You may wonder how a wind instrument player can play impressively long notes. Most people believe that it's just an increase in lug capacity. This may play a part for most musicians, but for the far more advanced and professional performers, they practice what is called circular breathing. This is a technique where the musician expels air through the mouth (playing their instrument) while intaking breath through the nose. This happened by expelling air via cheek compression in the anterior oropharynx during nasal inhalation, which simulates the lungs refilling (Peng et. Al, 2015). This practice is very hard for musicians to master, or even attempt. I have played the Trumpet for 12 years, and I have yet to successfully perform this technique. The specific physiology of circular breathing involves the posterior tongue and the velopharynx. The velopharynx is typically thought to be a structure that can't be voluntarily controlled by humans because of how the pharyngeal restrictors but because of the increased pressure at the back of the mouth by the cheeks, this may be able to cause voluntary movement (Peng et. Al, 2015)
Circular breathing is not only helpful for playing concertos and jazz charts, but it has also been shown to help with obstructive sleep apnea. Research shows that breath therapy using a rather odd instrument called a didgeridoo can help reduce sleep apnea, which overall improves a person's sleep, which leads to less daytime drowsiness, along with other benefits (Peng et. Al, 2015). Perhaps we all should include some didgeridoo-ing in our day-to-day lives to improve our sleep quality and air intake!
Peng, T., Phillips, C. D., Dyke, J. P., & Stewart, M. G. (2015). Mechanics of circular breathing in wind musicians using cine magnetic resonance imaging techniques. The Laryngoscope, 125(2), 412–418. https://doi-org.dml.regis.edu/10.1002/lary.24928
It's so cool you play the trumpet! I've seen many videos online of musicians who play wind instruments/aerophones and I'm amazed at how much their cheeks and even sometimes neck fill with air. I wonder if similar versions of circular breathing can be used for comfort like you said it helps with sleep apnea, I wonder if this technique could be useful when it comes to panic attacks since it is another form of a breathing exercise.
ReplyDeleteI have never had any talent or patience for instruments, but it was very interesting to learn about this because I never even imagined that there was a technique like circular breathing. The connection between circular breathing and sleep apnea was unexpected because I never even imagined the idea of breath therapy for conditions like apnea. It makes me want to explore it more!
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome! I never knew there was an actual name and technique behind playing such long notes. The part about using your cheeks and tongue to keep the air going is wild. Also didn’t expect it to help with sleep apnea!
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