Breathing exercises for brass players

Brass instruments run on air. Your lips only buzz as well as your air moves them, so a full, relaxed breath and a steady stream of air are the foundation of a good sound on trumpet, horn, trombone, euphonium, and tuba. These exercises take a few minutes a day, and most of them don't need your instrument.

Why breathing matters for your sound

Air starts your lips buzzing and keeps them buzzing. When the air is steady, the sound is full and the pitch holds still. When it's weak or uneven, the sound gets thin or fuzzy, notes wobble, and high notes crack.

Many players press the mouthpiece harder or squeeze their lips when what they really need is better air. Fixing the air first usually fixes more than you'd expect.

How to take a full breath

• Breathe low. Your belly, sides, and lower back grow. Your shoulders stay where they are.
• Open wide. Breathe through your mouth with an open "oh," like a relaxed yawn. Brass players often need a big breath fast, so the mouth and throat need to be open.
• Quiet is good. A loud, gasping breath means your throat is tight, so less air gets in.
• Fill up, don't stuff. Breathe until you feel full, not until it hurts. Too much air makes you tense.
• Bring the instrument to you. Holding a heavy instrument up pulls your shoulders up. Rest the tuba on your lap or a stand, and sit tall with both feet flat.

Try it with one hand on your belly and one on your chest. The bottom hand should move first, and the most.

Breathe and play in one motion

The breath and the note should be one motion: air in, then straight out into the instrument, with no stop between. If you breathe in and hold the air, your throat closes, and the note starts late or with a bump.

• Think of a swing. It goes back and comes forward with no pause at the top. Your air turns around the same way.
• Breathe in the tempo of the music. Most players breathe on the beat just before they come in. In 4/4, that's beat 4: one, two, three, breathe, play. The exercise below shows how.
• Let the tongue release the air, with "tah" or "dah," right as the air turns around.

Steady air on the way out

Once the note starts, keep the air moving at the same speed until the very end.

• Let your body do the work. Your belly and sides move slowly back in as you blow. Keep your throat open.
• Higher notes need faster air, and lower notes need slower air. Faster isn't louder: think of a thinner, quicker stream. See how to play high notes on trumpet.
• Warm air, not cold. Blow like fogging a window, not like cooling soup.
• Stay steady to the end. Most notes sag at the end, when you're running low. Blow the last count as steadily as the first.

Bigger instruments, more air

Bigger brass instruments have wider tubing and bigger mouthpieces, and they use more air on every note. In the same music, a tuba player breathes more often than a trumpet player.

Exercise: in for 4, out for 8

This is the basic breathing exercise, and it doesn't need an instrument. Breathe in for 4 counts, then blow out for 8 in one smooth, warm stream, as if you were playing a long note.

• Do it 4 times, then rest. If you feel dizzy, stop and breathe normally for a minute.
• Make the out longer. When 8 is easy, blow out for 12, then 16. Keep breathing in for 4.
• Then make the in shorter. Breathe in for 2, then for 1. Keep the breath just as full.
• For the longer patterns, count along with the metronome at 60.

Exercise: breathe in tempo

This one ties your breath to the beat. Count off, breathe on the last beat, and start the note right on 1.

• Start without the instrument, blowing out on "Play."
• Then add your instrument on a comfortable long tone.
• Change the tempo. At a faster tempo the breath is shorter, but it still takes the whole beat. Try it with the metronome at 60, 80, and 100.

Exercise: hold a paper on the wall

Hold a sheet of paper flat against a wall at mouth height, a few inches from your face. Take a full breath, let go of the paper, and blow to keep it there.

• Blow a steady, fast stream at the middle of the paper.
• Count how long it stays up. Try to beat your count each day.
• Flutters or slides down? Your air is speeding up and slowing down. Aim for an even stream, not a harder one.
• Make it harder by stepping back a little.

Exercise: lip buzz on one breath

Buzz your lips without the mouthpiece, on one full breath. Aim for 8 steady counts, then 12.

• Set your lips for "mmm" and blow until they buzz. If you're new to buzzing, start with how to make your first sound on trumpet or trombone.
• Hold one steady pitch the whole time, with no wobble.
• Buzz stopped? It usually means the air slowed down, not that your lips gave up. Breathe again and blow steadier.
• Keep it short. A few buzzes, then rest. Buzzing without the mouthpiece tires your lips quickly.

Exercise: mouthpiece sirens

On the mouthpiece alone, slide the buzz slowly up and back down, like a siren, all on one breath.

• Start in the middle of your range, go a little higher, then a little lower, and come back to the middle.
• Keep the sound connected, with no breaks or bumps as the pitch moves.
• Use the air, not pressure. Faster air going up, slower air coming down, and the same light mouthpiece pressure the whole time.
• Breathe in for 4, siren for 8. Then stretch it to 12.

Exercise: breathe with the mouthpiece on your lips

In music, there often isn't time to take the mouthpiece away to breathe. Practice a full breath through the corners of your mouth while the rim stays on your lips.

• Keep the rim touching your lips. Drop your jaw a little and let the air in at the corners.
• Come back to the same embouchure before the next note. Your lips shouldn't slide around on the rim.
• Long rest? It's fine to take the mouthpiece away for a bigger breath. Set it back in the same spot.

Planning breaths in music

Breathe where the music breathes: at the end of a phrase, at a rest, or after a long note. A comma above the staff is a breath mark. Your teacher may write them in, and you can add your own in pencil. Here's the same short tune in both clefs:

• Take the time from the note before the breath. Cut the long note a little short so the next phrase starts on time.
• Don't breathe in the middle of a slur or a tie, or in a run of fast notes.
• Breathe before you need to. Use the last good spot before you run out, not the first one after.
• Low brass breathe more often. Trombone, euphonium, and tuba players may need breath marks that trumpets don't. That's normal, so mark them.

Common mistakes

A 5-minute breathing routine

• 1 minute: in for 4, out for 8, with the breathe-along clicks.
• 1 minute: the paper on the wall.
• 1 minute: a lip buzz on one breath, then mouthpiece sirens.
• 1 minute: breathing in tempo on a long tone with your instrument.
• 1 minute: a phrase from your music, with every breath marked and taken on time.

Do it before your regular practice, as a warm-up. Then hold long tones with the tuner: a steady needle means steady air. In Brass Trainer, Play the Note is a good place to practice a full breath and a clean start on every note. For long tones and lip slurs, see how to get a better sound on trumpet or trombone.