Breath support – a journey of discovery

In this article, we will look at the “physiology of breathing”. I will invite you on a journey of discovery with the alphorn. But first a bit of theory: we can imagine the respiratory system as an air bag. During exhalation, it is compressed from different sides. This compression causes the air pressure to rise. This (over)pressure must be regulated precisely. Singers need about 3-20 millibars (the louder, the more). Trumpet players 40 to 150 millibars. For alphorn players, the value should be somewhere in between; 20 to 80 millibars? That is considerable, but not brutal. For comparison: it takes around 200 millibars to inflate a balloon. Playing the alphorn does not require brute force.

When the valve opens, the music begins: air flows out of the bag and generates vibrations as it passes by. In order to maintain the pressure, the air sac must now be continuously and precisely compressed by a fine interplay of all the muscles involved. It is a movement – the continuous accompaniment of the air flow through contraction (reduction in volume). The following muscle groups are involved in the contraction:

At the top, the lungs (our air bag, light blue in the picture) are restricted by the ribs. This corset is comparatively rigid; there is an intercostal musculature consisting of external muscles (which open the space when we inhale) and internal muscles (which compress the rib cage when we exhale, #1 in the picture above). The chest muscles also support exhalation. At the bottom, the air bag lies on the diaphragm (#2, yellow). This contracts downwards when you inhale, thereby increasing the space. When you exhale, the diaphragm bulges upwards again. During this part of the movement, the muscle relaxes, which means that the diaphragm itself does not actively contribute to exhalation. Instead, the pressure in the abdominal cavity (intra-abdominal pressure) triggers the movement. This pressure arises from the interaction of the muscles that surround the abdominal organs, especially the abdominal muscles (#5), the lateral abdominal muscles (#4), the back muscles (#3) and the pelvic floor (#6).

The central question of breathing technique is therefore: through which movement sequences do we achieve a steady, powerful and finely dosed contraction? Standard answer: breathing support, blah blah blah. In fact, there are numerous treatises and chapters in textbooks on support, but most of them are not scientifically sound – contradictory and nonsensical to boot. An AI research on breathing technique, for example, recites the widespread story of the “antagonistic principle”. According to this, muscles should work against each other during exhalation in order to regulate pressure. What nonsense! Not only would that be inefficient, but the argument also mixes up static air pressure and dynamic air flow. In practice, the concept of breath support creates problems instead of solving them. The deliberate attempt to intervene in the complex movement sequences usually only ends in bungling and cramp (e.g. deliberate tightening of the abdominal muscles leads to obstruction in the larynx). This is why many singing and wind instrument teachers now avoid the term breath support.

Here’s an alternative approach: get in touch with the muscles involved in breathing and let your body do the rest. The idea is to feel into your breathing. Consciously feel the interplay between muscles/movement and sound/musicality. Here are a few exercises that you can use to embark on a journey of discovery to the origin of the alphorn sounds deep within your body.

1: Touch

The aim of this exercise is to make direct contact with all the muscles involved in breathing.

To do this, feel the different muscles with your fingers and hands. Start with the back muscles. Place your hands at your sides with your thumbs touching your back and your other fingers at the front of your stomach. Breathe in; notice how the muscles are completely relaxed. Then exhale sharply in bursts. Do you notice how the muscles in your back tense as you exhale? You can also cough (the back muscle is sometimes called the “cough muscle”). Also try to tense and relax the muscles independently of your breathing. Now move your hands forward and repeat the exercise with the side abdominal muscles and the front abdominal muscles. For the lateral abdominal muscles, you can reach under the lowest rib with your fingers. For the pelvic floor, you can feel the muscles between your legs. Place your middle and ring fingers on the perineum and exhale in bursts or cough. Try to consciously tighten the pelvic floor as you exhale. You can also use your fingers to feel other muscles in the pelvic floor in a differentiated way. Then focus on the chest muscles. Gently place both hands on your sternum and feel how the underlying muscles contract as you exhale.

2: Deep breathing

The aim of this exercise is to activate diaphragmatic breathing. It is the basis of relaxed alphorn blowing. If you are still fervently blowing the alphorn with chest breathing, you should first read my basic course here.

A sound from the depths is a wonderful journey of discovery in itself. Stand relaxed, breathe out completely; then let the air flow into your belly; wait a short moment and then start the sound on the alphorn. Focus completely on the quality of the sound. Feel how the flow of air from the center of your body shapes the sound. Repeat. Feel which muscles accompany the flow of air. Remain soft and relaxed. Try to actively accompany the flow of air with the different muscle groups and always listen carefully to the sound. You can also place your hands / fingers on the corresponding muscles again. How does the sound change when you accompany the flow of air with the different muscle groups? Observe carefully how the tension steadily increases with a long tone.

