Feel it going right down to your stomach and then around your sides and back. Now that’s the kind of support you need for long notes, difficult high notes, nice rich low notes, very quiet notes, very loud notes, sub-tone notes, and powerful projection.
Your chest and midriff will have expanded somewhat by now (please note, this will definitely not improve your figure).
Now blow a long note and push from the diaphragm. I mean really push! The diaphragm acts as a bellows. As you blow, keep pushing until all the air is spent.
Incredibly long notes can be played this way without any need for fancy techniques such as circular breathing.
Remember to do this and those upper register notes on clarinet and flute and sax will be much easier to produce and sound stronger - so, too, will those low notes C down to B flat on sax. If you are a more experienced player then you may well, like me, need to remind yourself from time to time.
Any questions on this post? Have views about using our diaphragms? Post a comment. We’d love to hear your views.
