In my 2/99 column, I talked about playing very quiet notes, and how there was great musical value in playing very small, quiet notes. This time, I would like to talk about something related from the point of view of breath control.
I often ask beginners to play quiet notes for me. One thing that is very interesting is that the length of the notes they play is the same for small notes as for louder notes (and, since they are beginners, there is not much difference in volume between their loud and soft notes). This is because they don’t have very good control of how their breath leaves their lips, and, like air leaving a balloon, it all goes out at once.
What is required is breath control. The most basic form of breath control is not letting out any breath at all. For instance, when blowing long tones of Ro,people often start blowing out immediately after they have taken an in-breath.
This is one chance for exercising breath control they are wasting. Here is my advice. After you take your in-breath, pause very briefly before letting it out. And, when you do begin to breath out, begin the out-breath very slowly and gradually. Practice making the beginning of the out-breath ever more slow and ever more gradual. This will help you make great strides in controlling your breathing.
Large,short bursts of breath and sound are very important, but so are long, subtle pianissimo’s that seem to vanish into nothing.