3: Phrases

The aim of this exercise is to combine the breathing movement with musical expression. Start with a very short phrase. Try to play the phrase like a short piece of music with elegant dynamics (loud-quiet) and agogics (fast-slow) – you can, but don’t have to, follow the instructions in the notation. Now repeat and first use your pelvic floor to accompany the dynamics (push into the initial impulse or the crescendo/decrescendo with your pelvic floor); observe the effect on sound and expression. If it helps, place your fingers on the perineum again to perceive the tension in the pelvic floor. Do the same with the flanks and abdominal muscles.

Then switch to a longer phrase. Observe how the different breathing muscles accompany this longer change in dynamics and how this changes the expression and sound.

Allow yourself to deviate from the rigid alphorn blowing pose; for example, hold the horn with only one hand and accompany the phrase gesturally (e.g. with a round movement) with the other hand. Observe carefully how this affects your breathing and musicality. Then try to reproduce the same effect without gestures.

4: Perpetum mobile

The aim of this exercise is a long and steady flow of air. Take the shortest phrase above and play it 20 times in a row without breathing in between. The whole thing should be a gentle movement, ideally as a continuous decrescendo. Feel your different breathing muscles carefully (if it helps you, again with your hands or fingers on the floor). How does the bow change when you accompany the dynamic with the flank muscles / pelvic floor / abdominal muscles? Above all, make sure that the sound remains round and beautiful until the last repetition.

You will find that this long bow works best with maximum relaxed diaphragmatic breathing (if you concentrate on chest breathing, you will run out of air very quickly and the sound will seem compressed).

5: Smorzando

The aim of this exercise is to control a very, very fine flow of air. Blow a nice note, hold it and slowly become quieter and quieter(decrescendo). Approach a piano pianissimo extremely slowly but steadily. At some point, the sound will die; continue to blow the fine air flow until you run out of air (ideally, the air will continue to flow, only the sound will die). Observe the individual muscle groups carefully as they gently accompany the dying sound.

Deliberately keep the tension until the end. You will notice that the breathing muscles are not only used to play high and loud, but also – or above all – to shape the sound.

6: Interval training

The aim of this exercise is to use your breathing muscles to blow larger leaps of sound roundly and effortlessly. Follow the model below (you can of course choose a different starting note and other intervals).

Work only on the effortless flow at first. Start with small intervals and increase as long as the transitions work smoothly. It will become difficult somewhere; stay in this area. Now consciously try to use the different muscle groups in the upward movement. For example, start by gently supporting each upward movement with the pelvic floor muscles (again, place two fingers on the pelvic floor if it helps). It is important to remain gentle and musical – pay attention to a beautiful sound and smooth transitions. Consciously try to put the force into the low note of the movement (as notated) – the upward slur then goes effortlessly; don’t push the legato upwards.

Then try to accompany the phrases with dynamics and agogics. You can follow the indications in the notation above, with accelerandeo / crescendo, then riterdando / decrescendo. Or you can find your own expression. Consciously accompany the expressive elements with your breathing muscles. Can you feel the expression flowing out of your body?

7: Belly gusset

The aim of this exercise is to use the breathing muscles precisely and crisply. Gsätzli from the Muotathal are suitable for this. Below is an excerpt from a piece by Hans Kännel.

Play everything legato, but put clear accents on each note by pressing each note (giving a pinch from the belly). Try to play boldly and crisply. Lighty. Use the different breathing muscles. Do the same with your own pieces.

My personal travel report

The starting point for my exploration of the physiology of breathing was an intensive conversation with a professor of functional voice training. She explained to me how opera singers use specific physiological knowledge to make entire concert halls vibrate with their voices. I wanted to adopt these ideas for the alphorn during the winter months and spent hours experimenting. At first I was interested in relaxed high notes on the Büchel, i.e. power. But soon my focus shifted to organic movements, fine control and expression. Instead of body building, I ended up dancing. I later realized that the journey of discovery described above had many parallels with established schools: the Alexander Technique, the Feldenkrais Method and, above all, resonance teaching.

The exercises above are now an integral part of my daily training. I currently spend around 1/3 of my practice time on them. My subjective impression is that the exercises help me to root my musicality deep in my body; my playing has become smoother and more fluid. I have also gained half an octave on the Büchel.

And another tip: the pelvic floor! Many alphorn players are at an advanced age. Google the effects of a weakened pelvic floor. Daily practice on the alphorn keeps you young.

Further information

• Here is a 3D anatomy model that shows how breathing works
• Robert Kreutzer appears prominently in Google searches for breathing technique. He has been fighting old habits for years. For my taste, his books are a little thin for the price, but he is nevertheless right in his criticism of traditional teaching methods.
• Here is a scientific article from 2018 that attempts to bring together current knowledge about breathing from different disciplines. Above all, it shows how rudimentary our scientifically proven knowledge is.
• The Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts has compiled a whole collection of doctrines on breathing technique.