Hey J.B.!
I saw you guys playing on the Düsseldorf Jazz Rally. It was the first time I saw you TB4Q live on stage and it was really great. For me as a tenor sax beginner, I was specially astonished when you hold one tone with your circular breathing technique. I've read some stuff on this, but I could never figure out how it is done. Can you give me some advice how you started practicing this?
I saw that you are playing in Düsseldorf in June 26th again. Can you please tell me where it is exactly?
Thanx a lot and keep it up!
Yours Philipp




Hi Philipp, Circular
Hi Philipp,
Circular breathing takes a LOT of practice.
The idea is to breath out about half of your air in your lungs and then fill your cheaks with air. While pushing out the air in your cheaks with the cheak muscles take a fast breath in through the nose and start blowing again from the lungs. In the beginning make sure you don't blow to loud otherwise you'll run out of air.
First start with developing your cheak muscles. Play a high G note with puffed cheaks and breath in through your nose. Breathing in through your nose should give a "low" breath. Your about to feel a burning sensation in your cheaks meaning that your muscles are growing. Also, in the beginning the pitch of the note will drop because of the lack of tension on the reed.
After a few days of doing this try to breath in while still pushing the air with cheak muscles.
After practising this you'll need to try and shift from cheak to lungs again.
Don't despare, it will probably take you about six months before you'll succeed to do the full circular breathing sequence without losing tone.
Practise, practise and practise every day and you'll get there.
Success,
JB
Concert 26 June / 28 June
Hello some gig info
We are playing the 26 of June in the park of Düsseldorf for the Künstlerverein Malkasten start at 6 p.m and the 28 of june 12:00 Uhr (new gig) in UERIGE Obergärige Hausbrauerei GmbH Berger Strasse 1 40213 Düsseldorf
Thx
Bird