The Magic of the Breathing Bag and the Big Lesson

Breathing shapes every note a flutist plays. The tone’s clarity, warmth, and emotional depth depend on how well the player controls their breath. Among various techniques to improve breath control, breathing bags stand out as a simple yet powerful tool. Recommended by flutist and teacher Keith Underwood, breathing bags offer a unique way to understand and enhance the connection between respiration and flute tone.

This post explores what breathing bags are, the science behind their use, and practical ways flutists can apply this method to improve their playing.

What Are Breathing Bags?

Breathing bags are simple devices made from flexible materials like plastic or rubber. They work by capturing the air a flutist exhales. The player breathes out into the bag and then inhales the same air back in. This process might seem unusual because it involves rebreathing air that has already been exhaled.

The purpose is not to recycle air for oxygen but to influence the body’s respiratory response. By doing so, flutists can develop better breath control, which directly affects tone quality and musical expression.

Flute Tone Colors: The Magical Breathing Bag

How Breathing Bags Affect the Body

When we breathe out, the air contains less oxygen and more carbon dioxide (CO₂) than the air we inhale. Breathing bags trap this exhaled air, which has a higher CO₂ concentration. When a flutist inhales from the bag, their body experiences increased CO₂ levels.

Practical Ways to Use Breathing Bags in Practice to Generate Wonderful Tone and Colors

Incorporating breathing bags into daily practice can be straightforward. Here are some steps and tips:

1. Breathe in and out of the Bag three or four times

   Sit comfortably and breathe into the bag slowly. Focus on feeling the breath fill your lungs deeply.

   
   

2. Keep the Air from the Breathing Bag in Your Lungs, and Pick Up Your Flute

   
   
   
   

3. Play a Long Tone on Your Flute

   After practicing with the bag, play long tones on the flute. Pay attention to how your breath feels and how the tone responds.

   
   

4. Note the Difference in Tone

   Most players notice a big difference. I certainly have, and it taught me a big lesson about the power of breath control, and how to use our power to control breath to benefit our flute playing.

   
   

The Powerful Lesson of the Breathing Bag

It occurred to me that breath control is central to flute playing not just because of the amount of air going into the flute, but the quality of that air. Simply put, it has to have a normal, calm person's amount of carbon dioxide in it, so part of the quest for optimal tone is, as Marcel Moyse put it, our minds being still when we perform.