Breathing

     Breathing, this is something that I didn't think I had to write on, because I thought everyone just knew how to breathe properly, however, a friend had trouble with breathing and playing the harmonica, so, I thought I should include a brief lesson on the proper way to breath.  First off, this just doesn't go for playing the harmonica, this goes for singing, or playing any type of blowing instrument.  I've had voice training and have sang for years and one of the first things my instructor focused on was breathing and how to breath appropriately. 

     First, breathing always should be stomach first...when you take a breathe in you should see your stomach moving out first then your chest...when you're breathing out, your stomach should reduce first.  Think of your lungs as a balloon...the bottom part of it will fill up first and the bottom part will deflate first.  Breathing like this will give you more then enough air to do any sort of blowing activity, whether it be playing an instrument or singing.  This is breathing from the diaphragm and you'll usually hear things like, "Support your diaphragm when singing", well, this basically means, fill your lungs properly, bottom of the lungs first, or seeing your stomach move as you play.   As with anything, practice makes perfect, and your lung capacity will expand the more you play, practice, etc.  So, if at first you feel a little out of breath playing, just know that time will make it easier and you'll learn better how to focus your breathing and control it.

     Certain songs on the harmonica will leave you feeling a little breathless at times.  When first playing a song with lots of draws, just try to find spots or a place you can pause to release some of the air.  We'll all run into a song here and there that will be in particularly hard to play at first, but thinking out the best method of air management for that song will allow you to find a way to play it.