I've videoed myself playing some stuff and it's made me notice that I tend to hold my breath an awful lot, breathing out quickly and noisily here and there

I'm guessing this probably isn't right, but it seems to help my concentration... is there some sort of breathing technique I should be using?

I suppose that says a lot about my mental capacity - unable to play and breathe at the same time

Try playing the WTC all in one go
*evil smiley*

When I saw the title of this thread I thought immediately "Yes, it's a very good idea to do so......."

Try and breathe normally when playing, and try to avoid tension anywhere. The brain likes oxygen.

One of the things that came to light during the course of my Alexander Technique sessions was that I speak in the same way as I played my clarinet, ie long phrases until I run out of breath. It also came to light that the reason why I get breathless when I run up a flight of stairs is because I hold my breath whilst I'm doing it Once you're aware of what you do, you can change it. I've had to try and alter my speaking pattern so that breathing on the clarinet comes more naturally. You might find that it's not just on the piano that you breathe in this way but you're not aware of it. There again, you might not...

Try some Alexander Technique sessions

In addition to fingering, you could write "BREATHE" in places on the score!

LOL... "IN", "OUT" alternating across each bar

I seriously don't know why I do it, but I think I do the same as Skylark did when speaking.

If I'm pausing on a note, for example, I will not breathe out until I play the next one... I'm just weird

I will definitely look up Alexander Technique locally...... ta!

My thought as well.

Best to keep on doing so as long as you can.

It is worth looking at the music you are playing and imagining singing it or playing it on a woodwind instrument (maybe even try singing it, and see where the natural breaths fall). Breathe in before you start to play and exhale through the first phrase. Breathe in again and out as you set off on the next phrase and so on. It will help you to shape the music nicely as well. Your body tends to relax as you exhale, so good to exhale through a difficult passage - holding your breath makes you tense everything.

Re: not breathing over pauses/fermatas, I do that intentionally, no idea why, perhaps it helps to make sure they dont go on too long? Does anyone else do this? I conducted a small ensemble a year or two ago, and never breathed on fermatas, it didnt feel right to breath on them! haha!

*bites lip to avoid commenting*

Nice one hc

I never would have thought that of you skylark...

That's because I'm much more concise when I write than when I speak

I think it's completely normal to hold one's breath while attending to a chunk of text or a phrase of music. If you watch a baby picking up a new toy you will notice his breathing becomes laboured as he focusses attention on the new object.

I suppose that by the time a piece is mastered, little or no thought is required during performance, and therefore less holding of breath will occur. Interfering with the breathing would seem to be unwise since that will interfere with thinking.

Taking the idea further, it implies that, just as Skylark talks in long sentences, wind players and choristers will tend to read more efficiently than pianists.

And presumably musicians generally will benefit from being aerobically fit (and therefore having greater lung capacity).

There was a thread on this before, and the answer is, not only is it not great to be breathing abnormally whilst playing any instrument, it's also musically not really the right thing to do. The reply about imagining singing your music or playing it on a woodwind one is very good: music has an ebb and flow, and has a physiological effect on us, which is why we use it either to match or influence our emotions. You'll get a far better sense of the music across to your listeners if they can relax whilst hearing you, and if you go all breathless at intervals, they'll feel uptight too. Breathing with phrases helps to communicate the natural flow of the music, and also helps the player to make musical sense to him/herself. Holding your breath will interrupt the amount of oxygen your brain gets and makes for a sense of panic if you go on too long - and that in turn is likely to make the music sound a bit splurty and hasty. It's one of the reasons I can't see why it should be considered cool to do circular breathing on wind instruments - sure, you can play a long note, but the effect on an audience is to induce a sympathetic sense of being out of breath: I know, I've watched it in action .